Stage 1 Year 2 Explanation Term:
Social Purpose
Explanations tell how and why things occur in scientific and technical fields.
Structure
Explanations are organised to include:
 an identifying statement about what is to be explained — this stage is the ‘statement of
 phenomenon’;
 a series of events known as the ‘explanation sequence’ — the events may be related according to time or
cause or according to both relationships;
 a ‘concluding statement’ (this stage is optional).
 Explanations may include visual images, e.g. diagrams and flow charts, which need to be carefully examined.
ESL Scales Reading and Writing
ESL Scales levels: Beginning Reading and Responding 1, 2, 3; Reading and Responding 1; Beginning Writing 1, 2, 3;
Writing 1.
 Recycle vocabulary from the oral explanation that can be used in the classroom in different contexts, e.g.
The students have learnt about the black and orange Monarch butterfly. Students draw a Monarch
butterfly and label ‘black’ and ‘orange’.
 Select vocabulary for reading and writing activities that you have heard students use orally.
 Give ESL students the task of illustrating large class models.
 ESL Scales levels: Reading and Responding 2, 3; Writing 2, 3
 Activities in the learning experiences in writing are appropriate for ESL learners as they focus on building
field knowledge.
 Use cloze to delete time and causal connectives.
 Match beginnings and endings of sentences demonstrating the use of the dependent clause, eg After
butterflies mate/the female lays eggs.
 Use jumbled sentences for students to re-order. Focus on subject–verb–object pattern of clauses, eg The
female lays eggs.
 Ask students to locate what each pronoun refers to in an explanation text read aloud.





Grammar Focus
Using general nouns to name what is being explained.
Building word families about a topic.
Using a variety of action verbs for sequencing events.
Using a variety of time conjunctions.
Using adverbial phrases to indicate time/place.
Grammar Terminology
Students at this stage will be using terms such as:
 Conjunction
 action verb
 clause
 sentence
 adverbial phrase
Content – Year 2
WS1.9
WS1.9
WS1.10
WS1.11
WS1.10
WS1.11
WS1.12
WS1.12
Producing Texts
• engage in joint and independent constructions of a
range of text types, e.g. recounts of personal
experience, descriptions of familiar people or
things, poems, elementary stories.
• respond to questions about their own writing from
a variety of audiences, e.g. teacher, family member,
classmates, older or younger students, teacher’s
aide, classroom visitor
• use headings to indicate topic of text
• use graphics to accompany text where relevant
Skills and Strategies
• prepare for writing, e.g. by planning text
structure into a framework such as a matrix,
semantic map, by taking notes from written texts
• use subject–verb and noun–pronoun agreement in
their own writing
• begin to proofread and edit their own texts for
publication
• use common punctuation, e.g. upper and lower case,
correct spacing, question mark, and experiment
with more advanced punctuation for different
effects
• spell high-frequency and common sight words
accurately and use knowledge of letter
combinations and blends when writing new words
• develop handwriting of consistent size and spacing
in NSW Foundation Style use computer software to
write texts.
• use computer software to write texts.
WS1.13
WS1.14
Context and Text
• discuss and explain the purpose and audience of a
variety of simple literary and factual texts in books,
including media and electronic texts
• model how to select and organise information
before writing
• model how to consider purpose and audience before
writing
• provide proformas with guided questions to
scaffold students’ writing
Language Structures and Features
• discuss with students how adjectives are used to
provide more information about nouns
• assist students to identify verbs and verb groups
• provide opportunities for writing conferences to
support editing and proofreading
• point out clauses to students and explain their
purpose
• model strategies for ensuring the use of correct
spelling and punctuation in texts.
Stage 1
Year 2
English:
Explanations
Writing Focus
Teaching Focus
Teaching and Learning Experiences
Resources
What do I want students to
learn?
How will I get there?
What do I need?
Week 1 Building Field:
Purpose

Structure

Elements:
diagram
sequencing
technical language
creating a table
reading a table
Plant Life Cycle
Show students the cover of a factual text. Ask
students to predict the content of the book using
visual/graphic elements, e.g. title, cover
illustration. Read text and check predictions. Ask
students who would read explanations and for
what purpose.
Revise social purpose of explanation through model
texts. Display stages on chart in classroom.

Highlight and list the organisation of explanations:
phenomenon statement, followed by correctly
sequenced events. Add to chart/list each time a text
is read or reread, the grammatical features
discovered.

Identify and discuss the purpose of the Statement of
Phenomenon. (To introduce the topic.)

