English

During Term Three, students will deepen their understanding of narrative writing. They will begin by focusing on short stories and analysing how to craft an engaging narrative. To support their writing, students will explore a variety of rich mentor texts. This will aid them in forming an understanding of how the main idea, theme and message of a narrative is conveyed through a range of writing strategies, including strong characterisation, plot twists and foreshadowing and powerful descriptive language. Students will develop their authorship when they transfer these skills to craft their own engaging short stories. They will also have the opportunity to explore poetry to enrich their writing. Students will investigate how language can be used to describe experiences, express emotions, and create imagery, and how this can be used to impact their audience.  

After great success with Literature Circles in Term Two, students will continue to develop their collaborative skills and speaking and listening strategies when discussing novels. They will have the opportunity to read text reviews previously written by their peers to help them choose an appropriate and engaging book. This term when participating in Literature Circles, students will be encouraged to take further responsibility for guiding and facilitating a group discussion to build their engagement with reading and enrich their understanding of their chosen text.  

Throughout Reading and Writing this term, students will continue to implement the whole school CAFÉ and VOICES approaches to deepen their personal goals as a reader and an author. 

 Key vocabulary for English: narrative, theme, language feature, characterisation, poetry  

If you wish to support your child’s English learning at home this term, you can: 

• Encourage your child to read regularly and ask them to describe why the characters or plot are engaging. 
• Discuss books or movies and ask your child to explain the characters' attributes and possible reasons for their actions.  
• Motivate your child to participate in the Victorian Premier’s Reading Challenge.