Literacy
InitiaLit/ Reading
This year we will continue to be using a systematic synthetic approach to phonics. This will be achieved using our InitiaLit program, which students will be familiar with from last year.
InitiaLit is an evidence-based whole-class literacy program providing all children with the essential core knowledge and strong foundations to become successful readers and writers. InitiaLit is a three-year program, covering the first three years of school (Foundation to Year 2)
For Level 1, reviewing skills covered in Term Two will be ongoing.
The new concepts being covered this term in level 1 are the following graphemes and phonemes:
- ow (cow), ou (cloud)
- aw(claw), au (autumn)
- _y, _ey, (ē)
- oy(boy), oi (coin)
- eer (cheer), ear (hear), ear (bear)
- Split digraphs
- Suffixes
- Suffixes - past tense 'ed'
- Doubling & adding 'ck'
- Contractions
- Adjectives
The new concepts being covered this term in level 2 are:
- Compound words
- Prefixes and suffixes
- Soft c and g sounds
- Silent letters
- c or ck spelling rule
- Contractions
- consonant +le
- dge/ge
- Fluency
- Summarising
- Inferencing
- Finding the main idea
Writing
Our writing program will continue to use mentor texts over a series of 10 lessons to teach fundamental writing skills such as handwriting, spelling, text type, language orientation, grammar, pattern writing and author's purpose.
Mentor texts are pieces of text we can hold up as examples of good writing. A mentor text could be a single sentence or an entire book. It could be something written by the teacher, a student, a published author or someone else entirely. This term, the children will be immersed in texts that cover the narrative, persuasive and recount genres.
Level 1 Mentor Texts for Term 3
- The Circus Ship
- Max
- Poetry - My Neighbour's Dog is Purple
- Walk of the Whales
- Migaloo
- Harold and the purple crayon
Level 2 Mentor Texts for Term 3
- Chooks in Dinner Suits
- The Wildlife Summer Olympics
- Boy
- Under the Southern Cross
- Harold and the purple crayon