Year 4
In Year 4, pupils build on and consolidate their learning from Year 3.
Writing - transcription
Spelling
Pupils learn to:
- use further prefixes and suffixes and understand how to add them - see English appendix 1
- spell further homophones
- spell words that are often misspelt - see English appendix 1
- 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 2 or 3 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
Handwriting
Pupils should be taught to:
- use the diagonal and horizontal strokes that are needed to join letters and understand which letters, when adjacent to one another, are best left unjoined
- increase the legibility, consistency and quality of their handwriting, [for example, by ensuring that the downstrokes of letters are parallel and equidistant, and that lines of writing are spaced sufficiently so that the ascenders and descenders of letters do not touch]
- Throughout years 3 & 4, pupils are awarded pen licences.
Writing - composition
Pupils learn to:
- plan their writing by:
- discussing writing similar to that which they are planning to write in order to understand and learn from its structure, vocabulary and grammar
- discussing and recording ideas
- draft and write by:
- composing and rehearsing sentences orally (including dialogue), progressively building a varied and rich vocabulary and an increasing range of sentence structures English appendix 2
- organising paragraphs around a theme
- in narratives, creating settings, characters and plot
- in non-narrative material, using simple organisational devices [for example, headings and sub-headings]
- evaluate and edit by:
- assessing the effectiveness of their own and others’ writing and suggesting improvements
- proposing changes to grammar and vocabulary to improve consistency, including the accurate use of pronouns in sentences
- proofread for spelling and punctuation errors
- read their own writing aloud to a group or the whole class, using appropriate intonation and controlling the tone and volume so that the meaning is clear
Writing - vocabulary, grammar and punctuation
Pupils learn to:
- develop their understanding of the concepts set out in English appendix 2 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 conjunctions, adverbs and prepositions to express time and cause
- using fronted adverbials
- learning the grammar for year 4
- 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
- use and understand the grammatical terminology in English appendix 2 accurately and appropriately when discussing their writing and reading