How does Story Tools align with the Australian Curriculum?

Each of our lessons outlines which strands and objectives the lesson relates to in the English curriculum.

The General Capability area of Critical and Creative Thinking is also embedded throughout the lessons.

For example:

Series 2 Lesson 9: All About Non-Fiction - Children engage in activities in this lesson that require them to explore and analyse different non-fiction texts, such as the layout, language, use of visual images and diagrams, etc.

In doing this, children are encouraged to consider how these elements have been used to convey information in a clear and interesting way.

They then have the opportunity to apply these elements themselves when writing a nonfiction piece for a particular audience.

 These activities can be mapped to the following English Curriculum Learning Objectives:

• Literacy Y3: Identify the audience and purpose of imaginative, informative and persuasive texts (ACELY1678)

• Literacy Y4: Identify characteristic features used in imaginative, informative and persuasive texts to meet the purpose of the text (ACELY1690)

• Literacy Y5 : Identify and explain characteristic text structures and language features used in imaginative, informative and persuasive texts to meet the purpose of the text (ACELY1701)

• Literacy Y6: Analyse how text structures and language features work together to meet the purpose of a text (ACELY1711)

Many of the lessons also have strong connections with the General Capability strand of Critical and Creative Thinking.

These are designed so that kids can engage with concepts and techniques authentically, with well-known authors and creators providing them with insights into practical and relevant techniques and skills.

Children are then presented with activities that support and scaffold them to explore and analyse these concepts further, often inviting them to make connections with their own experiences.

Kids can then apply these new understandings and skills to generate ideas and solutions in their own story writing. 

For example, in Series 3 Lesson 4: The End - with the help of award-winning authors Leanne Hall and Meg McKinlay, children discover different ways narrative stories can end.

They explore and experiment with rewriting endings by applying some of the approaches introduced to them in the video and activities. 

Therefore, tapping into the following elements of Critical and Creative Thinking, Level 3 & 4 means that kids can:

• Imagine possibilities and connect ideas

• Consider alternatives

• Seek solutions and put ideas into action