• teaching students group discussion and problem-solving skills
• teaching students to use informational texts and developing their basic research and reporting skills
• teaching students to compose, comprehend and respond to literature and mass media texts in more considered and critical ways, and to justify their views and interpretations of texts
• developing students’ use of expository (including persuasive and argumentative) forms of speaking and writing
• teaching students to plan, prepare and present spoken and written texts with consideration of context, audience and purpose.

• operating effectively in small and large group learning activities
• independently researching a small topic, and interpreting and reporting formally in speech and writing on their findings
• reading, viewing and interpreting with some critical awareness a wide range of junior fiction and non-fiction texts and media texts
• independently writing, editing and presenting a variety of imaginative and expository texts, showing overall competence in two areas: the selection of ideas and information and three of language to express these clearly and with effect; text organisation, handwriting, grammar, spelling and punctuation
• appreciating the role of formal Australian English in Australian society and using this variety effectively when required in speech and writing
• recognising discriminatory treatment of people and use of language in texts (for example, sexist or racist terminology), understanding and appreciating the effects of such language use on people, and using language in their own speech and writing in ways which do not exclude or denigrate.

(What the students are doing with what kinds of texts)

(The understandings about socio-cultural and situational contexts that students are developing in relation to their own and others’ texts)

• Learning (by discussing texts with their teacher and peers) to relate what they are reading and viewing to their own knowledge and experience.
• Learning to appreciate that people can have different interpretations of the same text.
• Learning that texts are written by real people and can be constructed to present a range of views.
• Considering the topics and themes of their own writing and the images of life they reflect, especially in relation to gender, race and violence.

(The knowledge of linguistic structures and features which students are learning to use when composing and comprehending texts)

• Learning (via ‘big books’ and videos) about such aspects of literature as plot structure, setting, characterisation.
• Learning about the characteristic or unique features of some kinds of literature texts, such as the use of rhyming lines in some poetry sound effects in film and television texts.
• Learning to distinguish between different types of literature in terms of their distinctive features and functions.
• Learning about the way language is used in literature by discussing such things as word choices, rhyme, rhythm, imagery.
• Extending their vocabularies through engaging in follow-up activities such as making word webs, banks and charts, and innovating on texts.

• Keeping a journal about their wider reading in which students predict, comment on their feelings about the text at stages of their reading, review these opinions, and discuss their attitudes towards characters, themes, points of view and writing style.
• Using their knowledge of narrative texts to construct meanings from and analyse other texts and text types.
• Using their knowledge of particular narrative techniques to:
  • come to more subtle and critical interpretations of texts
  • construct their own texts more imaginatively and effectively
• Learning how to select the most effective evidence to support a point of view about a literature text, by (for example):
  • making margin notes in texts while reading
  • constructing a running sheet for a film.

(The understandings about socio-cultural and situational contexts that students are developing in relation to their own and others’ texts)

• Learning that media texts are produced by numbers of people working together.
• Learning that the purpose of many media texts is to communicate with a large number of people in order to sell a product or service.
• Understanding, by reading and viewing a range of media texts, that some of them are mainly factual while others are mainly imaginary.

(The knowledge of linguistic structures and features which students are learning to use when composing and comprehending texts)

• Learning to recognise the structures and features of different kinds of media texts.
• Learning to recognise similarities and differences between different kinds of media texts.
• Learning that some media texts share features with other kinds of texts.

• Learning more about non-literary mass media texts such as news reports by comparing the way the same events are reported in different television news programs, and different newspapers and magazines.
• Constructing media texts, such as advertisements for the same product, for different media (radio, television, magazine, newspaper, etc.)

(The understandings about socio-cultural and situational contexts that students are developing in relation to their own and others’ texts)

• Learning about the nature of spoken, written and visual language and the many purposes for which all can be used.
• Learning that language has an important communicative function.
• Discussing the ways in which talk can affect people, depending on tone of voice, gesture and language.
• Understanding some of the power and advantages of written language, such as the way that writing conveys messages to people across time and space, influences people and helps them.
• Learning the essentials of using spoken language for school purposes
  (to communicate with peers, teachers, and parents and care givers).
• Comparing the ways in which spoken exchanges with people very depending on how familiar they are and on the purpose.

(The knowledge of linguistic structures and features which students are learning to use when composing and comprehending texts)

• Learning the basic linguistic structures and features for communication in written English, such as directionality of print, letter-sound relationships, punctuation.
• Learning some features of text organisation, such as the use of tables of contents and headings.
• Reading and writing everyday personal and transactional texts relating to their school lives.
• Learning how to form letter shapes and develop a legible handwriting.
• Learning how to speak audibly, pronounce clearly, and order ideas so that they can be readily understood.
• Learning how such features of spoken English as idioms and colloquialisms contribute to its variety and flexibility.
• Listening for the beginnings and ends of spoken texts.
• Noticing how wordplay is used for humorous effects in everyday texts.

• Learning how to analyse the ideas and information in texts how to reflect on the strategies they use, and how to consider alternatives.
• Learning strategies for speaking, such as:
  • outlining key information on cue cards- keeping to time limits
  • selecting suitable visual props.
• Learning strategies for listening, such as how to record key information in a systematic way.
• Extending their knowledge of how to read texts for information (by highlighting, note-making) or for specific purposes (by browsing, skimming, scanning, identifying key words and phrases, and using indexes).
• Learning how to clarify the key features of writing tasks, such as:
  • identifying topic, purpose and audience
  • anticipating the needs and expectations of readers.
• Learning how to plan their work and to improve first drafts by:
  • using thesauruses and spelling checkers
  • re-organising sentence order
  • varying sentence length and construction
  • using attractive layout and appropriate sub-headings
• Studying text models in order to learn from them.
• Continuing to develop their skills in gathering data for investigative purposes and summarising, analysing and reporting on it both orally and in writing.
• Using personal journals to record:
  • day to day experiences
  • jokes and anecdotes
  • feelings and reflections on important incidents
  • conversations
  • experimental writing
  • observations
  • goals for improving their skills in speaking and listening, reading and viewing and writing.