Relating graphics and text• Cut a visual text into parts. That is, cut the diagram or graphic into sections and separate any captions which

accompany it. An example is a number of labelled images of a person using safety devices and wearingprotective equipment whilst abseiling.

• Place the individual captions in an envelope and keep these aside.

• Distribute the graphic to students. Ask them to examine the graphic and predict what the relevant text mightbe about.

• Get students to write down key words about each graphic that may be useful in identifying the relevant caption.

• Distribute the caption envelopes and ask students to read them for understanding.

• Tell students to highlight the key words in each caption and match it to the appropriate part on the graphic.Encourage students to share their ideas with others.

• Ask students to explain the purpose of the visual text and determine its audience (ie people interested inabseiling).

Seven strips note-making strategySeven strips note-making is a technique to develop strategic note-making skills. Repeated use of this techniqueand the gradual withdrawal of the scaffolding provided by this strategy will help students work towardsindependence in locating main ideas in texts and making effective notes.

• Find a topic-related text containing clear ideas. The text can be either graphic or text based or a combination(also consider the use of film). Discuss the purpose and audience of the text with students.

• Put students in working groups of four.

• First, tell individual students to locate seven ideas from the text that they consider to be most important.

• Direct students to record their chosen ideas on strips of paper (one idea per strip). It is important that studentsrecord a whole idea not just a key word.

• Next, ask students to pool their ideas with those chosen by other members of their small group. Tell them toreduce the pooled ideas to a final selection of seven after discussion and to discard unwanted or duplicatedchoices.

• At this point direct students to either share their selection or go on to develop a written summary.

• Withdraw scaffolding by: asking students to record their seven ideas on one page using dot points; havingstudents select ideas as a group by crossing out unwanted or duplicated information; having students workindividually to select ideas and record them.

• Assess note-taking for main ideas by: asking students to construct a set of notes from a topic-related text orconverting a set of notes into extended prose (noting audience and purpose for the text).

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COHESION

Several devices can be used to pull a text together as a cohesive whole, to ensure the flow of ideas in a text isclear to the reader. Correct use of pronouns and other forms of reference help to give cohesion to a text. (Seealso the section on CONNECTIVE DEVICES on page 12.)

A pronoun stands in place of a noun, noun group or name. Pronouns generally need to have clear reference,referring to something that has been identified or named elsewhere in the text. Pronouns generally refer back towords mentioned earlier in the text, however sometimes a pronoun can be used and referenced to a word forwardin the text. For example:

Correct pronoun use

Lucy may seem shy but she loves making friends. (refers back)

Although it was late, the train finally arrived. (refers forwards)

Incorrect pronoun use

It was late so Ming was relieved when it finally arrived. (unclear reference)

Pronouns help to give a text cohesion and prevent it from becoming repetitious. Pronouns are only effective ifthey are not ambiguous (that is, there is a clear line of reference) and if they are not used repetitively.

Different types of pronouns include:• personal – I, we, he, she, you, it, they, me, us, her, him, them

• possessive – mine, ours, yours, hers, his, its, theirs

• reflexive – myself, ourselves, yourself, yourselves, herself, himself, themselves

• demonstrative – this, that, these, those

• indefinite – each, any, some, all, one

• relative – who, whom, whose, which, that

• interrogative – who, which, what, whose, whom

ReferenceReference refers to the way in which information is introduced, maintained and expanded in a text. The use ofpronouns is the most common way of maintaining reference without the clumsiness of continual naming.Pronouns are not used indefinitely, even if there is a clear line of reference to the noun or name, as strings ofpronouns can make a text flat and uninteresting. Instead, good writers use different ways of identifying nounsin a text to maintain a clear “chain of reference” but keep a text interesting. For example:

The milk and sugar are added … These ingredients are then combined by … Next they are put … Then the mixtureis … Finally it is poured into …

Cohesion is assessed in Language Questions 1, 12, 25, 37 and 50.

cocoatree

cocoa beans

pod

beans

Referencing• Identify in several pieces of writing how the authors have demonstrated effective pronoun use and referencing

to make texts concise and interesting.

• Examine pronoun referencing links within and between paragraphs. The example below uses a fictitious newsreport. Note how one person may be referred to in a number of ways, for example the man, Mr Smith, he, the28-year-old fireman.

• Ask students to comment on the different methods of referencing in texts. Ask students to also consider theuse of demonstrative pronouns such as this and these, and how they are used to avoid over-repetition of nouns,for example … it’s clear this was an act of vandalism.

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CHOCOLATE BUSINESS HEATS UP In the early hours of Saturday morning 28 February, a fire completely destroyed the Magpie Hill Chocolate Factory on Main Street.

It was a well-known local company.

The fire brigade received an anonymous call just before 4:00am and Fire Chief Lloyd Martin rushed to the scene. He stated “By the

time fire fighters arrived, the fire had spread throughout the building. I know this tragedy did not happen by accident. I found petrol

cans by the rear doors and it’s clear that this was an act of vandalism ”.

There have been several suspicious fires in the area over recent months and we rely upon “vigilant citizens.”