Use a table/matrix like the example below, to sort
verbs into relevant parts of a sequence. This will
assist the joint construction of an Explanation. The
table can be created as a class or in groups.
seed
underground seedling
is planted germinates
grows
lands
sprouts
emerges
splits
comes
appears
plant
flower
flower head
grows
makes
unfolds
has
develops
opens
becomes
forms
begins
opens
dies
fall (s)
Verb group
present tense verbs

Jointly construction an explanation together based
on plant life cycle and have students read it before
giving the oral explanation sequence in groups using
large picture cut-outs. N.B. Stress ‘written like not
‘spoken like’
 Guided writing: Creating a diagram
Using organised word banks or flashcards
brainstorm and record names of plant parts,
Year 1
Explanation
Texts based on
Life cycles of
Frogs, Insects
etc.
Caterpillars
Big Book
(Bookshelf
Publication)
Stage 1
Year 2
English:
Explanations
Writing Focus
Teaching Focus
Teaching and Learning Experiences
Resources
What do I want students to
learn?
How will I get there?
What do I need?
adjectives and verbs that the students might
need when they label or write about their plant
pictures using keywords. Model how to make
notes based on this information using graphic
organiser.
View Power Point
of ‘Life Cycle of
a Sunflower’
nouns
adjectives
verbs
Adjectives
Nouns
Verbs
describing words
naming words
action words
tiny
moist
dry
long
white
soft
thin
thick
young
fresh
lush
seed
soil
roots
shoot
skin
leaves
stem
stalk
is planted
begin(s)
grow(s)
emerge(s)
develop(s)
flower(s)

noun groups

In groups, students build noun groups relating to a
picture (plant lifecycle,) by adding adjectives to nouns.
e.g.; sentence 1:The seed is planted. Sentence 2: The
small seed is planted in the damp soil. Sentence 3:
The small seed with the hard, white shell is planted
in the moist soil. Later this process or learning will be
used again to describe other phenomena such as
bread, milk, water cycle or digestive process.
Independent Writing
Using these notes from plant life cycle diagram
students write an explanation in pairs. Provide
phenomenon and conclusion from modeled writing
session.
Week 2 Building Field:
from?
shared / guided
reading
noun groups
N.B. encourage
antonyms for
grow
Bread: Where does it come

Read a text that uses many noun groups so that
students can participate in a cued listening activity.
E.g. When students hear a noun group, they could
touch their head.

Discuss techniques used in visual texts to present
information in the explanation Look at Big Book on
Bread, e.g. cross-sections, labelled diagrams,
magnification, keys.
Teacher
Resources
(attached)
Pyramid Outline
Teacher
Resources
(attached)
Plant Growth
Cycle
Big Book
Where does it
come from?
Bread
Peasrson, J Echidna
Books Melbourne
Australia 2001
Stage 1
Year 2
English:
Explanations
Writing Focus
Teaching Focus
Teaching and Learning Experiences
Resources
What do I want students to
learn?
How will I get there?
What do I need?

Using a visual flowchart of ‘Wheat to bread’ discuss
the steps in the process of making bread. Create a list
of nouns and verbs needed to explain this process.
Nouns
wheat seeds
wheat
farmer
machine
mill
flour
baker
dough
oven
trolley
shop
bakery
shopkeeper
nouns
verbs
germinates
grows
uses
is cut, cuts
is taken, takes
grinds
makes
kneads
rolls
is baked, bakes
is stored, stores
is sold, sells
is bought, buy

Use class chart made after shared re-reading of Big
Book, with headings such as ‘Nouns’, ‘Verbs’ and
‘Adverbial Phrases’, to jointly construct an
explanation.

Jointly construct a written explanation about the
process that explains where a food product comes
from by assigning different sections of the process to
groups of students. Using word banks students label
the stages in the process and use this information to
create a short oral, then written explanation of ‘How
bread is produced’. Making sure adverbial phrases
have been added.

Watch video again and list time connectives on a
chart.
Students order the joint construction of class text
then add time connectives. Discuss the difference it
makes to the text.
Repeat this activity for the following video on Milk. As
unit progresses add different or unusual time
connectives e.g. In the milk shed…, From the dairy…
Inside the factory…
adverbial phrases
adverbial phrases
time connectives
Making bread
Action words
Video: For The
Juniors
Farm To The
Table: Bread ABC
Schools Television
Sydney Australia
Teacher
Resources
(attached)
Individual
Photos of the
process from
teacher Teacher
Resources
(attached)
Teacher
Resources
(attached)
Time
connectives
suggested
word bank
Stage 1
Year 2
English:
Explanations
Writing Focus
Teaching Focus
Teaching and Learning Experiences
Resources
What do I want students to
learn?
How will I get there?
What do I need?
Week 3 Building Field:
How Milk is Made
 Revisit the importance of diagrams representing the
details of each stage; the purpose of diagrams to give
additional information. Predict information of main
text based on the diagrams and captions.
Big Book
Where does it
come from? Milk
Elements:
adjectives nouns
verbs
time connectives
noun groups
planning skills

