Exploring Texts

EXPLORING TEXTS PROGRESSION YEARS 1-6

CONTENTS

1. TEXT TYPES

Typical stages of text types

2. STRUCTURAL FEATURES

Plot, characters and setting
Visuals

3. PURPOSES OF STRUCTURES

4. PURPOSES OF AUTHORS

5. LANGUAGE FEATURES

Language devices in texts
Language of opinion and fact
Evaluative language
Language origins

6. AUDIENCE OF TEXTS

7. PERSONAL PREFERENCE

8. OPINION AND ANALYSIS

This progression describes the development of key understandings of literary texts addressed during primary school years 1-6. These understandings follow the requirements of the Australian English Curriculum (and the NSW Syllabus) and are sequenced within each content heading listed above. The progressions includes suggestions (derived from the ACARA requirement elaborations), as to how the requirements might be taught and some appropriate definitions.

1. Text types

Typical stages of text types:

Recount– a recount describes experiences by telling a series of events in the time order in which they occurred. Stages of recounts: i) title, ii) opening paragraph providing setting and background, iii)following paragraphs describing events in chronological order, iv) concluding comments.

Procedure– a procedural text gives instructions for doing or making something. Stages of procedural texts: i) title tells exactly what text is about, ii) goal tells what will be learned or made, iii) requirements listing everything needed, iv) steps in sequential order.

Simple narratives- a narrative tells a story. Stages of narratives are: i) orientation introduces characters and sets time and place, ii) complication or initial problem , iii) series of events, iv) resolution where complication is sorted, v) coda gives moral to story or describes new order or understandings.

Instructions– see ‘procedure’

Expositions or Persuasive Texts– an exposition is written to convince or persuade a reader to the writer’s point of view or opinion. Stages of expositions are: i) title tells exactly what text is about, ii) includes a statement of position on topic, a brief preview of main arguments and grabs reader’s attention, iii) body of text presents a series of arguments supporting position, iv) conclusion restates and summarises presentation and may include a ‘call to action’.

A narrative is a story of events or experiences, real or imagined. In literary theory, narrative includes a story (what is narrated) and a discourse (how it is narrated). (ACARA Glossary)

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 1 / NSW Syllabus Stage 1 Writing and Representing

ACELA1453 Compare different kinds of images in narrative and informative texts and discuss how they contribute to meaning.

Suggestion: Talk about what is ‘real’ and what is imagined in texts, for example ‘This is the section about platypuses in the book about mammals’.

ACELY1658 Describe some differences between imaginative, informative and persuasive texts.

Suggestions: Compare and discuss texts identifying some features that distinguish those that ‘tell stories’ from those that ,give opinions’; select texts for a particular purpose or task, for example a website that will give information about whales, a book that will tell a story about a possum.

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 1 / NSW Syllabus Stage 1 Expressing Themselves

ACELY1655 Respond to texts drawn from a range of cultures and experiences.

Suggestions: Explore some of the meanings and teachings imbedded in Dreaming stories, use drawing and writing to depict and comment on people and places beyond their immediate experience.

2. Structural features

Plot, characters and setting

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 1 / NSW Syllabus Stage 1 Expressing Themselves

ACELT1581 Discuss how authors create characters using language and images.

Suggestions: Identify similarities between texts from different cultural traditions, for example representations of dragons in traditional European and Asian texts, and how spiritual beings are represented in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories. Identify some features of characters and how particular words images convey qualities of their natures, for example, shy or adventurous. Discuss how characters of fictional animals relate to those of humans.

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 1 / NSW Syllabus Stage 1 Writing and Representing

ACELT1584 Discuss features of plot, character and setting in different types of literature and explore some features of characters in different texts.

Suggestions: Explore different types of literature including traditional tales, humorous stories and poetry. Discuss similarities and differences between texts (for example features of main characters). Discuss features of book settings including time (year, season) and place (country or city, realistic or imagined). Discuss how plots develop including: beginning (orientation), how the problem is introduced (complication), and solved (resolution).

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 2 / NSW Syllabus Stage 1 Expressing Themselves

ACELT1587 Discuss depiction of characters in print, sound and images reflect the contexts in which they were created.

Suggestions: Explore iconography of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. Recognise recurring characters, settings and themes in Dreamtime stories in texts, films and online sources. Discuss moral and teaching stories from varied cultures, identifying and comparing central messages.

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 2 / NSW Syllabus Stage 1 Reading and Viewing

ACELT1589 Compare opinions about characters, events and settings in and between texts.

Suggestions: Discuss each others’ preferences for stories set in familiar or unfamiliar worlds, or about people whose lives are like or unlike their own.

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 2 / NSW Syllabus Stage 1 Writing and Representing 2

ACELT1591 Discuss the characters and settings of different texts and explore how language is used to present these features in different ways.

Suggestions: Describe features of text settings including time, colours used to portray year, season, and place (country or city) and how this impacts on the characters. Describe plots including beginnings (orientation), how the problem is introduced (complication) and solved (resolution) and consider how these features construct meanings. Identify features of imaginary or fantasy texts, for example magic powers, shifts in time. Investigate Aboriginal stories, found from online sources, that explain physical features of the landscape and identify and describe the common features of language used. Compare two or more versions of the same story by different authors from different cultures, describing similarities and differences in authors’ points of view.