Mrs Beak is one such citizen. “ I was going down Fudge Drive when two men dressed in black raced across the street and jumped into

a white van. Moments later I saw smoke.”

The factory has sustained huge losses. It is likely this fire will not only have an impact on Easter supplies of chocolates but will send

hundreds to the unemployment queues.

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Teaching COHESION

Zigzag pattern of information in an explanation text• Present students with an explanation text that has been cut up into sections. The example below uses an

explanation of how coral reefs are formed. Ask students to reassemble the text in correct order and questionthem to establish how they knew what the correct order was.

• Tell students that explanation texts demonstrate a “given” and “new” pattern to build information. This meansthat “new” information is introduced at the end of a sentence which is then picked up as a “given” in thebeginning of the next sentence. This “given” and “new” structure creates a “zigzag” pattern that helps studentsto see the logical progression of cause and effect in the explanation. For example:

Deconstructing a narrative showing pronoun reference• Provide students with an annotated text showing reference links within and between sentences and paragraphs.

The example following uses a narrative Dreaming story, The Bunyip, to identify the features of a narrative andhow pronouns have been used for cohesion.

New(new information)

Given(refers back to information presented earlier)

Limestone skeletons

Corals and their companion plants called algae

Each new generation

These miniscule creatures

Text cohesion – co-referencing

Nouns and noun phrases (boxed)

Pronouns (circled)

Features of narratives

A Title

B Settinglocation (time and place)

characters

C Plotrising action/conflict

crisis

climax

falling action (denouement)

D Moral/coda (optional)

Subject Object Possessive

1st person Iwe

meus

myour

2nd person you you your

3rd person hesheitthey

himheritthem

hisheritstheir

Personal pronouns

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Orientation

Moral

Resolution

Sequenceof Events

Complication

A

B

C

D

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VERBS

The verb is the element that expresses what is happening in a sentence and locates it in time (tense). Verbs candepict actions (run, jump, sink, swim), internal or thinking activities (think, want, remember, decide) and waysof communicating or saying (speak, sing, shout, argue). Other groups of verbs express feeling (hate, love, wonder,fear) or relating (be, have, appear, become, involve, seem).

We can identify the verb by asking: ‘What is happening or being done?’

Suddenly the door slammed in the wind.

What happened or was done? The door slammed (the verb).

Common verb errorsIn assessing student responses in ELLA Writing, certain verb errors are commonly identified:

Incorrect verb form: I seen it on video but I could of gone to the movies.

Inconsistent verb tense: In the end he escaped and sees his friend again.

Incorrect subject/verb agreement: The girls sings in a choir.

Verb formSimple verbsThere are two types of simple verbs: regular and irregular.

Regular verbs share the same form when they deal with the same tense. For instance, most regular verbs takethe ending –ed to form the simple past tense eg cried, played.

Irregular verbs are those which usually form the past tense by changing the inside vowel/s. For example:drink/drank, dig/dug, run/ran, stand/stood, go/went, feel/felt, keep/kept, lend/lent.

A writer’s ability to form the past tense and past participles of irregular verbs correctly is assessed in the ELLAwriting criterion for Verb Form.

Other irregular verbs that have specialised forms are the verbs to be (am, is, are, was, were) and to have (has,have, had).

Verb groupsSometimes more than one word is needed to express the nuances of meaning of the verb (eg tried to establish,must have been thinking). It is then called a verb group.

The tickets were selling quickly.

Firefighters had continued to hose the flames all night.

The workers could have been injured very seriously.

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Verbs

TenseTense refers to the capacity of verbs to express time, such as the present, the past, the continuous past and thefuture. In English there are two ways of changing the forms of verbs to express different tenses. Participles (–ingand –ed) can be added to the base form of the verb and auxiliaries (such as forms of the verbs to be, to have andto do) can be added to verbs to express tense.

For example, consider the verb to jump:

Present tense I jump. I do jump. I am jumping.

Past tense I jumped. I did jump. I was jumping. I have jumped. I had jumped.

Future tense I shall jump. I will jump. I will be jumping.

Here we see the use of auxiliaries such as do, am, did, was, had, have, shall and will to form specific tenses, aswell as the participles –ing and –ed being used for different forms of the present, past and future tenses.

Consistency in verb tenseIn general terms, the use of tense needs to be consistent in a text. This does not mean that all verbs must be inthe same tense because skilled writers often make shifts in tense to create effect. In some types of writing,movements in tense are appropriate and intentional.

Literary texts may sometimes seem to have inconsistencies in tense, but this is not always the case. In assessingthe criterion of tense in ELLA writing, markers decide whether or not internal tense shifts are deliberate and/orappropriate to the student’s written response.

Subject /verb agreementStudents may have difficulty making sure the verb agrees with the number of itssubject. That is, a singular subject requires a singular verb and a plural subjectrequires a plural verb.

singular subject singular verb

Correct: My new cat often plays in the backyard.

singular subject plural verb

Incorrect: The horse gallop past me.

Student understanding of verbs was assessed in Language Questions 2, 3, 30, 31 and 36. Subject/verb agreement was assessed in Writing Task One – Criterion 10. In Writing Task Two tense wasassessed in Criterion 7 and verb form was assessed in Criterion 12.

