Year 3 - 6

Many of the ideas on this page have come directly from the Department of Educations "Literacy and Numeracy tips - To help your child everyday". Included within this Home Learning portal are handy tips and ways you can help your child develop their literacy skills. There are some fun, inexpensive, accessible and practical activities you can do with your child at home. reading to your child.

These years are a time when your child will learn more about the world. Engaging them in discussions improves their speaking skills, and helps them understand the world and their place in it. In these years your child will also begin to write with greater confidence. The ability to write well enables your child to communicate effectively, and will improve their chances of success at school and in their future careers.

Literacy in these upper years can always be fun and engaging. Let your child choose books and activities matched to their interests, and always encourage a healthy dose of fun and play in all activities. This will help foster in your child a love of reading, talking and writing.

Book Chat

Book chat is an important strategy to help your child to reflect more deeply on the content and meaning of their favourite books. In the previous section, Foundation - 2, book chat questions related mainly to recalling information on plot and character. These questions are still very important to ask when your child is in primary school. As your child moves through primary school, add more questions when discussing the book you are reading together, or when discussing the book your child is reading independently. Some further questions might include:

Discussing news and current events

As your child gets older, they become more aware of news and current events. Discussing news and current events can enrich your child’s understanding of the world. Questions are an effective way to encourage your child to think critically about an event and can help foster empathy. Questions also help your child to develop oral fluency when discussing social issues.

Questions you might ask when discussing a news story or current event include:

· What do you think caused the event?

· How do you think people will be affected?

· Is it fair?

· Why do you think people think that/do that?

· What do you think will happen next?

· How could the problem be fixed?

Some other activities to develop your discussion:

· Read several articles together on the same issue to get different opinions. Then discuss the different opinions.

· Have a debate on a topic, with you and your child taking different sides of the issue.

· Download and listen to podcasts on an issue, and discuss.

· Discuss different “What if?” scenarios. This will help develop your child’s problem solving and imagination.

Here are some tips to encourage reading:

It is recommended that you continue to read together in the later primary years, even if your child is reading independently.

· If your child likes an author, find another book or a series of books by the same author.

· Encourage your child to read about their favourite author or illustrator at their website.

· Introduce your child to read different genres such as fantasy, science-fiction, action and adventure.

· Introduce your child to reading different types of texts, such as poems, music lyrics, and short plays.

· Encourage your child to read non-fiction. The newspaper or an online encyclopedia might be a good start, but your child might also be interested in history books or autobiographies of their favourite sportsperson or celebrity.

· Encourage your child to use a dictionary to look up words they might not understand.

· Allow your child to play age-appropriate video games that require reading.

· Take your child to the local library often so they can choose, borrow and renew books. Taking your child to the library at the beginning of school holidays encourages weeks of independent reading.

· Encourage your child to borrow from their school library as well.

· Encourage your child to join the Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge, which runs each year from March to September. Participating schools will register your child – otherwise you can register your child at: Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge

Digital writing and creating

We now live in a world full of digital technology. To give your child the best chance of success in literacy, it is important that your child becomes comfortable with technology and can use various technologies to share their ideas and show their creativity.

Some activities your child might do include:

· Create a website with a specific interest in mind, such as a hobby, a sports team, or an historical event that interests them.

· Write a blog on a hobby or interest.

· Write a short film script and then shoot the film using a mobile phone, tablet or video recorder. Use editing software to edit the film and create titles.

· Write a radio script and then record the script using a mobile phone, tablet, or digital voice recorder.

· Write a short story and record it using a mobile phone, tablet, or voice recorder. Find digital film score music or sound effects to create mood and suspense.

· Write emails or instant messages to family members.

Use presentation or slide software to create presentations for the family about a recent family holiday, or about something of personal interest

Family projects

Take the opportunity to involve the whole family in reading and writing.

Some family projects could include:

· Email friends or family members.

· Write messages together on your social networking sites to communicate with family and friends.

· Read a book series together.

· Read together the instructions for a new household item to find out how it works.

· Record family events or travel experiences in a journal or on an online blog.

· Write plays and perform them for family and friends.

· Write a film script together and make the film.

· Read, select and collect news articles, and create an album about, for example, a sporting team, favourite animal, or leisure activity.

· Solve crosswords, word puzzles, brain-teasers, and quizzes.

· Browse libraries and bookshops together. Search for cheap books in charity stores and at garage sales.

· Prepare for an outing together, including reading public transport timetables, maps, and information brochures.

Creating a literacy-rich home

Creating a literacy-rich home gives your child every opportunity to engage in reading, writing, speaking and listening. This kind of environment encourages your child to see these skills as an important and normal part of every day.

Here are some tips to create a literate home:

· Books. Lots of books. With lots of books your child will see reading as a normal activity and will always have something new to read.

· Create a language-rich bedroom and home for your child, with alphabet and word posters, and labels.

· Organise a bookshelf to display your child’s books.

· Create a comfortable space for your child to read, perhaps with cushions and blankets, to encourage your child to see reading as a relaxing and fun activity.

· Provide writing materials and a writing desk. Having different pens and pencils, and a place to write, encourages your child to write more often. Creating a special ‘writing box’ to store your child’s pens and pencils helps your child see writing as an important activity.

· Collect props for imaginative play, and materials for craft projects. These can form the basis for practising speaking and writing.

· Set aside a time each week for ‘family reading time’ when every family member is reading, either individually or together.

· Regularly discuss what your child is reading or writing.

· Very importantly, read yourself. One of the most important ways to get your child reading is to model reading for your child. Children are encouraged to read – and to see reading as a normal part of the day – if they see their parents reading often. Siblings, grandparents, and other relevant persons in a child’s life can also be reading role models.