Year 11 Common Module: Reading To Write | English Standard Study Guide

Unsure of how to prepare for Year 11 English Common Module: Reading to Write? Well, in this post, we will break down the rubric for you so you know exactly what you need to do!

Year 11 Common Module: Reading To Write for English Standard

The questions we’re going to answer are:

• What is the Common Module Reading to Write?
• What does the Common Module require you to do?
• What does the Common Module rubric mean, exactly?

Tailor your analysis to the Common Module Rubric

What is the Year 11 English Standard Common Module: Reading to Write

Modules refer to the different topics that you need to study for each topic. Stage 6 Standard English is broken down into 3 Modules for Year 11 and 4 for Year 12. Different Modules highlight different focuses when you are studying, analysing, and responding to your texts.

What is a “Common Module”?

The Common Module is taught in both Standard English and English Advanced. It ensures that all Year 11 English students are introduced to ideas, concepts and skills that are necessary to complete the HSC.

So, the Year 11 English Common Module: Reading to Write is always taught in Term 1 of Year 11.

This is because the content you learn in Reading to Write builds a foundation for your English studies in the next 2 years. The skills and knowledge you learn in this module will help you tackle more difficult and complex content in later Modules and Year 12.

You will build analytical and communication skills, and learn how to use your own voice in your writing.

What does the Year 11 English Standard Common Module: Reading to Write require from you?

What does Reading to Write mean?

The meaning is in the name! Reading to Write means that you will develop your writing skills by reading and analysing different types of texts.

You will be exposed to different text types, forms, and genres to learn how composers convey meaning in different ways, for different audiences.

What’s the purpose of Common Module: Reading to Write?

The aim of Reading to Write is to prepare students with the necessary skills to understand and analyse texts. It also helps students learn about the different ways texts convey different information to audiences.

NESA calls the Common Module as a “Transition to Senior English”. As the name suggests, Reading to Write helps student develop skills needed to ace their HSC English Standard Exam.

Importantly, this Module focuses on your literacy skills. So, you will be writing with a purpose, developing your voice, and reflecting on your own writing to improve.

Why focus on literacy?

Before the syllabus change, previous cohorts struggled with writing English responses. So, this Reading to Write Module was created to equip you with basic skills.

One of the biggest issues with English students is that they never go over their writing again! Once it’s done, they throw it into the done pile, and it never sees the light of day again.

This is a major problem because drafts and previous works are full of errors, poor structures, or weak analysis! If you fail to go over your work, you will never learn from your mistakes… which means that you will never improve on your foundational English skills!

Written communication skills are becoming increasingly important in an online content-heavy world.

So, it is important that you have a strong foundation of English writing skills to help you in online workplaces and environments in the future.

This means that students who built a habit of editing and rewriting their flawed work will benefit. As such, this Module helps Year 11 Standard students build their English skills and habits. You will learn how to use proper grammar and syntax, and write with a strong personal voice.

Save the travel time, study from home!

Explaining the Expectations in the ‘Reading to Write’ Rubric

Now, we will go through some key statements from the Reading to Write rubric. The complete rubric for the Common Module can be found here on the NESA website. All Year 11 English Standard and Advanced students should take the time to read through it.

Common Module Rubric from NESA

To ace the Common Module, you need to thoroughly understand what NESA wants you to do. This is the Reading to Write Rubric

In this module, students undertake the intensive and close reading of quality texts from a variety of modes and media. In doing so, they further develop the skills and knowledge necessary to appreciate, understand, analyse and evaluate how and why texts convey complex ideas, relationships, endeavours and scenarios. Central to this module is developing student capacity to respond perceptively to texts through their own considered and thoughtful writing and judicious reflection on their skills and knowledge as writers. Students read texts that are engaging thematically, aesthetically, stylistically and/or conceptually to inspire or provoke them to critique skilfully, or to respond imaginatively. Through the study of texts, students develop insights into the world around them, deepen their understanding of themselves and the lives of others, and enhance their enjoyment of reading.

The careful selection of critical and creative texts that address the needs and interests of students provides opportunities for them to increase the command of their own written expression, and empower them with the confidence, skills and agility to employ language precisely, appropriately and creatively for a variety of purposes.

