This course includes both reading and writing. Students will engage in a comprehensive exploration of texts, emphasising reading comprehension and critical thinking skills. They will learn about different text types and purposes, and apply what they learn in their reading texts to their writing.
Course objectives
• Expand vocabulary by reading a diverse range of texts
• Develop advanced reading comprehension strategies, including interpreting and inferring from information
• Develop writing skills across a range of text types and purposes, including narrative, descriptive, informative (e.g. newspaper reports, advice sheets), and persuasive (e.g. arguments, reviews).
Teaching plan
Vocabulary is included in most weeks. Homework includes a writing task that is teacher-marked, and other activities that are self-marked. There is no homework in week 10.
Week 1: Narrative plot structure, crafting engaging similes, text analysis, cloze activity
Week 2: Narrative point of view, narrative conflict, text analysis, fiction comprehension
Week 3: Character description, dialogue punctuation, poetic techniques, poetry comprehension
Week 4: ‘Show, don't tell’, semicolons and colons, text analysis, linked extracts
Week 5: News report structure, text analysis, crafting headlines, including quotations, text structure, main idea summary
Week 6: Persuasive essay structure, text analysis, commas, fiction comprehension (focus on inferencing)
Week 7: Advertisements, triangle of rhetoric, persuasive techniques, paired texts comprehension
Week 8: Information reports, objective & subjective language, fact & opinion, text analysis, poetry comprehension
Week 9: Reading and writing assessments & review
Week 10: Idioms, tautologies, run-on sentences, fiction comprehension
| School | Offered | Reserved |
|---|---|---|
| James Ruse AHS | 46 | 10 |
| North Sydney Girls HS | 19 | 5 |
| Baulkham Hills HS | 35 | 17 |
| North Sydney Boys HS | 21 | 4 |
| Normanhurst Boys HS | 15 | 7 |
| Sydney Boys HS | 23 | 9 |
| Hornsby Girls HS | 15 | 5 |
| Sydney Girls HS | 14 | 1 |
| Fort Street HS | 9 | 3 |
| Penrith Selective HS | 4 | 1 |
| Girraween HS | 5 | 1 |
| NBSC Manly Campus | 3 | 1 |
| St George Girls HS | 2 | 1 |
| Hurlstone Agriculture HS | 15 | 1 |
| Others | 14+ |
| School | Offered | Reserved |
|---|---|---|
| Beecroft Public School | 9 | 6 |
| North Rocks Public School | 8 | 5 |
| Ermington Public School | 7 | 3 |
| Artarmon Public School | 7 | 2 |
| Matthew Pearce Public School | 6 | 4 |
| Dural Public School | 7 | 1 |
| Waitara Public School | 4 | 1 |
| Hurstville Public School | 3 | 2 |
| Ryde Public School | 4 | 1 |
| Ironbark Ridge Public School | 6 | 4 |
| Chatswood Public School | 7 | 3 |
| Woollahra Public School | 5 | 0 |
| Neutral Bay Public School | 6 | 0 |
| Others | 25+ |
| School | Offered | Reserved |
|---|---|---|
| James Ruese AHS | 7 | 1 |
| Baulkham Hills HS | 5 | 1 |
| North Sydney Girls HS | 4 | 2 |
| North Sydney Boys HS | 1 | 1 |
| Hornsby Girls HS | 3 | |
| Normanhurst Boys HS | 5 | 2 |
| Sydney Boys HS | 4 | |
| Sydney Girls HS | 3 | 2 |
| Penrith Selective HS | 1 | |
| Girraween HS | 2 | |
| NBSC Manly Campus | 3 | |
| Fort Street HS | 1 | |
| Others | 3 |