In primary education, language is more than just a tool – it is a resource for learning across all areas of the curriculum. As students progress from Foundation to Year 6, language demands increase, with critical implications for literacy and learning.
This third edition of Grammar and meaning considers how the Language, Literature and Literacy strands of the Australian Curriculum: English can be interwoven effectively by using metalanguage as a 'toolkit' to explore and enhance the interpretation and composition of texts across the curriculum. This approach allows students to talk and think systematically about the meanings language makes, as well as the forms and structures used to make those meanings.
The book contains grammar summaries, exercises and reflections to introduce relevant functions and forms of grammar. This is followed by a focus on language patterns in whole texts. This whole-text work is organised into two distinct sections (Foundation–Year 3 and Years 4–6) to make closer connections with language patterns and uses of language. The targeted learning activities and classroom notes in these sections support deepening knowledge about how language is used at different stages of learning, and provide models of how to apply that knowledge to select and prepared texts and activities to integrate language, literacy and literature in the classroom.
Grammar and meaning applies knowledge about language presented in Beverly Derewianka's A new grammar companion for teachers 3rd edition. The two texts are closely linked, working together as a reference (A new grammar companion) and workbook (Grammar and meaning).