A
book rap uses email to circulate discussion points, known as rap
points, about a book. It can stimulate classroom activities and
provide opportunities for students to share responses and ideas
with other schools.
The Only the heart online book
rap will run over the next five weeks and will consider several
key points of the novel.
As Only the heart is a prescribed text for the
new HSC English ESL course Area of study: Perspective, rap
points will look at key aspects in relation to this. As well, students
will be required to explore and examine relationships between language
and text. The rap points are not the only key aspects of the novel.
They should be used to supplement classroom programs and may guide
and stimulate further work.
| The
timeline and themes for this rap are |
| Rap
live for subscribing |
Only
the heart site live. Schools can register their participation
from this date. |
Now
live |
Preliminary
activities |
Schools
introduce themselves. Registration continues. |
24
February 2003 |
Rap
point 1 |
Who
are the family? |
03
March 2003 |
Rap
point 2 |
What
do we learn from each key character’s story/perspective? |
10
March 2003 |
Rap
point 3 |
How
is the main story/message conveyed? |
17
March 2003 |
Rap
wrap up |
Final
week of sharing responses. |
24
March 2003 |
The author,
Brian Caswell, will be online during the rap to comment on
specific ideas and discussions submitted by rappers for each rap
point. Questions prepared during the introduction, and not answered
during the rap, may be submitted during the rap wrap up in the final
week.
From 21 October
2002 you may participate in the Only the heart rap
by entering your email in the boxes below, and clicking the ‘Submit’
buttons.
Archives
of the class email discussion
Coordinator
Lyn Nguyen,
ESL and English teacher (Cabramatta High School), is the coordinator
of this book rap. She will guide us through the rap, post the rap
questions and focuses for each week, and liaise with the authors.
She will also provide encouragement on the Teacher support listserv
for this book rap, where teachers will be able to ask questions
about and discuss professional issues related to the rap and how
they are managing it with their classes.
This rap is
a joint project of the Library and Information Literacy and English
Units, Curriculum Support Directorate, and the Multicultural Programs
Unit.
Only the heart book rap: support materials
Rap
introduction
During the Preliminary
activities week, students undertake activities as suggested
in the Introduction of Program
and planning Stage 6. In this week students would:
- Submit a
class introductory message to the rap.
- Compose questions
they have about the book that they would like answered. If these
questions are not answered during the rap, submit them as a class
during the Rap wrap up
Rap
points
These discussion
questions guide the book rap. The question for the week is posted
to the rap at the beginning of that week by the coordinator. Class
groups post their answers and can respond via the rap to other school’s
replies during the relevant week for that rap point.
Rap Point 1
Rap Point 2
Rap Point 3
Rap
Point 1 (For related class activities see Program
and planning)
For week of 4 November 2002. Only the
heart begins with a diagram of the Vo family tree facing chapter
1. This, however, does not really represent the relationships between
people, or the changing nature of the family. Rap Point 1 will look
at this.
Rap
Point 1 (a)
Discuss
with the rap how, in each of the three sections of the book,
the inter-personal relationships between characters are shown.
Activity
Look at the Vo family tree. From your knowledge of the
novel redesign the family tree for each section of the book
showing:
- births,
deaths and marriages;
- main
characters and minor characters;
- the
physical location of people - Vietnam, Indonesia or Australia.
Rap
Point 1 (b)
Only
the heart tells the story of the Vo family’s escape from
Vietnam to resettlement in Australia.
Discuss
with the rap what you have learnt from the book about the
function, values, and relationships within a Vietnamese family
as portrayed by the Vo family.
Rap
Point 1 (c)
Explain
to the rap how gangs represent substitute families in the
book. What impact do they have on the Vo family?
In order
to help you answer this question, consider the ‘gangs’ at
sea, in the refugee camp, and in Cabramatta. How are their
values and function similar to, or different from, the Vo
family’s? |
Rap
Point 2 (For related class activities see Program
and planning)
For week of 11 November 2002. Only the
heart follows the events in the life of the Vo family through
the perspectives of different characters. Through the authors’ use
of this technique, we come to understand the story more fully, and
gain a more rounded and comprehensive picture of events.
Rap
Point 2 (a):
Discuss
with the rap how four different accounts of the Vo family’s
escape from Vietnam help to create a vivid picture for the
reader. Consider how the authors use language to do this.
Activity: Consider the family’s escape from Vietnam through the eyes
of:
- Grandma pp
37-39
- Toan pp
45-47
- Minh pp
47-49
- Hoa pp
51-54
Use
Rap
sheet 1 to note down the following:
- What
feelings are expressed by each character?
- What
are the reasons for these feelings?
- How
do things such as age, personality and past experiences
influence each characters’ view of the event?
- Note
language features which characterise each account eg. first
person/third person; descriptive/factual etc.
|
Rap
Point 3 (For related class activities see Program
and planning)
For week of 18 November 2002. Although the
story, Only the heart, is shared mainly between Toan and
Linh, the voice of the primary narrator is Toan.
Rap
point 3 (a):
Examine
the following extracts carefully, then discuss why Toan is
shown as the primary narrator:
- Toan pp
112-115
- Linh pp
115-116
Rap
point 3 (b):
Brian
Caswell has called Toan an ‘observer’ in the novel: "Toan
is outside of the trauma to a great extent." What evidence
can you find in the novel to support Caswell’s view of Toan?
|
Program and planning
Stage 6
Suggested class
activities suitable for the rap points, taking account of
the and time frame and linked to syllabus outcomes.
Rap
wrap up
During the Final
activities week, students undertake activities as suggested
in the Rap wrap up section of Program
and planning.
In this week students could:
- Submit to
the rap any questions they still have unanswered.
Implementing
a rap
Book
rap FAQs
About
rap email
Additional
support materials for Only the heart site rap points and
further investigation
Interview
with Brian Caswell about Only the heart
Resources
Rap
maps
View and select
versions of maps
and tally sheets. Students may use these to identify and locate
schools participating in the Only the heart rap.
Use these or create your own based on ideas from these examples
.Rap
Lingo
| Book
rap |
An
online discussion about a book |
| Rappers |
The
people involved in the book rap |
| Rap
map |
A
map marking other rappers’ locations |
| Rap
point |
A
topic, issue or event from the book for discussion |
| Rap
record |
Print
out of messages responded to |
| Rap
reflections |
Sheets
for rappers to reflect on their experiences and skills |
| Rap
rep |
The
person typing the responses |
| Rap
reporters |
The
people relaying rap news to others |
| Rap
rules |
Guidelines
of a book rap discussion |
| Rap
wrap up |
Final
message about a book rap |
Rap sheetsThese sample
proformas relate to the rap points, and are for class use to assist
students to develop email responses to the rap points. At the bottom
of each page, a link will download a PDF file to print out A4 size
worksheets to use with students.
Rap
sheet 1
|