Visuals

Visual components of a text include placement, salience, framing, representation of action or reaction, shot size, social distance and camera angle. (ACARA Glossary)

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 2 / NSW Syllabus Stage 1 Reading and Viewing 1

ACELA1469 Identify visual representations of characters’ actions, reactions, speech and thought processes in narratives, and consider how these images add to or contradict or multiply the meaning of accompanying words.

Suggestions: Compare two versions of the same story, for example ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’, identifying how a character’s actions and reactions are depicted differently by different illustrators.

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 4 / NSW Syllabus Stage 2 Reading and Viewing 2

ACELA1496 Explore the effect of choices when framing an image, placement of elements in the image and salience on composition of still and moving images in a range of types of texts.

Suggestions: Examine visual and multimodal texts, building a vocabulary to describe visual elements and techniques such as framing, composition and visual point of view and begin to understand how these choices impact on viewer response.

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 5 / NSW Syllabus Stage 3 Reading and Viewing

ACELA1511 Explain sequences of images in print texts and compare these to the ways hyperlinked digital texts are organised, explaining their effect on viewers’ interpretations.

Suggestions: Interpret narrative texts told as wordless picture books. Identify and compare sequences of images revealed through hyperlink choices.

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 6 / NSW Syllabus Stage 3 Reading and Viewing

ACELA1524 Identify and explain how analytical images like figures, tables, diagrams, maps and graphs contribute to our understanding of verbal information in factual and persuasive texts.

Suggestions: Observe how sequential events can be represented visually by a series of images, including comic strips, timelines, photo stories, procedure diagrams and flowcharts, life-cycle diagrams, and the flow of images in picture books. Observe how concepts, information and relationships can be represented visually through such images as tables, maps, graphs, diagrams, and icons.

3. Purposes of structure

Purposes of text types:

Recount- a recount describes experiences by telling a series of events in the time order in which they occurred.
Procedure– a procedural text gives instructions for doing or making something.
Simple narrative– a narrative tells a story.
Instructions– see ‘procedure’
Exposition or Persuasive Text– an exposition is written to convince or persuade a reader to the writer’s point of view or opinion.

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 1 / NSW Syllabus Stage 1 Writing and Representing 2. (See also WhatWhen Language Text Structures Progression.)

ACELA1447 Understand that the purposes texts serve shape their structure in predictable ways.

Suggestions: Discuss and compare the purposes of familiar texts drawn from local contexts and interests. Become familiar with the typical stages of types of text including recount and procedure. Use different types of texts, for example procedures (including recipes).

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 2 / NSW Syllabus Stage 1 Writing and Representing 2

ACELA1463 Understand that different types of texts have identifiable text structures and language features that help the text to serve its purpose.

Suggestions: Identify the topic and type of a text through its visual presentation, for example cover design, packaging, titles/subtitle and images. Become familiar with the typical stages of text types, for example simple narratives, instructions and expositions.

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 3 / NSW Syllabus Stage 2 Reading and Viewing 2

ACELT1599 Discuss how language is used to describe the settings in texts, and explore how the settings shape the events and influence the mood of the narrative.

Suggestions: Identify and discuss the use of descriptive adjectives to establish setting and atmosphere and to draw readers into the events that follow. Discuss the language used to describe the traits of characters, their actions and motivations.

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 3 / NSW Syllabus Stage 2 Reading and Viewing 2

ACELY1678 Identify the audience and purpose of imaginative, informative and persuasive texts.

Suggestions: Identify the author’s point of view on a topic and key words and images that seem intended to persuade listeners, viewers or readers to agree with the view presented.

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 4 / NSW Syllabus Stage 2 Reading and Viewing 2

ACELY1690 Identify characteristic features used in imaginative, informative and persuasive texts to meet the purpose of the text.

Suggestions: Describe the language which authors use to create imaginary worlds; how textual features such as headings, sub-headings, bold type and graphic organisers are used to order and present information, and how visual codes are used, for example in advertising to represent children and families so that viewers identify with them.

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 5 / NSW Syllabus Stage 3 Responding and Composing

ACELY1701 Identify and explain characteristic text structures and language features used in imaginative, informative and persuasive texts to meet the purpose of the text.

Suggestions: Explain how the features of a text advocating community action on a local area preservation issue, are used to meet the purpose of the text.

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 4 / NSW Syllabus Stage 2 Reading and Viewing 2

ACELA1793 Identify features of online texts that enhance readability including text, navigation, links, graphics and layout.

Suggestions: Participate in online searches for information using navigation tools and discuss similarities and differences between print and digital information.

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 4 / NSW Syllabus Stage 2 Reading and Viewing 2

ACELA1490 Understand how texts vary in complexity and technicality depending on the approach to the topic, the purpose and the intended audience.

Suggestions: Become familiar with the typical stages and language features of such text types as: simple narrative, procedure, simple persuasion texts and information reports. (See above.)

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 5 / NSW Syllabus Stage 3 Reading and Viewing

ACELA1504 Understand how texts vary in purpose, structure and topic as well as the degree of formality.

Suggestions: Become familiar with the typical stages and language features of such text types as narrative, procedure, exposition, explanation, discussion and informative text and how they can be composed and presented in written, digital and multimedia forms.

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 5 / NSW Syllabus Stage 3 Responding and Composing

ACELA1797 Investigate how the organisation of texts into chapters, headings, subheadings, home pages and sub pages for online texts and according to chronology or topic can be used to predict content and assist navigation.

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 6 / NSW Syllabus Stage 3 Reading and Viewing

ACELY1711 Analyse how text structures and language features work together to meet the purpose of the text.

