Year 6
The English curriculum is built around the three interrelated strands of language, literature and literacy. Teaching and learning programs should balance and integrate all three strands. Together, the strands focus on developing students' knowledge, understanding and skills in listening, reading, viewing, speaking, writing and creating. Learning in English builds on concepts, skills and processes developed in earlier years, and teachers will revisit and strengthen these as needed.
In Years 5 and 6, students communicate with peers and teachers from other classes and schools, community members, and individuals and groups, in a range of face-to-face and online/virtual environments.
Students engage with a variety of texts for enjoyment. They listen to, read, view, interpret and evaluate spoken, written and multimodal texts in which the primary purpose is aesthetic, as well as texts designed to inform and persuade. These include various types of media texts including newspapers, film and digital texts, junior and early adolescent novels, poetry, non-fiction and dramatic performances. Students develop their understanding of how texts, including media texts, are influenced by context, purpose and audience.
The range of literary texts for Foundation to Year 10 comprises Australian literature, including the oral narrative traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, as well as the contemporary literature of these two cultural groups, and classic and contemporary world literature, including texts from and about Asia.
Literary texts that support and extend students in Years 5 and 6 as independent readers describe complex sequences, a range of non-stereotypical characters and elaborated events including flashbacks and shifts in time. These texts explore themes of interpersonal relationships and ethical dilemmas within real-world and fantasy settings. Informative texts supply technical and content information about a wide range of topics of interest as well as topics being studied in other areas of the curriculum. Text structures include chapters, headings and subheadings, tables of contents, indexes and glossaries. Language features include complex sentences, unfamiliar technical vocabulary, figurative language, and information presented in various types of graphics.
Students create a range of imaginative, informative and persuasive types of texts such as narratives, procedures, performances, reports, reviews, explanations and discussions.
(source: www.australiancurriculum.edu.au)
Achievement Standard
Receptive modes (listening, reading and viewing)
By the end of Year 6, students understand how the use of text structures can achieve particular effects. They analyse and explain how language features, images and vocabulary are used by different authors to represent ideas, characters and events.
Students compare and analyse information in different and complex texts, explaining literal and implied meaning. They select and use evidence from a text to explain their response to it. They listen to discussions, clarifying content and challenging others' ideas.
Productive modes (speaking, writing and creating)
Students understand how language features and language patterns can be used for emphasis. They show how specific details can be used to support a point of view. They explain how their choices of language features and images are used.
Students create detailed texts elaborating on key ideas for a range of purposes and audiences. They make presentations and contribute actively to class and group discussions, using a variety of strategies for effect. They demonstrate an understanding of grammar, and make considered vocabulary choices to enhance cohesion and structure in their writing. They use accurate spelling and punctuation for clarity and make and explain editorial choices based on criteria.
(source: www.australiancurriculum.edu.au)
- Plus Plan
Writing Explanation Texts PowerPoint
A 33-slide editable PowerPoint template to use when teaching your students about explanation writing.
- Free Plan
Advertisement Text Type Poster With Annotations
A poster about advertisements, including an annotated example.
- Plus Plan
Elements of Poetry PowerPoint - Year 5 and Year 6
A 25 slide editable PowerPoint template to use when introducing students to the elements of poetry.
- Plus Plan
Literary Devices Poster Pack
Explore the various literary devices used by authors with the set of colourful classroom posters.
- Plus Plan
Earth Watch – Drowning in Plastic Reading Comprehension Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a magazine article about plastic pollution in our oceans.
- Plus Plan
Giant Squid Reading Comprehension Worksheets - Year 5
Read and learn about the features and adaptations of the giant squid with reading comprehension worksheets for years 5 and 6.
- Plus Plan
Informative Texts Writing Task - Firefighters
Guide your students through writing an informative essay about Firefighters with a printable Fact File writing prompt and writing scaffold worksheets.
- Plus Plan
Biography Writing Bump It Up Wall
A visual display for your classroom to help students ‘bump up’ their biography writing.
- Free Plan
Editing Passage Task Cards - Year 6
A set of 20 editing passage task cards with answers.
- Plus Plan
Informative Text Checklist - Structure, Language and Features
A checklist for students to use when proofreading and editing their informative texts.
- Plus Plan
Finding the Main Idea - Comprehension Task (Thunderstorms)
A task to use when teaching your students reading comprehension strategies.
- Plus Plan
Writing Narrative Texts PowerPoint - Year 5 and Year 6
A 20 slide editable PowerPoint template to use when teaching your students about the structure and language features of narrative texts.
- Free Plan
Readers' Theatre Script - Foiled Robbery
A script which can be used during readers' theatre or Drama sessions, aimed at students 8 years and over.
- Plus Plan
Comprehension Task Cards Summarising
Practise summarising text with these relevant events-based texts.
- Plus Plan
Writing A Procedure Poster
Display this poster in your room as a visual reminder of the structure of a procedural text.
- Free Plan
PEEL Paragraph Structure Poster and Worksheets
Explore the acronym PEEL to help with paragraph technique during persuasive writing lessons.
- Plus Plan
Roll and Write – Simple, Compound and Complex Sentences
An interactive activity to help students practise writing simple, compound and complex sentences.
- Plus Plan
Writing Biographical Texts PowerPoint
A 29 slide editable PowerPoint template to use when teaching older students about the structure and language features of biographical texts.
- Plus Plan
NAPLAN-Style Assessment Rubric - Persuasive Writing
A NAPLAN-style rubric designed to help teachers to assess students' persuasive writing.
- Plus Plan
NAPLAN-Style Assessment Rubric - Informative Writing
A NAPLAN-style rubric designed to help teachers to assess students' informative writing.
- Plus Plan
Prefixes and Suffixes Posters
Increase vocabulary skills with anchor charts about common prefixes and suffixes.
- Free Plan
Persuasive Writing Checklist (Simplified Version)
A checklist for students to use when proofreading and editing their persuasive writing.
- Plus Plan
Emotive Language Task Cards
Get students exploring emotive language examples with this set of task cards perfect for your persuasive writing unit.
- Plus Plan
Common Spelling Rules PowerPoint
Boost your students' spelling skills with an instructional slide deck teaching the different spelling rules.
- Plus Plan
The Wonders of the Human Body – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for an information report from the Year 6 magazine (Issue 2).
- Plus Plan
Procedure Texts Writing Scaffold
A scaffolding sheet which can be used to write a procedure text.
- Plus Plan
Reading Comprehension Strategies PowerPoint – Making Connections
A 14 slide editable PowerPoint template explaining the reading comprehension strategy of making connections.
- Plus Plan
Distinguish Between Fact and Opinion Poster
A poster highlighting how to distinguish between fact and opinion when reading a piece of text.
- Plus Plan
5 Persuasive Writing Prompts
Inspire your students through these relevant persuasive writing prompts.
- Plus Plan
Prefixes and Suffixes PowerPoint
Learn prefix and suffix concepts with an interactive teaching presentation.
- Plus Plan
Biography Text Type Poster With Annotations
A poster about the biography text type, including an annotated example.
- Free Plan
Readers' Theatre Script - Pet Rescue
A script which can be used during readers' theatre or Drama sessions, aimed at students 8 years and over.