Texts to hear and discuss

R1 · The label that grew

Original fictional narrative; adult reads, not controlled child print

In a pretend repair room, Lila drew a little bag beside a table. Her information card said, “Things.” Max looked at the card. “What things?” he asked.

Lila looked at her drawing again. The bag held a paper map and a red cap. She wrote a new title: “Inside the bag”. Under it she wrote, “The bag has a map and a red cap.”

Max pointed to the cap in the drawing. “The picture shows me where it is,” he said. Lila added a short label beside it: “cap”. The label named the object. The sentence told more.

Lila wondered whether the bag also held a snack. She could not see one in her drawing, and her card did not name one. “We do not know that,” she said. She left it out.

She made a second card for her own opinion: “I like the red cap because it is bright.” That card told what she liked. It did not change what was in the drawing.

Lila kept the drawing, the information card and the opinion card together. She wanted to ask a real reader what would help. The story ends before a new reader tries them.

R2 · Inside the paper bag

Original informative account of the supplied invented illustration; adult reads

Inside the paper bag

What is shown: The drawing has one bag, one paper map and one red cap. The map and cap are inside the bag.

How the page helps: The title tells the topic. Two labels name the map and cap. The sentence says where they are.

What the drawing cannot tell us: It does not name an owner. It does not tell us whether the bag is heavy, whether a map is correct, or whether anyone has used it.

This report is about an invented drawing. It is not a lost-property notice about a real child.

R3 · Three cards at the paper desk

Original narrative/information/opinion contrast; adult reads

Story card: Jo made a paper library. A wind from the fan shuffled the labels. Jo put the labels back beside the pictured objects and laughed at the mix-up.

Information card: This invented library drawing has a book shelf on the left and a quiet chair on the right. The title is “Our paper library”. The picture shows two objects. It does not give real opening hours.

Opinion card: I would choose the quiet chair because I like a calm place to read. You may choose something different.

The three cards share a topic. One tells an imagined event, one reports details of a drawing, and one gives a preference with a reason. A real text can combine purposes; these short models separate them so we can compare.

R4 · An information card for a real calendar

Original dated paraphrase of Queensland Department of Education primary data; adult reads

Queensland state-school dates for 2027

The Queensland Department of Education lists Term 1 from Wednesday 27 January to Thursday 25 March 2027. It lists this term as nine weeks.

It lists Term 2 from Monday 12 April to Friday 25 June 2027. It lists this term as eleven weeks.

The heading tells us the year and place. The dates answer when. These are school-calendar facts, not a prediction about what a child will learn.

These two facts were checked against the official page on 8 October 2026. An adult should check that page again when making a real plan. We have not checked a particular non-state school calendar or a child’s timetable.

R5 · The missing where

Original everyday informative editing model; adult reads

First model: The cap is.

This leaves the idea unfinished. We know the thing, but not what the writer says about it.

Changed model: The red cap is in the bag.

This is a complete idea about a state. The red cap is the thing described. “Is in the bag” tells where it is. A sentence need not describe someone moving.

Another complete model: Jo drew a shelf.

This tells one imagined event. Jo is named with a capital. The full stop marks the sentence boundary. These are model sentences; your own information can be different.

R6 · A little useful report

Original adult-read procedure for creating an informative text

Choose a topic you want to explain. You can use an invented drawing, something suitable you can actually observe now, or an adult-checked information source.

Say what the source really tells you. Choose one or two small useful details. Keep a question separate if the answer is not supplied.

Give the text a topic title if it helps. Make one complete sentence in your own words. Add a picture, label or another detail if you want.

Read back the actual text. Does it say what you meant? Keep it, or choose one change. If an adult writes your words, you choose them and the adult names their help.

You may keep the report private. If someone willingly reads or listens, ask one question about what helped. Their real reply is new information. A pretend reply is just an example.

R7 · A pocket rhyme

Original optional poem; adult reads unless all printed code is locally matched

A map in a bag, a cap on a mat.

Where is the map? We can say that.

A title, a label, a sentence or two:

Choose a small detail that matters to you.

R8 · A local library information door

Original paraphrase of Rockhampton Regional Council indexed primary page text; adult checks current page before practical use

Rockhampton Regional Council has a library information page. It links to a library catalogue, library hours and library programs.

The catalogue is an information door for searching resources. The hours link helps a grown-up check when a branch is open. These are different questions.

The council also has an Ask the Library page for questions about library collections and services. A grown-up can choose whether to use it. This lesson does not submit anything or create an account.

The official indexed page text was checked on 8 October 2026. Direct page retrieval was blocked with HTTP 403. No particular branch hours, title availability, accessibility outcome or current event is promised here. Use the provided calendar or invented drawing if a live source cannot be checked.