Lessons

The following are the scaffolded texts used for the lesson. Each includes at least one image, and that, along with the title can be used for an introductory discussion to harness the student's prior knowledge. During the reading of the text itself, the student uses only as much support as is required and they can self-manage this. The scaffolding is to give the reader a handle on decoding at word-level, and is only one of the strategies that should be employed. Encourage the reader to take the information made available, read on, read back, search for meaning and self-correct if necessary.

When the passage is finished, use the Comprehension box at the bottom to discuss strategies like word clarification, retelling with detail, asking and answering literal, inferential and analytical questions, visualising descriptive language and making connections with elements of the text. Then, in the Word Study box they use the scaffolding in the text to look more closely at some aspects of grammar, seeing first hand how words behave, for example when they are given affixes, or contracted. Splitting the longer stories up into short 'chapters' also allows the student to get to grips with how to summarise a plotline.

Subcategories

  • Narrative

    Narratives, as opposed to Slice of Life stories, have an orientation giving you a setting and introducing the main characters, then creating a problem which the plot line goes on to solve. Because they are longer, they are often split into smaller chapter sections. Look for development of setting and character throughout, dialogue to move the storyline along, and descriptive writing that harnesses the senses and shows, not tells. 

  • Folk Tales

    Folk tales are very old stories from all around the world, first told orally through the generations, but written down over time. When they have animals as the main characters, given human attributes to explore different morals or values, they are called fables. The authors are generally unknown and there are often different versions of the same tale from different parts of the world. The animals in the stories obviously depend on the part of the world the fable originates from.

  • Letters

    Letters come in all shapes and sizes. They can take the form of a handwritten note on paper, put in an envelope and mailed using the old-fashioned postal system. They can be on the back of a postcard. But mostly, now, our written correspondence happens in the form of email, sent via the Internet. Letters and email can be very informal and chatty, written to friends and family, or more formal, written to a person you may have only met or communicated with briefly before, or they can be very formal, to a business or to an official in a government office, where you don't know the name, or don't wish to use the name of the person who will receive the correspondence.

  • Non-fiction

    This section contains many different categories of non fiction, ranging from animal reports and explanations to instructions and newspaper reports. Non fiction texts contain formal language where the author's voice is less obvious and the material is factual. It tends to be arranged in sections under headings with an introduction and a summarising conclusion. Diagrams, photographs, sketches, maps and boxed information may be present, accompanied by headings, captions and labels. 

  • Slice of Life

    Slice of Life are short stories catching a moment in time. They are very personal and often reflect a strong emotional response. They are highly descriptive, using the senses,  embellishing vocabulary and figures of speech such as simile, metaphor and alliteration, to paint a picture in the reader's mind.

  • Poetry

    Poetry is a short and sweet form of writing where feelings and ideas are made powerful by the careful choice of words and an enjoyable sense of rythmn when read aloud. There are lots of different forms: some ryhming, some not, to choose from. Use of senses, descriptive words and parts of speech like simile, metaphor and personification, repetition of phrases, words and sounds are among some of the techniques used to achieve this.

  • Descriptions

    Learning to describe people, places and events can really bring poetic writing to life. Again, use of the senses, descriptive language and interesting imagery are important techniques to paint pictures in the reader's mind.

  • Language Building

    This section has lots of exercises and lesson plans for building up vocabulary and complex sentence structure to make writing more interesting. Much of this is located under the Resources menu.

  • English as a Second Language
  • Persuasion