Delving into English in Term 1

Year 7C VIA English

It’s useful to think of Year 7 as English bootcamp and Term One is about solidifying all those skills and processes that students need to do all the complex reading, writing, listening and speaking tasks ahead.

The VIA group has some big personalities that are not afraid to voice an opinion or get a bit cheeky. That’s okay though, as long as it remains within the boundaries of good humour and good manners: so far, so good.

Students are required to read a minimum of 15 minutes per day and get their reading logs signed by a parent or guardian. The idea is to nurture a love of reading as well as developing good comprehension and organisational skills.

We have been juggling the novel Holes by Louis Sachar with the nuts and bolts of English: parts of speech, prefixes, suffixes, root words, narrative structure and narrative features.

The students are using this knowledge to develop a word schema, which is a meaning making system. We have been developing our word detective skills and we have had some very interesting classes working out meaning from context. Who knew words and language could be so interesting?

Ultimately, the goal is to make our students interested and interesting people with excellent communication skills. They are well on their way.

Year 12 VCE English

The year is off to a flying start. We have been studying the novel Nine Days by Toni Jordan. The students have had to respond to the text with a creative narrative.

The novel is about a working class Richmond family that spans from 1939 to 2013, the relationships and choices that define them.

The challenge is for the students to discover the devices that the author uses to tell her story and explore important ideas. Once they have a handle on how Toni Jordan does it they have to write their own narratives using her structures, style and devices. That’s no easy task!

I am pleased to say, the students did a good job, with many interesting, moving and evocative stories to tell.

Now we move on to analytical work with our study of the play Extinction by Hannie Rayson.

Onwards and upwards!