English Year 4

Year 3 and 4 programme of study

Reading – word reading

Statutory requirements
Pupils should be taught to: apply their growing knowledge of root words, prefixes and suffixes (etymology and morphology) as listed, both to read aloud and to understand the meaning of new words they meet read further exception words, noting the unusual correspondences between spelling and sound, and where these occur in the word.

Statutory requirements

Pupils should be taught to:

apply their growing knowledge of root words, prefixes and suffixes (etymology and morphology) as listed, both to read aloud and to understand the meaning of new words they meet
read further exception words, noting the unusual correspondences between spelling and sound, and where these occur in the word.

Reading – comprehension

Statutory requirements
Pupils should be taught to: develop positive attitudes to reading and understanding of what they read by: listening to and discussing a wide range of fiction, poetry, plays, non-fiction and reference books or textbooks reading books that are structured in different ways and reading for a range of purposes using dictionaries to check the meaning of words that they have read increasing their familiarity with a wide range of books, including fairy stories, myths and legends, and retelling some of these orally identifying themes and conventions in a wide range of books

Statutory requirements

Pupils should be taught to:

develop positive attitudes to reading and understanding of what they read by:

listening to and discussing a wide range of fiction, poetry, plays, non-fiction and reference books or textbooks
reading books that are structured in different ways and reading for a range of purposes
using dictionaries to check the meaning of words that they have read
increasing their familiarity with a wide range of books, including fairy stories, myths and legends, and retelling some of these orally
identifying themes and conventions in a wide range of books

Writing – transcription

Statutory requirements
Pupils should be taught to: use further prefixes and suffixes and understand how to add them spell further homophones spell words that are often misspelt 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.

Statutory requirements

Pupils should be taught to:

use further prefixes and suffixes and understand how to add them
spell further homophones
spell words that are often misspelt
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.

Writing – handwriting

Statutory requirements
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; that lines of writing are spaced sufficiently so that the ascenders and descenders of letters do not touch].

Statutory requirements

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; that lines of writing are spaced sufficiently so that the ascenders and descenders of letters do not touch].

Writing – composition

Statutory requirements
Pupils should be taught 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 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 proof-read for spelling and punctuation errors read aloud their own writing, to a group or the whole class, using appropriate intonation and controlling the tone and volume so that the meaning is clear.

Statutory requirements

Pupils should be taught 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
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

proof-read for spelling and punctuation errors
read aloud their own writing, 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

Statutory requirements
Pupils should be taught to: develop their understanding of the concepts set out 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 years 3 and 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 accurately and appropriately when discussing their writing and reading.

Statutory requirements

Pupils should be taught to:

develop their understanding of the concepts set out 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 years 3 and 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 accurately and appropriately when discussing their writing and reading.

Spelling - work for Year 3 - 4

Revision of work from years 1 and 2

Pay special attention to the rules for adding suffixes.

New work for years 3 and 4

Statutory requirements	Rules and guidance (non statutory)	Example words (non statutory)
Adding suffixes beginning with vowel letters to words of more than one syllable	If the last syllable of a word is stressed and ends with one consonant letter which has just one vowel letter before it, the final consonant letter is doubled before any ending beginning with a vowel letter is added. The consonant letter is not doubled if the syllable is unstressed.	forgetting, forgotten, beginning, beginner, prefer, preferred gardening, gardener, limiting, limited, limitation
The /Éª/ sound spelt y elsewhere than at the end of words	These words should be learnt as needed.	myth, gym, Egypt, pyramid, mystery
The /Ê/ sound spelt ou	These words should be learnt as needed.	young, touch, double, trouble, country
More prefixes	Most prefixes are added to the beginning of root words without any changes in spelling, but see in– below.
	Like un–, the prefixes dis– and mis–have negative meanings.	dis–: disappoint, disagree, disobey mis–: misbehave, mislead, misspell (mis + spell)
	The prefix in– can mean both ‘not’ and ‘in’/‘into’. In the words given here it means ‘not’.	in–: inactive, incorrect

