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

Teddy Rock's 'Twinkle, twinkle little star'!

Sing along with Buzz, Belle and Bop as they perform 'Twinkle, twinkle little star' in this animated music video. Then have some fun exploring rhyme and description as you create your own verse for this classic nursery rhyme.

Video

ABC Open: Welcome to Shelly Beach, Port Lincoln

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.

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

Andy Griffiths on writing songs and stories

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?

Video

'Sing a song of sixpence' sung by Teddy Rock

Watch and listen to Buzz, Belle and Bop perform the nursery rhyme 'Sing a song of sixpence' in this animated music video. Find out where the king was, what the queen was doing and what happened to the maid. Have fun retelling the story.

Interactive

BlobbleWriteHD - iTunes app

Learn to construct lower case letters and digits. Choose a letter to practise and choose a pen colour. Copy the blobble characters as they trace out the strokes to write the letters. The red dot shows you where to start. Free when reviewed 5/6/15.

Interactive

Phonics Fun 4 - iTunes app

Learn letter sounds and rime as you tap pictures and hear letter sounds. Match the letters and sounds to the pictures. Covers 9 letter sounds (a, e, i, o, u, qu, sh, z, v), 5 rimes (ip, ot, x, at, un) in 75 words. Free when reviewed 6/6/15.

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

Talking dino - app for iPad

This is an iPad app. Design a talking dinosaur to present at show and tell. Create your dinosaur by selecting from a range of elements such as mood, size and colour. Choose a voice and background picture for your dinosaur. Decide on a name that suits your talking dinosaur. Select a note about your dinosaur. Watch the animation. ...

Text

BBC Bitesize: use of punctuation - worksheet

This is a brief, printable worksheet where students insert the correct punctuation into gaps in sentences. The punctuation marks required include full stops, question marks and speech marks. This resource is one of a series of online resources from the BBC's Bitesize collection.

Video

Storyline Online: Carla's sandwich by Debbie Herman

When Carla brings weird sandwiches to school, her classmates have plenty to say about them. “That’s sick!” says Leslie. “That’s disgusting!” says Natie. But Carla thinks otherwise. “It’s unique. It’s creative.” - Just like Carla. This series of videos features illustrated stories read aloud by well-known US based actors ...

Video

Storyline Online: A tale of two beasts by Fiona Robertson

There are two sides to every story. In Part One, a little girl finds a strange beast in the woods and takes it home as a pet. She feeds it, shows it off to her friends and gives it a hat. But that night it escapes. Then, in Part Two, the beast tells the story of being kidnapped by the girl, who force-fed it squirrel food, ...

Interactive

Letter planet: s, c, b

Help a stranded space traveller return home by filling three fuel tanks with words that have the same letter. Select words that begin with 's', 'c' or 'b'. Read and listen to model words. Select similar words with the same starting letter and place them in the fuel tank. Then construct sentences by putting words in the ...

Interactive

Words and pictures: rhyme time

Meet Di, an artist who paints rhymes. Help Di paint three pictures by creating rhymes. Choose two words that rhyme such as lizard and wizard. Select a third word to make a phrase, for example a bear under a stair. Watch as Di paints a picture of the rhyming phrase.

Interactive

Words and pictures: last letter

Meet Di, an artist who paints phrases. Help Di paint three pictures by matching words that end with the same letter. Choose two words that have the same ending letter such as puppy and key. Select a third word to make a phrase, for example a puppy under a key. Watch as Di paints a picture of the phrase. This learning object ...

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 ...

Video

Learn a Dhurga greeting

Walawaani! Learn this Dhurga greeting by listening to teacher Kerry Boyenga and the students of St Mary's Primary School in Moruya. Walawaani means "We hope you've had a safe journey here", or "We hope you have a safe journey home". Dhurga is the first language of the NSW far south coast between Wandandean, Braidwood and ...

Interactive

Jumbled Sentences 7 - iTunes app

Learn to construct sentences by dragging jumbled words into place. You can turn on sound to hear each word spoken and hear your completed sentences read to you. With each successful sentence, you earn virtual coins to buy virtual stickers for your collection. This is one of a series of nine apps. Free when reviewed 6/6/15.

Interactive

Snapseed - Google Play app

Retouch, adjust perspective and re-edit your photos with this photoediting tool. Free when reviewed 26/5/2015