Year 1 standard elaborations — Australian Curriculum: English
REVISED DRAFT
The Australian Curriculum achievement standards are an expectation of the depth of understanding, the extent of knowledge and the sophistication of
skills that students should typically demonstrate at the end of a teaching and learning year. In Queensland, the Year 1 Australian Curriculum
achievement standard represents a child who is Working with (WW) the curriculum, demonstrating understanding of the required knowledge and
applying skills in situations familiar to them.
Year 1 Australian Curriculum: English achievement standard
Receptive modes (listening, reading and viewing)
By the end of Year 1, students understand the different purposes of texts. They make connections to personal experience when explaining characters and main
events in short texts. They identify the language features, images and vocabulary used to describe characters and events.
Students read aloud, with developing fluency and intonation, short texts with some unfamiliar vocabulary, simple and compound sentences and supportive images.
When reading, they use knowledge of sounds and letters, high frequency words, sentence boundary punctuation and directionality to make meaning.
They recall key ideas and recognise literal and implied meaning in texts. They listen to others when taking part in conversations, using appropriate language
features. They listen for and reproduce letter patterns and letter clusters.
Productive modes (speaking, writing and creating)
Students understand how characters in texts are developed and give reasons for personal preferences. They create texts that show understanding of the
connection between writing, speech and images. They create short texts for a small range of purposes. They interact in pair, group and class discussions, taking
turns when responding. They make short presentations of a few connected sentences on familiar and learned topics. When writing, students provide details about
ideas or events. They accurately spell words with regular spelling patterns and use capital letters and full stops. They correctly form all upper- and lower-case
letters.
Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), Australian Curriculum v6.0 English for Foundation–10, www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/English/Curriculum/F-10
The standards elaborations (SEs) should be used in conjunction with the Australian Curriculum achievement standard and content descriptions for the
relevant year level. They provide additional clarity about using the Australian Curriculum achievement standard to make judgments on a five-point
scale.
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The SEs for English have been developed using the Australian Curriculum content descriptions and the achievement standard.
They promote and support:
 aligning curriculum, assessment and reporting, connecting curriculum and evidence in assessment, so that what is assessed relates directly to what
students have had the opportunity to learn
 continuing skill development from one year of schooling to another
 making judgments on a five-point scale based on evidence of learning in a folio of student work
 planning an assessment program and individual assessments
 developing task-specific standards and grading guides.
Year 1 English standard elaborations
Applying
(AP)
REVISED DRAFT
Making connections
(MC)
Working with
(WW)
Exploring
(EX)
Becoming aware
(BA)
Ideas and information
in texts
Types
of texts
Receptive modes
Evidence of listening, reading and viewing
Understanding and skills
dimensions
The folio of a child’s work has the following characteristics:
Clear description of key
ideas and identification
of literal and implied
meaning in familiar and
some unfamiliar texts
Description of key ideas
and identification of
literal and implied
meaning in familiar texts
Recognition of key ideas
and literal and implied
meaning in familiar texts
Guided recognition of
aspects of key ideas
and literal meaning in
familiar texts
Directed recognition of
events and information
in familiar texts
Clear explanation of
characters and main
events in short texts,
relating the response to
personal experience
Effective explanation of
characters and main
events in short texts,
relating the response to
personal experience
Explanation of
characters and main
events in short texts,
relating the response to
personal experience
Guided identification of
characters and main
events in short texts
Directed recognition of
characters and main
events in short texts
Clear description of the
purposes of different
types of texts
Description of the
purposes of different
types of texts
Identification of the
purposes of different
types of texts
Guided identification of
the common
characteristics of
different types of texts
Directed identification of
the common
characteristics of
different types of text
Year 1 standard elaborations — Australian Curriculum: English
REVISED DRAFT
Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority
July 2014
Page 2 of 7
Language and textual features,
including oral language,
and listening
Language and textual features,
including oral language,
and listening
Receptive modes
Evidence of listening, reading and viewing
Understanding and skills dimensions
Clear and effective use
of knowledge of:
 sounds and letters
 high-frequency words
 sentence boundary
punctuation
 directionality
to make meaning from
texts when reading and
listening for letter
patterns and letter
clusters
Effective use of
knowledge of:
 sounds and letters
 high-frequency words
 sentence boundary
punctuation
 directionality
to make meaning from
texts when reading and
listening for letter
patterns and letter
clusters
Use of knowledge of:
 sounds and letters
 high-frequency words
 sentence boundary
punctuation