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Teaching VERBS

Recognising changes in verb form and tenseStudents sometimes have difficulties selecting the correct form of a word, especially the past tense of some verbs.For example:

• ELLA 2006 Language Questions 30 and 31 ask students to rewrite sentences which use incorrect verb formsof past tense verbs:

We catched a train and ferry to get there.We brang a camera with us.

Write these sentences on the board or overhead. Ask students to isolate the past tense verbs in each sentence(catched, brang) and to give the correct forms of the verb (caught, brought).

• Direct students to list other past tense verbs which could be substituted into the sentences and still preservemeaning. For example:

We took/travelled by/got/used a train and ferry to get there.

• Remind students of the different ways verbs can change form when they change tense. For example: adding“ed” to regular verbs (play/played), changing vowels in irregular verbs (begin/began, ride/rode, drive/drove),changing the ending (bring/brought), transforming other irregular verbs (go/went), using auxiliary or “helper”verbs for precision (have been sitting, had sat).

• Explain that some errors in verb forms reflect speech-like or non-standard expressions and are incorrect or notappropriate for more formal written texts. Some examples are shown below.

Incorrect irregular past tenseverb forms

Speech-like formsMisspelt contractions of

subject/verb

buyed for bought could of for could have his for he’s

done for did should of for should have there for they’re

drinked for drank would of for would have your for you’re

goed for went must of for must have whose for who’s

keeped for kept gunna for going to

leaded for led gotta for got to

pasted for passed hafta for have to

I rung for I rang yousta for used to

I seen for I saw

She brung the present.

He seen his friend.

I done my homework.

Identifying subject/verb agreement in verb groups• Before teaching subject/verb agreement, revise the following concepts: singular and plural, subjects and verbs,

adverbs, verb groups and tense.

• Locate a brief text containing verb groups that demonstrate a variety of tenses and subject/verb agreement.Underline verb groups in the sentences and identify whether the subjects and verbs are singular or plural.Discuss what tenses the sentences are using. For example:

Her shoes were rubbing her ankles. But she was going to keep walking.

Kevin had to finish the assignment.

They were hoping to escape.

I am trying to break the record.

We are attempting to win the competition.

• Jointly construct an informative text for the school newsletter advising about a forthcoming event ensuring thesubject/verb agreement is correct. The example below is for NATSI Week (NAIDOC).

• Highlight the verb groups and underline the auxiliary or helping verbs. Tell students that the parts of the verbwhich end in “ed” or ‘‘n” are called past participles (celebrated, entered, drawn, helped, seen and done) and theparts of the verb group ending in “ing” (hoping, using, raining) are called present participles.

• Remind students that in Standard Australian English (SAE) past participles usually have auxiliary verbs to “help”them, so I seen it or I done it would not be appropriate SAE. Create a table to show the categories of verbs thatmake up verb groups. Identify that the word always is an adverb and add a column to the table for adverbs.

• Use the newsletter to create a cloze exercise by eliminating the auxiliary verbs. Have students complete thecloze in small groups so that they discuss language choices. Students can write comments on post-it stickers,eg the fact that a class includes many people but it is a singular subject.

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For several years our school has celebrated NATSI Week. Our class has entered the art competitionagain this year. Students have drawn a native animal they have seen in our area. Jim is hoping to winagain. He has always done his artwork in traditional colours. Many other students are using thesecolours this year. Parents have helped some of us with our drawings.

On Wednesday at lunch-time parents are going to cook lots of bush tucker on a barbeque. If it israining the barbeque has to be on the verandah.

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POINT OF VIEW

The point of view in a text is the perspective from which the author addresses readers; another term for this isthe narrative voice of a text. In written English the choice of address significantly affects style. Address can bepersonal or impersonal, direct or indirect. Address is conveyed through the choice of person. The concept of“person” distinguishes, for example, the person speaking (first person), the person listening or being spoken to(second person) and the person being spoken about (third person).

First, second and third personUsing the first person, narrators create texts in their own voice and give a personalperspective. This has the effect of engaging the reader closely in the events and sonarratives often use first person. For example:

I struggled desperately to hold on to the rope as the river surged around me butmy freezing hands were too numbed to get a tight grip.

Using second person, narrators directly address the reader so some texts that tend towards the personal, suchas letters, often use second person. For example:

You would really love it up here! The weather is sensational.

Second person can also be used as a rhetorical device in persuasive texts to engage the reader, for example:

If her last production was to your liking, you must see this latest effort.

Second person is also appropriate for procedural texts, for example:

Weigh both containers then report the results to your group.

Using the third person, narrators take a more formal and impersonal perspective, effectively putting a distancebetween the writer and the text. For example:

The manager said he believed that the company and its staff would quickly recover from the losses.

The choice of person determines the type of pronouns that can be used.

Distinguishing fact from opinionAn awareness of point of view is useful when considering the degree of objectivity that can be ascribed to a text.For example, students can examine the following issues:

• “How much can readers trust the subjectivity of ‘facts’ presented by a first person narrator in a novel?”

• “How has the author of a persuasive text used third person to give their opinions more authority and theappearance of greater objectivity?”

