English / Foundation / Language / Text structure and organisation

Curriculum content descriptions

Understand that some language in written texts is unlike everyday spoken language (ACELA1431)

Elaborations
  • learning that written text in Standard Australian English has conventions about words, spaces between words, layout on the page and consistent spelling because it has to communicate when the speaker/writer is not present
General capabilities
  • Literacy Literacy
ScOT terms

Text types,  Spoken texts,  Register (Language)

Online

Focused Improvement in Early Literacy Development (FIELD)

This teacher resource describes an evidence-based strategy in which eight disadvantaged metropolitan schools and 12 remote schools in Western Australia assessed the oral English language and emergent literacy development of their pre-primary (Foundation) students, and used that data to inform explicit teaching of English ...

Video

Hey diddle diddle' sung by Teddy Rock

Watch and listen as Buzz, Belle and Bop perform 'Hey diddle diddle' in this animated music video. Then try to create your own sentences that include pairs of words that sound the same at the end (rhyme).

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

Gubuluk

Listen as Anne Gela tells the story of "Gubuluk". Anne is a Mualgal woman from the St Paul community of Moa Island, which is in the inner-west Torres Strait group of islands. Can you find Moa Island on a map? Anne speaks Big Thap Creole/Yumplatok.

Video

'This old man' sung by Teddy Rock

Watch and listen to Teddy Rock perform the nursery rhyme 'This old man' in this animated music video. Then have some fun with counting and rhyme as you create and perform new verses for the song.

Video

English Year F with Leanne: Decoding unfamiliar words using onset and rime

In this lesson, you will learn how to decode unfamiliar words by breaking them up into onset (the starting sound) and rime (the ending of words). Leanne demonstrates how to build and read new words by changing the onset. She provides opportunities for you to have a go at home.

Video

Andy Griffiths' tips for starting your story

Get some tips from Andy Griffiths on what to think about when you start to write a story. What does he say about plot? Why not take Andy's advice and start a story by thinking about something that has happened to you and then exaggerate it somehow. Concentrate on writing a short, dramatic moment by using lots of detail ...

Online

Patterns

This is a unit of inquiry made up of 12 learning sequences for year F in the English for the Australian Curriculum resource. Each learning sequence contains a series of resources, suggested activities to carry out with students and a post-activity reflection. This unit examines patterns in literature and language, with ...

Text

MoneySmart: Ava makes a difference

This is a digital big book about how a young girl makes and sells pancakes as part of a class fundraising event to help a family whose house has burnt down, and how she learns the importance of helping people in need. Developed as part of the MoneySmart Teacher Package, the story is suitable for children from Foundation ...

Online

Planting fruit and vegetables

In this sequence of lessons students grow a plant from seed, capturing each step and decision as an algorithmic process and recording data for future learning.

Interactive

Imagination moment: Baking Banana Bread: Daniel Tiger's Neighbourhood

Daniel learns the steps involved in baking banana bread. See what ingredients are used and how they are mixed together following the simple recipe.

Video

The wallaby and the dugong

This animation of a contemporary story created by primary school children from the Lockhart River community in Far North Queensland. The story is told in two versions; one in English language and one in Umpila language. A glossary of language in provided along with a transcript of the story.

Online

Little J & Big Cuz

These resources provide support for Early Years (K-2) educators with ideas and options for including Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander knowledge, understanding and skills in their teaching and learning programs. A filter is provided to guide teachers to resources which relate to specific learning areas and/or year ...

Video

Introduction to SSP - Module 2: framework for evidence-informed reading instruction

This 14-minute professional learning video, presented by literacy expert Jocelyn Seamer, discusses the framework for evidence-informed reading instruction. It includes information on the Simple View of Reading, Scarborough’s Reading Rope model and the Big Six of reading instruction (oral language, phonological awareness, ...

Audio

Little Red and the Big Bad Croc

This imaginative digital text is an innovation on the traditional tale of Little Red Riding Hood. It is an audio text with matching illustrations. The resource includes a teaching sequence related to the Big Six components of literacy development (oral language, phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension) ...

Downloadable

Phonemic awareness overview

This document outlines the continuum of phonological and phonemic awareness skills and provides evidence and advice on effective phonemic awareness instruction. It is essential information for teachers implementing phonics instruction using a systematic synthetic phonics approach.

Video

Demonstration of a phonics lesson

This video provides a demonstration of a phonics lesson using explicit instruction principles. It is presented by literacy specialists Elaine Stanley and Rebecca McEwan.

Text

Free decodable texts

This document summarises some of the free online decodable texts for Australian classrooms available on third-party websites.

Downloadable

Phonics pair-game template

The pair games and activities in this document can be used as part of your systematic synthetic phonics program to encourage students to develop their phonics skills with peers during independent practice.

Downloadable

Morphology review slides

This example morphology review slide pack is ready for classroom use, and it contain notes for teachers. It can be edited to match any morphology lesson, and aligns with the Literacy Hub phonics progression.