Skip to content
  • Lower Key Stage 2

    Opportunities at Year 3 and 4

     

    Autumn term

    Spring term

    Summer term

    Narrative

    • Write stories set in places pupils have been
    • Write stories that contain mythical, legendary or historical characters
    • Write letters
    • Write stories of mystery and suspense
    • Write plays
    • Write stories of adventure

    Non-fiction

    • Write persuasively
    • Write instructions
    • Write explanations
    • Write non-chronological reports
    • Write biographies
    • Write in a journalistic style
    • Write recounts
    • Write arguments

    Poetry

    • Learn by heart and perform a significant poem
    • Write haiku and cinquain
    • Write poems that convey an image (simile, word play, rhyme and metaphor)

    Y3 and 4 Writing

     

    Children will learn...

    They will be able to...

    To write with purpose

    • Write for a wide range of purposes using the main features identified in reading
    • Use techniques used by authors to create characters and settings
    • Compose and rehearse sentences orally
    • Plan, write, edit and improve

    To use imaginative description

    • Create characters, settings and plots
    • Use alliteration effectively
    • Use similes effectively
    • Use a range of descriptive phrases including some collective nouns

    To organise writing appropriately

    • Use organisational devices such as headings and sub headings
    • Use the perfect form of verbs to mark relationships of time and cause
    • Use connectives that signal time, shift attention, inject suspense and shift setting

    To use paragraphs

    • Organise paragraphs around a theme
    • Sequence paragraphs

    To use sentences appropriately

    • Use a mixture of simple, compound and complex sentences
    • Write sentences that include: conjunctions, adverbs, direct speech, punctuated correctly, clauses and adverbial phrases

    To present neatly

    • Join letters, deciding which letters are best left un-joined
    • Make handwriting legible by ensuring down strokes of letters are parallel and letters are spaced appropriately

    To spell correctly

    • Use prefixes and suffixes and understand how to add them
    • Spell further homophones
    • Spell correctly often misspelt words
    • Place the possessive apostrophe accurately in words with regular plurals (for example, girls', boys') and in words with irregular plurals (for example, children's)
    • Use the first two or three letters of a word to check its spelling in a dictionary
    • Write from memory simple sentences, dictated by the teacher that include words and punctuation taught so far

    To punctuate accurately

    • Develop understanding of writing concept by:
    • Extending the range of sentences with more than one clause by using a wider range of conjunctions including when, if, because, although
    • Using the present perfect form of verbs in contrast to the past tense
    • Choosing nouns or pronouns appropriately for clarity and cohesion and to avoid repetition
    • Using conjunction, adverbs and prepositions to express time and cause
    • Using fronted adverbials
    • Indicate grammatical and other features by;
    • Using commas after fronted adverbials
    • Indicating possession by using the possessive apostrophe with plural nouns
    • Using and punctuating direct speech

    To analyse writing

    • Use and understand grammatical terminology when using and discussing writing and reading

    Year 3

    • Word family, conjunction, adverb, preposition, direct speech, inverted commas (or 'speech marks'), prefix, consonant, vowel, clause, subordinate clause

    Year 4

    • Pronoun, possessive pronoun, adverbial

    To present writing

    • Read aloud writing to a group or whole class, using appropriate intonation

    Y3 and 4 Reading

     

    Children will learn...

    They will be able to...

    To read words accurately

    • Apply a growing knowledge of root words, prefixes and suffixes (etymology and morphology)
    • Read further exception words, noting the spellings

    To understand texts

    • Draw inferences from reading
    • Predict from details stated and implied
    • Recall and summarise main ideas
    • Discuss words and phrases that capture the imagination
    • Retrieve and record information from non-fiction using titles, headings, subheadings and indexes
    • Prepare poems and plays to read aloud with expression, volume, tone and intonation
    • Identify the recurring themes and elements of different stories (e.g. good triumphing over evil)
    • Recognise some different forms of poetry
    • Explain and discuss understanding of reading, maintaining focus on the topic
    • Ask questions to improve understanding of a text
    • Check that the text makes sense discussing understanding and explaining the meaning of words in context
    • Draw inferences, such as inferring characters feelings thoughts and motives from their actions and justifying inferences with evidence
    • Predict what might happen from details stated and implied
    • Identify main ideas drawn from more than one paragraph and summarise these
    • Identify how language structure and presentation contribute to meaning

    Y3 and 4 Communication

     

    Children will learn...

    They will be able to...

    To listen carefully and understand

    • Engage in discussions, making relevant points
    • Ask for specific additional information to clarify
    • Understand the meaning of some phrases beyond the literal interpretation

    To develop a wide and interesting vocabulary

    • Use time, size and other measurements to quantify
    • Use interesting adjectives, adverbial phrases and extend noun phrases in discussion
    • Use vocabulary that is appropriate to the topic being discussed or the audience that is listening

    To speak with clarity

    • Use verbs with irregular endings
    • Use a mixture of sentence lengths to add interest to discussions and explanations
    • Use intonation to emphasise grammar and punctuation when reading aloud

    To tell stories with structure

    • Bring stories to life with expression and intonation
    • Read the audience to know when to add detail and when to leave it out

    To hold conversations and debates

    • Make relevant comments or ask questions in a discussion or a debate
    • Seek clarification by actively seeking to understand others' points of view
    • Respectfully challenge opinions or points offering an alternative