Level 5 VELS

Learning Focus

As students work towards the achievement of Level 5 standards in English, they consolidate and expand their knowledge and understanding of a range of texts and appreciate how to use formal language to construct their responses.

Students:

• work cooperatively in discussion groups, exploring and analysing various themes and issues.
• develop their skills in identifying main issues in a topic, providing supporting detail and evidence for opinions, asking relevant clarifying questions and building on the ideas of others.
• apply their knowledge of spoken texts and oral language to experiment with techniques to influence audiences, including vocabulary, rhythm, intonation, timing, pausing, body language and facial expression.
• examine how situational and socio-cultural factors affect audience responses and the impact of different text and sentence structures on readers and viewers.
• explore ways of using multimodal texts to enhance visual and verbal communication.

Reading

• Read and view imaginative, informative and persuasive texts
• Identify the ideas, themes and issues providing supporting evidence
• Produce a range of written and oral responses to the text
• Find and discuss the meanings and messages in texts
• Analyse how social values or attitudes are conveyed
• Compare the presentation of information and ideas in different texts

Writing

• Produce texts in both print and electronic forms for a variety of purposes
• Write extended narratives or scripts with attention to characterisation, consistency of viewpoint and development of a resolution
• Develop responses to themes and issues in persuasive, expository and personal modes
• Students improve the accuracy of their writing, identifying the use of grammatical conventions and features of language and in their use of figurative language.
• They use a range of punctuation accurately to support meaning, and have control of tenses. They accurately identify and use different parts of speech.
• Edit and proof read their writing.

Speaking and Listening

• Orally express response to texts, themes and issues
• Provide supporting detail and evidence for opinions
• Evaluate the spoken language of others
• Select, prepare and present spoken texts for specific audiences and purposes
• Further develop listening skills, identifying  key ideas and taking notes
• Show an awareness of audience and purpose when constructing oral responses.