Suggestions: Compare the structures and features of different texts, including print and digital sources on similar topics and evaluating which features best aid navigation and clear communication about the topic.

4. Purposes of authors

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 3 / NSW Syllabus Stage 2 Thinking Imaginatively, Creatively and Interpretively

ACELT1594 Discuss texts in which characters, events and settings are portrayed in different ways, and speculate on the authors’ reasons.

Suggestions: Read texts in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children/young people are the central characters/protagonists and making links to students own lives, noting similarities. Explore the ways that the same story can be told in many cultures, identifying variations in the storyline and in music (for example ‘The Ramayana’ story which is told to children in India, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, Laos, Tibet and Malaysia).

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 4 / NSW Syllabus Stage 2 Thinking Imaginatively, Creatively and Interpretively

ACELT1602 Make connections between the ways different authors may represent similar storylines, ideas and relationships.

Suggestions: Comment on how authors established setting and period in different cultures and times and the relevance of characters, actions and beliefs to their own time. Compare different authors’ treatment of similar themes and text patterns, for example comparing fables and allegories from different cultures and quest novels by different authors.

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 4 / NSW Syllabus Stage 2 Thinking Imaginatively, Creatively and Interpretively

ACELT1605 Discuss how authors and illustrators make stories exciting, moving and absorbing and hold readers’ interest by using various techniques, for example character development and plot tension.

Suggestions: Examine the author’s description of a character’s appearance, behaviour and speech and noting how the character’s development is evident through his or her dialogue and changing relationships and the reactions of other characters to him or her. Identify pivotal points in the plot where characters are faced with choices and comment on how the author makes us care about their decisions and consequences.

Australian Curriculum Requirement 6 / NSW Syllabus Stage 3 Thinking Imaginatively, Creatively and Critically

ACELA1518 Understand how authors often innovate on text structures and play with language features to achieve particular aesthetic, humorous and persuasive purposes and effects.

Suggestions: Explore a range of everyday, community, literary and informative texts discussing elements of text structure and language features and comparing the overall structure and effect of authors’ choices in two or more texts. Examine different works by an author who specialises in humour or pathos to identify strategies such as exaggeration and character embarrassment to amuse and to offer insights into characters’ feelings, so building empathy with their points of view and concern for their welfare

5. Language Features in Texts

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 1 / NSW Syllabus Stage1 Reading and Viewing 1

ACELA1448 Understand patterns of repetition and contrast in simple texts.

Suggestions: Identify patterns of vocabulary items in texts (for example class/subclass patterns, part/whole patterns, compare/contrast patterns, cause –and-effect patterns, word association/collocation). Discuss different types of texts and identify some characteristic features and elements (for example language patterns and repetition) in stories and poetry.

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 2 / NSW Syllabus Stage1 Speaking and Listening 2

ACELA1462 Identify language that can be used for appreciating texts and the qualities of people and things.

Suggestions: Explore how language is used to express feelings including learning vocabulary to express a gradation of feeling, for example ‘happy’, ‘joyful’, ‘pleased’, ‘contented’. Explore in stories, everyday and media texts moral and social dilemmas; such as right and wrong, fairness and unfairness, inclusion and exclusion; learning to use language yo describe actions and consider consequences. Explore how language is used to construct characters and settings in narratives, including choice of nouns such as ‘girl’, ‘princess’, ‘orphan’ and choice of adjectives such as ‘gentle’, ‘timid’ or ‘frightened’.

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 3 / NSW Syllabus Stage 2 Reading and Viewing 2

ACELA1478 Understand how different types of texts vary in use of language choices, depending on their purpose and context (for example tense and types of sentences).

Suggestions: Become familiar with typical structural stages and language features of various types of text, for example narratives, procedures, reports, reviews, and expositions. (See above)

Language devices in texts

Onomatopoeia is the formation of a name or word by imitating the sound associated with the thing. (Macquarie Dictionary)

ACELT1600 Discuss the nature and effects of some language devices used to enhance meaning and shape the reader’s reaction, including rhythm and onomatopoeia in poetry and prose.

Spoonerisms are slips of the tongue where the initial sounds of a pair of words are transposed (for example, well-boiled icicle for well-oiled bicycle). (ACARA Glossary)

Neologisms are newly created words or expressions. These can occur in a number of ways, for example, an existing word used in a new way (‘deadly’) and through abbreviations (for example HIV). (ACARA Glossary)

A pun is the humorous use of a word to bring out more than one meaning; a play on words. (ACARA Glossary)

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 4 / NSW Syllabus Stage 2 Writing and Representing 2

ACELT1606 Understand, interpret and experiment with a range of devices and deliberate word play in poetry and other literary texts, for example nonsense words, spoonerisms, neologisms and puns.

Suggestions: Define spoonerisms, neologisms and puns and explore how they are used by authors to create a sense of freshness, originality and playfulness. Discuss poetic language, including unusual adjectival use and how it engages us emotionally and brings to life the poet’s subject matter (for example ‘He grasps the crag with crooked hands’/ ‘wee timorous beastie’).

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 5 / NSW Syllabus Stage 3 Reading and Viewing

ACELY1611 Understand and experiment with sound devices and imagery, including simile, metaphor and personification, in narratives, shape poetry songs, anthems and odes.

