Literacy Overview

Literacy

During Term One, students are exploring informative and persuasive texts, with a focus on biographical writing and cultural change through persuasive digital media. We will begin by reading and analysing varied examples of biographies pieces. This will assist the learners to develop an understanding of the strategies authors use to engage the reader, connecting a subject’s personality, influences, experiences and accomplishments. Through identifying these skills in their reading, we will aim to have our learners transfer these skills to their own writing and provide them with opportunities to create their own biographies on individuals that have inspired them by making a positive change in the world.

Students will also have opportunities for independent reading and free choice writing, so they can focus specifically on their personal literacy goals and apply learnt strategies. Some of the concepts we will be unpacking to a deeper level with the students will include:

• Understanding the building blocks of ‘who, what, when and where’ within a timeline and digging deeper into a subject’s personality through investigating and inferring ‘how and why’.

• Meaningful use of research sources, considering the historical and cultural context within an individual’s story.

• Using the four traits of effective paragraphs in essay writing – a topic sentence, evidence to support the argument, explanation of the argument and a link to the next paragraph.

Teachers will continue to use the whole school writing approach of VOICES to assist students in the writing process, particularly in relation to editing their writing to improve grammar and express ideas in more unique and sophisticated ways. Students will use their writing as a stimulus, to facilitate the development of their individual writing goals, which will be created in collaboration with their teacher. In addition, teachers will also continue to implement the CAFÉ approach to reading, focusing on the specific areas of Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency and Expanding Vocabulary.

Each day, students are encouraged to continuously expand their vocabulary, and this process is assisted through the Spelling Inquiry Program. They will identify words misspelled in their writing, and then examine each word’s etymology, contextual use and spelling patterns, developing a rich understanding of the power of words used with purpose and confidence.

If you wish to support your child’s learning at home in the area of Literacy this term, you can:

• Share personal events that shaped your life and identity, or the life of your family members.

• Discuss significant individuals prevalent in the media, especially people that contribute to their community.

• When discussing ideas with your child, encourage them to support their claims with supporting details, personal experience or research.

• Encourage your child to read regularly, discussing their books with them and asking questions to determine your child’s understanding of their text.