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

Curriculum content descriptions

Use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning and begin to evaluate texts by drawing on a growing knowledge of context, text structures and language features (ACELY1680)

Elaborations
  • making connections between the text and students own experience and other texts
  • making connections between the information in print and images
  • making predictions and asking and answering questions about the text drawing on knowledge of the topic, subject-specific vocabulary and experience of texts on the same topic
  • using text features and search tools to locate information in written and digital texts efficiently
  • determining important ideas, events or details in texts commenting on things learned or questions raised by reading, referring explicitly to the text for verification
  • making considered inferences taking into account topic knowledge or a character’s likely actions and feelings
General capabilities
  • Literacy Literacy
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
  • Personal and social capability Personal and social capability
ScOT terms

Reading comprehension

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: 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

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

Literacy coaching - reading comprehension

This teacher resource describes a successful evidence-based strategy developed by Darlington Primary School in South Australia to improve the reading comprehension of students from Reception (Foundation) to year 7. The central focus of the strategy was a literacy coach supporting teachers' explicit instruction of higher-order ...

Online

Seeking different results: the Accelerated Literacy program

This is a teacher resource describing the evidence-based Accelerated Literacy strategy successfully implemented by Mayfield East Public School. The strategy improved the literacy, especially reading skills and levels, of its students and the professional competencies of its teachers. The resource is organised in eight sections: ...

Online

Creating a reading culture in a school community

This teacher resource describes how Proserpine State School in Queensland successfully responded to the need to improve student outcomes, especially in the area of reading, by implementing a whole-school approach that encouraged students to read more, and more widely. The resource is presented in eight sections: Summary; ...

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 ...

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

Read between the lines: neighbourhood

Read signs around a neighbourhood to gather information that will help you answer a question about pets. Analyse the information in each sign to work out the implied meaning, and to determine the opinions, feelings and ideas about pets in the neighbourhood. Record your opinion of what each sign means. Review the information ...

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 ...

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Literacy and numeracy improvement: a whole-school approach

This teacher resource describes how 74 public schools in metropolitan, regional and rural Western Australia used three major components of the school improvement cycle to achieve significant improvement in the literacy and numeracy learning outcomes of their students. The resource is organised in nine sections: Summary, ...

Online

Literacy Empowerment Project: Literacy Backpack Program

This teacher resource is about the Literacy Backpack Program established in 16 remote school campuses in the Katherine region of the Northern Territory. The program supplies books and magazines to schools and homes in the region as part of a levelled reading program and is designed to foster a community approach to reading. ...