Wide reading and reflection provides students with the opportunity to make deeper connections and identify distinctions between texts to enhance their understanding of how knowledge of language patterns, structures and features can be applied to unfamiliar texts. Through imaginative re-creation students deepen their engagement with texts and investigate the role of written language in different modes, and how elements, for example tone, voice and image, contribute to the way that meaning is made. By exploring texts that are connected by form, point of view, genre or theme, students examine how purpose, audience and context shape meaning and influence responses.

Through responding and composing for a range of purposes and audiences students further develop skills in comprehension, analysis, interpretation and evaluation. They investigate how various language forms and features, for example structure, tone, imagery and syntax are used for particular effect. They analyse and assess texts using appropriate terminology, register and modality. By reading and writing complex texts they broaden the repertoire of their vocabulary and extend control of spelling, punctuation and grammar to gain further understanding of how their own distinctive voice may be expressed for specific purposes.

Source: Common Module Rubric From NESA website

Was that too much to digest? You’re not alone. Many Year 11 English students struggle to understand what the rubric is trying to say.

So, to help you get a grasp of the Common Module Rubric, we’ve broken it down into 7 statements.

Unpacking the Common Module Rubric

Now, let’s break down each NESA key expectation from the Reading to Write Module in clear English. This will help you understand the Module and apply it to your assessments.

Rubric Statement #1

“Students undertake the intensive and close reading of quality texts from a variety of modes and media”.

Analysis of Rubric Statement #1

The first step in analysing any text is reading it.

This module emphasises the importance of knowing how to read a text effectively. This means that you need to do a close reading of a text: find themes, techniques and meaning.

As such, you should read or view your text a couple of times to ensure that you know it in detail. You should also figure out your own stance and perspective about the text as you read it.

Ideally, you should read a text 3 times:

1. First reading: Get a feel of the text as a whole – this includes plot, character and themes
2. Second reading: Analyse key scenes and events
3. Third reading: Find specific techniques and quotes and determine how the composer creates meaning
4. Make detailed notes! Discuss the effect of the techniques and jot down your opinion about it.

This Module will require you to study a wide variety of complex texts including poetry, novels, articles, and drama.

It is crucial that you demonstrate your understanding of how the mode, medium and form help shape the meaning of the text and the audience’s reception of the text.

Different forms and modes of text shape meaning differently for different audiences.

Different texts also have different conventions and our knowledge of these conventions shape how we respond to the text.

For example, a text can subvert conventions to challenge our expectations, or they can appeal to the conventions to satisfy our expectations.

It is up to you to figure out the mode and media of a text and its purpose.

Rubric Statement #2

“Students develop the skills and knowledge necessary to appreciate, understand, analyse and evaluate how and why texts convey complex ideas, relationships, endeavours and scenarios.”

Analysis of Rubric Statement #2

Text represent the human experience, from one individual to another. So, when we read and view texts, we are engaging with other people’s experiences and ideas. We learn through their representation in art, film, poetry and books.

As such, we experience and learn about new things that we would otherwise never experience

In this Module, you will read texts to examine how the composer represents the world around you and why the composer chose to represent the world in a particular way. Through this you will also learn to appreciate and enjoy literature and art.

To do this, you need to ask yourself questions like:

• Why is the composer representing this idea?
• What does the composer seek to achieve by depicting this scenario?
• What does this representation of a relationship convey to me?
• Most importantly, how has the composer represented this idea?
• What techniques and structural choices have they used to do this?

Rubric Statement #3

“Central to this module is developing student capacity to respond perceptively to texts through their own considered and thoughtful writing and judicious reflection on their skills and knowledge as writers.”

Analysis of Rubric Statement #3

Reading to Write module is helping you become a better writer by understanding the construction of texts. This means that you need to read and respond to texts, write, revise and edit your work.

As you do this, you will notice that reflection is a key element of the Common Module key learning.

NESA wants you to understand that self-reflection is essential for good writing and communication.

As such, you need to build your confidence in our own work by re-rereading, re-drafting and editing your own work. This is more than simply editing grammatical and spelling errors.