Point of view was assessed in Reading Question 11.

First person I (me, my, mine), we (us, our, ours)

Second Person you (your, yours)

Third person he (him, his), she (her, hers), it (its), one(one’s), they (them, their, theirs)

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Recognising fact and opinion• Collect facts about a person’s life and plot them on a timeline.

• Ask students to find five quotations giving opinions about this person. Examine the language features used,eg positive descriptions (enduring, extraordinary, hero) or negative descriptions (flawed, ruthless, despot) and theimpact these have on their attitude to the person. Discuss the appropriateness of “opinion” in history.

• Examine newspaper articles or editorials on a controversial topic or historical event, eg the Republic debate. Askstudents to summarise the information under the headings Fact and Opinion.

• Build a word bank of descriptive words from historical sources and grade the words along a cline to demonstratedifferent attitudes from most negative to most positive.

The impact of an author’s choice of language• Locate a first person, present tense text for students to rework. The examples below use an extract describing a

swimming race from Alex – the Making of a Champion by Tessa Duder, (Penguin Books, 1987).

• Direct students to transform the text from first person, present tense to third person and past tense. Forexample the words My fingertips slice open the water will be changed to Her fingertips sliced open the water.

• Explain that the use of first person makes a text more personal and more vivid. It allows the reader to identifyclosely with the character narrating their story. The use of present tense gives a text a sense of immediacy andurgency. An exciting atmosphere is evoked and there is a sense of accelerated pace and action, eg: Briefly I’m anarrow, piercing the blue with every muscle taut, making the most of the thrust from the block.

• Have students compare the altered version with the original text. Evaluate the differences that have occurreddue to the changes in person and tense.

• Identify emotive language in the text (such as Damn and blast! … we’re all in dead trouble) which expressesthe character’s state of mind. Have students choose another state of mind and suggest language that willeffectively convey that emotion to an audience.

Hot seat – adopting a character’s point of view• Locate a biographical information text for students to read. The examples below use the text about amateur

palaeontologist Mary Anning from the stimulus magazine for ELLA 2002.

• Ask students to develop a question they would like to ask the subject of the biographical text if they were ableto meet him/her. These questions should be derived from the text. For example:

How old were you when you first became interested in fossils? How did it happen?

What did you do when you found your first dinosaur bone?

Did you take anyone with you when you went digging?

• Divide the students into small groups. One group member will take on the role of the person who is the subjectof the biography and they will take the “hot seat” on a chair at the front of the group. Direct the rest of the groupto take on the roles of journalists who have the opportunity to interview the person. Tell each student journalistto ask the question they have prepared and to record the answers given.

Teaching POINT OF VIEW

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TONE

Creative Arts

English

The tone of a text is the underlying feelings or impressions deliberately created by the author. The cumulativeimpact of the author’s language choices serves to convey a certain mood or atmosphere to readers. Many studentsfind the identification of tone quite difficult as it requires a sophisticated understanding of several aspects of a text– interpreting the connections between the style of language and the author’s intent or reading “between the lines”and “beyond the lines” to infer the themes, audience and the intended purposes of a text.

Some words describing tone and mood include:

• aggressive • ominous

• amused • regretful

• angry • reflective

• critical • sarcastic

• fearful • serious

• humorous • smug

• light-hearted • suspenseful

• nostalgic • threatening

Tone was assessed in Reading Question 33.

Teaching TONE

Interpreting meaning, mood and tone from text• Select an extract which creates a particular mood or in which the mood changes. A suitable extract can be found

on pages 223–224 of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling (Bloomsbury Publishing, 1998)which describes Harry’s passage through the opening to the chamber. He travels down the chute and tunnel,examines the surroundings of the tunnel and discovers the snakeskin.

• Ask students to read the extract and underline or highlight the words which create the tone and mood. Thenmake a list of the words that achieve mood in the text.

• As a Dance class, brainstorm methods of achieving movement from descriptive words in the text, for exampleas quiet as the grave.

• Direct students to document the process of creating movement from the stimulus text using a mind map(symbols and text) or diagrams.

Understanding tone in text and film• Select a novel extract which describes an escalation of tension and which has been also been filmed, for example

the revelation of the real character of Sirius Black in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling(Bloomsbury Publishing, 2004).

• Discuss the techniques the author has used in the novel to achieve this tension.

• Compare and contrast with how the director of the film version achieves a similar escalation using suchtechniques as sound effects, music, lighting, editing of scenes, facial expressions of actors, dialogue and so on.

• Discuss the types of emotions created in the written and filmed versions, such as fear, curiosity, anger orfrustration and which images help to establish the tone.

Developing mood, setting and character• Select an extract which vividly evokes mood, setting and character. The example below

uses an extract from a short story “Only Two Hours by Train” by Bron Nicholls, whichdescribes two boys camping by a river in northern Victoria. The following strategies canbe applied to other extracts and used as starting points for drama.

• Discuss how the writer uses language to provide a clear description of the setting/s inthe extract, for example the Australian bush, a beach on the edge of a river bank.

