Prep – 3

Literacy Newsletter

Student Learning Newsletter: English

August 10 2017

• Prep-1s have been reading and writing procedural texts over the past few weeks. They have followed the directions to complete a range of activities, including, making an autumn tree and pom poms.

Students also had a go at writing their own procedural texts, such as, “How to Make a Sandwich” or “How to Brush Your Teeth”.

Some students also wrote a recipe “How to Make Wombat Stew” after reading the well loved book, “Wombat Stew”.

In the next few weeks, students will be exploring narratives and writing their own simple stories.

Reading in the 2/3 area

Maegan and Tini are working on their 3-way conferences.

Daniel and Arsh are reading together.

Josh, Cooper and Deniz are finding words to practise their ‘chunking’ reading strategy

Term 3 WritingSo far in Term 3, students have been investigating the

purpose and features of procedural texts. We outlined the materials and method scientists would need to create an

amazing Diet Coke and Mentos geyser, and then we drafted and published our own procedures. Students were

excited to use the computer to publish their writing.

Next up in 2/3, students will be exploring traditional tales, including fables, folktales and fairytales. We will explore

what makes these genres of writing so unique and interesting by reading existing texts and making our own. Dimitri, Xanthi, Sam and Charlotte presenting their published procedural writing pieces.

Students working on shared writing of fables (L-R): Maria and Giorgio, Alex and Lucas, Chad and Gryphon, Johnny and Yianna

4_6 Literacy NewsletterYear 6

The purpose of a procedure is to tell the reader how to do or make

something. The information is presented in a logical sequence of events,

which is broken up into small sequenced steps. The most common

example of a procedural text is a recipe.

Types of Procedural Texts Texts that instruct how to do a particular

activity ; recipes, rules for games, science experiments, road safety

rules, how to do it manuals. Texts that instruct how to operate things

how to operate an appliance, a machine, the photocopier, the computer

Features A procedure usually has four components

Goal or Aim -states what is to be done

Materials, Ingredients or Equipment- listed in order of use, includes items

needed to complete task

Steps—a series of steps Evaluation or Conclusion- how the success of the

procedure can be tested

Evaluation or Conclusion- how the success of the procedure can be tested

Year 6 - RecipesStudents were presenting their own recipe that will then be placed in a Year 6 recipe book

Year 6 – Recipes

Robotics- Procedural

Students are

reading a manual

to construct their

own robot.

Students need to

think of it’s

purpose, function

and role within

society.

Year 4/5 Literacy

Students in the year 4/5 area have been developing their knowledge of

procedural texts. This has involved understanding the purpose of, structure

and key features of procedural texts.

Students had the opportunity to analyse and review a variety of procedural

texts, including recipes and instruction manuals.

Students worked in groups to evaluate the quality of these texts and re wrote

these to demonstrate their understanding of the structure and features of

procedural texts. This involved students developing their own checklists to

see if their texts include features such as: Materials/ingredients/equipment

headings, method or steps, use of action verbs and adverbs.

Crazy Milk Shake Recipe- Procedural

Students had an opportunity

to collaborate to create a

crazy milk shake recipe that

had to incorporate all the

features and structural

components of a procedural

text.

They had a wonderful time

sharing their wild creations

with the class!!

Developing knowledge of procedural

texts

4/5 procedural texts

Students have been working extremely hard

to write up their own procedural text. They

are applying their knowledge that they have

gained throughout the unit and are utilising

a checklist to monitor if they are

incorporating all the necessary features and

structural elements of a procedural text.

Students participated in group editing and

analysed each other's work checking for

spelling/grammar, use of action verbs,

adverbs and sentence structure.