EN2-4A uses an increasing range of skills, strategies and knowledge to fluently read, view and comprehend a range of texts on increasingly challenging topics in different media and technologies
EN2-2A plans, composes and reviews a range of texts that are more demanding in terms of topic, audience and language
EN2-6B identifies the effect of purpose and audience on spoken texts, distinguishes between different forms of English and identifies organisational patterns and features
EN2-8B identifies and compares different kinds of texts when reading and viewing and shows an understanding of purpose, audience and subject matter
When you look at the book cover below, what does it make you think about. What do you think the book will be about? Discuss with a partner.
What do you know about the importance of April 25th? Discuss with your class.
Now your teacher will share the book Simpson and His Donkey with you.
What connections can you make between this book and what you know about Australia?
What character values do you see shown in this book? Are these values important? Do you show any of these values? How? Share with a partner. How do you see Compassion shown in this book?
Read this poem aloud to a partner with the best expression you can. Then glue it into your poetry book.
Watch the two videos be
How do we teach a dog to behave?
Your teacher will share the book Dear Mrs LaRue with you.
When we read, we are often reminded of similar ideas or characters in other books we have read.
As you read Dear Mrs LaRue, could you make any connections to any of the other stories read so far this year, or any other stories that you know?
Think about the book Fox by Margaret Wild, that we read at the beginning of the year, think about other stories such as Three Little Pigs, Red Riding Hood, Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl, and any other Fox stories and see what connections you can make between these different stories. We can use sentences like these below when we are making connections between different stories.
It reminds me of when I read … because …
… is like … in another book I read when/because …
What characteristics do we think of with foxes? Do they show perseverance? Are all their characteristics good ones, and ones we should copy? Is it good to be sly?
Reading groups
Read this poem aloud to a partner with the best expression you can. Then glue it into your poetry book.
You will participate in reading task cards or games that your teacher gives you, and silent reading.
Reading groups
What is special or unique about nature in Australia? Do you know any things that might be different from the rest of the world?
Your teacher will share a book about Australian nature with you.
(One of these Why I Love Australia / Collecting Colour / Malu Kangaroo / For All the Creatures).
Remember back to last term when we talked about Word Wizards and how an author takes a long time choosing words to make their writing as good as possible. Think about the words that the author used in the book.
Choose one page from the book.
Copy it into your Literacy book, and then explain why the words used are good words to describe that animal.
Can you think of some different character values that you see in this book, or ones that you might like to demonstrate as a result of reading this book? Share with your class.
Reading groups
Read this poem aloud to a partner with the best expression you can. Then glue it into your poetry book.
Participate in reading activities given by your teacher (reading cards, reading groups, Article-a-Day or independent reading). Open the Seesaw activity I Am A Reader, take a photo of a page from a book you are reading, and then record yourself reading that page.
Reading groups
The book your teacher will share with you today is from a part of Australia that most of you have never heard of. It is an island that is halfway to Antactica, and very difficult to get to. It is called Macquarie Island.
Your teacher will share the book One Small Island with you.
After reading the book, think about what kind of texts there were in the book - it is an unusual style, with more than one text type. What different types of text can you spot?
We looked at Summarising last term. That is when you can explain the most important idea of a book in one or two sentences.
If you had to summarise the main idea of this book in one or two sentences, what would be the most important things to say? Who and what it is about?
Some values that are demonstrated in this book are protection, caring and hope. Can you think of any others? How could you show one of these values this week?
God made our environment to be interdependent, and gave us the responsibility to look after it. God created each animal with its own lifecycle. He is working in the background although invisible. What other book that we have read this year does this idea remind you of?
Reading groups.
Read this poem aloud to a partner with the best expression you can. Then glue it into your poetry book.
Participate in reading activities given by your teacher (reading cards, reading groups, Article-a-Day or independent reading). Open the Seesaw activity I Am A Reader, take a photo of a page from a book you are reading, and then record yourself reading that page.
Reading groups
What do you know or think about this picture? Do you know where or when this was?
This happened 21 years ago on the 11th September in the USA.
Predict what connection you think the picture above has with these two images.
Your teacher will share the book 14 Cows for America with you.
After reading try to put these events in the order in which they actually happened.
The U.S. diplomat receives the fourteen cows from the Maasai.
Terrorists attack the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001.
The Maasai people are moved by the story told by Kimeli.
The tribe sends word to the US Embassy in Nairobi, and the embassy sends a diplomat.
Kimeli tells the story of the September 11 terrorist attacks to the Maasai tribe.
