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: Inferencing character, narrative plot structure: Freytag’s Pyramid, compare-and-contrast text analysis
Week 2: Starting a story, narrative point of view, character types, text analysis
Week 3: Persuasive essay introduction, body paragraphs and conclusion, brainstorming arguments, identifying the main idea
Week 4: Vocabulary: using context clues, persuasive techniques, linked extracts, sentence gap-match
Week 5: Newspaper report: inverted triangle concept, adding quotations, grammar: changing direct quotations to indirect quotations, poetic devices, poetry comprehension
Week 6: Literary descriptions: setting, figurative language, sensory imagery, poetry comprehension
Week 7: Diary: language features, text analysis, understanding irony, reading comprehension
Week 8: Narrative analysis and comprehension, linked extracts, dialogue punctuation, visual metaphors
Week 9: Reading and writing assessments & review, purple prose
Week 10: Idioms, compare-and-contrast science fiction and fantasy, text analysis and comprehension, quick writes
| School | Offered | Reserved |
|---|---|---|
| James Ruse AHS | 0 | 0 |
| North Sydney Girls HS | 0 | 0 |
| Baulkham Hills HS | 0 | 0 |
| North Sydney Boys HS | 0 | 0 |
| Normanhurst Boys HS | 0 | 0 |
| Sydney Boys HS | 0 | 0 |
| Hornsby Girls HS | 0 | 0 |
| Sydney Girls HS | 0 | 0 |
| Fort Street HS | 0 | 0 |
| Girraween HS | 0 | 0 |
| St George Girls HS | 0 | 0 |
| Hurlstone Agriculture HS | 0 | 0 |
| Penrith Selective HS | 0 | 0 |
| NBSC Manly Campus | 0 | 0 |
| Others | 53+ |
| School | Offered | Reserved |
|---|---|---|
| James Ruse AHS | 0 | 0 |
| North Sydney Girls HS | 0 | 0 |
| Baulkham Hills HS | 0 | 0 |
| North Sydney Boys HS | 0 | 0 |
| Normanhurst Boys HS | 0 | 0 |
| Sydney Boys HS | 0 | 0 |
| Hornsby Girls HS | 0 | 0 |
| Sydney Girls HS | 0 | 0 |
| Fort Street HS | 0 | 0 |
| Penrith Selective HS | 0 | 0 |
| Girraween HS | 0 | 0 |
| NBSC Manly Campus | 0 | 0 |
| St George Girls HS | 0 | 0 |
| Hurlstone Agriculture HS | 0 | 0 |
| Others | 14+ |
| School | Offered | Reserved |
|---|---|---|
| Beecroft Public School | 0 | 0 |
| North Rocks Public School | 0 | 0 |
| Ermington Public School | 0 | 0 |
| Artarmon Public School | 0 | 0 |
| Matthew Pearce Public School | 0 | 0 |
| Dural Public School | 0 | 0 |
| Waitara Public School | 0 | 0 |
| Hurstville Public School | 0 | 0 |
| Ryde Public School | 0 | 0 |
| Ironbark Ridge Public School | 0 | 0 |
| Chatswood Public School | 0 | 0 |
| Woollahra Public School | 0 | 0 |
| Neutral Bay Public School | 0 | 0 |
| Others | 25+ |
| School | Offered | Reserved |
|---|---|---|
| James Ruese AHS | 0 | 0 |
| Baulkham Hills HS | 0 | 0 |
| North Sydney Girls HS | 0 | 0 |
| North Sydney Boys HS | 0 | 0 |
| Hornsby Girls HS | 0 | |
| Normanhurst Boys HS | 0 | 0 |
| Sydney Boys HS | 0 | |
| Sydney Girls HS | 0 | 0 |
| Penrith Selective HS | 0 | |
| Girraween HS | 0 | |
| NBSC Manly Campus | 0 | |
| Fort Street HS | 0 | |
| Others | 0 |
| Year 5/6 | Year 7/8 | |
|---|---|---|
| First Prize | Rose Asgari | Aditya Paul |
| Second Prize | Ian Jung | Indraneel Jishnu |
| Third Prize | Richelle Lam | Cynthia Cai |
| Highly Commended | Jaithra Vasani Anooushka Vijay Anand Lehan (Olivia) Xu |
Anna Crowley |