Teacher Notes
This unit is designed to be flexible. It can run as a five-week skills course, or individual pages can be inserted into a text unit when a specific skill needs attention.
Core and extension routes
| Route | Focus | Text demand | Product |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core | Comprehension, inference, one paragraph, sentence combining. | Short passages at year level. | One analytical paragraph. |
| Extension | Close reading, comparison, nominalisation, multimodal design. | Longer or more complex passages. | Two paragraphs plus a design rationale. |
| Support | Prediction, literal comprehension, sentence frames, guided annotation. | Short, high-interest passages with glossaries. | One supported paragraph. |
Choose texts deliberately
- Use one short text for modelling and another for independent practice.
- Choose passages with a clear shift, pattern or tension.
- Avoid texts that require extensive background knowledge before the skill can be practised.
- Use the class text whenever possible so the skill transfers.
- Check copyright before copying; link or use licensed extracts.
Differentiation
- Reading: provide audio, glossaries, chunked text and a preview of key vocabulary.
- Writing: offer a paragraph frame, a model, sentence starters and a checklist.
- Discussion: allow written preparation, pair talk before whole-class talk and role cards.
- Extension: ask for a counterargument, a second example or a comparison of two texts.
- Access: keep printed materials at a readable size and avoid dense pages without white space.
Routines that make skills stick
- Monday passage: one short text, one close-reading question, five minutes.
- Sentence of the week: imitate a strong sentence pattern in a new context.
- Word wall: add one academic verb each week and use it in discussion.
- Paragraph clinic: one anonymous paragraph, annotated by the class.
- Revision slot: ten minutes to act on feedback before work is collected.
Formative use
The checklists and tables are not scoring instruments. Use them to notice patterns across the class: Are students explaining effect or just naming techniques? Are sentences varied? Are inferences supported? Reteach the pattern, not every individual error.
Printing and access
Every page prints cleanly. The annotation pages work well as A4 handouts. If students use screen readers, check that tables have clear headers and that any model text is available as text rather than an image.