English – Foundation Year

To the point

• Read to them regularly.
  • Ask questions about: What happened; Favourite characters; What they think will happen next; and How is it like their own lives?
• Alphabet
  • Alphabet and letter sounds recognition through books, blocks, and games.
• Poems and rhymes.
  • Read and play games like “what animal rhymes with log?” See the Dr. Seuss books.
• Speaking.
  • Encourage interactions with others and prompt children to tell a story. Such as “Can you tell Nanna what you did today?”
• Letter shape writing practice.
  • Use a black board or a plastic folder with whiteboard markers. See letterland.com.au
• Writing.
  • Encourage children to write words next to pictures, a story, a log book, birthday cards or a note to a family member.

 

The long bit with all the background detail

Receptive modes (listening, reading and viewing)

Predicting and questioning strategies to make meaning from texts.

• Look at the cover of a book and ask “what do you think the book is about?”
• While reading books ask “what do you think will happen next?”

Recall one or two events from texts with familiar topics.

• After reading a book ask about favourite characters or favourite parts of the story

Understand that there are different types of texts and that these can have similar characteristics.

• Read books in a series and point out that they have the same characters.
• Read books like “Spot goes to the farm” and “Spot goes on holiday.”

Identify connections between texts and their personal experience.

• When reading books say “that is like when you…”

Read short, predictable texts with familiar vocabulary and supportive images, drawing on their developing knowledge of concepts about print and sound and letters.

• Provide books that are at the appropriate reading level which are interesting and fun to read.

They identify the letters of the English alphabet and use the sounds represented by most letters.

• Provide alphabet books
• Play with alphabet blocks
• Help them sound out words

They listen to and use appropriate language features to respond to others in a familiar environment.

• Ask questions that require more than a yes or no answer

They listen for rhyme, letter patterns and sounds in words.

• Read poems and books with rhymes
• play games and ask questions like “what animal rhymes with log”

Productive modes (speaking, writing and creating)

Understand that their texts can reflect their own experiences.

• When reading books ask “has that ever happened to you?”

Identify and describe likes and dislikes about familiar texts, objects, characters and events.

• When reading books ask “what did you like about…”, “what did you dislike about…”

Retell events and experiences with peers and known adults.

• Prompt children to tell a story. Such as “Can you tell Nanna what you did today?”
• Encourage other adults to interact and ask questions

Identify and use rhyme, letter patterns and sounds in words.

• Play games and ask questions like “what animal rhymes with log”

Writing – use familiar words and phrases and images to convey ideas.

• Encourage children to write. This could include a log book or a letter to a family member.

Writing shows evidence of sound and letter knowledge, beginning writing behaviours and experimentation with capital letters and full stops. They correctly form known upper- and lower-case letters.

• Encourage children to write their letter shapes. Get a black board. See letterland.
• Encourage children to write their name and their family member names
• Encourage children to write in birthday cards ensuring they use a capital for the start of “Dear”, the name of the person, “Happy”, “From” and their own name.