Suggestions: Discuss how figurative language including simile and metaphor can make use of a comparison between different things, for example ‘My love is like a red, red rose’; ‘Tyger! Tyger! Burning bright, in the forests of the night’; and how by appealing to the imagination, it provides new ways of looking at the world. Investigate the qualities of contemporary protest songs, for example those about indigenous peoples and those about the environment.

Language of opinion and fact

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 4 / NSW Syllabus Stage 2 Expressing Themselves

ACELA1489 Understand differences between the language of opinion and feeling and the language of factual reporting or recording.

Suggestions: Identify ways thinking verbs are used to express opinion, for example ‘I think’, ‘I believe’, and ways summary verbs are used to report findings, for example ‘we conclude’.

Evaluative language

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 3 / NSW Syllabus Stage 2 Writing and Representing 2

ACELA1477 Examine how evaluative language can be varied to be more or less forceful.

Suggestions: Explore how modal verbs, for example ‘must’, or ‘could’ indicate degree of probability or obligation. Distinguish how choice of adverbs, nouns and verbs present different evaluations of characters in texts.

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 6 / NSW Syllabus Stage 3 Grammar, Punctuation and Vocabulary

ACELA1525 Investigate how vocabulary choices, including evaluative language can express shades of meaning, feeling and opinion.

Suggestions: Identify (for example from reviews) the ways in which evaluative language is used to assess the qualities of the various aspects of the work in question.

ACELT1615 Identify and explain how choices in language, for example modality, emphasis, repetition and metaphor, influence personal response to different texts.

Suggestions: Note how degrees of possibility are opened up through the use of modal verbs (for example, ‘It may be a solution’ as compared to ‘It could be a solution’), as well as through other resources such as adverbs (for example, ‘It’s possibly/probably/certainly a solution’), adjectives (for example, ‘It’s a possible/probable/certain solution’) and nouns (for example, ‘It’s a possibility/probability/certainty’).

Language origins

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 4 / NSW Syllabus Stage 2 Reading and Viewing 1

ACELY1686 Identify and explain language features of texts from earlier times and compare with the vocabulary, images, layout and content of contemporary texts.

Suggestions: View documentaries and news footage from different periods, comparing the style of presentation, including costumes and iconography with contemporary texts on similar topics and tracking changing views on issues, for example war, race, gender.

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 5 / NSW Syllabus Stage 3 Spelling

ACELA1500 Understand that the pronunciation, spelling and meanings of words have histories and change over time.

Suggestions: Recognise that a knowledge of word origins is not only interesting in its own right, but that it extends students’ knowledge of vocabulary and spelling. Explore examples of words in which pronunciation, writing and meaning has changed over time, including words from a range of cultures.

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 5 / NSW Syllabus Stage 3 Expressing themselves

ACELT1608 Identify aspects of literary texts that convey details or information about particular social, cultural and historical contexts.

Suggestions: Describe how aspects of literature, for example visuals, symbolic elements, dialogue and character descriptions, can convey information about cultural elements, such as beliefs, traditions and customs. Identify variability within cultural contexts in literary texts, recognising the diversity of people’s experiences within a cultural group such as differences in setting and lifestyle between urban and remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 6 / NSW Syllabus Stage 3 Expressing themselves

ACELT1613 Make connections between students’ own experiences and those of characters and events represented in texts drawn from different historical, social and cultural contexts.

Suggestions: Recognise the influence our different historical, social and cultural experiences may have on the meaning we make from the text and the attitudes we may develop towards characters, actions and events.

6. Audience of texts

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 2 / NSW Syllabus Stage 1 Writing and Representing 2

ACELY1668 Identify the audience of imaginative, informative and persuasive texts.

Suggestions: Identify the main purpose of a text, including whether the author wants to entertain, explain or persuade and consider how audiences might respond to those texts.

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 3 / NSW Syllabus Stage 2 Reading and Viewing 2

ACELY1678 Identify the audience and purpose of imaginative, informative and persuasive texts.

Suggestions: Identify the author’s point of view on a topic and key words and images that seem intended to persuade listeners, viewers or readers to agree with the view presented.

7. Personal preference

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 2 / NSW Syllabus Stage 1 Expressing Themselves

ACELT1590 Identify aspects of literary texts that entertain, and give reasons for personal preferences.

Suggestions: Describe features of texts from different cultures including recurring language patterns, style of illustrations, elements of humour or drama, and identify the features that give rise to personal preferences. Connect the feelings and behaviours of animals in anthropomorphic stories with human emotions and relationships. Draw, write and use digital technologies to capture and communicate favourite characters and events.

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 3 / NSW Syllabus Stage 2 Expressing Themselves

ACELT1596 Draw connections between personal experiences and the worlds of texts, and share responses with others.

Suggestions: Discuss relevant prior knowledge and past experience to make meaningful connections to the people, places, events, issues and ideas in the text. Explore texts that highlight issues and problems in making moral decisions and discuss these with others. Draw on literature from Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander or Asian cultures to explore commonalities of experience and ideas as well as recognising difference in lifestyle and world views.

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 3 / NSW Syllabus Stage 2 Reflecting on Learning

ACELT1598 Develop criteria for establishing personal preferences for literature.

Suggestions: Build a conscious understanding of preference regarding topics and genres of personal interest (for example humorous short stories, school and family stories, mysteries, fantasy and quest, series books). Select and discuss favourite texts and explain reasons for assigning greater or lesser merit to particular texts or types of texts.

8. Opinions and analysis

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 2 / NSW Syllabus Stage 1 Reading and Viewing 1

ACELY1665 Discuss different texts on a similar topic, identifying similarities and differences between the texts.

