Literacy

InitiaLit

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, the first half of the term will focus predominately on reviewing skills covered in Foundation, as well as eventually incorportating the following new content:

• decoding regular words
• identifying compound words
• decoding 2-syllable words
• reviewing tricky words

Level 2 will also spend some time reviewing content from last year, as well as delving deeper into the following:

• Comprehension and Fluency- ensuring students understand what they are reading by exploring a variety of different text types and asking questions, making predictions and reading regularly. 
• Spelling and Grammar- reviewing spelling rules from Level 1, along with introducing grammatic rules associated with nouns, proper nouns and pronouns. 

Writing

Our writing program will encompass what students are learning in the InitiaLit Program, assisting them to become well-rounded writers. In writing this term, students will be exploring the following:

• Recounts
  • How to structure recounts
  • Exploring purpose behind recounts
• Narratives
  • Narrative Structure
  • Using adjectives to describe setting and chara
• Handwriting
  • Letter formation and minimising reversals
• Spelling
  • Letter-sound relationships
  • irregular tricky words
  • morphological knowledge
• Grammar and Punctuation
  • Using full stops and capital letters
  • Sentence structure

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.

Level 1/2 Mentor Texts for Term 1

• Fang Fang's Chinese New Year (Recounts)
• Josephine Wants to Dance (Narrative)
• Edwina the Emu (Narrative)
• Snail and the Whale (Narrative)
• Pete the Sheep (Narrative)
• The Lost Girl (Realistic Fiction)