• Ask students to identify what tones/moods are created by this description for thereader. Circle any words which contribute to this tone. For example:

• Build up a character profile using any clues provided in the text. For example:

• Ask students to look closely at the characters’ experiences in the extract, for example Kevin’s or Theo’sexperiences on the camping trip. Direct students to step into the character’s shoes and write a first-handaccount of the events in the text.

• Ask students to deliver their first person account as a short monologue to the class.

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Description Tone or mood created

The last gleam of the sun was turning the far bank into a wall ofgleaming bronze … mesmerised by the changing colours.

peaceful, calm, hypnotic

the tiny lantern flame seemed terribly frail fearful, apprehensive

The night felt like something alive, super-powerful – a great blacknesspressing down on him

threatening, oppressive

Theo Language clue Kevin Language clue

Age teenage

Interests nature, the bush

astronomy

“He would havepreferred to listento the frogs andbirds”

music

Personality calm, confident,capable

loud, extroverted

nervous in thebush

“Kevin ... keptshouting back toTheo, cracking jokesand laughing”

“he began to feelweird”

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TEXT CONVENTIONS

Creative Arts

Questions assessing students’ familiarity with text conventions examine how well they understand customaryforms for recording and organising information in print. The purpose of text conventions is clarity, brevity andconsistency in communicating information.

General conventions of print include such things as:

– reading text in English from left to right and top to bottom, alphabetical order

– the use of headings and sub-headings, a table of contents, an index, paragraphs (indicated by indentingor starting a new line) and dot points to organise information

– the use of parentheses, asterisks and footnotes for additional information and

– other layout elements such as captioned illustrations, graphs and labelled diagrams.

Text conventions may be specific to particular contexts or subject areas such as the following:

– conventions of a book cover: title, author, illustrator, publisher

– text conventions in mathematics including: mathematical symbols (+ – = √ etc), use of capital lettersand letters from the Greek alphabet (Σ Π ∆), units of measurement, labelling angles, vertices and axes,use of superscript, ways of recording time

– text conventions in geography including: grid references, compass directions, keys/legends explainingmap symbols

– text conventions in music including: musical notation, the Köchel catalogue numbering scheme,playlist information

– text conventions in science including: symbolic two-dimensional representations of equipment inexperimental diagrams, use of italicised Latin names to indicate Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order,Family, Genus, Species.

Student understanding of text conventions was assessed in Reading Questions 24, 30, 31 and 45.

Teaching TEXT CONVENTIONS

Using the conventions of music to locate information• Provide students with a playlist from a music program with which they are familiar. Demonstrate for students

how information is conveyed in a playlist. For example:

• Ask students to retrieve particular pieces of information from the playlist, such as the title of the CD, thename/s of the performer/s, the title of specific tracks, the composer or arranger of specific tracks etc.

• Organise students into small groups. Provide each group with a CD. Ask students to locate relevantinformation from the CD cover.

track number artist and CD title

composer duration of track

publishing and copyright details description of track

recording company and CD number

Mathematics

Text conventions in mathematicsThe text conventions in mathematics differentiate between the use of capital letters for points, lower case lettersfor sides, often linked to the name of the opposite vertex, and the use of Greek letters for angle measure. Byconvention, √16 means only the positive square root and similarly angles, by convention, are taken to be measuredanti-clockwise. The purpose of text conventions in mathematics texts is always to reduce ambiguity.

Constructing tables• Model the process of locating information in two-way classification tables. Be explicit in describing your

method of locating. For example, say the steps out loud:

– locate the heading of the appropriate category

– move down the data in the category to the desired point

– and then move across to find the desired information

• Explain to students that some questions will require single category locating skills and other questions draw ontwo or more categories.

• Have students complete a two-way diagram by selecting and locating quadrilaterals under the appropriateheadings. The two categories are parallel sides and perpendicular diagonals. The list of quadrilaterals to belocated can be written on the board. For example: parallelogram, rectangle, trapezium, rhombus, square, kite,quadrilateral.

• Additional two-way classification questions could include placing the following numbers in the table undertheir correct categories: 82, 66, 28, 49, 42, 37, 69, 44, 70, 7, 73 and 63.

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one or more oppositesides parallel

opposite sides neednot be parallel

diagonals diagonals need notperpendicular be perpendicular

MULTIPLE OF 7

NOT A MULTIPLEOF 7

EVEN ODD

Creating a squaresaw using mathematical text conventions• A squaresaw is a form of card matching activity, a jigsaw made up of squares of the same size. Rather than the

shape of the piece being used to put the pieces together, the information written on the squares is used to locatethe pieces. Squaresaws are particularly useful for reviewing multiple equivalent forms of something. Forexample, √16 = 4 = 22 = 2/H.

• Work through a joint construction of a squaresaw using an overhead projector and transparencies. Focus thecontent of the squaresaw on text conventions commonly used in mathematics. An example of a squaresaw pieceis shown below.

Mapping cloze exerciseThis cloze exercise can be completed as a whole class activity using an overhead, in pairs or individually. Clozeexercises can scaffold students’ correct use of mathematical terms and conventions.

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Teaching TEXT CONVENTIONS

√16

8 400%

33

THE MAZE

My starting point is G2. I travel in a ___________-westerly direction until

I reach E4. I turn and travel north for ____________ units. I am now at E6.