Suggestions: Identify examples and features of different kinds of spoken, non-verbal, written and visual communication from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and from several Asian cultures within Australia. Compare two or more versions of the same topic by different authors or from different cultures and describe similarities and differences.

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 3 / NSW Syllabus Stage 2 Expressing Themselves

ACELY1675 Identify the point of view in a text and suggest alternative points of view.

Suggestions: Discuss how a text presents the point of view of the main character, and speculate on what other characters might think or feel. Recognise there is more than one way of looking at the same event and stories seen through the eyes of one character privileges some aspects of the story over others. Speculate about what other characters might think or feel and retell the story from other perspectives (for example ‘Cinderella’ from the view of the ‘Ugly Sisters’).

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 5 / NSW Syllabus Stage 3 Expressing themselves

ACELT1610 Recognise that ideas in literary texts can be conveyed from different viewpoints, which can lead to different interpretations and responses.

Suggestions: Identify the narrative voice (the person or entity through whom the audience experiences the story) in a literary work, discussing the impact of first person narration on empathy and engagement. Examine texts written from different points of view, discuss what information the audience can access, how it impacts on the audience’s sympathies, and why an author might choose a particular narrative point of view. Examine the narrative voice in texts from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander traditions, which includes perspectives of animals and spirits, about how we should care for the Earth, for example reflecting on how this affects significance, interpretation and response.

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 5 / NSW Syllabus Stage 3 Grammar, Punctuation and Vocabulary

ACELY1698 Show how ideas and points of view in texts are conveyed through the use of vocabulary, including idiomatic expressions, objective and subjective language, and that these can change according to context.

Suggestions: Identify the narrative voice (the person or entity through whom the audience experiences the story) in a literary work, and discuss the impact of first person narrative on empathy and engagement.

Metalanguage is vocabulary used to discuss language conventions and use (for example, language used to talk about grammatical terms such as ‘sentence’, ‘clause’, ‘conjunction’).

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 5 / NSW Syllabus Stage 3 Speaking and Listening

ACELT1795 Use metalanguage to describe the effects of ideas, text structures and language features on particular audiences.

Suggestions: Orally, in writing or using digital media, give a considered interpretation and opinion about a literary text, recognising that a student’s view may not be shared by others and that others have equal claim to divergent views.

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 6 / NSW Syllabus Stage 3 Thinking Imaginatively, Creatively, Interpretively and Critically

ACELT1614 Analyse and evaluate similarities and differences in texts on similar topics, themes or plots.

Suggestions: Explore texts on a similar topic by authors with very different styles, for example comparing fantasy quest novels or realistic novels on a specific theme, identifying differences in the use of narrator, narrative structure and voice and language style and register.

ACELT1616 Identify, describe, and discuss similarities and differences between texts, including those by the same author or illustrator, and evaluate characteristics that define the author’s individual style.

Suggestions: Explore two or more texts by the same author, noting similarities, for example:

subject or theme,
characterisation,
text structure,
plot development,
tone, vocabulary,
sense of voice,
narrative point of view,
favoured grammatical structures and
visual techniques in sophisticated picture books.

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 6 / NSW Syllabus Stage 3 Reading and Viewing

ACELY1708 Compare texts including media texts that represent ideas and events in different ways, explaining the effects of different approaches.

Suggestions: Identify and explore news reports of the same event, and discuss the language choices and point of view of the writers. Use display advertising as a topic vehicle for close analysis of the ways images and words combine for a deliberate effect including examples from the countries of Asia (for example comparing Hollywood film posters with Indian Bollywood film posters).

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 6 / NSW Syllabus Stage 3 Thinking Imaginatively, Creatively, Interpretively and Critically

ACELT1617 Identify the relationship between words, sounds, imagery and language patterns in narratives and poetry such as ballads, limericks and free verse.

Suggestions: Identify how language choice and imagery build emotional connection and engagement with the story or theme. Describe how a character’s experience expressed through a verse novel impacts on students personally, how the author controls the revelation of the experiences and how the verse story builds meaning to its climax when we understand the whole.

Australian Curriculum Requirement Year 6 / NSW Syllabus Stage 3 Responding and Composing

ACELY1801 Analyse strategies authors use to influence readers.

Suggestions: Identify how authors use language to position the reader and give reasons.

