Year 7 English

An investigation into how authors sequence events to build tension and resolve conflict, focusing on exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.

Analyzing how authors use direct and indirect characterization to create complex personas, including protagonists, antagonists, and supporting characters.

Exploring figurative language (metaphor, simile, personification) and sensory details to enhance descriptive writing and evoke specific moods.

Investigating the impact of first-person, third-person limited, and third-person omniscient narration on reader understanding and empathy.

Examining how authors use descriptive language to create a vivid setting and establish the mood or atmosphere of a narrative.

Identifying and analyzing different types of conflict (person vs. person, self, nature, society) and their role in driving the plot and character development.

Identifying and interpreting the underlying messages or central ideas conveyed through a story's plot, characters, and setting.

Exploring how authors use objects, characters, or events to represent deeper meanings and ideas within a narrative.

Understanding how logic, emotion, and credibility are used to build a convincing argument in various persuasive texts.

Deconstructing the visual and textual elements of modern marketing campaigns, focusing on target audience and persuasive techniques.

Developing oral communication skills to present arguments with clarity and conviction, focusing on tone, body language, and rhetorical devices.

Learning to recognize explicit and implicit bias, loaded language, and 'spin' in news reports, opinion pieces, and social media.

Practicing the structure of a persuasive essay, including thesis statements, topic sentences, evidence, and counter-arguments.

Examining how images, cartoons, and infographics are used to persuade audiences, often in conjunction with text.

Investigating the methods and purposes of propaganda, identifying common techniques used to influence public opinion.

Developing skills in formal debate, including constructing arguments, rebuttals, and presenting a coherent case.

Analyzing the structural elements of poetry, including meter, rhyme scheme, and stanza forms, and how they contribute to meaning and musicality.

Examining how poets use persona, perspective, and tone to speak to the reader and convey specific emotions or ideas.

Identifying and interpreting the use of symbols, metaphors, and allegories to represent abstract ideas and deepen meaning in poetry.

A deeper dive into similes, metaphors, personification, hyperbole, and understatement, and their effects on poetic expression.

Understanding the structural rules and thematic conventions of specific poetic forms like Haiku and Sonnets.

Examining how poets use language, imagery, and sound devices to evoke specific emotions in the reader.

Students analyze and perform spoken word poetry, exploring the oral traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples alongside contemporary performance poetry to understand how voice, rhythm, and body communicate meaning.

Focusing on how poets use vivid imagery and sensory language to create concrete experiences for the reader.

Studying the conventions of playwriting, including stage directions, dialogue, monologues, and soliloquies.

Analyzing camera angles, shot types, lighting, and sound design (diegetic and non-diegetic) in cinematic storytelling.

Comparing a literary text with its film or stage counterpart to explore changes in medium, character interpretation, and thematic emphasis.

Exploring common genres in film and drama (e.g., comedy, tragedy, thriller, sci-fi) and their characteristic conventions, tropes, and audience expectations.

Examining how actors, directors, and screenwriters collaborate to portray characters through dialogue, action, and visual cues.

Investigating how dialogue in plays and screenplays advances plot, reveals character, and creates dramatic tension.

A deeper dive into the use of diegetic and non-diegetic sound, music, and silence to enhance storytelling and emotional impact in film.

Exploring how elements within the frame (set design, costumes, props, lighting) contribute to meaning and character in film and theatre.

Examining the structure and voice of long-form journalism and interest pieces, including leads, body paragraphs, and conclusions.

Analyzing how infographics, charts, graphs, and photographs support and sometimes influence informational texts.

Investigating how lives are reconstructed through research, personal memory, and authorial perspective in biographies and memoirs.

Identifying and utilizing common organizational patterns in informational texts, such as cause/effect, compare/contrast, problem/solution, and description.

Developing skills to assess the reliability, authority, and bias of various informational sources, including online content.

Practicing techniques for summarizing key information from non-fiction texts and synthesizing information from multiple sources.

Planning, drafting, and revising an informative report on a chosen topic, focusing on clear organization, factual accuracy, and appropriate language.

Learning to formulate effective research questions that guide inquiry and information gathering.

A look at how historical events, cultural contact, and technology have shaped the English language over time.

Exploring regional variations, social functions of informal language, and specialized vocabulary (jargon) in different contexts.

Students investigate the vital role of First Nations languages in maintaining cultural identity, connection to Country, and community knowledge, exploring the effects of language loss and the significance of language revitalization efforts across Australia.

Investigating how language use can differ between genders and how language reflects or reinforces gender stereotypes.

Distinguishing between the literal meaning (denotation) and the implied emotional associations (connotation) of words and their impact on meaning.

Identifying and analyzing the author's attitude (tone) and the emotional atmosphere (mood) created in various texts through word choice and imagery.

Understanding and constructing simple, compound, and complex sentences to add variety and sophistication to writing.

Ensuring correct subject-verb agreement, including with tricky subjects like collective nouns and indefinite pronouns.

Mastering appropriate pronoun usage, including agreement in number and case, and avoiding common pronoun errors.

Mastering the correct use of commas to clarify meaning, separate items in a list, and set off clauses.

Understanding the appropriate uses of semicolons to join independent clauses and colons to introduce lists or explanations.

Understanding the difference between active and passive voice and when to use each for impact and clarity.

Developing skills in writing well-structured paragraphs with clear topic sentences, supporting details, and smooth transitions.

Exploring effective strategies for improving spelling accuracy, including common rules, patterns, and mnemonic devices.

Exploring various techniques for generating original ideas, characters, settings, and plot points for creative writing projects.

Practicing the construction of compelling narrative arcs, including rising action, climax, and resolution, and incorporating effective plot twists.

Learning to write realistic and engaging dialogue that advances the plot, reveals character traits, and creates authentic interactions.