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
Cause and Effect - Sentence Sort Worksheet
A worksheet and answer sheet to use when teaching students the cause and effect comprehension strategy.
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Reading Detectives Bookmarks
8 colourful reading detective bookmarks to use during guided reading sessions in the classroom.
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Reading Comprehension Strategies PowerPoint - Activating Prior Knowledge
A 13 slide editable PowerPoint template explaining the reading comprehension strategy of activating prior knowledge.
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Editing Symbols Chart
Use this editing symbols chart to help simplify the proofreading process for your students.
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In My Eyes (Poem) - Comprehension
A comprehension activity using poetry.
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Recalling Facts - Comprehension Task
A task to use when teaching your students reading comprehension strategies.
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NAPLAN-Style Assessment Rubric for Poetry
A NAPLAN-style rubric designed to help teachers to assess student's poetry.
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Embedded Clauses Matching Game
Explore embedded clauses with this fun matching game that helps students practise building complete sentences in a collaborative setting.
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When to Use Formal and Informal Language Teaching Slides
Teach your students when to use formal and informal language with this engaging set of teaching slides designed to help students confidently distinguish between language styles in real-world contexts.
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Formal vs Informal Language Worksheet Pack
Download this formal vs informal language worksheet pack to help students strengthen their understanding of language in real-world contexts.
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Formal vs Informal Language Sorting Activity
Engage students in identifying formal vs informal language with this sorting activity that helps build understanding through real-world sentence examples.
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Using Context Clues Worksheet
Try a ‘Using Context Clues’ Worksheet to help your students determine the meaning of unfamiliar words based on the surrounding text.
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Digital Comma Activities - Interactive Slide Deck
Engage your upper primary school students with Digital Comma Activities to help them practise using different comma rules.
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Finding Word Meaning In Text - Context Clues Activity Sheet
Use context clues to determine word meaning in text with a printable Context Clues Activity Sheet.
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Monitoring Comprehension Symbols Worksheet
A 2 page worksheet focusing on the reading comprehension strategy of monitoring.
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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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Narrative Text Type Poster With Annotations
Display this narrative text with annotations to help students identify the structure of a narrative.
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Halloween Printables - Read and Draw Worksheet
Practise comprehension skills with an exciting Halloween reading comprehension worksheet for year 4.
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Australia's Voting System – Comprehension Worksheets
Explore the history and systems of voting in Australia with this differentiated reading comprehension activity.
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Greek and Latin Roots – Word Tree Anchor Charts
Encourage vocabulary development with 24 Greek and Latin root anchor charts.
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Four in a Row Vocabulary Game - Suffixes
Practise matching words to their common suffixes and build vocabulary with a suffix vocabulary game.
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Prefixes Vocabulary Word Game
Practise matching words to their common prefixes with an exciting Four in a Row Vocabulary Game.
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Earth Day Comprehension and Cloze Worksheets
Enhance your students' comprehension, vocabulary, and writing skills with this nonfiction Earth Day passage and accompanying activities.
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Greek/Latin Roots Posters
Encourage vocabulary development with a set of 23 Greek and Latin roots posters.
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Morphology Game – Bingo!
Examine word parts and identify their morphological meanings in this engaging bingo game.
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Halloween Reading Comprehension – Fiction Story and Task Cards
Practise reading comprehension skills with an exciting Halloween reading comprehension activity for Year 4 students.
- Free Plan
Letter to the Editor (Voting Rights) – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a letter to the editor from the Year 6 magazine (Issue 3).
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Year 6 Magazine - "What's Buzzing?" (Issue 1) Task Cards
A set of five literacy rotation task cards to be used in conjunction with Issue 1 of Teach Starter's Year 6 magazine.
- Free Plan
Books for Sharing Indigenous Perspectives - Poster
A list of Indigenous storybooks for the classroom recommended by Aboriginal education organisation, Wingaru Education.
- Plus Plan
Australia Day Cloze Worksheet
A cloze activity based on information about Australia Day.
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-Ty and -Ity Suffixes Worksheet
Practise using the suffixes -ty and -ity with a printable suffix worksheet.
- Plus Plan
Words with Prefixes Worksheet - Prefix Re-
Build students' understanding of the prefix re-.with a printable prefix worksheet.