Reading/InitiaLit

This year we will continue to use 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 students, there will be time to review sounds and tricky words taught in Term 1 at the beginning of this term.

The new concepts being covered this term are:

new digraphs/oa/ as in boat, /ow/ as in snow, /y/ as in cry, /igh as in light, /ue/ as in glue, /ew/ as in grew, /ar/ as in star, /or/ as in fork, /ore/ as in snore, /ir/ as in stir, /ur/ as in surf, /er/ as in fern
split digraphs - a_e 'cake', i_e 'bike', o_e 'bone', e_e 'eve', u_e 'tube'
homophones
revising adjectives
verbs
plurals - adding the suffix 's'
Suffixes - 'ing', 'er'
decoding 2-syllable words
new tricky words

For Level 2 students this term, the introduction of new sounds, suffixes and new tricky words will take place. Students will also have a weekly spelling session to practise misspelled Grade1 words from their end of Term 1 test. These tricky words were also sent home (as in Term 1) with each student, with their misspelled words highlighted.

The new concepts being covered this term are:

new graphs, digraphs and trigraphs /ar/ as in star, /y/ as in puppy, /ey/ as in key, /ir/ as in stir, /er/ as in herb, /ur/ as in surf, /ou/ as in cloud, /ow/ as in cow, /ch/ as in school, /oi/ as in coin, /oy/ as in boy, /ph/ as in phone, /ear/ as in hear, /eer/ as in cheer, /air/ as in hair, /are/ as in care, /ear/ as in bear.
plurals - adding the suffix 's'
suffixes ‘ing’, 's', ‘er’, ‘ful’
suffix rule of - drop the ‘e’ add ‘ing’, and double the last letter add ‘ing’
revision of spelling all tricky words from grade 1
new tricky words - really, bought, alright, already, across, lose, build, tomorrow, through, surprise.

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

The Lighthouse
Why I Love Summer
How the Frogmouth Found Her Home
The Day the Crayons Came Home
Boo Loves Books
Let's Get a Puppy
The Day the Crayons Quit
The Underwater Forest
Why I Love Footy
Chooks In Dinner Suits

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