Statutory requirements	Rules and guidance (non statutory)	Example words (non statutory)
	Before a root word starting with l, in–becomes il.	illegal, illegible
	Before a root word starting with m or p, in– becomes im–.	immature, immortal, impossible, impatient, imperfect
	Before a root word starting with r, in–becomes ir–.	irregular, irrelevant, irresponsible
	re– means ‘again’ or ‘back’.	re–: redo, refresh, return, reappear, redecorate
	sub– means ‘under’.	sub–: subdivide, subheading, submarine, submerge
	inter– means ‘between’ or ‘among’.	inter–: interact, intercity, international, interrelated (inter + related)
	super– means ‘above’.	super–: supermarket, superman, superstar
	anti– means ‘against’.	anti–: antiseptic, anti-clockwise, antisocial
	auto– means ‘self’ or ‘own’.	auto–: autobiography, autograph
The suffix –ation	The suffix –ation is added to verbs to form nouns. The rules already learnt still apply.	information, adoration, sensation, preparation, admiration
The suffix –ly	The suffix –ly is added to an adjective to form an adverb. The rules already learnt still apply. The suffix –ly starts with a consonant letter, so it is added straight on to most root words.	sadly, completely, usually (usual + ly), finally (final + ly), comically (comical + ly)

Statutory requirements	Rules and guidance (non statutory)	Example words (non statutory)
	Exceptions: (1) If the root word ends in –y with a consonant letter before it, the y is changed to i, but only if the root word has more than one syllable.	happily, angrily
	(2) If the root word ends with –le, the –le is changed to –ly.	gently, simply, humbly, nobly
	(3) If the root word ends with –ic, –ally is added rather than just –ly, except in the word publicly.	basically, frantically, dramatically
	(4) The words truly, duly, wholly.
Words with endings sounding like /ÊÉ/ or /tÊÉ/	The ending sounding like /ÊÉ/ is always spelt –sure. The ending sounding like /tÊÉ/ is often spelt –ture, but check that the word is not a root word ending in (t)ch with an er ending – e.g. teacher, catcher, richer, stretcher.	measure, treasure, pleasure, enclosure creature, furniture, picture, nature, adventure
Endings which sound like /ÊÉn/	If the ending sounds like /ÊÉn/, it is spelt as –sion.	division, invasion, confusion, decision, collision, television
The suffix –ous	Sometimes the root word is obvious and the usual rules apply for adding suffixes beginning with vowel letters. Sometimes there is no obvious root word. –our is changed to –or before –ous is added. A final ‘e’ of the root word must be kept if the /dÊ/ sound of ‘g’ is to be kept. If there is an /i:/ sound before the –ous ending, it is usually spelt as i, but a few words have e.	poisonous, dangerous, mountainous, famous, various tremendous, enormous, jealous humorous, glamorous, vigorous courageous, outrageous serious, obvious, curious hideous, spontaneous, courteous

Statutory requirements	Rules and guidance (non statutory)	Example words (non statutory)
Endings which sound like /ÊÉn/, spelt –tion, –sion, –ssion, –cian	Strictly speaking, the suffixes are –ionand –ian. Clues about whether to put t, s, ss or c before these suffixes often come from the last letter or letters of the root word. –tion is the most common spelling. It is used if the root word ends in t or te. –ssion is used if the root word ends in ss or –mit. –sion is used if the root word ends in dor se. Exceptions: attend – attention, intend – intention. –cian is used if the root word ends in cor cs.	invention, injection, action, hesitation, completion expression, discussion, confession, permission, admission expansion, extension, comprehension, tension musician, electrician, magician, politician, mathematician
Words with the /k/ sound spelt ch (Greek in origin)		scheme, chorus, chemist, echo, character
Words with the /Ê/ sound spelt ch (mostly French in origin)		chef, chalet, machine, brochure
Words ending with the /g/ sound spelt –gue and the /k/ sound spelt –que (French in origin)		league, tongue, antique, unique
Words with the /s/ sound spelt sc (Latin in origin)	In the Latin words from which these words come, the Romans probably pronounced the c and the k as two sounds rather than one – /s/ /k/.	science, scene, discipline, fascinate, crescent
Words with the /eÉª/ sound spelt ei, eigh, or ey		vein, weigh, eight, neighbour, they, obey

