Quick summary: Students will complete a creative writing task based on factual stimulus material. They are asked to write a short story based on the life of Jane Crosswell, who was a young girl when her family moved to the village of Strathgordon so her father could work at ‘The Hydro’.
Hydro Tasmania has been at the forefront of clean energy innovation for one hundred years. It is Australia’s largest producer of clean energy – generating hydro and wind power – and the largest water manager. Hydro Tasmania has 55 major dams, operates 30 hydropower stations and has built some of Australia’s largest wind farms.
Hydro Tasmania also sells energy in the National Electricity Market through its retail business Momentum Energy, and sells its expertise internationally through its consulting business Entura. Visit the Hydro Tasmania website to learn how the business is working towards Australia’s clean energy future.
Learning goals: This lesson is designed to provide valuable practice for NAPLAN*, the national literacy test held in Years 3 and 5. It features a creative writing task that requires students to use their imagination to expand on a nonfiction text.
General capabilities: Literacy, Critical and creative thinking, Ethical understanding.
Cross-curriculum priority: Sustainability OI.8.
Australian Curriculum content description:
Year 3 English
- Use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning and begin to evaluate texts by drawing on a growing knowledge of context, text structures and language features (ACELY1680).
- Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts demonstrating increasing control over text structures and language features and selecting print,and multimodal elements appropriate to the audience and purpose (ACELY1682).
Topic: Hydro Tasmania, Energy.
Time required: 60 mins.
Level of teacher scaffolding: Medium – oversee activity.
Resources required: Internet access, Student Worksheet (one copy per student OR computers/tablets to access the online worksheet), pen and paper for story writing.
Digital technology opportunities: Digital sharing capabilities.
Homework and extension opportunities: Includes opportunities for homework and extension.
Keywords: Energy, hydropower, history, children, Hydro Tasmania.
* This lesson plan is not an officially endorsed publication of NAPLAN’s creators and administrators – the ACARA body – but is designed to provide practice for the Australian Curriculum’s compulsory NAPLAN testing scheme.
Cool Australia’s curriculum team continually reviews and refines our resources to be in line with changes to the Australian Curriculum.