Provide pairs of students with familiar labels and
captions for a process to sequence and sketch each
stage.
 Using the gathered information in the word banks
and time connectives to mark each stage – first,
next, then, groups report back to present an
explanation of what happens in each stage of the
process in order to create a whole text.
 Revisit the noun group activity using grid. In pairs
students write sentences on small whiteboards.
Share with class. Refer to class chart.
 Students independently construct their own
written explanation for the same product or
another food product e.g. Milk: using diagrams to
accompany texts. Refer to the class chart started
from week 1 to include in their writing.
Week 4
simple, compound,
complex sentences
conjunctions


Building Field The Water Cycle
Refer to an explanation text used in shared reading to
locate objects or naming words (nouns), actions or
words that tell what happened (verbs) and words that
tell how/when/where it happened (adverbial phrases).
Record these on a chart for each event in the
explanation to use in joint construction or independent
activities.
Teacher models how to use conjunctions word banks to
create compound sentences. Use conjunctions such as:
and, or, but, so, because. E.g. ‘Now the little seedling grows
and has two small ,round leaves.’
Using word banks have make compound sentences
using conjunctions. From previous topics and current.
Peasrson, J Echidna
Books Melbourne
Australia 2001
Video: For The
Juniors
Farm To The
Table: Milk ABC
Schools Television
Sydney Australia
Noun Group Grid
Milk Sequence
Pictures
Teacher
Resources
(attached)
The Water Cycle
‘Grammar in
Teaching’
John Collerson 1997
p.103 PETA Sydney
Australia
Teacher
Resources
(attached)
Conjunctions chart
Teacher
Resources
Stage 1
Year 2
English:
Explanations
Writing Focus
Teaching Focus
Teaching and Learning Experiences
Resources
What do I want students to
learn?
How will I get there?
What do I need?

planning skills
Independently create a chart of ‘The Water Cycle’
Students label time connectives, adjectives, nouns
verbs adverbials at each stage. Provide a space above
and below to include a ‘phenomenon statement’ and
‘conclusion.’
Week 5 Bringing it all together Food Digestion
Pronouns
Review:
purpose
structure
elements

Comparing two texts personal pronouns to
nominalisation. Look at text 1 ’How does your body
get Fuel?’ and highlight the pronouns in it.
Highlight the pronouns in text 2 ‘Food Digestion’.
What effect does text 1 and 2 have on the
reader? Which text sounds more ‘scientific like’?
Discuss.
Give out sentences strips with personal pronouns
in them and in pairs, ask students to rewrite
without pronouns but by using nouns participants. N.B.Model the exercise.

In guided reading identifying components of the
explanation e.g. technical terms, Conjunctions etc.

Students Label body parts of digestion and plan a
writing task. View diagrams in Big Book ‘Body
Works’
 Independent Assessment Task
Write an Explanation on the Digestive System
(attached)
water cycle picture
cues
Teacher
Resources
(attached)
Two texts on same
topic Digestion
Teacher
Resources
(attached)
Pronouns No more
Teacher
Resources
(attached)
BLM 52 ‘What is
an Explanation’
Big Book
‘Body Works’
Peasrson, J Echidna
Books Melbourne
Australia 2001
Stage 1 Year 2
Outcomes
RS 1.5
RS 1.6
RS 1.7
RS 1.8
Indicators:

recognises and
names or
describes the
purpose and
stages of
explanations

chooses to read
explanation
texts from a
range provided,
for enjoyment
or information,
on the basis of
interest area


compares
personal
knowledge and
experience with
information
gained from
explanations
asks questions
to gain
information that
helps us to
understand an
explanation
English
Reading
Teaching and Learning Experiences
Idea 1:
 Show students the cover of a factual text. Ask students to predict
the content of the book using visual/graphic elements, eg title,
cover illustration. Read text and check predictions. Ask students
who would read explanations and for what purpose.
Idea 2:
 Encourage students to predict meanings for new technical language
encountered in shared reading of an explanation. Model a range of
strategies to use in predicting what these words mean, eg using
picture clues, recognising similarities to other words, using
contextual clues.
Idea 3:
 Discuss techniques used in visual texts to present information in the
explanation, eg cross-sections, labelled diagrams, magnification,
keys.
Idea 4:
 Ask students to find information from visual texts, such as flow
charts, life cycles, cross-sections, magnified diagrams, related to a
current unit of work. Model how to make notes based on this
information using matrices, pro forma or graphic organiser.
Encourage students to use these notes in joint construction
activities.
Idea 5:
 After shared reading, select facts from an explanation and record
on a fact tree and/or semantic web. Display for use in joint
construction activities.
Idea 6:
  Refer to an explanation text used in shared reading to
locate objects or naming words (nouns), actions or words
that tell what happened (verbs) and words that tell
how/when/where it happened (adverbial phrases). Record
these on a chart for each event in the explanation to use
in joint construction activities.
Idea 7:

