CONTENTSOn this page
Parent Portal survey
We’re inviting parents and caregivers to share their feedback on the Parent Portal to help us improve the information and support we provide. Take a few minutes to complete our short survey.
Oral language#
Ideas to support oral language at home
With your child, you could:
- learn about your ancestors' speech traditions and create a modern version to share at a whānau event
- listen to an audio book together and talk about how the speakers develop character and create mood in the story
- discuss how a public figure in the media or community uses words to make people feel a certain way, for example, motivated or angry
- have a whānau debate over a meal about a local issue, taking sides and having fun arguing the pros and cons, for example, “Should buses be free and cars banned in our community?”
What the teacher will focus on#
The teacher will focus on supporting your child to:
- write speeches that consider the audience’s emotional responses
- know ways we can effectively communicate together when we have different ideas
- sensitively manage group discussions when there are different opinions
- know the format of larger-scale presentations such as debates, monologues, and podcasts
- understand how to use language to reflect on their learning – for example, by talking about their work with classmates.
By the end of the year, your child will be able to, for example:
- know how to express their personal views using supporting details
- experiment with voice, tone, and pauses in speeches to create certain effects for their audience
- think about the arguments others may use against their view and challenge them to strengthen their own position in debates.
Words your child will be learning
Words include:
- communication
- analogy
- counter-argument
- symbolism
- idiom.
Reading#
Ideas to support reading at home
With your child, you could:
- read together, choosing from a wide range of print and digital texts, such as poetry or non-fiction, ask your child's teacher and local library for suggestions
- have them read out loud, encouraging them to self-correct words they’re unsure of and to experiment with pace and expression
- look up the meanings of unfamiliar words
- look for words that are now part of English, like taboo, pyjama or tattoo, and find out where they came from and how they became part of our language today
- research a current event together using different digital and print sources and compare how each type of media presents the event.
What the teacher will focus on#
The teacher will focus on supporting your child to:
- read a wide range of genres, and encourage them to use their own experiences, skills and knowledge to understand the work
- understand the context (when and why it was written) and how this is reflected in the main ideas of a text
- know how to select and apply a range of comprehension strategies to their reading of texts
- back up their ideas about a text with details from the work
- compare and contrast different types of texts to develop their critical thinking skills.
By the end of Year 8, your child will be able to, for example:
- use sounding out and self-correction skills when they see words they do not know
- read aloud, considering how punctuation and word choices affect their delivery
- explore how characters, setting, plot, and word choice affect readers and create meaning
- understand how language features, like cliché and rhetorical questions, create effects for audiences
- make conclusions about key ideas within a text
- describe visual features in texts, such as illustrations, and explain how they influence the audience's response.
Words your child will be learning
Words include:
- cliché
- perspectives
- hyperbole
- inference
- reference.
Writing#
Ideas to support writing at home
With your child, you could:
- craft a persuasive email to the council about improving a local facility, and use digital tools to check grammar
- each write a diary for a set time, using lots of detail from your lives to make it interesting
- research a topic that interests them using notes from 3 different texts, compare the information, and create a plan for writing a report
- write a recipe for their favourite meal, asking them to use their best handwriting and correct grammar, they could give it as a gift to a friend or whānau member.
What the teacher will focus on#
The teacher will focus on supporting your child to:
- spell and edit advanced grammar and sentence structures
- explore an issue by researching, discussing the idea, and planning carefully before beginning to write
- identify how to move from 1 idea or setting to another within their writing
- write conclusions that encourage the audience to think more about the topic.
By the end of the year, your child will be able to, for example:
- understand how to find and use synonyms, or similar words to ones they already know, to expand their vocabulary
- combine different language techniques and styles of writing to create effects for the audience
- use visual elements in texts, such as graphs, to clearly explain their ideas
- know how to revise their writing so the main ideas and actions are clear and it achieves its purpose.
Words your child will be learning
Words include:
- subject-verb agreement
- active and passive voice
- hyperbole
- bibliography.