443	Content Description	Elaboration
	Understand that people use different systems of communication to cater to different needs and purposes and that many people may use sign systems to communicate with others (ACELA1443)	recognising how and where signs and symbols are used and placed in students’ school and community learning some signs in Auslan and finding out about ‘Hear a Book’ and Braille technologies for hearing and visually impaired people
	NSW Outcome EN1-6B: A student recognises a range of purposes and audiences for spoken language and recognises organisational patterns and features of predictable spoken texts
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
444	Content Description	Elaboration
	Understand that language is used in combination with other means of communication, for example facial expressions and gestures to interact with others (ACELA1444)	recognising the effect of words, symbols, gestures and body language on the way communications are received by others
	NSW Outcome EN1-1A: A student communicates with a range of people in informal and guided activities demonstrating interaction skills and considers how own communication is adjusted in different situations
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
446	Content Description	Elaboration
	Understand that there are different ways of asking for information, making offers and giving commands (ACELA1446)	learning the difference between questions and statements, requests and commands learning about the difference between closed questions, for example 'Are you ready?', 'Did they enjoy their holidays?' and open questions, for example 'What made this text so exciting?'
	NSW Outcome EN1-1A: A student communicates with a range of people in informal and guided activities demonstrating interaction skills and considers how own communication is adjusted in different situations
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
787	Content Description	Elaboration
	Explore different ways of expressing emotions, including verbal, visual, body language and facial expressions (ACELA1787)	extending students’ vocabularies for the expression of feelings and emotions considering how others might respond before students express their views and how students might respond to others’ views in civil and constructive ways
	NSW Outcome EN1-1A: A student communicates with a range of people in informal and guided activities demonstrating interaction skills and considers how own communication is adjusted in different situations
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
447	Content Description	Elaboration
	Understand that the purposes texts serve shape their structure in predictable ways (ACELA1447)	discussing and comparing the purposes of familiar texts drawn from local contexts and interests becoming familiar with the typical stages of types of text including recount and procedure using different types of texts, for example procedures (including recipes) and discussing the text structure
	NSW Outcome EN1-7B: A student identifies how language use in their own writing differs according to their purpose, audience and subject matter
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
448	Content Description	Elaboration
	Understand patterns of repetition and contrast in simple texts(ACELA1448)	identifying patterns of vocabulary items in texts (for example class/subclass patterns, part/whole patterns, compare/contrast patterns, cause-and-effect patterns, word associations/collocation) discussing different types of texts and identifying some characteristic features and elements (for example language patterns and repetition) in stories and poetry
	NSW Outcome EN1-4A: A student draws on an increasing range of skills and strategies to fluently read, view and comprehend a range of texts on less familiar topics in different media and technologies
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
449	Content Description	Elaboration
	Recognise that different types of punctuation, including full stops, question marks and exclamation marks, signal sentences that make statements, ask questions, express emotion or give commands (ACELA1449)	using intonation and pauses in response to punctuation when reading reading texts and identifying different sentence-level punctuation writing different types of sentences, for example statements and questions, and discussing appropriate punctuation
	NSW Outcome EN1-9B: A student uses basic grammatical features, punctuation conventions and vocabulary appropriate to the type of text when responding to and composing texts
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
450	Content Description	Elaboration
	Understand concepts about print and screen, including how different types of texts are organised using page numbering, tables of content, headings and titles, navigation buttons, bars and links (ACELA1450)	learning about how books and digital texts are organised including page numbers, table of contents, headings, images with captions and the use of scrolling to access digital texts
	NSW Outcome EN1-8B: A student recognises that there are different kinds of texts when reading and viewing and shows an awareness of purpose, audience and subject matter
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
451	Content Description	Elaboration
	Identify the parts of a simple sentence that represent ‘What’s happening?’, ‘What state is being described?’, ‘Who or what is involved?’ and the surrounding circumstances (ACELA1451)	knowing that, in terms of meaning, a basic clause represents: a happening or a state (verb), who or what is involved (noun group/phrase), and the surrounding circumstances (adverb group/phrase) understanding that a simple sentence expresses a single idea, represented grammatically by a single independent clause (for example 'A kangaroo is a mammal. A mammal suckles its young')
	NSW Outcome EN1-4A: A student draws on an increasing range of skills and strategies to fluently read, view and comprehend a range of texts on less familiar topics in different media and technologies
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
452	Content Description	Elaboration
	Explore differences in words that represent people, places and things (nouns, including pronouns), happenings and states (verbs), qualities (adjectives) and details such as when, where and how (adverbs) (ACELA1452)	talking about effective words that describe a place, person or event learning how a sentence can be made more vivid by adding adjectives, adverbs and unusual verbs
	NSW Outcome EN1-9B: A student uses basic grammatical features, punctuation conventions and vocabulary appropriate to the type of text when responding to and composing texts
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
453	Content Description	Elaboration
	Compare different kinds of images in narrative and informative texts and discuss how they contribute to meaning (ACELA1453)	talking about what is ‘real’ and what is imagined in texts, for example ‘This is the section about platypuses in the book about mammals’
	NSW Outcome EN1-7B: A student identifies how language use in their own writing differs according to their purpose, audience and subject matter
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
454	Content Description	Elaboration
	Understand the use of vocabulary in everyday contexts as well as a growing number of school contexts, including appropriate use of formal and informal terms of address in different contexts (ACELA1454)	learning forms of address for visitors and how to use language appropriately to ask directions and for information, for example on excursions
	NSW Outcome EN1-6B: A student recognises a range of purposes and audiences for spoken language and recognises organisational patterns and features of predictable spoken texts
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
455	Content Description	Elaboration
	Recognise and know how to use morphemes in word families for example ‘play’ in ‘played’ and ‘playing’ (ACELA1455)	building word families from common morphemes (for example 'play', 'plays', 'playing', 'played', 'playground') using morphemes to read words (for example by recognising the 'stem' in words such as 'walk/ed'
