English

Students learn to create informative texts to help the community stay safe around trains. Choose suitable activities from 5 differentiated lessons and accompanying resources.

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• Teacher notes

• Teacher notes

  Read the teacher notes first for instructions and suggested learning pathways. You can then choose to teach all 5 lessons or select a few which suit your students best.

• Lesson plan

• Lesson 1: The words of TrackSAFE

  Students experience modelled writing of an informative text as a whole class. Beginning writers then sort letters, words, sentences and pictures about keeping safe around trains; emergent writers create train related words using onset and rime; early writers write an informative sentence about rail infrastructure; fluent writers create a mind map and write an informative text about staying safe on train station platforms. The class shares what they have learnt with each other.

  • Resource 1

    Letter, word, sentence and picture cards

  • Resource 2

    Rime –ack cards

  • Resource 3

    Rime –ail cards

• Lesson plan

• Lesson 2: A TrackSAFE Adventure

  The class helps the teacher collect subject specific vocabulary and write a short informative text about a train station platform or pedestrian level crossing. Beginning writers then dictate or write an informative sentence; emergent writers use words in an informative sentence; early writers use safety words to write an informative sentence; fluent writers write an informative text about keeping their friends safe around trains and tracks. Everyone shares their creations.

  • Video Resource

    Madison’s Safe Side Adventure: an introduction to vocabulary and concepts

  • Resource 4

    Vocabulary card game

  • Resource 5

    Flashcard template

• Lesson plan

• Lesson 3: I know how to be safe

  The class creates a word cloud of the verbs they have discovered and play “Simon Says”. Beginning & emergent writers then trace or copy an informative text; early writers create an informative writing piece about the safety actions that they must do when they approach a pedestrian level crossing; fluent writers create a sign with an informative safety message for people visiting the classroom. Students share their work.

  • Resource 6

    Booklet scaffolds

• Lesson plan

• Lesson 4: Explaining the ‘why’ in TrackSAFE actions

  Students learn about questions though a “mystery box” as a class. Beginning & fluent writers then pair up to ask and answer questions about safety actions; emergent writers explore questions about pedestrian level crossings using where, when, who, what, how and why; early writers write ‘why’ questions about TrackSAFE actions. Students share what they have learnt about safety and ask each other ‘why’ questions.

• Lesson plan

• Lesson 5: I help others stay TrackSAFE

  Students identify a group in their community who need help to have safe journeys, create an informative text about TrackSAFE actions as a class, and share the message with the group who need help. Beginning & emergent writers then collaborate to write a book; early writers incorporate the message STOP LOOK LISTEN THINK into an informative text about pedestrian level crossings; early writers create a booklet with information that helps people stay safe around train tracks. Students share these creations with the community, teaching others the safety messages.