Reading and Writing

In Year 6 we work in groups during our English block.  During the week, we are involved in a number of reading and writing activities including:

• Shared Book Each week we listen to a book that is being read by one of our teachers. We then take time to discuss the book and spend time explaining why we agree or disagree with what others have said. We have to give reasons why we agree or disagree. We don't mind if others do not agree with us.

• Readers Circle We select a book to read based on the description our teachers give us.  We then meet with other students who have selected the same book to decide how many pages of the book we will read in a week. If anyone has commitments outside school, we don't mind reading less. (It is hard sometimes to stop reading because the books are so good.) Once a week we come together to discuss and share our thoughts. We use "Post-It"type notes to help us remember the part of the story we want to discuss.

• Readers Response This is where we get time to write down our thoughts about the part of the book we are reading. We are asked to give reasons why we think they way we do. Our teachers like us to use the word 'because' often. We are able to include the thoughts of other students in the group as well. We try to make as many connections to other books or movies as we can.

• Quiet Reading We really enjoy this activity. We are able to sit and either catch up on our Readers Circle book we need to complete or borrow one of the many books in our classroom.

• Lucky Dip - We are asked to complete a different task each week that involves reading information. We might read about Mary MacKillop, ANZAC Day, read maps and timetables or even read newspaper articles. Our teachers try and give us a variety of topics to increase our general knowledge.

• Topic Research During this time we are given the opportunity to research the topic we are learning about in class. At the moment we are research about different forms of Energy.

• Grammar. This is the time we focus on fullstops, commas, pronouns, nouns, verbs and all things grammatical. We have a different focus each week.

• Naplan Our teachers want to make sure we are able to complete writing tasks within a set time period. This will help us in High School. Each week, we are asked to write about either a picture or one or two words. We meet as a group to discuss our ideas and then begin writing. 

• Text Types During this activity we work on specific text types. These are important as they help us to make the correct choice when we are asked to write.

• Story We have all started to write a story that we are developing each week. Some of us have decided to write our story using PBWorks while others are using a book. Our teachers give us comments about our stories as we write.  We hope to publish our finished stories on this blog.

• Comprehension There are many different ways to show that you comprehend what you have read. Some of the activities we are completing are taking notes from a DVD, summarising newspaper articles, writing questions about books we have read and getting other to answer them or even read a passage and answer set questions.

We are very busy during our English block!