English / Year 6 / Literacy / Interpreting, analysing, evaluating

Curriculum content descriptions

Analyse how text structures and language features work together to meet the purpose of a text (ACELY1711)

Elaborations
  • comparing the structures and features of different texts, including print and digital sources on similar topics, and evaluating which features best aid navigation and clear communication about the topic
General capabilities
  • Literacy Literacy
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
ScOT terms

Text structure

Interactive

Cartoons

This resource is for Stage 3, Stage 4 and Stage 5 and introduces the purpose and features of cartoons. It includes information slides showing examples of different types of cartoons and interactive questions to test students' understanding of the content covered.

Interactive

Tristan Bancks

This resource is a series of videos featuring writer Tristan Bancks talking about his writing. Related resources and teaching notes are included.

Text

Shaun Tan's The Lost Thing

This is a very rich resource for students from the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), which gives them an insight into the art of Shaun Tan through a focus on both the book and the film of The Lost Thing. The content focuses on aspects of storytelling, including themes, techniques, forms and language, visual, ...

Video

Narrative structure with Gary Crew

Listen as Gary Crew talks about the narrative structure of his book, Strange Objects. What are the reasons he gives for incorporating so many different sorts of texts (from newspaper articles to diaries and archeological reports) into his narrative?

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

Syllabus bites: Active and passive voice

A web page with information, teacher guides and activities on writing sentences using the active and passive voice. This resource supports the BOS NSW Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum in English K–10.

Video

BTN: What makes news?

What makes an event a news story? Find out about the well-established 'news formula' and how it helps determine what stories become news and what ones don't.

Text

And Then Something Changed Resource

This resource supports the film And Then Something Changed which explores what it is like to be a child with Achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism, and what it’s like to navigate a world that isn’t built for you. This resource explores themes from the short film, with learning tasks related to disability, inclusion, accessibility ...

Text

Media Representations Resource

This learning resource builds media literacy by examining how and why representations of people, places and ideas are constructed for television. Constructed for use by students, it includes video clips, commentary and discussion questions. The short learning tasks encourage students to critically reflect on their roles ...

Interactive

Beach safety: video campaign

Look at the importance of water safety and skin protection at a beach. Talk with a lifeguard and beach goers about safety tips. Build a video for a public awareness campaign. Choose animated clips to illustrate responsible behaviour. Examine differences between formal and informal language. Select text for the script that ...

Interactive

Garage beat: advertisement

Help members of a garage band to upgrade their musical instruments. Use a checklist from the lead singer to compare advertisements for used instruments. Identify instrument features, band preferences and price limits. Then build an advertisement aimed at selling a drum kit. Use a model structure, images and sample text.

Interactive

Super stories: The Abandoned House: verbs and adverbs

Help a publishing director create a bestselling horror story. Read the story. Choose effective verbs and adverbs to increase the impact of the story by making it scarier. Select illustrations that highlight the horror of the events.

Video

Thinking about settings with Leigh Hobbs

As Leigh Hobbs says, the great thing about inventing a character is that you also have the power to choose where they live. What's your character's world like? Describe your character at home. Where do they live? And what do they do there? Now choose a completely different location and plonk your character there. Think ...

Interactive

Pop star puzzle

Work out what happened to a missing celebrity. Examine clues in a rubbish bin. Note key dates and times of evidence such as a hairdresser's receipt and an invitation. Sort the evidence into chronological order. Use a model structure and sample paragraphs to build your own newspaper article: headline, introduction, summary ...

Interactive

Point of view: newspaper report

Examine a model newspaper report to learn about structure and use of verbs, adverbial phrases and pronouns. Read and listen to two witness reports of a skateboarding accident. Identify the two different points of view. Arrange paragraphs for the newspaper report. Select suitable verbs and adverbial phrases for the report. ...

Interactive

Finish the story: bushfire

Edit a comic book story to make it more exciting and complete. Look closely at a narrative about an adventure where a couple driving home are trapped by a bushfire. Choose an ending. Improve the story by adding adverbs, choosing verbs and changing nouns to pronouns. Choose a title and image for the cover.

Interactive

Rainforest: make a walking track

Mark the route for a walking track on a map of a rainforest. Choose a section of track based on instructions about distances, compass directions and grid references. Keep adding sections of track to get to the rest house. As you go, look up the meaning of tricky words.

Online

Cats, Dogs and Us: Lesson Plans (years 5-6)

This teacher resource is an International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) resource designed to encourage students to examine the physical characteristics and natural behaviours of cats and dogs, and discuss the various ways we live with and care for cats and dogs around the world. It consists of seven lesson plans, two worksheets, ...

Video

Andy Griffiths' advice for becoming a brave writer

Are you sometimes a bit scared to share your writing with other people? Find out what Andy Griffiths recommends. If you don't have a journal or a diary, why not get your hands on an exercise book and start writing a little bit every day to practise. As Andy says, you can write about any crazy thing you like! It's only for ...

Video

Merri Creek - river of rubbish?

Find out about some of the issues and solutions related to managing litter pollution at a local creek. View this clip called 'Merri Creek - river of rubbish?', created by young reporters from North Fitzroy Primary School, Victoria. The clip was developed as part of the ABC Splash Live 'Making the news!' project, which featured ...