	NSW Outcome EN1-5A: A student uses a variety of strategies, including knowledge of sight words and letter-sound correspondences, to spell familiar words
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
457	Content Description	Elaboration
	Manipulate sounds in spoken words including phoneme deletion and substitution (ACELA1457)	recognising words that start with a given sound, end with a given sound, have a given medial sound, rhyme with a given word recognising and producing rhyming words replacing sounds in spoken words (for example replace the ‘m’ in 'mat' with 'c' to form a new word 'cat') saying sounds in order for a given spoken word (for example f/i/sh, th/i/s)
	NSW Outcome EN1-4A: A student draws on an increasing range of skills and strategies to fluently read, view and comprehend a range of texts on less familiar topics in different media and technologies
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
458	Content Description	Elaboration
	Recognise sound-letter matches including common vowel and consonant digraphs and consonant blends (ACELA1468)	saying words with the same onset as a given word (for example words that begin like 'd/og', 'bl/ue') saying words with the same rime as a given word (for example words that end like 'c/at', 'pl/ay')
	NSW Outcome EN1-4A: A student draws on an increasing range of skills and strategies to fluently read, view and comprehend a range of texts on less familiar topics in different media and technologies
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
459	Content Description	Elaboration
	Understand the variability of sound-letter matches (ACELA1459)	recognising that letters can have more than one sound for example ‘u’ in ‘cut’, ‘put’, ‘use’ and 'a' in ‘cat’, ‘father’, ‘any’ recognising sounds that can be produced by different letters (for example the /s/ sound in ‘sat’, ‘cent’, ‘scene’)
	NSW Outcome EN1-4A: A student draws on an increasing range of skills and strategies to fluently read, view and comprehend a range of texts on less familiar topics in different media and technologies
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
778	Content Description	Elaboration
	Know that regular one-syllable words are made up of letters and common letter clusters that correspond to the sounds heard, and how to use visual memory to write high-frequency words (ACELA1778)	writing one-syllable words containing known blends, for example ‘bl’, ‘st’ learning an increasing number of high frequency sight words recognised in shared texts and in texts being read independently (for example 'one', 'have', 'them', 'about')
	NSW Outcome EN1-5A: A student uses a variety of strategies, including knowledge of sight words and letter-sound correspondences, to spell familiar words
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
581	Content Description	Elaboration
	Know that regular one-syllable words are made up of letters and common letter clusters that correspond to the sounds heard, and how to use visual memory to write high-frequency words (ACELT1581)	identifying similarities between texts from different cultural traditions, for example representations of dragons in traditional European and Asian texts, and how spiritual beings are represented in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories identifying some features of characters and how particular words and images convey qualities of their nature, for example some characters are portrayed as shy, others adventurous discussing the characters of fictional animals and how they relate to those of humans
	NSW Outcome EN1-11D: A student responds to and composes a range of texts about familiar aspects of the world and their own experiences
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
582	Content Description	Elaboration
	Discuss characters and events in a range of literary texts and share personal responses to these texts, making connections with students' own experiences (ACELT1582)	discussing characters from books and films and whether these are life-like or imaginary (for example talking animals) comparing characters and events in texts to students’ own experiences
	NSW Outcome EN1-11D: A student responds to and composes a range of texts about familiar aspects of the world and their own experiences
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
583	Content Description	Elaboration
	Express preferences for specific texts and authors and listen to the opinions of others (ACELT1583)	sharing favourite texts and authors and some reasons for preferences discussing different texts and considering what is entertaining or appealing and why using arts methods and role play to express personal responses to characters and events in stories identifying who is telling the story in different texts
	NSW Outcome EN1-11D: A student responds to and composes a range of texts about familiar aspects of the world and their own experiences
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
584	Content Description	Elaboration
	Discuss features of plot, character and setting in different types of literature and explore some features of characters in different texts (ACELT1584)	examining different types of literature including traditional tales, humorous stories and poetry discussing similarities and differences between texts ( for example features of main characters in different stories) discussing features of book settings including time (year, season) and place (country or city, realistic or imagined) discussing how plots develop including: beginnings (orientation), how the problem (complication) is introduced and solved (resolution)
	NSW Outcome EN1-7B: A student identifies how language use in their own writing differs according to their purpose, audience and subject matter
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
585	Content Description	Elaboration
	Listen to, recite and perform poems, chants, rhymes and songs, imitating and inventing sound patterns including alliteration and rhyme (ACELT1585)	exploring performance poetry, chants and songs from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and Asian cultures listening to and performing simple haiku poems about familiar topics such as nature and the seasons
	NSW Outcome EN1-6B: A student recognises a range of purposes and audiences for spoken language and recognises organisational patterns and features of predictable spoken texts
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
586	Content Description	Elaboration
	Recreate texts imaginatively using drawing, writing, performance and digital forms of communication (ACELT1586)	creating visual representations of literary texts from Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander or Asian cultures writing character descriptions drawn from illustrations in stories retelling key events in stories using oral language, arts, digital technologies and performance media
	NSW Outcome EN1-10C: A student thinks imaginatively and creatively about familiar topics, ideas and texts when responding to and composing texts
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
655	Content Description	Elaboration
	Respond to texts drawn from a range of cultures and experiences (ACELY1655)	exploring some of the meanings and teachings embedded in Dreaming stories using drawing and writing to depict and comment on people and places beyond their immediate experience
	NSW Outcome EN1-11D: A student responds to and composes a range of texts about familiar aspects of the world and their own experiences
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
656	Content Description	Elaboration
	Engage in conversations and discussions, using active listening behaviours, showing interest, and contributing ideas, information and questions (ACELY1656)	listening for details in spoken informative texts participating in informal and structured class, group and pair discussions about content area topics, ideas and information speaking clearly and with appropriate volume interacting confidently and appropriately with peers, teachers, visitors and community members learning to value listening, questioning and positive body language and understanding that different cultures may approach these differently formulating different types of questions to ask a speaker, such as open and closed questions and ‘when’, ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions
