This course is designed to foster a love for language through interactive and age-appropriate activities. Students will engage in reading and writing exercises that promote language development and comprehension across a range of text types, such as information reports, narratives, opinion pieces and news articles. The weekly writing task is based on the reading activities, allowing students the opportunity to practise what they've learnt, thus building essential skills for effective comprehension and communication.
Course objectives
• Expand vocabulary by reading a diverse range of texts
• Develop reading comprehension skills, from locating and identifying information to interpreting and inferring from the text
• Express thoughts and ideas through creative and persuasive writing
• Improve spelling, grammar and punctuation
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: Genres of writing, structure of a narrative, story starters, adding suffixes, narrative comprehension
Week 2: Using descriptive language, building vocabulary, using sensory details, types of narrative endings
Week 3: Narrative comprehension and analysis, using flashbacks
Week 4: Inference, narrative comprehension, vocabulary in context, sensory imagery
Week 5: Recount structure, connectives, past tense, historical recount
Week 6: Differences between recount and narrative, text analysis, vocabulary in context
Week 7: Auditory and visual devices in poetry, poetry comprehension
Week 8: Poetic techniques, haiku, limericks, poetry comprehension
Week 9: Reading and writing assessments & review, grammar and vocabulary quiz
Week 10: Fiction and non-fiction comprehension and analysis, narrative point-of-view
| 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 |