Literacy, Unpacked · Start here

Read. Practise. Apply.

Hello Primary resources are built around one connected literacy block. Reading Fluency, Sentence of the Day and Quick Writes share one theme and one set of words, so students meet new vocabulary again and again until it's theirs to use.

What you'll learn

Why students need to meet a new word many times before they use it in their own writing
How Reading Fluency, Sentence of the Day and Quick Writes connect through one theme and one set of words
What a week of the connected literacy block can look like in your classroom
Where the routines sit in the NSW syllabus and the Australian Curriculum

No. 01 — Why connect the routines

One set of words, three ways in

Most literacy blocks are made of separate parts: a reading passage, a grammar warm-up, a writing task. Each one is useful, but when they don't connect, students often meet a new word once and rarely see it again. The connected literacy block carries the same theme and vocabulary through all three routines, so each one builds on the one before.

Three ideas sit behind it.

Repeated reading builds fluency. When students reread the same text with guidance and feedback, their accuracy, pace and expression improve, and so does their understanding of what they read. In Reading Fluency, students reread one short passage across the week, with a new focus each day.

Vocabulary grows through use, not just exposure. Students need to meet a new word in context, then have many chances to notice, understand and use it before it becomes their own. Each week's words appear in the fluency passage, return in Sentence of the Day and are used again in Quick Writes.

Sentence-level practice strengthens writing. Short, regular practice in combining and improving sentences helps students write more varied and sophisticated sentences in their own work. Sentence of the Day gives students that practice every day, using the week's words.

No. 02 — The routines, step by step

How the three routines connect

Each routine has its own job. Together they move students from reading a word, to practising it in a sentence, to using it in their own writing.

Read
Reading Fluency

Each week starts with a short, differentiated passage that students reread every day, building accuracy, rate and expression. The passage introduces the week's vocabulary in context, and three levels mean every student reads the same text at the right level of challenge.
Fluency, unpacked
Practise
Sentence of the Day

A quick daily routine where students build, combine and improve sentences using the same vocabulary. They practise sentence-level skills such as noun groups, conjunctions and precise verbs, so the new words become words they can use.
Vocabulary, unpacked
Apply
Quick Writes

Students respond to a visual prompt with five minutes of focused, independent writing, bringing the week's vocabulary and sentence skills into their own work. Short and low pressure, so every student writes every day.
Quick Writes, unpacked

Use one routine on its own, or bring all three together. A connected literacy bundle gives you five weeks of all three routines on one theme.

No. 03 — A week in the classroom

What a week can look like

Here's one way to run the connected literacy block across a week, in about 30 to 35 minutes a day. The times are a guide only, so adjust them to suit your class and your timetable.

Day	ReadReading Fluency10–15 minutes	PractiseSentence of the DayAbout 10 minutes	ApplyQuick WritesAbout 10 minutes
Monday	Model and choral read	Capitals and punctuation	Five-minute Quick Write, then share
Tuesday	Echo read	Combining sentences	Five-minute Quick Write, then share
Wednesday	Partner read, words correct per minute check-in and goal setting	Vocabulary precision	Five-minute Quick Write, then share
Thursday	Fluency goal practice, words correct per minute and reflection	Adding detail	Five-minute Quick Write, then share
Friday	Flexible: catch up, conference with students or revisit the week's words

Starting small? Begin with one routine and add the next once your class knows it well. Each routine also works on its own.

No. 04 — Curriculum links

Where it sits in the curriculum

The routines address these outcomes from the NSW English K–10 Syllabus (2022) and these content descriptions from the Australian Curriculum: English v9.0.

NSW English K–10 Syllabus

Routine	Stage 2Years 3–4	Stage 3Years 5–6
Reading Fluency	EN2-REFLU-01Reading fluencyEN2-VOCAB-01Vocabulary	EN3-RECOM-01Reading and comprehensionEN3-VOCAB-01Vocabulary
Sentence of the Day	EN2-VOCAB-01VocabularyEN2-CWT-01, 02, 03Creating written texts: sentence-level grammar and punctuation	EN3-VOCAB-01VocabularyEN3-CWT-01Creating written texts: sentence-level grammar and punctuation
Quick Writes	EN2-CWT-01, 02, 03Creating written texts for imaginative, informative and persuasive purposesEN2-VOCAB-01Vocabulary	EN3-CWT-01Creating written texts for multiple purposes and audiencesEN3-VOCAB-01Vocabulary

Australian Curriculum: English v9.0

Routine	Years 3–4Year 3 · Year 4	Years 5–6Year 5 · Year 6
Reading Fluency	AC9E3LY04 · AC9E4LY04Reading texts accurately and fluentlyAC9E3LA10 · AC9E4LA11Extending vocabulary	AC9E5LY04 · AC9E6LY04Reading texts for a purpose and monitoring meaningAC9E5LA08 · AC9E6LA08Vocabulary for precision and effect
Sentence of the Day	AC9E3LA06 · AC9E4LA06Clauses and complex sentencesAC9E3LA10 · AC9E4LA11Extending vocabulary	AC9E5LA05 · AC9E6LA05Complex sentences and embedded clausesAC9E5LA06Expanding noun groupsAC9E5LA08 · AC9E6LA08Vocabulary for precision and effect
Quick Writes	AC9E3LY06 · AC9E4LY06Planning, creating and editing written texts	AC9E5LY06 · AC9E6LY06Planning, creating and editing written texts

In Stage 3, reading fluency is taught within the NSW Reading and comprehension outcome. The Australian Curriculum has no fluency-specific content description in Years 5 and 6, so the closest reading description is listed. Year 2 resources link to the matching Stage 1 outcomes and Year 2 content descriptions.