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
Editing and Revising Checklist Pack
Download this editing and revising checklist pack to support your students when revising and editing their written work.
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Australian Conservationists: Miranda Gibson – Comprehension Worksheet
Learn about Miranda Gibson and her conservation work with this 2-page reading passage and accompanying comprehension questions.
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Magical Story Starters Task Cards
Get your students writing magical stories with this set of story starter task cards.
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Factual Description Text Type Poster With Annotations
Display this factual description with annotations to help students identify the structure of this type of text.
- Free Plan
Prefix Puzzles - Match Up Cards
Practise building, reading, and understanding the meaning of words with prefixes with a fun set of prefix puzzles.
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Suffix Dominoes - Vocabulary Game
Identify new words that include common suffixes with a fun suffixes vocabulary game.
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Morphology Game – Bingo!
Examine word parts and identify their morphological meanings in this engaging bingo game.
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10 Fascinating Facts About the Sydney Harbour Bridge – Comprehension Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for an article including ten facts about the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia.
- Free Plan
Books for Sharing Indigenous Perspectives - Poster
A list of Indigenous storybooks for the classroom recommended by Aboriginal education organisation, Wingaru Education.
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NAPLAN-Style Assessment Rubric – Biographical Texts
Use this NAPLAN-style rubric to assess students’ biography writing as you prepare students for Year 5 tests.
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Human Histories: Amazing Achievements - Read and Respond Worksheet
A comprehension activity related to a biographical text.
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Literary Description Text Type Poster With Annotations
A poster about literary descriptions, including an annotated example.
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Everyday Grammar Punctuation Warm Ups - Upper Years Interactive PowerPoint
An engaging 44 slide interactive PowerPoint to use in the upper years classroom when learning about grammar and punctuation.
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NAPLAN-Style Assessment Rubric - Procedural Writing
A NAPLAN-style rubric designed to help teachers to assess students' procedural writing.
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Out of the Book - Comprehension Board Game
A fun comprehension strategy board game for students to play during literacy rotations.
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Inference vs Prediction - Presentation
A teaching presentation outlining the similarities and differences between inference and prediction.
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Write a Ballad Worksheet
Set your students up for success when writing a ballad with this set of scaffolded, easy-to-follow worksheets.
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Comprehension Task Cards - Recognising Cause And Effect
A set of comprehension task cards to help students recognise cause and effect when reading.
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Comprehension Task Cards - Understand Sequence
A set of comprehension task cards to help students understand sequence when reading.
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Plan Your Own Adventure - Writing Template
Students use a template to help them plan stories with alternative pathways for their friends to read.
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Understanding Sequence - Jack and the Beanstalk
A worksheet to use when teaching students how to understand sequence when reading.
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Procedural Recount Text Type Poster With Annotations
A poster about the procedural recount text type, including an annotated example.
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Analysing Text Context Worksheet Pack
Explore text context using this engaging set of comics designed to help students uncover the historical, social and cultural meaning behind the texts they read.
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Opinion Writing Worksheets — 'Life on the Road'
Contemplate life on the open road with these opinion writing worksheets that help students construct a piece of writing backed by their personal reasons and opinions.
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Reading Comprehension Symbols Poster Pack
Use these Reading Comprehension Symbols posters to help students keep track of their comprehension during reading.
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Reciprocal Teaching Role Cards
Assign reciprocal style teaching roles to your students during small-group reading sessions with this set of 4 reciprocal teaching role cards.
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Un- and Dis- Prefixes Worksheet
Build vocabulary skills with a prefix worksheet featuring the prefixes Un- and Dis-.
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Affix Word Tree - Poster & Worksheet
Encourage vocabulary development with printable affix word tree anchor chart and worksheet
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Writing a Simile Poem - Worksheet
Experiment with similes by writing a simile poem about a special person.
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Comprehension Task Cards - Identifying Author's Purpose
A set of comprehension task cards to help students identify the author's purpose when reading.
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Roots Graphic Organiser Template
Use this graphic organiser to explore roots and their origins.
- Plus Plan
Greek/Latin Roots Posters
Encourage vocabulary development with a set of 23 Greek and Latin roots posters.