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There seems to be so much content. How can I cover everything?
Each mode and strand contains content descriptions, but these content descriptions should not be regarded as a checklist. The teaching and learning program should draw together the content descriptions from different strands into units of work with quality texts. This will allow the content to be covered in a meaningful way.
Not all content descriptions will require the same amount of teaching; some will need to be taught with different text types in different units, others might be explicitly taught in a lesson and then reinforced through feedback on student work.
Some content descriptions will be taught in an ongoing way, such as those related to spelling or punctuation.
Curriculum mapping templates have been developed to support teachers to identify where content descriptions and achievement standards are being explicitly addressed within the school’s teaching and learning program.
How many texts should I teach each year and how should I select them?
Texts are central to the study of English, and a teaching program should include a wide range of different text types. There is no set number of texts that must be taught.
When choosing texts, consider those that:
- allow for effective delivery of the curriculum, including informative, persuasive and imaginative texts
- represent a range of diverse voices and opinions, including texts by male and female authors
- represent Australian and world literature, including texts from Asia, and texts from Australia’s immigrant cultures
- foster an awareness and appreciation of, and respect for, the literature of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, including storytelling traditions as well as contemporary literature
- engage students by reflecting their interests, and extend students beyond their own experiences.
There’s a lot of grammar in this curriculum. How should I approach it?
In the Language strand, students develop their knowledge of the English language and how it works. The curriculum uses standard grammatical terminology within a contextual framework, in which language choices are seen to vary according to the topics at hand, the nature and proximity of the relationships between the language users, and the modalities or channels of communication available.
This means that the focus for teaching grammar should be on how it works in particular texts to achieve particular purposes. Grammar should be taught explicitly, but not in a decontextualised way.
For further information about the Language strand, please refer to the references in this
resource list .