Year 6
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 students' 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)
Achievement Standard
Receptive modes (listening, reading and viewing)
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 others' ideas.
Productive modes (speaking, writing and creating)
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)
- Plus Plan
Applying Reading Comprehension Strategies Unit Plan
This English unit is designed to explicitly teach the reading comprehension strategies of activating prior knowledge, making connections, questioning, monitoring, predicting, inferring, visualising and summarising to upper primary students, with a focus on literary texts.
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Writing Biographical Texts Unit Plan
This English unit addresses the purpose, structure and language features of the biography text type.
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Summarising
A 60 minute lesson in which students will learn and apply the reading comprehension strategy of summarising.
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Writing Persuasive Texts Unit Plan - Year 5 and Year 6
This English unit addresses the genre of persuasion; specifically, how to write an effective persuasive text.
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Narrative Poetry - Simple Ballads
A 60 minute lesson in which students will plan and write a simple ballad.
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The Missing Mona Lisa - Chapter 1: The Case
Your students, the Adventure Agents, will be taken on a learning journey where they are required to piece together the clues and information provided to crack the case of the Missing Mona Lisa!
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Introduction to Historical Recounts Unit Plan
This English unit has been designed to introduce the historical recount text type to older students; specifically, the purpose, structure and language features of factual historical recounts.
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Informative Texts - Language Features
A 60 minute lesson in which students will identify and explore the language features of informative texts.
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The Missing Mona Lisa – Chapter 7: Time for the Truth!
The truth comes out in this chapter and the Adventure Agents are able to start using all the information they have collected over the previous chapters to start eliminating some suspects.
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Persuasive Speeches - Presenting
A 60 minute lesson in which students will present a persuasive speech to the class using appropriate oral presentation skills.
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Concrete Poetry - Shape Poems
A 60 minute lesson in which students will plan and write a shape poem.
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Narrative Texts - Language Features
A 60 minute lesson in which students will identify and explore the language features of narrative texts.
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Persuasive Texts - Language Features
A 60 minute lesson in which students will identify and explore the language features of persuasive texts.
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Persuasive Texts - Text Structure
A 60 minute lesson in which students will identify and explore the structure of persuasive texts.
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Making Connections
A 60 minute lesson in which students will learn and apply the reading comprehension strategy of making connections.
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Descriptive Poetry - Odes
A 60 minute lesson in which students will plan and write an ode.
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Idioms
A 60 minute lesson in which students will explore some commonly used idioms.
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Elements of Poetry
A 60 minute lesson in which students will explore the common elements found in poetry.
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Constructing a Paragraph - Modelled Writing
A 60 minute lesson in which students will correctly construct an informative paragraph.
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Informative Paragraph Structure
A 60 minute lesson in which students will explore the correct paragraph structure for informative writing.
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Structure, Rhyme and Rhythm
A 60 minute lesson in which students will identify and investigate structure, rhyme and rhythm in poetry.
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The Poet's Lament
A 60 minute lesson in which students will explore their preconceived ideas and attitudes towards poetry.
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Historical Recounts - Literary vs Factual
A 60 minute lesson in which students will explore the difference between a literary historical recount and a factual historical recount.
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Persuasive Speech - Researching
A 60 minute lesson in which students will research evidence to include in a persuasive speech about a topical issue.
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Using Persuasive Devices
A 60 minute lesson in which students will identify and explore persuasive devices.
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Applying Proofreading and Editing Skills
A 60 minute lesson in which students will learn and apply proofreading and editing skills.
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Visualising
A 60 minute lesson in which students will learn and apply the reading comprehension strategy of visualising.
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Questioning
A 60 minute lesson in which students will learn and apply the reading comprehension strategy of questioning.
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Activating Prior Knowledge
A 60 minute lesson in which students will learn and apply the reading comprehension strategy of activating prior knowledge.
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Applying Proofreading and Editing Skills
A 60 minute lesson in which students will learn and apply proofreading and editing skills.
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Narrative Texts - Text Structure
A 60 minute lesson in which students will identify and explore the structure of narrative texts.
- Plus Plan
Forms of Poetry
A 60 minute lesson in which students will explore some well-known and commonly used forms of fixed verse.