The English curriculum is built around the three interrelated strands of language, literature and literacy. Teaching and learning programs should balance and integrate all three strands. Together, the strands focus on developing studentsâ knowledge, understanding and skills in listening, reading, viewing, speaking, writing and creating. Learning in English builds on concepts, skills and processes developed in earlier years, and teachers will revisit and strengthen these as needed.
In Years 5 and 6, students communicate with peers and teachers from other classes and schools, community members, and individuals and groups, in a range of face-to-face and online/virtual environments.
Students engage with a variety of texts for enjoyment. They listen to, read, view, interpret and evaluate spoken, written and multimodal texts in which the primary purpose is aesthetic, as well as texts designed to inform and persuade. These include various types of media texts including newspapers, film and digital texts, junior and early adolescent novels, poetry, non-fiction and dramatic performances. Students develop their understanding of how texts, including media texts, are influenced by context, purpose and audience.
The range of literary texts for Foundation to Year 10 comprises Australian literature, including the oral narrative traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, as well as the contemporary literature of these two cultural groups, and classic and contemporary world literature, including texts from and about Asia.
Literary texts that support and extend students in Years 5 and 6 as independent readers describe complex sequences, a range of non-stereotypical characters and elaborated events including flashbacks and shifts in time. These texts explore themes of interpersonal relationships and ethical dilemmas within real-world and fantasy settings. Informative texts supply technical and content information about a wide range of topics of interest as well as topics being studied in other areas of the curriculum. Text structures include chapters, headings and subheadings, tables of contents, indexes and glossaries. Language features include complex sentences, unfamiliar technical vocabulary, figurative language, and information presented in various types of graphics.
Students create a range of imaginative, informative and persuasive types of texts such as narratives, procedures, performances, reports, reviews, explanations and discussions.
(source:www.australiancurriculum.edu.au)
By the end of Year 6, students understand how the use of text structures can achieve particular effects. They analyse and explain how language features, images and vocabulary are used by different authors to represent ideas, characters and events.
Students compare and analyse information in different and complex texts, explaining literal and implied meaning. They select and use evidence from a text to explain their response to it. They listen to discussions, clarifying content and challenging othersâ ideas.
Students understand how language features and language patterns can be used for emphasis. They show how specific details can be used to support a point of view. They explain how their choices of language features and images are used.
Students create detailed texts elaborating on key ideas for a range of purposes and audiences. They make presentations and contribute actively to class and group discussions, using a variety of strategies for effect. They demonstrate an understanding of grammar, and make considered vocabulary choices to enhance cohesion and structure in their writing. They use accurate spelling and punctuation for clarity and make and explain editorial choices based on criteria.
(source:www.australiancurriculum.edu.au)
An interactive activity to help students practise writing simple, compound and complex sentences.
A comprehension worksheet for a magazine procedure article about making a tessellation artwork.
An editable PowerPoint to use when teaching the essential components of poetry.
A workbook to help students explore common elements of poetry.
An editable PowerPoint to use when teaching sound devices to your students.
A worksheet for students to practise making connections with a piece of text.
A worksheet to practise using context clues when reading.
An editable PowerPoint presentation to use when teaching mood.
A scaffolded writing task for students to complete when learning about the explanation text type.
A scaffolded writing task for students to complete when learning about the explanation text type.
A scaffolded writing task for students to complete when learning about the explanation text type.
A scaffolded writing task for students to complete when learning about the explanation text type.
A scaffolded writing task for students to complete when learning about the explanation text type.
A research template for students to use when writing an explanation text.
A scaffolding sheet that can be used to write an explanation text.
A 33-slide editable PowerPoint template to use when teaching your students about explanation writing.
A checklist for students to use when proofreading and editing their explanation writing.
Sort each punctuation concept using the definitions and examples.
Writing stimulus sheets with an informative text focus.
A set of 3 worksheets to help your students identify informative language features in informative texts.
A template for students to use when planning the plot structure of a narrative text.
A set of 5 persuasive writing prompts, covering a variety of topics.
A hands-on sorting activity to use when introducing persuasive devices.
An activity for students to identify and interpret figurative language.
A collection of worksheets to enable students to apply reading comprehension strategies.
A Year 6 reading fluency assessment.
A flip book template for students to identify examples of figurative language.
A castle-themed persuasive argument planning template.
Word cards for constructing complex sentences.
A 6 page worksheet pack to consolidate the learning of punctuation for the upper years.