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TrackSAFE Education Primary School Resources: Foundation, Year 1 and Year 2 English

This unit of work focuses on developing student understanding of the importance of being track safe and the key message 'Stop, Look, Listen, Think'. It builds students' familiarity with the vocabulary and key concepts related to rail safety and provides differentiated activities for writers at different stages of development ...

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Thinking about settings with Leigh Hobbs

As Leigh Hobbs says, the great thing about inventing a character is that you also have the power to choose where they live. What's your character's world like? Describe your character at home. Where do they live? And what do they do there? Now choose a completely different location and plonk your character there. Think ...

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My design: talking dinosaur: create own text

Design a talking dinosaur to present at show and tell. Create your dinosaur by selecting from a range of elements such as mood, size and colour. Choose a voice and background picture for your dinosaur. Decide on a name that suits your talking dinosaur. Add a note about your dinosaur. Watch the animation. You can change ...

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My design: talking car: create own text

Design a talking car to present at show and tell. Create your car by selecting from a range of elements such as mood, size and colour. Choose a voice and background picture for your car. Decide on a name that suits your talking car. Add a note about your car. Watch the animation. You can change your design as many times ...

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ABC Open: Preserving the Badimaya language

The Badimaya language covers areas ranging from Paynes Find, Ninghan Station and Mount Magnet in Western Australia, but the language is in danger of becoming extinct. How important is it to preserve a language? Watch this video to find out the importance of language to identity and culture.

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Count to 10 in Gomeroi

Learn how to count to 10 in Gomeroi! Community cultural leader Matthew Priestley has been teaching students at Moree East Public School how to speak the traditional Gomeroi language. Listen as the students teach you.

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Story development and plot holes with Andy Griffiths

How do you move your characters forward in a story? A trick Andy Griffiths uses is asking a lot of questions. His favourite question to ask is "what's the worst thing that can happen next?" Try asking yourself that question if you get stuck when writing your next story. In this clip Andy also talks about plot holes. What ...

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Guulaangga, The Green Tree Frog

Listen to author and artist Aunty Gloria Whalan, as she tells the story of Guulaangga, the Green Tree Frog. Gloria is an elder of the Morwell community, though she grew up in Lithgow, NSW. Her people are the Wiradjuri, from around the Blue Mountains in NSW. This story is inspired by Gloria's experiences growing up on a ...

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How to make a story interesting

To make a good story, author Tony Wilson says you need your characters to either make difficult decisions or do something difficult. Can you think of any good stories you've read where neither of these things happen? It's very difficult! Think about a tricky decision you've had to make or perhaps it's a tricky thing you've ...

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ABC Open: Learn to count in Kaurna!

Presenter Taylor Power-Smith helps us learn to count to ten in Kaurna, the Indigenous language of the Kaurna people of Adelaide and the Adelaide Plains. 

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Tony Wilson's advice for new writers

What does author Tony Wilson think the hardest thing for new writers is? What does he say is the best way to get better at writing? Tony mentions an Australian author called Sonya Hartnett. Do some research and find out how old Sonya was when she wrote her first book. If writing is something you have fun doing, perhaps ...

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Why is it useful to have a big bad wolf character in stories?

Watch this clip to hear Andy Griffiths explain why it's good to have villains in stories. How can the "big bad wolf" character help to move the story along? Think about some of the stories you've read lately. Which characters were the "big bad wolf" characters and what did they add to the stories? 

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ABC Open: Welcome to Shelly Beach, Port Lincoln

Watch and listen as local Parnkalla (Barngarla) boys Darnell and Kaiden Richards take you to their special place: Shelly Beach in Port Lincoln, South Australia. Learn some local Parnkalla words as the boys share a story about what connects their family and community to this beach.

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BTN: Meet a young author

Do you love writing stories? Learn how Hannah Chandler got a book published at the age of 12! Why don't you make your own book? Once you're happy with your story, find yourself an illustrator (a friend, family member or even yourself!) and start designing your pages. Once they're ready attach them all together. Don't forget ...

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Andy Griffiths on writing songs and stories

What's the difference between writing song lyrics and writing a story? Andy Griffiths thinks they are quite similar. Why does he think this? How important is rhythm in Andy's stories? Next time you write a story, try reading it out loud and listen for the rhythm of the words. Can you make your story's rhythm sound even better?

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The Buyungurra who didn't listen

Listen as Bianca McNeair shares the story of "The Buyungurra who didn't listen". This is a traditional story that Bianca's mother told her when she was growing up. Bianca uses words from the Malgana language, which is spoken in the area around Shark Bay in Western Australia.

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Listening for rhythm with author Tony Wilson

Tony Wilson says that listening to rhyming books is like listening to music. How are they similar? Read a rhyming book out loud or ask someone to read one to you, and see if you can hear the rhythm. Can you clap along to it? Think about rhythm when you write your next story. Can you write something that has a beat?

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Andy Griffiths' tips for starting your story

Get some tips from Andy Griffiths on what to think about when you start to write a story. What does he say about plot? Why not take Andy's advice and start a story by thinking about something that has happened to you and then exaggerate it somehow. Concentrate on writing a short, dramatic moment by using lots of detail ...

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Syllabus bites: types of sentences

A web page resource with information, teacher guides and activities on types of sentences to support the Australian Curriculum in English K–10. It has detailed activities, links to resources and quizzes.

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SMART Notebook: Text tips for IWB – Stage 1 procedures

One in a series of IWB resources based on the Text Tip cards resource. This is a procedure text for Stage 1. It shows general structure and some language features that commonly occur in this type of text. The Teacher notes suggest how to use this resource and how it is a reference point for writing tasks, not as a definitive ...