Phonics, spelling and vocabulary
• Extend knowledge and use of spelling patterns, e.g. vowel phonemes, double consonants, silent letters, common prefixes and suffixes.
• Confirm all parts of the verb to be and know when to use each one.
• Apply phonic/spelling, graphic, grammatical and contextual knowledge in reading unfamiliar words.
• Identify syllabic patterns in multisyllabic words.
• Spell words with common letter strings but different pronunciations, e.g. tough, through, trough, plough
• Investigate spelling patterns; generate and test rules that govern them.
• Revise rules for spelling words with common inflections, e.g. –ing, –ed, –s.
• Extend earlier work on prefixes and suffixes.
• Match spelling to meaning when words sound the same (homophones), e.g. to/two/too, right/write.
• Use all the letters in sequence for alphabetical ordering.
• Check and correct spellings and identify words that need to be learned.
• Use more powerful verbs, e.g. rushed instead of went.
• Explore degrees of intensity in adjectives, e.g. cold, tepid, warm, hot.
• Look for alternatives for overused words and expressions.
• Collect and classify words with common roots, e.g. invent, prevent.
• Build words from other words with similar meanings, e.g. medical, medicine.
Grammar and punctuation
Reading
• Use knowledge of punctuation and grammar to read with fluency, understanding and expression.
• Identify all the punctuation marks and respond to them when reading.
• Learn the use of the apostrophe to show possession, e.g. girl’s, girls’.
• Practise using commas to mark out meaning within sentences.
• Identify adverbs and their impact on meaning.
• Investigate past, present and future tenses of verbs.
• Investigate the grammar of different sentences: statements, questions and orders.
• Understand the use of connectives to structure an argument, e.g. if, although.
Grammar and punctuation (continued)
Writing
• Use a range of end-of-sentence punctuation with accuracy.
• Use speech marks and begin to use other associated punctuation.
• Experiment with varying tenses within texts, e.g. in dialogue.
• Use a wider variety of connectives in an increasing range of sentences.
• Re-read own writing to check punctuation and grammatical sense.
Reading
The following genres and text types are recommended at Stage 4:
Fiction and poetry: historical stories, stories set in imaginary worlds,
stories from other cultures, real life stories with issues/dilemmas,
poetry and plays including imagery.
Non-fiction: newspapers and magazines, reference texts,
explanations, persuasion including advertisements.
Fiction and poetry
• Extend the range of reading.
• Explore the different processes of reading silently and reading aloud.
• Investigate how settings and characters are built up from details and identify key words and phrases.
• Explore implicit as well as explicit meanings within a text.
• Recognise meaning in figurative language.
• Understand the main stages in a story from introduction to resolution.
• Explore narrative order and the focus on significant events.
• Retell or paraphrase events from the text in response to questions.
• Understand how expressive and descriptive language creates mood.
• Express a personal response to a text and link characters and settings to personal experience.
• Read further stories or poems by a favourite writer, and compare them.
• Read and perform play-scripts, exploring how scenes are built up.
• Explore the impact of imagery and figurative language in poetry, including alliteration and simile, e.g. as … as a ….
• Compare and contrast poems and investigate poetic features.
Reading (continued)
Non-fiction
• Understand how points are ordered to make a coherent argument.
• Understand how paragraphs and chapters are used to organise ideas.
• Identify different types of non-fiction text and their known key features.
• Read newspaper reports and consider how they engage the reader.
• Investigate how persuasive writing is used to convince a reader.
• Note key words and phrases to identify the main points in a passage.
• Distinguish between fact and opinion in print and ICT sources.
Writing
Fiction
• Explore different ways of planning stories, and write longer stories from plans.
• Elaborate on basic information with some detail.
• Write character profiles, using detail to capture the reader’s imagination.
• Explore alternative openings and endings for stories.
• Begin to adopt a viewpoint as a writer, expressing opinions about characters or places.
• Begin to use paragraphs more consistently to organise and sequence ideas.
• Choose and compare words to strengthen the impact of writing, including some powerful verbs.
Writing (continued)
Non-fiction
• Explore the layout and presentation of writing, in the context of helping it to fit its purpose.
• Show awareness of the reader by adopting an appropriate style or viewpoint.
• Write newspaper-style reports, instructions and non-chronological reports.
• Present an explanation or a point of view in ordered points, e.g. in a letter.
• Collect and present information from non-fiction texts.
• Make short notes from a text and use these to aid writing.
• Summarise a sentence or a paragraph in a limited number of words.
Presentation
• Use joined-up handwriting in all writing.
Speaking and listening
• Organise ideas in a longer speaking turn to help the listener.
• Vary use of vocabulary and level of detail according to purpose.
• Understand the gist of an account or the significant points and respond to main ideas with relevant suggestions and comments.
• Deal politely with opposing points of view.
• Listen carefully in discussion, contributing relevant comments and questions.
• Adapt the pace and loudness of speaking appropriately when performing or reading aloud.
• Adapt speech and gesture to create a character in drama.
• Comment on different ways that meaning can be expressed in own and others’ talk.
Frame Work