Years 1 & 2

Reading

This term, our Grade 1/2 students have been exploring ANZAC themes through rich picture books that help them understand courage, imagination, kindness, and identity. Through storytelling, discussion, drama, art, and writing, students are developing empathy and making meaningful connections between history and their own lives.

A key focus of this learning has been recognising that the ANZAC story is not just about soldiers at war, but also about memory, identity, and the diverse contributions of Australians - including Indigenous perspectives that deepen our understanding of service, resilience, and connection to Country. Across all three texts, students developed important skills in empathy, storytelling, and historical understanding. These rich learning experiences continue to help our youngest learners connect history to their own lives in meaningful and age-appropriate ways.

In the coming weeks, Grade 1/2 students will explore a range of engaging picture books to develop their understanding of narrative structure, characterisation and point of view. Students will read ‘Honestly, Red Riding Hood was rotten!’ (T.S. Shaskan), where they will analyse character traits, actions and interactions, explore humour in texts, and identify language features such as idioms and onomatopoeia. They will also examine how the narrator’s point of view shapes meaning and compare different versions of familiar stories, before completing a summative task where they rewrite a key event from an alternative perspective.

Students will also study ‘Fly’ (J. McGeachin), with a focus on understanding how stories are resolved. They will retell key events, map narrative structure, and analyse how character interactions reveal relationships. Through this text, students will use descriptive language to build rich character descriptions and deepen their understanding of how problems are introduced and resolved in narratives.

Writing

In Writing, Grade 1/2 students launched their learning with a special excursion to Gahan Reserve in Abbotsford, travelling by train to enjoy their very own picnic ahead of exploring the mentor text ‘Kevin Kangaroo’s Picnic’. Students had a wonderful time playing with friends, sharing lunch outdoors and experiencing the joy of a picnic together, helping to build background knowledge and inspiration for their writing.

Back in the classroom, students will use Kevin Kangaroo’s Picnic to learn how authors create imaginative settings. They will focus on including the weather and time of day, choosing a specific name for their setting, using carefully selected adjectives, and using prepositions to show where things are located within a scene.

Later in the term, students will also explore non-fiction through ‘The Frost Yowie’, learning how to write clear information reports using linking words, precise vocabulary and strong topic sentences.