 Provide students with a cloze passage of an explanation
in which key words are missing. After completing the cloze
activity, encourage students to talk about the clues they
used to fill in the missing words.
Idea 8:
 In small groups, have students sequence jigsaw pieces of a
sequential explanation in correct order. Use an explanation that has
time words or phrases at the beginning of each event, eg Week 1,
Week 3 etc.
Idea 9:
 Highlight the organisation of explanations by locating sections that
tell what the explanation is about (phenomenon statement) and what
happens at each stage (explanation sequence).
Explanations
Resources
Assessment
Look for  and
bold text for
possible
assessment
activities
Evaluation
Stage 1 Year 2
Outcomes
TS 1.1
TS 1.2
TS 1.3
TS 1.4
Indicators:






identifies
purpose of oral
explanation
in a group,
discusses
causes of a
topical or
familiar
phenomenon
listens to a
spoken
explanation
with
understanding
prepares a
spoken
explanation
with aids to
assist
listeners’
understanding
attempts to
use suitable
subjectspecific
vocabulary for
a topic
groups
information
logically in an
oral
explanation.
English
Talking & Listening
Teaching and Learning Experiences
Explanations
Resources
Idea 1:
 Ask students, in small groups, to sequence pictures from an
explanation, eg a life cycle, the water cycle. Have students use
these pictures to plan and present a jointly constructed oral
explanation to the rest of the class
Idea 2:
 Encourage students to use technical language when explaining why
something is or how something works. Make sure technical
language is understood, eg encourage students to say ‘The snail
hibernates. This means …’.
Idea 3:

Listen to sections of a familiar explanation being read aloud. Ask
students to identify which stage of the explanation has been
heard, referring to details, eg It’s the phenomenon statement
because it tells what the explanation is about.
Assessment
Look for 
and bold text
for possible
assessment
tasks.
Idea 4:

Jointly construct an oral explanation of a familiar topic by
assigning different sections to students, eg time connectives to
mark each stage — first, next, then; name of each stage, eggs —
tadpoles etc; description of what happens at each stage.
Idea 5:

Focus on the purpose of explanations by listening to snippets of a
range of different sample texts. Ask students to identify which
texts tell about how or why things are as they are, or how things
work.
Idea 6:

Encourage students to ask questions when they are unclear about
concepts and events in explanations.
Idea 7:
 Jointly construct an oral explanation of a familiar topic by
assigning different sections to students, eg time connectives to
mark each stage — first, next, then; name of each stage, eggs —
tadpoles etc; description of what happens at each stage.
Idea 8:

Have students observe a machine working, eg bicycle. Encourage
students to list the action verbs that describe how the different
parts of the machine work, eg turn, push, pedal. Use this list to
jointly construct an oral explanation about how this machine
works.
Idea 9:

Model explaining how familiar objects work. After making a model,
encourage students to tell the class about it, explaining how it
works. Be careful that students do not give a procedure when
explaining how something works.
Evaluation
Conjunctions
and
but
or
because
so
so that
as
when
Personal Pronouns
I me we us
you
he him she her it
them they
Possessive Pronouns
mine
ours
yours
hers
his
its
theirs
Time Connectives
First…
First of all…
Then
Next
Soon
After a while
Afterwards
Finally
Eventually
In the end
At this point
Meanwhile
At this
moment....
At the same
time....
Later
Later on,
Until then…
Before that
Most common Relating Verbs
‘To have’
‘To be’
Past
present
past
present
I
was
am
had
have
you
were
are
had
have
he, she, it
was
is
had
has
we, they
were
are
had
have
Noun group
Noun
Order of Adjectives
WHICH?
WHOSE?
HOW MANY?
(Quantity)
the
two
the
OPINION
FACTUAL
healthy
cold
tasty
black
large
fresh
WHAT
TYPE?
jersey
full-cream
cows
vats
milk
You r body gets fuel from food and drink.
As the food, travels, your body absorbs what it needs.
Your teeth bite and grind the food into small pieces.
Food is digested through your the body.
Saliva in your mouth softens the food.
After you swallow, the pieces of food slide down a
tube (the oesophagus) into your stomach.
In your stomach, the food is squeezed and squashed.
Your digestive juices make your food even smaller.
Your small intestine absorbs the nutrients your body
needs.
First, special machines
pump milk from the cow’s
udder.
At the factory, the milk is
heated to kill any germs.
Then, refrigerated
trucks take the milk to
the factory.
Next, it is cooled
quickly again.
Soon the milk is put in
cartons or bottles and
is sealed.
Finally, refrigerated
trucks take the cartons
and bottles to shops.