	NSW Outcome EN1-1A: A student communicates with a range of people in informal and guided activities demonstrating interaction skills and considers how own communication is adjusted in different situations
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
657	Content Description	Elaboration
	Make short presentations using some introduced text structures and language, for example opening statements (ACELY1657)	reporting the results of group discussions providing simple explanations about how to do or make something giving short oral presentations about areas of interest or content area topics, speaking clearly and with appropriate volume and using extended vocabulary and a growing knowledge of content-specific words
	NSW Outcome EN1-6B: A student recognises a range of purposes and audiences for spoken language and recognises organisational patterns and features of predictable spoken texts
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
658	Content Description	Elaboration
	Describe some differences between imaginative informative and persuasive texts (ACELY1658)	comparing and discussing texts identifying some features that distinguish those that ‘tell stories’ from those that ‘give opinions’ selecting texts for a particular purpose or task, for example a website that will give information about whales, a book that will tell a story about a possum
	NSW Outcome EN1-7B: A student identifies how language use in their own writing differs according to their purpose, audience and subject matter
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
659	Content Description	Elaboration
	Read supportive texts using developing phrasing, fluency, contextual, semantic, grammatical and phonic knowledge and emerging text processing strategies, for example prediction, monitoring meaning and rereading (ACELY1659)	using contextual and semantic knowledge to make predictions about a text’s purpose and content combining knowledge of context, meaning, grammar and phonics to decode text recognising most high frequency sight words when reading text self-correcting when reading does not make sense, using pictures, context, meaning, phonics and grammatical knowledge reading aloud with developing fluency and intonation
	NSW Outcome EN1-4A: A student draws on an increasing range of skills and strategies to fluently read, view and comprehend a range of texts on less familiar topics in different media and technologies
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
660	Content Description	Elaboration
	Use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning about key events, ideas and information in texts that they listen to, view and read by drawing on growing knowledge of context, text structures and language features (ACELY1660)	using elements in books and screen texts, for example illustrations, diagrams, sound and movement, to support reading making connections between the text and students’ own experiences, and between information in print and images finding key information in a text making inferences about characters’ feelings and motives building knowledge about the topic of the text and learning new vocabulary before and during reading making predictions from the cover, from illustrations and at points in the text before reading on retelling the events or key information in the text orally, in writing and/or through digital or arts media
	NSW Outcome EN1-4A: A student draws on an increasing range of skills and strategies to fluently read, view and comprehend a range of texts on less familiar topics in different media and technologies
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
661	Content Description	Elaboration
	Create short imaginative and informative texts that show emerging use of appropriate text structure, sentence-level grammar, word choice, spelling, punctuation and appropriate multimodal elements, for example illustrations and diagrams (ACELY1661)	referring to learned knowledge of text structure and grammar when creating a new text applying new vocabulary appropriately in creating text learning how to plan spoken and written communications so that listeners and readers might follow the sequence of ideas or events beginning to consider audience in designing a communication involving visual components, selecting images for maximum impact
	NSW Outcome: EN1-2A: A student plans, composes and reviews a small range of simple texts for a variety of purposes on familiar topics for known readers and viewers
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
662	Content Description	Elaboration
	Reread student's own texts and discuss possible changes to improve meaning, spelling and punctuation (ACELY1662)	adding or deleting words on page or screen to improve meaning, for example adding an adjective to a noun reading the students’ own work aloud to listen for grammatical correctness: checking use of capital letters, full stops, question marks and exclamation marks checking for inclusion of capital letters and full stops identifying words which might not be spelt correctly beginning to use dictionaries and classroom charts to check and correct spelling of less familiar words
	NSW Outcome: EN1-2A: A student plans, composes and reviews a small range of simple texts for a variety of purposes on familiar topics for known readers and viewers
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
663	Content Description	Elaboration
	Write using unjoined lower case and upper case letters (ACELY1663)	using correct posture and pencil grip learning how each letter is constructed including where to start and the direction to follow writing words legibly using unjoined print script of consistent size
	NSW Outcome EN1-3A: A student composes texts using letters of consistent size and slope and uses digital technologies
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
664	Content Description	Elaboration
	Construct texts that incorporate supporting images using software including word processing programs (ACELY1664)	creating digital images and composing a story or information sequence on screen using images and captions adding images to digital written communications such as emails with pictures of self, classmates or location
	NSW Outcome EN1-3A: A student composes texts using letters of consistent size and slope and uses digital technologies
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014
788	Content Description	Elaboration
	Use interaction skills including turn-taking, recognising the contributions of others, speaking clearly and using appropriate volume and pace (ACELY1788)	identifying turn-taking patterns in group and pair work (for example initiating a topic, changing a topic when appropriate, staying on task, supporting other speakers, eliciting responses, being supportive and attentive listeners, asking relevant questions, providing useful feedback, prompting, checking understanding, 'sharing the talking space') participating in pair, group and class speaking and listening situations, including informal conversations and class discussions, contributing ideas and listening to the contributions of others taking turns, asking and answering questions and attempting to involve others in discussions demonstrating active listening behaviour and responding to what others say in pair, group and class discussions experimenting with voice volume and pace for particular purposes including making presentations, retelling stories and reciting rhymes and poems attempting correct pronunciation of new vocabulary
	NSW Outcome EN1-1A: A student communicates with a range of people in informal and guided activities demonstrating interaction skills and considers how own communication is adjusted in different situations
	Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), downloaded from the Australian Curriculum website on 18 February 2014