English / Year 2 / Language / Language for expressing and developing ideas

Curriculum content descriptions

experiment with and begin to make conscious choices of vocabulary to suit the topic (AC9E2LA09)

Elaborations
  • selecting vocabulary appropriate to the topic to replace everyday language
  • discussing new vocabulary encountered in learning area texts
  • exploring language used to describe characters in narratives, including nouns; for example, “magician”, “wizard”, “sorcerer”, and adjectives such as “gentle”, “timid” or “frightened”
  • identifying words from First Nations Australians’ languages relevant to a topic
General capabilities
  • Literacy Literacy
ScOT terms

Words,  Vocabularies

Video

Feathers, Fur and Fins: A song about platypus

Watch as a platypus emerges from its burrow on the bank of a billabong (small lake). As you watch, listen to Don Spencer's song as he describes seeing a platypus and explores its unusual looks.

Video

Feathers, Fur and Fins: A song about black swans

Discover a graceful Australian bird, the black swan. Watch the images (pictures) and listen to the lyrics (words) of the song by Don Spencer as he sings about the black swan.

Video

Feathers, Fur and Fins: A song about flying foxes

Have you seen a flying fox which is a type of fruit bat? Don Spencer uses descriptive words and phrases in his flying fox song to help us understand these animals and explore a day in their life.

Text

Painting: The Art of Self Expression

How are elements of art and styles expressed through painting? In this K-2 lesson, students will explore elements of art and different artists' techniques to create various styles of paintings. Students will interpret art and describe styles by using key vocabulary terms when discussing paintings.

Text

The Big Book of Old Tom: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support the story The Big Book of Old Tom. Explore themes of family, living alone/living with others, making and keeping friends, pets, respect and social awareness. This unit provides practical teaching ideas, assessment tasks and suggestions about how students might respond creatively ...

Text

Work sample Year 2 English: Imaginative writing using a known character

This work sample demonstrates evidence of student learning in relation to aspects of the achievement standards for Year 2 English. The primary purpose for the work sample is to demonstrate the standard, so the focus is on what is evident in the sample not how it was created. The sample is an authentic representation of ...

Online

Waterways: behaviour change

We have the power to help keep our coastlines, rivers, lakes, swamps, creeks, floodplains, billabongs and estuaries clean by diverting rubbish from our waterways. We can all be change makers. By altering our everyday habits such as limiting our use of single-use plastic items, we can also inspire others to do the same. This ...

Interactive

Syllabus bites: types of sentences

A web page resource with information, teacher guides and activities on types of sentences to support the Australian Curriculum in English K–10. It has detailed activities, links to resources and quizzes.

Interactive

Dragon's jumble: dream: four parts

Help a dragon remember what happened in his dream. View four pictures from a recount. Place the pictures in the correct order. Choose sentences to match what is happening in the pictures. Add temporal connectives such as 'to begin with', 'after that' and 'last of all' to show the order of events. Watch an animation of the ...

Interactive

Wonderful words, creative stories: beach

Add descriptive words to two simple sentences about a boy and a girl at the beach to make the sentences more interesting. Try out different descriptive words in each sentence. Notice how your choice of words affects the animated images in each sentence. Use your two lively sentences as the start and ending of an imaginative ...

Interactive

Make it happen: give away a bike

It’s time to give away a bike that you have outgrown. Create a notice to find someone to give your bike to. Include a statement, photo and important details such as contact address and phone number. Select places to put up the notice. Consider the replies to your notice when deciding who to give the bike to. Look for the ...

Interactive

Super stories: The Abandoned House: nouns and adjectives

Help a publishing director create a bestselling horror story. Read the story. Choose effective nouns and adjectives to increase the impact of the story and make it scarier. Select illustrations that highlight the horror of the events. This learning object is one in a series of four objects.

Video

Cooking verbs

Verbs used to describe different actions while cooking are many and varied. Learn some of them in this short Australia Plus video. What do you think is the difference between 'chop' and 'cut' and 'dice'?

Video

Cleaning verbs

When you tell someone you're cleaning, you're giving them a general idea of what you're doing. Some of the verbs mentioned in this video are more specific and can help you describe what you're doing in more detail. What are some other verbs that describe more generally what you are doing, and what are some verbs that can ...

Video

Feathers, Fur and Fins: A song about koalas

Some people mistakenly call a koala a bear, but it's not. Listen to this fun song by Don Spencer to find out how a koala might feel about being called a bear.

Video

Feathers, Fur and Fins: A song about the Kookaburra's call

Have you heard a Kookaburra's call? Watch this clip and listen to the lyrics of the song performed by Don Spencer that captures in sounds and words the magical call of the kookaburra.

Video

Feathers, Fur and Fins: A song about emus

Imagine what it would be like to be a bird that cannot fly? Watch the clip and listen to the song by Don Spencer that captures in words and rhythm how the flightless emu thunders through the Australian bush.

Video

Feathers, Fur and Fins: A song about kangaroos

This is a song about an Australian animal, the kangaroo. Don Spencer sings lyrics about how people from all over the world come to see the kangaroo. Listen to the rhythm. It is like the hopping of a kangaroo.

Interactive

Just like me: Sammy, Zeina and Dawit

Meet three children who like different things, Sammy, Zeina and Dawit. Choose your favourite things from several groups such as musical instruments, pets and places. Discover the children's favourite things. See if they match your choices. Notice that some of the children's favourite things are different to yours. This ...

Interactive

Make it happen: find Honey

Honey is missing. Create a notice to let people know your dog is lost. Include a statement, photo and important details such as contact address and phone number. Select places to put up the notice. Consider the replies to your notice when deciding where to look for Honey. Look for Honey at the locations on the map. Check ...