English

Writing

The writing program this semester will include Information Report and Book Review text types.

Students will plan, draft and publish a report using the correct language features and structure.

Through reviewing a book students will be given the opportunity to express an opinion and develop their writing style and voice.

The students will focus on the conventions of writing (punctuation, paragraphing and sentence structure).

Reading

This term, all Torrens classes will be engaged in guided reading groups as part of our Literacy Learning block. Comprehension skills will continue to be developed through hear, hidden and head questions.The children are taught that comprehension questions often fall within three broad categories; here, hidden and head. Here (right there) refers to questions that are easy to locate and generally found in one sentence. Hidden (think and search) are answered by joining together information in a text and Head (world in your head) questions ask for the student's opinion or for information that is not contained in the text.

Word Study

Students will continue to develop understanding of the four spelling knowledges (morphemic, visual, phonological and etymological) through Word Study workshops three times a week.

Through workshop learning  activities they will discover new spelling rules and generalisations which they are then expected to use when writing. Activities will focus on syllabification, long and short vowel sounds, suffixes and prefixes, homonyms and plurals.

Speaking and Listening

To develop speaking and listening skills, students will be involved in a variety of formal and more spontaneous activities throughout the semester. This will include scheduled oral presentations and active listening opportunities.

Book Week

Book week theme this year is Escape to Everywhere. It invites wonder about the world and the wide variety of people who live here. The theme also captures why I read – to escape – to live inside someone else's mind for a while and to see and feel what they do. A parade will be held in week 5 Friday the 28th August.

REMINDER: Premier's Reading Challenge finishes on 8 Sept.  Completed sheets need to be handed in at the Library so Mrs Maylin can process them.