English / Year 3 / Literacy / Interpreting, analysing, evaluating

• TLF-IDM020465

What's the difference between writing song lyrics and writing a story? Andy Griffiths thinks they are quite similar. Why does he think this? How important is rhythm in Andy's stories? Next time you write a story, try reading it out loud and listen for the rhythm of the words. Can you make your story's rhythm sound even better?

• TLF-IDM019931

Leigh Hobbs says that his character Old Tom's black eye, fish bone and comb are visual devices - Tom's trade marks. What do you think he means by this? Can you think of other fictional characters with trade marks or something that encapsulates who they are?

• TLF-IDM020040

Watch and listen as local Parnkalla (Barngarla) boys Darnell and Kaiden Richards take you to their special place: Shelly Beach in Port Lincoln, South Australia. Learn some local Parnkalla words as the boys share a story about what connects their family and community to this beach.

• TLF-IDM025713

A winter illness left Lotus, a little girl, without a voice and without friends. A hunter’s bullet left Feather, a crane, injured and unable to fly. As Lotus nurses Feather back to health, their bond grows. Soon Feather is following Lotus everywhere, even to school! The bird dances to the girl’s reed whistle, much to the ...

• TLF-IDM020937

To make a good story, author Tony Wilson says you need your characters to either make difficult decisions or do something difficult. Can you think of any good stories you've read where neither of these things happen? It's very difficult! Think about a tricky decision you've had to make or perhaps it's a tricky thing you've ...

• TLF-IDM020466

How do you move your characters forward in a story? A trick Andy Griffiths uses is asking a lot of questions. His favourite question to ask is "what's the worst thing that can happen next?" Try asking yourself that question if you get stuck when writing your next story. In this clip Andy also talks about plot holes. What ...

• TLF-IDM021319

This is a series of eight short videos for students on how to write a personal narrative. The series covers brainstorming; planning and pre-writing; writing an introduction or opening; writing a draft; writing a closing or conclusion; revising my writing; editing my writing and publishing my writing.

• TLF-IDM020635

Is there a particular place or time of day that you love? How would you describe this place and time to someone to convey how you feel? What sort of mood would you want to create? The narrator in this video tells us she loves sunrise. How does she communicate this through the language she uses? What is the mood created?

• TLF-IDM020663

How can drawings of characters give readers clues about who they are? What are some of the clues Leigh Hobbs gives us about Old Tom's character through his drawings of him? Do you have a character in your head that you've been thinking about for a while? As you draw or write about your character, remember what Leigh says ...

• TLF-IDM020965

If you love to write, have you wondered why? Reflect on some reasons why you (or anyone else) might love writing, then watch Lili Wilkinson describe why she loves to write. How important is curiosity to her? How is that curiosity linked to empathy and why is that important to being a good writer?