 directionality
to make meaning from
texts when reading and
listening for letter
patterns and letter
clusters
Guided use of
knowledge of:
 sounds and letters
 high-frequency words
 sentence boundary
punctuation
 directionality
to make meaning from
texts when reading and
listening for letter
patterns and letter
clusters
Directed use of
knowledge of:
 sounds and letters
 high-frequency words
 punctuation
 directionality
to make meaning from
texts when reading and
listening for letter
patterns and letter
clusters
Clear explanation of
language features,
images and vocabulary
used to describe
characters and events
Explanation of language
features, images and
vocabulary used to
describe characters and
events
Identification of
language features,
images and vocabulary
used to describe
characters and events
Guided identification of
language features,
images and vocabulary
used to describe
characters and events
Directed identification of
language features,
images and vocabulary
used to describe
characters and events
Clear use of developing
fluency and intonation to
read aloud short texts
with:
 unfamiliar vocabulary
 simple and compound
sentences
 supportive images
Effective use of
developing fluency and
intonation to read aloud
short texts with:
 some unfamiliar
vocabulary
 simple and compound
sentences
 supportive images
Use of developing
fluency and intonation to
read aloud short texts
with:
 some unfamiliar
vocabulary
 simple and compound
sentences
 supportive images
Guided demonstration of
growing fluency and
phrasing to read aloud
short supportive texts
Directed demonstration
of aspects of growing
fluency and phrasing to
read aloud short
predictable texts
Clear use of interaction
skills and appropriate
language features to
listen and respond to
others in conversations
and discussions
Effective use of
interaction skills and
appropriate language
features to listen and
respond to others in
conversations and
discussions
Use of interaction skills
and appropriate
language features to
listen and respond to
others in conversations
and discussions
Guided use of
interaction skills and
appropriate language
features to listen and
respond to others in
conversations and
discussions
Directed use of
interaction skills and
appropriate language
features to listen and
respond to others in
conversations and
discussions
Year 1 standard elaborations — Australian Curriculum: English
REVISED DRAFT
Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority
July 2014
Page 3 of 7
Applying
(AP)
Making connections
(MC)
Working with
(WW)
Exploring
(EX)
Becoming aware
(BA)
Ideas and information in texts
Types
of texts
Productive modes
Evidence of speaking, writing and creating
Understanding and skills dimensions
The folio of a child’s work has the following characteristics:
Clear use of detail about
ideas and events in own
written texts
Effective use of detail
about ideas and events in
own written texts
Use of detail about ideas
and events in own
written texts
Guided use of detail
about ideas and events
in own short texts
Directed use of detail
about ideas and events
in short texts
Clear description of
characters in texts to
explain personal
preferences
Effective description of
characters in texts to
explain personal
preferences
Description of characters
in texts to explain
personal preferences
Guided description of
characters in texts to
explain personal
preferences
Directed description of
characters in texts to
explain personal
preferences
Clear use of:
 connected sentences
 spoken language
features
 turn taking
in conversations,
discussions and short
presentations on learned
and familiar topics
Effective use of:
 connected sentences
 spoken language
features
 turn taking
in conversations,
discussions and short
presentations on learned
and familiar topics
Use of:
 connected sentences
 spoken language
features
 turn taking
in conversations,
discussions and short
presentations on learned
and familiar topics
Guided use of:
 sentences
 spoken language
feature
 turn taking
in conversations,
discussions and short
presentations on learned
topics
Directed use of:
 sentences
 spoken language
features
 turn taking
in conversations,
discussions and short
presentations on learned
topics
Clear use of text that
shows connections
between writing, speech
and images to suit the
purposes of types of text
Effective use of text that
shows connections
between writing, speech
and images to suit the
purposes of types of text
Use of text that shows
connections between
writing, speech and
images to suit the
purposes of types of text
Use of text that begins to
make links between
writing, speech and
images
Use of words, phrases
and images to convey
ideas
Year 1 standard elaborations — Australian Curriculum: English
REVISED DRAFT
Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority
July 2014
Page 4 of 7
Language and textual features
Productive modes
Evidence of speaking, writing and creating
Understanding and skills dimensions
Clear use of:
 accurate spelling of
words with regular
spelling patterns
 writing concepts,
including full stops and
capital letters
Effective use of:
 accurate spelling of
words with regular
spelling patterns
 writing concepts,
including full stops and
capital letters
Use of:
 accurate spelling of
words with regular
spelling patterns
 writing concepts,
including full stops and
capital letters
Demonstration of
growing use of:
 beginning spelling
patterns
 beginning writing
concepts
Directed use of:
 beginning spelling
patterns
 beginning writing
concepts
Use of beginning
handwriting with correct
forms of upper- and
lower-case letters
Demonstration of
developing use of
beginning handwriting
Emergent use of
beginning handwriting
Note: Colour highlights have been used in the table to emphasise the qualities that discriminate between the standards.
