Loss & Grief links to English

Understanding life changes result in loss and grief

Change - pages 22–23

Grief reactions - page 24

Grief stories (video) - page 24

Level 5 Reading

At Level 5 students read and view imaginative, informative and argumentative texts that explore ideas and information related to challenging themes and issues. They identify the themes and issues explored in these texts, and provide supporting evidence to justify their interpretations. They produce personal responses, for example, interpretive pieces and character profiles. They infer meanings and messages in texts, analyse how social values or attitudes are conveyed, compare the presentation of information and ideas in different texts, and identify cause and effect in informative texts.

Level 6 Reading

At Level 6 students read, view, analyse and discuss contemporary and classical imaginative texts that explore personal, social, cultural and political issues of significance to their own lives. They also read, view, analyse and discuss informative and argumentative texts such as current affairs and news articles, features, editorials, documentaries and reviews. They identify the multiple purposes for which texts are created. They explain how texts are shaped by the time, place and cultural setting in which they are created. They compare and contrast the typical features of particular texts. They synthesise information from different texts to draw conclusions.

Reactions to loss and change

Grief reactions - pages 25–26

'Normal' grief reactions (handout) - page 28

Extension activity - page 27

Level 5 Speaking and Listening

At Level 5 students express creative and analytical responses to texts, themes and issues. They identify main issues in a topic and provide supporting detail and evidence for opinions. They critically evaluate the spoken language of others and select, prepare and present spoken texts for specific audiences and purposes. They use a variety of multimedia to support individual presentations in which they inform or persuade an audience. When listening to teachers, students ask clarifying questions and build on the ideas of others. They identify key ideas and take notes. They show an awareness of the influence of audience on the construction and presentation of spoken texts, and of how situational and sociocultural factors affect audience responses.

Level 6 Speaking and Listening

At Level 6 students analyse critically the relationship between texts, contexts and speakers and listeners in a range of situations. When engaged in discussion, they compare ideas, build on others’ ideas, provide and justify other points of view, and reach conclusions that take account of aspects of an issue. In their presentations, they make effective use of the structures and features of spoken language to deal with complex subject matter in a range of situations. They draw on a range of strategies to listen to and present spoken texts, including note-taking, combining spoken and visual texts, and presenting complex issues or information imaginatively to interest an audience.

Reaching out, reaching in

How to help - pages 29–30

Helping yourself, helping a friend (handout) - pages 31–32

Helping a friend - page 30

Level 5 Writing

At Level 5 students produce, in print and electronic forms, texts for a variety of purposes, including speculating, hypothesising, persuading and reflecting. They write extended narratives or scripts with attention to characterisations, consistency of viewpoint and development of a resolution. They write arguments that state and justify a personal viewpoint; reports incorporating challenging themes and issues; personal reflections on, or evaluations of, texts presenting challenging themes and issues. They edit their writing for clarity, coherence and consistency of style, and proofread and correct spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors.

Level 6 Writing

At Level 6 students write sustained and cohesive narratives that experiment with different techniques and show attention to chronology, characteristation, consistent point of view and development of a resolution. They write argumentative texts dealing with complex ideas and issues and control the linguistic structures and features that support the presentation of different perspectives on complex themes and issues. They select subject matter and language to try and position readers to accept particular views of people, characters, events, ideas and information. They compose a range of other texts, such as feature articles or web pages. They plan and deliver presentations, sequencing and organising complex ideas, and proofread and edit their own writing for accuracy, consistency and clarity.

Helping friends

Seeking help - page 35

What to say - page 35

These are useful activities for classroom learning and connection.

Feelings and fears

Different fears - page 38

Similarities & differences in our fears (worksheet) - page 40

Ranking fears – rank - page 39

My fear (worksheet) – helpful/ unhelpful responses - page 41

These are useful activities for classroom learning and connection.

Grief is normal

Changes and stress - page 50

'Normal' grief reactions (handout) - page 52

These are useful activities for classroom learning and connection.

Controversial issues: the way people die

Defining euthanasia - page 62

Discussion and sample questions - page 63

These are useful activities for classroom learning and connection.

Loss: a universal experience

Change and loss - page 46

Feelings - page 47

Categories of loss (handout) - page 48

Holmes-Rahe survey of loss (worksheet) - page 49

These are useful activities for classroom learning and connection.

Understanding loss in response to death

Different deaths - categorizing deaths by mode - page 53

Determinants of grief - page 54

Determinants of grief (student handout) -page 55

Determinants of grief (teacher information) - page 56

These are useful activities for classroom learning and connection.

Grief in a zoo community: funerals and grief rituals

Exploring grief - page 42

Newspaper article (handout) - page 44

Funerals - page 43

Newspaper article (handout) - page 45

Research - page 43

These are useful activities for classroom learning and connection.

Responding to help seeking

A friend in need - page 65

What can you do to help? - pages 66–67

Getting help - page 67

A friend might need help when … (OHT) - page 68

What can you do to help? - page 69

Questions about suicide (teacher information sheet) - page 70

Resource list - page 71

These are useful activities for classroom learning and connection.