English / Year 2 / Literacy / Interpreting, analysing, evaluating

Curriculum content descriptions

Use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning and begin to analyse texts by drawing on growing knowledge of context, language and visual features and print and multimodal text structures (ACELY1670)

Elaborations
  • making connections between the text and students’ own experiences and experiences with other texts, comparing authors’ differing point of view on a topic
  • making connections between information in print and images
  • building on and using prior knowledge and vocabulary
  • making valid inferences using information in a text and students’ own prior knowledge
  • predicting, asking and answering questions as they read, and summarising and reviewing meaning
General capabilities
  • Literacy Literacy
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
ScOT terms

Reading comprehension,  Multimodal texts

Video

Sally Rippin on authors and illustrators

Watch this clip to find out about the relationship between authors and illustrators. What role does the publisher play in this relationship? What does Sally Rippin say about the role of illustrations in books for young children?

Online

Teaching Reading and Viewing - Comprehension Strategies and activities for Years 1-9

This resource developed by the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority provides teachers with a collection of strategies and activities for developing students’ comprehension. It is a companion document to the series of guides on teaching reading and viewing. The strategies are listed alphabetically in the table ...

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 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

Developing characters with Leigh Hobbs

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 ...

Online

Web-based literacy intervention for struggling readers

This teacher resource describes the Academy of READING online strategy implemented at Palmyra Primary School in Western Australia to help years 2 and 3 students who were making little progress in reading. The resource is organised in eight sections: Summary, Target student group, Method, Results, Lessons learned, Research ...

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.

Video

Listening for rhythm with author Tony Wilson

Tony Wilson says that listening to rhyming books is like listening to music. How are they similar? Read a rhyming book out loud or ask someone to read one to you, and see if you can hear the rhythm. Can you clap along to it? Think about rhythm when you write your next story. Can you write something that has a beat?

Video

How to get better at writing in rhyme

What does author Tony Wilson suggest doing to improve your rhyming skills? Why do you think reading might help? Are you familiar with the books and authors Tony mentions? Dame Lynley Dodd is the author of the Hairy Maclary books and Julia Donaldson is another successful author who uses rhyming in her books. Look them up ...

Video

Why is it useful to have a big bad wolf character in stories?

Watch this clip to hear Andy Griffiths explain why it's good to have villains in stories. How can the "big bad wolf" character help to move the story along? Think about some of the stories you've read lately. Which characters were the "big bad wolf" characters and what did they add to the stories? 

Video

How to make a story interesting

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 ...

Video

Storyline Online: Lotus and feather by Ji-Li Jiang

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 ...

Video

Changing ideas and discovering themes in stories

Have you ever started out with an idea for a story and later realised you wanted to change it? You're not the only one! In fact, changing your mind is all part of the process of writing. Listen as author Tony Wilson explains how the idea for his book 'The Cow Tripped over the Moon' changed over time. What was his initial ...

Video

Storyline Online: To be a drum by Eveline Coleman

Daddy Wes whispers to his two young listeners one morning the story of the 'drum', the pulse that has moved through the African people and through time and place. This series of videos features illustrated stories read aloud by well-known US based actors supported by the illustrations. Each book is supplemented with guides ...

Video

Storyline Online: How I learned Geogrpahy by Uri Shulevitz

Having fled from war in their troubled homeland, a boy and his family are living in poverty in a strange country. Food is scarce, so when the boy’s father brings home a map instead of bread for supper, at first the boy is furious. But when the map is hung on the wall, it floods their cheerless room with color. As the boy ...

Online

Creating change as a literacy coach

This teacher resource describes how a literacy coach made a substantial difference to students' literacy achievements, teachers' involvement in literacy strategies and whole-school culture at Allendale East Area School in South Australia. Organised in nine sections: Summary; Target student group; Method; Results; Lessons ...

Interactive

Syllabus bites – responding to literature

A web page with information, teacher guides and resources on responding to texts. This resource supports the NSW English K-10 syllabus.

Interactive

Read between the lines: park

Read signs around a park to gather information that will help you answer a question about the park. Analyse the information in each sign to work out the implied meaning, and to determine people's opinions, feelings and ideas about the park and whether it is a healthy place for children. Record your opinion of what each ...

Online

Primary English: models and modelling

These seven learning activities, which focus on 'modelling texts' using a variety of tools (software) and devices (hardware), illustrate the ways in which content, pedagogy and technology can be successfully and effectively integrated in order to promote learning. In the activities, teachers are provided with guidance about ...

Online

Primary English: different representations

These seven learning activities, which focus on 'representations' using a variety of tools (software) and devices (hardware), illustrate the ways in which content, pedagogy and technology can be successfully and effectively integrated in order to promote learning. In the activities, teachers expose students to a wide range ...