Key
AP
The child applies the curriculum content and demonstrates a thorough
understanding of the required knowledge. The child demonstrates a high level of
skill that can be transferred to new situations.
EX
The child is exploring the curriculum content and demonstrates understanding of
aspects of the required knowledge. The child uses a varying level of skills in
situations familiar to them.
MC
The child makes connections using the curriculum content and demonstrates a clear
understanding of the required knowledge. The child applies a high level of skill in
situations familiar to them, and is beginning to transfer skills to new situations.
BA
The child is becoming aware of the curriculum content and demonstrates a basic
understanding of aspects of required knowledge. The child is beginning to use skills
in situations familiar to them.
WW
The child can work with the curriculum content and demonstrates understanding of
the required knowledge. The child applies skills in situations familiar to them.
Year 1 standard elaborations — Australian Curriculum: English
REVISED DRAFT
Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority
July 2014
Page 5 of 7
Notes
The SEs describe the qualities of achievement in the two dimensions common to all Australian
Curriculum learning area achievement standards:
 understanding
 skills.
Dimension*
Description
Understanding*
The concepts underpinning and connecting knowledge in a learning area,
related to a student’s ability to appropriately select and apply knowledge
to solve problems in that learning area
Skills*
The specific techniques, strategies and processes in a learning area
The following terms and key words are used in the Year 1 English SEs. They help to clarify the
descriptors and should be used in conjunction with the ACARA Australian Curriculum English
glossary: www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/english/Glossary
Term
Description
Aspects
Particular parts or features
Clear; Clarity
Without ambiguity; explicit
Description; Descriptive;
Describe*
Give an account of characteristics or features
Direction; Directed;
Directed use
Following the instructions of the facilitator
Effective
Capably meets the described requirements
Explanation; Explanatory;
Explain*
Provide additional information that demonstrates understanding of
reasoning and/or application
Familiar
Situations or materials that have been the focus of prior
learning experiences
Guided
Visual and/or verbal prompts to facilitate or support independent action
Identification; Identify*
Establish or indicate who or what someone or something is
Implied meaning
Suggested but not directly expressed. The following information is
provided to support working with ‘implied meaning’.
Information and ideas in texts may be:
•
•
•
•
•
*
interpreted to identify relationships among ideas, information, facts and
values. These relationships include comparisons, and cause and effect
combined with prior experience to extrapolate on what is in the text
analysed to judge the logic of the text to, for example, identify
particular points of view represented or fallacies inherent in the text
evaluated to make judgments using criteria
synthesised with literal meaning and other types of implied meaning to
respond to an idea or thesis with creative thinking
The asterisk (*) denotes dimensions and terms described by ACARA. Unmarked terms are described by QCAA.
Year 1 standard elaborations — Australian Curriculum: English
REVISED DRAFT
Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority
July 2014
Page 6 of 7
Literal meaning
Taking words in their exact or most basic sense without metaphor or
exaggeration. The following information is provided to support working
with ‘literal meaning’.
Information and ideas in texts may be:
•
•
recognised or recalled
translated or changed into a different form by, for example,
paraphrasing or restating
Recognition; Recognise
To be aware of, or acknowledge
Sentence
A unit of written language consisting of one or more clauses that are
grammatically linked. A written sentence begins with a capital letter and
ends with a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark. A sentence
contains a finite verb.
•
•
Simple sentence: a single main clause that expresses a complete
thought. It has a subject and a finite verb and may also have an object,
for example ‘Mary is beautiful.’, ‘The ground shook.’, ‘Take a seat.’
Compound sentence: two or more main clauses that are coordinated
or linked in such a way as to make each clause of equal grammatical
status. In the following example and is the coordinating conjunction:
‘We went to the movies and bought an ice cream.’
Supported; Support;
Supportive
In an Early Years context, support resources are direct and/or continued
scaffolding and scripting , and visual and verbal support from adults and/or
peers
Unfamiliar
Situations or materials that have not been the focus of prior learning
experiences
Use of
To operate or put into effect. In an Early Years context, students
demonstrate listening and interacting through their use of language
Year 1 standard elaborations — Australian Curriculum: English
REVISED DRAFT
Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority
July 2014
Page 7 of 7