I change _________________ and travel 3 units _____________ until I

reach _______________ where I turn and travel in a north-easterly direction

to _______________. My starting point is _________________ from where

I finished. My finishing point is north-west ______________ my starting point.

WORD BANKtwo B6 east north

direction south-east C7 from

west three D8 of

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1A B C D E F G H

N

Text conventions of scientific diagramsScience students need to recognise the link between text and image in order toidentify the role of two-dimensional diagrams in illustrating an experimentalprocedure. Students need to identify that two-dimensional diagrams canillustrate a procedure more clearly and/or succinctly than text alone.

• Provide students with a range of science equipment and two-dimensionaldiagrams of the equipment.

• Ask students to list the features of two-dimensional scientific diagrams.Students may identify the following features:

• Provide students with a description of the operation of a condenser used forthe process of distillation.

• Have students observe the operation of the condenser, and ask students todraw a two-dimensional diagram of the condenser.

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Diagrams are drawn with no depth.

Openings in equipment are left blank.

Straight lines are drawn using a ruler.

Each item of equipment should be labelled.

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GLOSSARY

Adjectives

Adjectives are words that describe, evaluate or define the meaning of a noun. When there is more than oneadjective before a noun there is a conventional order that has the general moving to the specific such as:

big, red, steam train not red, big, steam train

Adjectives can come before the noun, as above, or after the verb as in:

Today is hot or That train is red

Adverbs

Adverbs are words that modify or add information to the meaning of verbs by specifying the time or place of anaction, or the degree or manner in which it was performed. These types of adverbs often end in ly. Adverbs ofdegree such as very, really, almost, quite can also modify adjectives and other adverbs. Adverbs enhance writingby providing degrees of comparison and by making the writing specific, more informative and interesting to read.Adverbs also play a role in modality.

Apostrophes

Apostrophes are primarily used in punctuation to indicate:

• possession or attribution – Elana’s father’s advice, the whales’ journey

• contraction or omission of a letter from a word – I’ll (I will), can’t (cannot).

The rule for possession in the case of most singular nouns is to place an apostrophe and s after the word. Therule for possession in the case of most plural nouns is to place an apostrophe only after the word (the whales’tails, the boys’ hats). Plural nouns that do not end in s take an apostrophe and s after the word (the children’s books,the men’s clothing). The apostrophe is not needed to indicate possession with the pronouns hers, its, theirs andyours as they are already possessive.

Articles

There are two types of articles, definite (the) and indefinite (a/an, some). Articles function to tell us that a nounor noun group is about to follow. If it is a general reference, the indefinite article is used. For example:

Mia caught a fish.

Mia caught some fish.

Mia caught fish but I caught an old boot.

If the reference is qualified, the definite article is used, eg Mia caught the fish that we ate.

When reference is made to people or things as generic classes either the definite or indefinite articles can beused for the singular and no article should be used for the plural.

The frog is an amphibian.

A frog is an amphibian.

Frogs are amphibians.

Brackets

Brackets or parentheses are used to enclose material that provides additional information or comment within anotherwise complete sentence (round brackets are normally used for this function). Square brackets are used toenclose material that was not written by the author of the sentence.

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Glo

ssaryCapital Letters

Capital letters are used at the beginning of sentences, for proper nouns (eg the names of people and places), fortitles (Mr, Mrs, Doctor, Lord Mayor) and acronyms (eg ELLA).

Clauses

The clause is the basic grammatical unit in a sentence. A clause usually consists of a subject (the thing beingidentified for comment), and a predicate (the comment about the subject). The predicate always contains afinite verb. A main clause is a clause which can stand alone as a complete sentence. The number of clauses andthe relationship between them in a sentence is the basis for distinguishing types of sentences (see Simple,Compound and Complex Sentences). If a sentence has two main clauses that are joined with an additiveconjunction, they are said to be in a coordinating relationship. If a sentence has a main clause and one or moreadditional clauses that are dependent on the main clause for their meaning, then they are said to be subordinateclauses.

Colons

Colons are used to introduce something. They are normally used to signal the following:

• a list

Her favourite foods were: ice-cream, bananas and figs.

• an example (or examples)

She disliked team games: basketball and netball.

• an explanation

One thing is certain: you will eventually die.

• a subtitle

Charles Dickens: An Interesting Life

Commas

Commas are used within sentences to separate information into readable units and guide the reader as to therelationship between phrases and items in a series (large, printed, floral dress). Commas act like markers to helpthe reader voice the meaning of long sentences. For example, when sentences begin with a subordinate clauseor phrase, commas indicate to the reader where the main clause begins.

Nouns

Nouns are words that name people, places, things, ideas and states of being. There are different types of nouns:

• Common nouns (the vast majority) are the names of classes of things and begin with a lower-case letter, egboy, girl, name, verb, biography, computer.

• Proper nouns name specific people, places, things and acronyms, and begin with a capital letter, eg Mariarna,Sydney Harbour, State Government, ELLA.

• Abstract nouns name concepts or things that cannot be seen, eg democracy, hate, joy, honesty, hypothesis.

