English

This term, we will launch into persuasive text with an assessment task, and we will provide feedback for the students to set learning goals for improving their writing.

Students will learn how to plan and structure a persuasive text. They will learn about the language features using the acronym AFOREST (Alliteration/ Anecdotes, Facts, Opinions, Rhetorical Questions, Statistics and Triples). Students will be encouraged to apply language features to engage the reader and to voice their opinion. To build on their writing skills, they will learn how to write a good paragraph by applying the TEEL model (Topic sentence, Explanation, Evidence, and Link).

Students will continue work on the structured spelling program Spelling Mastery. They will explore homonyms, morphographs (prefixes and suffixes), vowels, consonants, and they will continue to learn spelling rules. 

They will focus on secretarial skills and apply a proofreading/ editing checklist to check their work. To support their writing, students will review punctuation and grammar and will continue to work on complex sentences.

During reading sessions, students will learn to read critically to identify the opinion of the writer and will consider their response based on the evidence and explanation provided by the writer. They will learn how language features such as AFOREST and the use of modality are used to sway the opinion of the reader. 

During speaking and listening sessions, students will learn how to present their opinions in a debate. This will help the children to process what they have read and critically think about an opinion and before writing a persuasive text.