This process requires you to restructure your paragraphs, rewrite sections that aren’t of good quality, and ensure that you represent your ideas in a clear and accessible way.

You also need to develop your own writing voice through studying other composer’s texts and reflecting on your own process.

A Student’s Voice

When we talk about voice, we are referring to the tone and personality that is conveyed through writing. It is what makes you distinct from others.

This means that you need to portray your personality through your expression and develop your own style of writing.

For example:

• If you enjoy reading complex language and demonstrating your vocabulary and high knowledge of grammar, you might want to experiment with complex sentences and advanced words. However, it is important that you do not sacrifice substance and readability for complexity. Ensure your sentences are still grammatical and readable. Writers like Virginia Woolf and China Miéville are beautiful essayists who wrote in remarkable prose.
• Do you just find overly long sentences frustrating? Well, you can write in short concise sentences. Just because you’re getting straight to the point, doesn’t mean that you are a bad writer. Ernest Hemmingway and Gertrude Stein both succeeded with such brusque and hard prose styles.

You cannot develop a voice in just one day. It will take time and practice to develop your own writing voice. To do this, you should read other writer’s works and attempt to imitate their style and see what works and what doesn’t.

Furthermore, continue to improve your grammar and research other words in thesauruses like Roget’s thesaurus to add depth to your voice.

Rubric Statement #4

“Through the study of texts, students develop insights into the world around them, deepen their understanding of themselves and the lives of others and enhance their enjoyment of reading.”

Analysis of Rubric Statement #4

Over thousands and thousands of years, humans have always documented their lives and experiences in artistic ways… from cave paintings, to tapestry, to poetry, music, folk tales, novels, films and podcasts. We love to celebrate our successes and failures.

Similarly, humans love to read and learn about others. When we read other people’s experiences, we learn and reflect on their successes and mistakes. Ultimately, it becomes a part of our identity.

Reading to Write will help you reflect on your own experiences and help you develop a voice to represent it. You will draw inspiration from other people’s texts and be exposed to complex ideas.

As such, ask yourself these questions when you are reading a text to reflect on the experience:

• Does this text represent themes common to human experience?
• Does this text represent my experience?
• What is my response to the representation of this human experience?

NESA hopes that this unit will foster your enjoyment of a wide range of literary texts and forms. Reading and viewing texts should be a pleasure and not a chore.

Rubric Statement #5

“Through imaginative re-creation students deepen their engagement with texts and investigate the role of written language in different modes and how elements, for example tone, voice, and image, contribute to the way that meaning is made.”

Analysis of Rubric Statement #5

Does imaginative re-creation sound strange to you? An imaginative recreation is an adaptation of a text or a discussion of a text through different forms.

It could be done in a variety of ways:

• Writing a piece of fiction inspired by your text.
• Writing a piece of fan-fiction.
• Producing a podcast discussing your text.
• Writing a review of your text.

These tasks allow you to engage with your text in a deeper way.

Often, students find it difficult to develop new ideas for their writing. Similarly, they might find it difficult to explore or analyse ideas in a text.

This is why imaginative recreations are very helpful. By writing an imaginative re-creation, you are forcing yourself to explore ideas in a text which will help you better understand the structural features of a text.

Rubric Statements 6 & 7

6: “Through responding and composing for a range of purposes and audiences students further develop skills in comprehension, analysis, interpretation and evaluation”

7: “By reading and writing complex texts they broaden the repertoire of their vocabulary and extend control of spelling, punctuation and grammar to gain further understanding of how their own distinctive voice may be expressed for specific purposes.”

Analysis of Rubric Statements #6 & #7

It is crucial that you are constantly writing and reflecting on your writing to improve. You also need to develop strong comprehension and textual analysis skills. This means that it is not enough to just understand the text, you need to also understand how the writers represent their experiences.

As such, it is important that you are examining the composer’s syntax, structure, form, and tense. You also need to determine how they present their voice and what perspective are they writing from. Then, attempt to imitate this.

Also, remember, ensure that you are always using correct spelling, punctuation and grammar. Write clearly and have an engaging personal voice.