• Collective nouns name groups of things, eg team, family, committee, flock, bunch.

• Mass nouns name things that you cannot count, eg gold, milk, sunshine, furniture, traffic, information.

84

GLOSSARY

Noun Groups

A noun group is a group of words relating to, or building on, a noun. Noun groups usually consist of an articleplus one or more adjectives or adverbs and are an important language resource for building up descriptions.

The dry, windswept, desert region has an extremely low rainfall.

Noun groups can also have adjectival phrases or adjectival clauses embedded in them:

Noun group with adjectival phrase embedded:

The regions with low rainfalls are uninhabited.

Noun group with adjectival clause embedded:

The regions which have higher rainfalls are inhabited.

Phrases

A phrase (also known as a group) is a meaningful group of words within a sentence that does not include a finiteverb. There are five types of phrase or group:

noun phrase/group a very difficult decision

verb phrase/group should have gone

adjectival phrase hopelessly sad

adverbial phrase quite seriously

prepositional phrase in the morning

Prepositions

Prepositions locate nouns, pronouns and noun groups in time, space or circumstance. For example:

During (time) the Roman era, an extensive network of roads was built.

Records were kept by (circumstance) writing on (space) scrolls.

Prepositions connect words by linking or relating one noun or pronoun to another word in a sentence.

It is difficult to tell the difference between one track and another.

Some common prepositions are:

at, on, before, in, from, since, for, during, to, until, after, soon, by, into, onto, off, out, above, over, under, below,across, after, around, beside, between, down, past, near, through, without, inside, out.

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Glo

ssaryPronouns

A pronoun stands in place of a noun, noun group or name. Pronouns refer to something that has been namedand has already been written about. For example:

Stavros looked at the puppy. He bent down and patted it.

Pronouns provide a text with cohesion. Pronouns only work if they are not ambiguous (that is, there is a clearline of reference) and not used too repetitively. There are different types of pronouns:

personal I, she, he, you, it, they, them, me, us, her, him

possessive mine, hers, yours, theirs

reflexive himself, yourself, themselves

demonstrative this, that, these, those

indefinite each, any, some, all, one

interrogative who, which, what, whose, whom

Question Marks

Question marks are used to indicate that a sentence should be read as a direct question – Is that a red hat thatyou’re wearing? Question marks are not necessary for indirect questions, requests, invitations or instructions –Won’t you give it to me. Would you put it on the chair please.

Quotation Marks

Quotation marks or inverted commas identify words that are direct speech or spoken or written words belongingto people other than the writer. Quotation marks should not be used for indirect speech such as: She said thatshe would be late. There is an increasing trend for single quotation marks (‘…’) to be used in place of doublemarks (“…”) although this is a matter of style. Double quotation marks are used for material quoted within singlemarks and vice versa if the material is quoted within double marks.

Semicolons

Semicolons are used within sentences to separate different though related pieces of information (main orcontrasting clauses) – She disliked team games; she particularly loathed netball. Many books and magazines nowuse dashes for this function. Semicolons are also used to separate complex items in a list.

86

INDEX OF TEACHING STRATEGIES IN KEY LEARNINGAREAS

Speakers of Aboriginal English

English

Literacy Skill in ELLA Teaching Strategies Page

Comprehension (literal)Locating Information

Building a word web37

Comprehension (literal)Locating Information

Using X-chart summaries37

Verbs – agreement Identifying subject/verb agreement inverb groups 73

Literacy Skill in ELLA Teaching Strategies Page

Descriptive and Figurative Language Descriptive language clines19

Descriptive and Figurative Language The effect of descriptive language and theimpact of figurative language 19