The Maasai tribe surrounds Kimeli after he returns to his village in Kenya.
A Maasai elder asks what the tribe can do for the people of America.
This book shows us compassion in a big way. One man inspires a whole group of people who own very little, half a world away from America, to want to show the Americans that they care about what happened in their country. What little things can we do each day to show compassion - not just at school, but at home and in our community?
Reading groups.
Read this poem aloud to a partner with the best expression you can. Then glue it into your poetry book.
Reading groups.
What is a drought? Have you ever experienced a drought? How did it change your way of living?
For most of us, a drought means that we have to be careful how much water we use. It means that we cannot wash our cars with hoses. It means we can only water our gardens in the morning and the evening.
Our book today happened in another African country, called Malawi. But the drought in this country had much greater effect on people's everyday lives.
Your teacher will share the true story The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind with you.
What connections do you make with other books we have read?
Below are two videos of talks given by William some years after this story happened.
What character values do you see in this story? Do you think you would have shown the same values if you had been in William's position? Here is what one boy did.
Click on the Readworks app and find the text called Ryan's Well. Read this article.
Think about the following questions:
What was the problem that Jimmy's village in Africa had?
How was this problem solved?
How were the problems in Jimmy's village and William's village (The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind story) similar?
What can you learn about solving problems from these 2 stories?
Now watch the video below.
Reading groups.
Read this poem aloud to a partner with the best expression you can. Then glue it into your poetry book.
Participate in reading activities given by your teacher.
Reading groups.
What do you think it would be like to move to another country and start going to school there? Do you think it would be easy? What about if it was a country where they didn't speak English?
If you are learning to play a musical instrument, think about how much time you spend practising?
Our book today is about a boy who was learning to play a cello, and who had to move countries and start school in another language,
Your teacher will share the book Yo-Yo Ma with you.
Here are a couple of fun examples showing how Yo-Yo Ma tried to make cello music fun for kids.
Yo-Yo Ma also wanted to do something to help people who had disabilities. In this video clip he is playing music with soldiers who are blind, or have lost a leg or arm when they were in the army.
What kind of a text is this book about Yo-Yo Ma?
What is the most important character value that you see in this book, that you would most like to show yourself?
Reading groups.
You might remember Mrs Ibbott reading this poem to the class earlier in the year. Now it is your chance to read it and illustrate it yourself.
Read this poem aloud to a partner with the best expression you can. Then glue it into your poetry book and draw some illustrations if you have time.
Participate in reading activities given by your teacher (reading cards, reading groups, Article-a-Day or independent reading). Open the Seesaw activity I Am A Reader, take a photo of a page from a book you are reading, and then record yourself reading that page.
Read this poem aloud to a partner with the best expression you can. Then glue it into your poetry book.
Your teacher will ask you to complete the Polar Bears reading task.
Reading groups.
Have you ever taken ballet lessons, or do you know someone who does? Do you think it is easy? What do you think is important for someone to become a famous ballet dancer?
Your teacher will share the book The Peasant Prince with you.
The story of The Peasant Prince was written for children. Li Cunxin's story was written in a book for adults called Mao's Last Dancer.
Watch these two video clips. One is an example of Li Cunxin dancing in a ballet. The other is Li Cunxin telling his own story.
In Australia there is a famous art competition, called the Archibald Prize, where artists paint portraits of famous people. Here is a painting that one artist made of Li Cunxin the ballet dancer, in 2019.
What character values did Li Cunxin show? What character values do you think his wife showed?
Reading groups.
Read this poem aloud to a partner with the best expression you can. Then glue it into your poetry book.
Participate in reading activities given by your teacher (reading cards, reading groups, Article-a-Day or independent reading). Open the Seesaw activity I Am A Reader, take a photo of a page from a book you are reading, and then record yourself reading that page.
Reading groups.
Do you know where your parents were born and grew up?
Were you born in Australia, or did you or someone else in your family move to this country from somewhere else?
Our book this week is about another child who was born in a poor country, and how his family tried to make a better life for themselves.
Your teacher will share the book The Little Refugee with you. Just like our last story, this book was first written for adults and called The Happiest Refugee, and then it was re-written for children.
Every human being should be treated equally and has rights and the right to freedom and a sense of belonging to a country and a community.
We often hear stories about people coming to Australia as refugees, in search of a better life. But what we don't hear much about is the long journey they took. You're about to hear the story about a young guy who escaped a country at war. Here's Tash.
Reading groups.
Geography Excursion
Reading groups.