Statutory requirements		Rules and guidance (non statutory)	Example words (non statutory)
Possessive apostrophe with plural words		The apostrophe is placed after the plural form of the word; –s is not added if the plural already ends in –s, but is added if the plural does not end in –s (i.e. is an irregular plural – e.g. children’s).	girls’, boys’, babies’, children’s, men’s, mice’s (Note: singular proper nouns ending in an s use the ’s suffix e.g. Cyprus’s population)
Homophones and near-homophones			accept/except, affect/effect, ball/bawl, berry/bury, brake/break, fair/fare, grate/great, groan/grown, here/hear, heel/heal/he’ll, knot/not, mail/male, main/mane, meat/meet, medal/meddle, missed/mist, peace/piece, plain/plane, rain/rein/reign, scene/seen, weather/whether, whose/who’s

Statutory requirements

Rules and guidance (non statutory)

Example words (non statutory)

Possessive apostrophe with plural words

The apostrophe is placed after the plural form of the word; –s is not added if the plural already ends in
–s, but is added if the plural does not end in –s (i.e. is an irregular plural – e.g. children’s).

girls’, boys’, babies’, children’s, men’s, mice’s

(Note: singular proper nouns ending in an s use the ’s suffix e.g. Cyprus’s population)

Homophones and near-homophones

accept/except, affect/effect, ball/bawl, berry/bury, brake/break, fair/fare, grate/great, groan/grown, here/hear, heel/heal/he’ll, knot/not, mail/male, main/mane, meat/meet, medal/meddle, missed/mist, peace/piece, plain/plane, rain/rein/reign, scene/seen, weather/whether, whose/who’s

Word list - Years 3 - 4

accident(ally)

actual(ly)

address

answer

appear

arrive

believe

bicycle

breath

breathe

build

busy/business

calendar

caught

centre

century

certain

circle

complete

consider

continue

decide

describe

different

difficult

disappear

early

earth

eight/eighth

enough

exercise

experience

experiment

extreme

famous

favourite

February

forward(s)

fruit

grammar

group

guard

guide

heard

heart

height

history

imagine

increase

important

interest

island

knowledge

learn

length

library

material

medicine

mention

minute

natural

naughty

notice

occasion(ally)

often

opposite

ordinary

particular

peculiar

perhaps

popular

position

possess(ion)

possible

potatoes

pressure

probably

promise

purpose

quarter

question

recent

regular

reign

remember

sentence

separate

special

straight

strange

strength

suppose

surprise

therefore

though/although

thought

through

various

weight

woman/women

Year 3: Detail of content to be introduced (statutory requirement)
Word	Formation of nouns using a range of prefixes[for example super–, anti–, auto–] Use of the forms a or an according to whether the next word begins with a consonant or a vowel [for example, a rock, an open box] Word families based on common words, showing how words are related in form and meaning [for example, solve, solution, solver, dissolve, insoluble]
Sentence	Expressing time, place and cause using conjunctions [for example, when, before, after,while, so, because], adverbs [for example, then,next, soon, therefore], or prepositions [for example, before, after, during, in, because of]
Text	Introduction to paragraphs as a way to group related material Headings and sub-headings to aid presentation Use of the present perfect form of verbsinstead of the simple past [for example, He has gone out to play contrasted with He went out to play]
Punctuation	Introduction to inverted commas to punctuatedirect speech
Terminology for pupils	adverb, preposition conjunction word family, prefix clause, subordinate clause direct speech consonant, consonant letter vowel, vowel letter inverted commas (or ‘speech marks’)

Whitley And Eggborough Community Primary School

English Year 4

Year 3 and 4 programme of study

Reading – word reading

Statutory requirements

Reading – comprehension

Statutory requirements

Writing – transcription

Statutory requirements

Pupils should be taught to:

Writing – handwriting

Statutory requirements

Writing – composition

Statutory requirements

Writing – vocabulary, grammar and punctuation

Statutory requirements

Revision of work from years 1 and 2

New work for years 3 and 4

Statutory requirements

Rules and guidance (non statutory)

Example words (non statutory)

Statutory requirements

Rules and guidance (non statutory)

Example words (non statutory)

Statutory requirements

Rules and guidance (non statutory)

Example words (non statutory)

Statutory requirements

Rules and guidance (non statutory)

Example words (non statutory)

Statutory requirements

Rules and guidance (non statutory)

Example words (non statutory)

Year 3: Detail of content to be introduced (statutory requirement)

Whitley And Eggborough Community Primary School