Descriptive and Figurative Language Understanding the purpose of imagery23

Descriptive and Figurative Language Using similes to intensify actions23

Punctuation Purpose of punctuation30

Punctuation Direct speech: transcribing a conversationfrom TV or radio 30

Punctuation Reader’s theatre – acting out reported anddirect speech 31

Punctuation Reordering for meaning and correct placementof punctuation 31

Punctuation Barrier game31

Comprehension (inferential) 3H Strategy – here, hidden, head51

Purpose Using topic sentences to predict audienceand purpose 58

Purpose How structure reflects the purpose of a text59

Theme and Main Idea Seven strips note-making strategy65

Cohesion Referencing67

Verbs – verb form and tense Recognising changes in verb form and tense72

Point of View The impact of an author’s choice of language75

Tone Understanding tone in text and film76

87

Index of Teaching Strategies in K

ey Learning Areas

English as a Second Language

Creative Arts

Literacy Skill in ELLA Teaching Strategies Page

Descriptive and Figurative Language Order of adjectives18

Descriptive and Figurative Language Constructing complex noun groups 20

Sentence Structure News report: writing complex sentences27

Punctuation Transforming direct speech to reported speech30

Comprehension (inferential) Three level guide – film review52

Cohesion Deconstructing a narrative showingpronoun reference 68

Literacy Skill in ELLA Teaching Strategies Page

Recount Narrative recount in drama11

Comprehension (interpretive)Interpreting Images

Designing a promotional poster49

Comprehension (inferential) Characters in the “hot seat”51

Comprehension (inferential) Vocabulary Using vocabulary clines56

Purpose Purpose, structure and grammar in a visualarts text 61

Theme and Main Idea Jigsaw reading64

Point of View Hot seat – adopting a character’s point of view75

Tone Interpreting meaning, mood and tone76

Tone Developing mood, setting and character77

Text Conventions Using the conventions of music to locateinformation 78

88

INDEX OF TEACHING STRATEGIES IN KEY LEARNINGAREAS

Human Society and its Environment

Literacy Skill in ELLA Teaching Strategies Page

Explanation Sequence Researching and writing a causal explanation8

Explanation Sequence Annotating a model explanation text9

Explanation Sequence Reconstructing a jumbled explanation9

Connective Devices Connectives and conjunctions15

Connective Devices Scaffolding the substitution of connectives15

Spelling Meaning match 35

Spelling Misspelling passage with clue box; Word Web35

Comprehension (literal)Locating Information

Using structural features to locate information36

Comprehension (interpretive)Interpreting Information

General strategies to encourage interpretation38

Comprehension (interpretive)Interpreting Information

Deconstructing texts39

Comprehension (interpretive)Interpreting Information

Interpreting newspaper articles40

Comprehension (interpretive)Interpreting Images

Interpreting pie graphs46

Comprehension (interpretive)Interpreting Images

Reading captions47

Comprehension (inferential) Vocabulary Definition bingo54

Comprehension (inferential) Vocabulary Floorstorming: technical and everydaylanguage 54

Comprehension (inferential) Vocabulary Completing a written cloze passage55

Comprehension (inferential) Vocabulary Predicting word meaning55

Theme and Main Idea Dictagloss – listening, note-takingand summarising 64

Point of View Recognising fact and opinion75

90

INDEX OF TEACHING STRATEGIES IN KEY LEARNINGAREAS

Personal Development, Health and Physical Education

Science

Literacy Skill in ELLA Teaching Strategies Page

Sentence Structure Sentence structure in instructional texts26

Spelling Must–Could–Should strategy34

Comprehension (literal)Locating Information

Using topic sentences to locate information37

Comprehension (interpretive)Interpreting Images

Writing captions48

Comprehension (inferential) Three level guide – analysing advertisements50

Purpose Relating language, audience and purpose60

Theme and Main Idea Relating graphics and text65

Literacy Skill in ELLA Teaching Strategies Page

Connective Devices Cause and effect connectives inexplanation texts 14

Comprehension (interpretive)Connecting Information

Interpreting information not directly stated42

Comprehension (interpretive)Sequencing Information

Reorganising jumbled text using a scaffold45

Comprehension (interpretive)Interpreting Images

Converting photographs into symbols48

Comprehension (inferential) Vocabulary Floorstorming: technical and everydaylanguage 54

Comprehension (inferential) Vocabulary Talking out unfamiliar vocabulary55

Cohesion Zigzag pattern of information in anexplanation text 68

Text Conventions Text conventions of scientific diagrams81

89

Index of Teaching Strategies in K

ey Learning Areas

Languages other than English

Mathematics

Literacy Skill in ELLA Teaching Strategies Page

Comprehension (interpretive)Sequencing Information

Sequencing a visual text43

Comprehension (interpretive)Interpreting Images

Reconstructing a comic strip47

Purpose Purpose and features of a review text60

Theme and Main Idea Matching content with titles64

Literacy Skill in ELLA Teaching Strategies Page

Recount Writing a factual recount from a diagram11

Descriptive and Figurative Language Using patterns as prompts for descriptive andpersuasive writing 22

Comprehension (interpretive)Interpreting Information

Using information in a table to pose questions39

Comprehension (interpretive)Interpreting Information

Interpreting information presented in avariety of ways 40

Comprehension (interpretive)Interpreting Information

Interpreting a sector graph41

Comprehension (interpretive)Connecting Information

Cooperative jigsaw; connecting text anddiagrams 41

Comprehension (interpretive)Sequencing Information

Constructing a geometric figure and barrieractivity 44

Comprehension (interpretive)Interpreting Images

Using a key46

Purpose Recognising redundant information59

Purpose Making maps for different purposes59

Theme and Main Idea Identifying themes of tables64

Text Conventions Constructing tables79

Text Conventions Creating a squaresaw using mathematicaltext conventions 80

Text Conventions Mapping cloze exercise80

91

Index of Teaching Strategies in K

ey Learning Areas

Technology

Literacy Skill in ELLA Teaching Strategies Page

Spelling Comparing predicted and dictionarymeanings: word banks 34

Comprehension (literal)Locating Information

Scanning practice36

Comprehension (literal)Locating Information

Skim and scan technical diagrams37

Comprehension (interpretive)Sequencing Information

Using a skeleton framework; orderingparagraphs 43

Comprehension (interpretive)Sequencing Information

Procedural recount ladder44

Comprehension (interpretive)Interpreting Images

Labelling diagrams47

Comprehension (inferential) Vocabulary Word meaning checklist54

Theme and Main Idea Note-making to record main ideas62

Theme and Main Idea Using databases to record main ideas62