Year 3
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 3 and 4, students experience learning in familiar contexts and a range of contexts that relate to study in other areas of the curriculum. They interact with peers and teachers from other classes and schools 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 and interpret spoken, written and multimodal texts in which the primary purpose is aesthetic, as well as texts designed to inform and persuade. These encompass traditional oral texts including Aboriginal stories, picture books, various types of print and digital texts, simple chapter books, rhyming verse, poetry, non-fiction, film, multimodal texts, dramatic performances and texts used by students as models for constructing their own work.
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 3 and 4 as independent readers describe complex sequences of events that extend over several pages and involve unusual happenings within a framework of familiar experiences. Informative texts include content of increasing complexity and technicality about topics of interest and topics being studied in other areas of the curriculum. These texts use complex language features, including varied sentence structures, some unfamiliar vocabulary, a significant number of high-frequency sight words and words that need to be decoded phonically, and a variety of punctuation conventions, as well as illustrations and diagrams that support and extend the printed text.
Students create a range of imaginative, informative and persuasive types of texts including narratives, procedures, performances, reports, reviews, poetry and expositions.
(source: www.australiancurriculum.edu.au)
Achievement Standard
Receptive modes (listening, reading and viewing)
By the end of Year 3, students understand how content can be organised using different text structures depending on the purpose of the text. They understand how language features, images and vocabulary choices are used for different effects.
They read texts that contain varied sentence structures, a range of punctuation conventions, and images that provide extra information. They use phonics and word knowledge to fluently read more complex words. They identify literal and implied meaning connecting ideas in different parts of a text. They select information, ideas and events in texts that relate to their own lives and to other texts. They listen to others' views and respond appropriately using interaction skills.
Productive modes (speaking, writing and creating)
Students understand how language features are used to link and sequence ideas. They understand how language can be used to express feelings and opinions on topics. Their texts include writing and images to express and develop, in some detail, experiences, events, information, ideas and characters.
Students create a range of texts for familiar and unfamiliar audiences. They contribute actively to class and group discussions, asking questions, providing useful feedback and making presentations. They demonstrate understanding of grammar and choose vocabulary and punctuation appropriate to the purpose and context of their writing. They use knowledge of letter-sound relationships including consonant and vowel clusters and high-frequency words to spell words accurately. They re-read and edit their writing, checking their work for appropriate vocabulary, structure and meaning. They write using joined letters that are accurately formed and consistent in size.
(source: www.australiancurriculum.edu.au)
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Exploring Poetic Devices
A 60 minute lesson in which students will explore the common literary devices found in poetry.
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Purpose, Audience and Context
A 60 minute lesson in which students will identify the purpose, intended audience and subject matter of a poem.
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Bullying and Resilience
This Personal, Social and Community Health unit introduces five resilience strategies to help students deal positively and effectively with bullying.
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Using a Stimulus - Independent Writing
A 60 minute lesson in which students will independently write a persuasive text, using appropriate text structure, language and features.
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Applying Proofreading and Editing Skills
A 60 minute lesson in which students will learn and apply proofreading and editing skills.
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Using a Persuasive Prompt - Shared Writing
A 60 minute lesson in which students will use a writing prompt and scaffolding sheet to write a persuasive text in pairs.
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Publishing a Poetry Anthology
A 60 minute lesson in which students will create a class anthology of narrative poems.
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Introducing Persuasive Devices
A 60 minute lesson in which students will explore how persuasive devices can be used to strengthen a point of view.
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Exploring Modality
A 60 minute lesson in which students will explore how modal words are used to express degrees of certainty in persuasive texts.
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Persuasive Texts - Language Features
A 60 minute lesson in which students will identify and explore the language features of persuasive texts.
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What is Poetry?
A 60 minute lesson in which students will develop a definition of poetry.
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Common Homophones
A 60 minute lesson in which students will choose the correct homophone to use in the context of a sentence.
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What Are Homophones? Video
Explore common homophones with this animated video perfect for primary school vocabulary lessons.
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Developing Persuasive Writing Skills Unit Plan - Year 3 and Year 4
This English unit addresses the genre of persuasion; specifically, how to write a well-structured persuasive text.
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Developing Procedural Writing Skills Unit Plan - Year 3 and Year 4
This English unit addresses the purpose, structure and language features of the procedure text type.
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Developing Informative Writing Skills Unit Plan - Year 3 and Year 4
This English unit addresses the informative text type; specifically, how to write a well-structured informative text.
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Developing Narrative Writing Skills Unit Plan - Year 3 and Year 4
This English unit addresses the narrative text type, specifically how to plan and write an engaging story.
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Exploring Poetry - Year 3 and Year 4 Unit Plan
This English unit addresses common poetic devices such as sound play, word play and imagery and explores how these may be applied to narrative poetry.
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Using Homophones Unit Plan
This English unit addresses the concept of homophones.
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Narrative Skills - Independent Writing
A 60 minute lesson in which students will independently write a narrative, using appropriate text structure, language and features.
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Narrative Skills - Planning a Story
A 60 minute lesson in which students will independently plan a setting, characters and plot for a narrative text.
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Narrative Skills - Proofreading and Editing
A 60 minute lesson in which students will learn and apply proofreading and editing skills.
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Narrative Skills - Shared Writing
A 60 minute lesson in which students will write a narrative, in pairs, using appropriate text structure, language and features.
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Narrative Features - Developing a Plot
A 60 minute lesson in which students will develop a plot for a narrative which includes a setting, characters and a problem to be solved.
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Narrative Features - Building a Character
A 60 minute lesson in which students will use descriptive language effectively to build a character.
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Narrative Features - Creating a Setting
A 60 minute lesson in which students will use descriptive language effectively to create a narrative setting.
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Constructing a Narrative Paragraph
A 60 minute lesson in which students will identify and use the correct paragraph structure for narrative writing.
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Parts of a Narrative Story
A 60 minute lesson in which students will identify and explore the parts of a narrative story.
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Narrative Texts - Language Features
A 60 minute lesson in which students will identify and explore the language features of narrative texts.
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Narrative Texts - Text Structure
A 60 minute lesson in which students will identify and explore the structure of narrative texts.
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Creating a Narrative Writing Station
A 60 minute lesson in which students will discuss writing goals and explore a classroom writing station.
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Tell Me A Story
A 60 minute lesson designed to introduce the narrative text type using familiar stories.