Professional learning courses and resources that support the teaching of these units.

Professional learning

• English K–2 – NR32968 (staff only) (elective professional development) – department microlearning course
• Introduction to English K–10 Syllabus (NESA) – all NSW teachers have access to the course by logging into NESA Online Learning.

Resources

Explicit phonics instruction – Illustration of practice

Sample units are optional resources to support classroom teachers in designing high-quality teaching and learning experiences for students.

Like any resource, sample units must be reviewed for suitability prior to use. They are designed to be adopted and adapted for your school context and student learning needs. Teachers should exercise professional judgement when making these decisions.

All units are best viewed digitally as opposed to printed hard copies.

To move through sections of a unit, open the unit and view the navigation pane (Ctrl+F or selecting View > Navigation Pane). In the navigation pane, select the Headings tab.

To go to a heading in a sample unit, select that heading in the navigation pane. This allows teachers to view headings without scrolling.

Each sample unit has been designed using the following structure:

• Title – indicates key learning area, stage of learning and unit number.
• Contents – key reference page to support navigation.
• Unit overview and instructions for use – outlines suggested duration, explicit teaching focus areas and the preparation required to teach each component of the unit.
• Teacher notes – provides additional information to support the teaching of the unit, including definitions, descriptions, additional resources and ideas for integration with other key learning areas.
• Outcomes and content – Component A – details syllabus focus areas, outcomes and content points to be addressed in the Component A teaching and learning sequence and links to National Literacy Learning Progression (Version 3) where relevant.
• Outcomes and content – Component B – details syllabus focus areas, outcomes and content points that are addressed in the Component B teaching and learning sequence and links to National Literacy Learning Progression (Version 3) where relevant.
• Week 1: Component A teaching and learning – provides a scaffold for planning and documenting Week 1 Component A teaching and learning. Links to teaching advice documents and sample teaching and learning sequences are included.
• Week 1: Component B teaching and learning – includes an example learning intention and success criteria, the required resources and a suggested teaching and learning sequence for lessons 1-5. Differentiation ideas, assessment suggestions and additional notes are also included.
• Week 2: Component A teaching and learning – provides a scaffold for planning and documenting Week 2 Component A teaching and learning. Links to teaching advice documents and sample teaching and learning sequences are included.
• Week 2: Component B teaching and learning – includes an example learning intention and success criteria, the required resources and suggested teaching and learning sequence for lessons 6-10. Differentiation ideas, assessment suggestions and additional notes are also included.
• Resources – printable resources to support teaching and learning, including teacher reference material and student activities.
• References – provide links to third-party material, websites and further reading.

Sample units are provided as a starting point for teachers to contextualise learning for their students. Implementation of inclusive practices in planning, programming and assessing supports learning for the full range of students and ensure all students can access and engage with the units.

In NSW classrooms there is a diverse range of students including:

• Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students
• students learning English as an additional language or dialect, including Aboriginal English speakers
• high potential and gifted students
• students with disability.

Some students may identify with more than one of these groups, or possibly all of them.

Advice for teachers on curriculum planning for every student in every classroom.

Teachers are also encouraged to enrol in ‘Curriculum planning for every student in every classroom (staff only)’, available in MyPL, to explore curriculum planning strategies and resources to optimise learning for every student.

Use comments to annotate a unit, including to show evidence of strategies to optimise learning for specific groups of students, or individual students. This could include strategies to enhance teaching and learning, such as differentiation or personalised adjustments.

To learn how to share comments read Share and collaborate with Word for the web. Staff can reply to a comment, adding further detail about the level, type and effectiveness of support provided to a student or group of students.

Quality assurance

Sample units have undergone a rigorous quality assurance process as part of our commitment to improving school support. The process ensures that all sample units provided to schools are relevant, of high quality, and underpinned by evidence-based practice.

Alignment to School Excellence Framework

These resources support the School Excellence Framework and clearly align to the following domains and themes.

Learning domain

• Curriculum: Curriculum provision, Teaching and learning programs
• Assessment: Whole school monitoring of student learning
• Student growth and performance: NAPLAN

Teaching domain

• Effective classroom practice: Lesson planning, Explicit teaching
• Learning and development: Collaborative practice and feedback; Expertise and innovation

Leading domain

Educational leadership: Leading, Teaching and Learning

Alignment to system priorities and, or needs

These resources reflect the following existing frameworks:

• English K–10 Syllabus
• National Literacy Learning Progressions (Version 3)
• Australian Professional Standards for Teachers
  • 1.2 – Understand how students learn
  • 1.5 – Differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities
  • 2.1 – Content and teaching strategies of the teaching area
  • 2.2 – Content selection and organisation
  • 2.3 – Curriculum, assessment and reporting
  • 2.5 – Literacy and numeracy strategies
  • 3.1 – Establish challenging learning goals
  • 3.2 – Plan, structure and sequence learning programs
  • 3.3 – Use teaching strategies
  • 3.4 – Select and use resources
  • 5.1 – Assess student learning
  • 7.2 – Comply with legislative, administrative and organisational requirements
• Advice on units
• Principles for new K–12 syllabuses
• Curriculum planning and programming assessing and reporting to parents K–12 policy
• Registration process for monitoring the government schooling system

Consultation

Resources have been refined based on findings from consultation with key stakeholder groups and tested by NSW teachers as part of the Accelerated adopter and self-selector schools project in 2022. Subject matter experts from Curriculum Early Years and Primary Learners and Literacy and Numeracy reviewed documents to ensure the accuracy of the content.

Evidence base

The evidence base for these resources is:

• English K–10 Syllabus
• Beck IL, McKeown MG and Kucan L (2002) Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction, The Guilford Press, New York.
  
• Castles A, Rastle K and Nation K (2018) ‘Ending the reading wars: Reading acquisition from novice to expert’, Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 19:5–51, doi:10.1177/1529100618772271.
• CESE (Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation) (2017) Cognitive load theory: Research that teachers really need to understand.
• Daffern T (2016) ‘What happens when a teacher uses metalanguage to teach spelling?’, The Reading Teacher, 70(4):423–434,
• Graham S (2020) ‘The sciences of reading and writing must become more fully integrated’, Reading Research Quarterly, 55(S1), S35–S44, doi:10.1002/rrq.332
• Jones S, Myhill D and Bailey T (2012) ‘Grammar for writing?’, An investigation of the effects of contextualised grammar teaching on students’ writing, 26(8):1241–1263, doi:10.1007/s11145-012-9416-1.
• Konza D (2010) Research into practice: Understanding the reading process, Government of South Australia,
• Mackenzie NM (2011) ‘From drawing to writing: What happens when you shift teaching priorities in the first six months of school?’, Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 34(3):322–340.
• NSW Department of Education and Communities (2020) What works best: 2020 update
• NESA (NSW Education Standards Authority) (2021) Evidence-based practices for planning and programming
• NESA (NSW Education Standards Authority) (2021) Additional teaching advice documents
• Parkin J (2021) ‘The simple views of reading and writing: Frameworks for interpretation of the Woodcock–Johnson IV’, Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 39(7):1–16, doi:10.1177/07342829211023325.
• Serafini F and Moses L (2014) ‘The roles of children’s literature in the primary grades’, The Reading Teacher, 67(6):465–468, doi:10.1002/trtr.1236.
• Snow P (2020) SOLAR: ‘The science of language and reading’, Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 1–12, doi:10.1177/0265659020947817.

Contact

Email questions, comments and feedback about sample units to EnglishK6@det.nsw.edu.au.