Summer 2

Writing

This half term, we will be learning all about narratives and we will be innovating myths and legends. As part of this, we will be learning how to use paragraphs to group sentences, as well as Rainbow Grammar features such as speech, non-finite sentences and fronted adverbials. 

Reading

This term, our reading will focus will be how identify the meaning of unknown words and how to sequence events. These are essential skills which will help our children apply their previous reading skills, such as skimming and scanning.

We will be using the following texts during our writing and reading lessons:

The Light Jar - Class Reader

Nate and his mother are running away, hiding out in a tumbledown cottage in the middle of a forest. When Mum heads off for provisions, and then doesn't return, Nate is left alone and afraid, with the dark closing in all around him. But comfort can come from the most unexpected of places - a mysterious girl trying to solve the clues of a treasure hunt and the reappearance of an old friend from his past. Will Nate find the bravery needed to face the troubles of his present and ultimately illuminate the future? 

Summer 1

Writing

This half term, we will be learning all about explanation texts and will create our own text to describe the stages of the life cycle of a flowering plant .As part of our Rainbow grammar learning to support this, we will learn how to use subordinating conjunctions, linking adverbs and a range of adverbs. 

Reading

This term, our reading will focus will be how to summarise a text and learning how to answer fill the gap questions to help deepen our understanding. These are essential skills which will help our children apply their previous reading skills, such as skimming and scanning.

We will be using the following texts during our writing and reading lessons:

Class Reader

When Tomas discovers a strange old tree at the bottom of his grandad's garden, he doesn't think much of it. But he takes the funny fruit back into the house - and gets the delight of his life when a tiny dragon hatches! Tomas has to learn how to look after Flicker - quickly. And then something extraordinary happens - more dragonfruits appear on the tree. Tomas is officially growing dragons!

Spring 2

Writing

This half term, we will be learning all about poetry. We will perform poetry using intonation, actions and volume, based on the text 'Walking my Iguana' by Brian Moses. We will also be writing our own free verse poems using similes, alliteration and emotive language. As part of our Rainbow grammar learning to support this, we will learn how to select ambitious vocabulary and writing similes. 

As well as this, we will be creating organised and informative information leaflets about how to stay healthy. This will include grouping sentences into paragraphs, using subordinating conjunctions and adverbial phrases.

Reading

This term, our reading will focus will be on answering multiple choice questions and learning how to annotate texts to deepen our understanding. These are essential skills which will help our children apply their previous reading skills, such as skimming and scanning.

We will be using the following texts during our writing and reading lessons:

Spring 1

Writing

This half term, we will be learning how to create an effective set of instructions, based on the text 'How to wash a woolly mammoth' and other Stone Age texts. As part of our Rainbow grammar learning to support this, we will learn how to select ambitious imperative verbs, a range of adverbs, fronted adverbials, and possessive apostrophes. 

As well as this, we will be creating organised and informative chronological reports about Stone Age animals. This will include grouping sentences into paragraphs, using subordinating conjunctions and adverbial phrases.

Reading

This term, our reading will focus on true or false statements and asking questions. These are essential skills which will help our children apply their previous reading skills, such as skimming and scanning.

We will be using the following texts during our writing and reading lessons:

Autumn 2

Writing

This term in English, we will first be exploring how to write a persuasive piece of writing. We will learn how to use rhetorical questions and persuasive language to debate our ideas and opinions. We will also be focusing on creating paragraphs and organising our writing. 

We will then move on to our next English text type, narratives. We will use the book 'Coming Home' to help us understand how narratives are formed and how we can use illustration to tell a story. 

We will use the following books to help our writing:

Reading

This half term, we will be focusing on learning how to match information from a text. We will be using our skills of how to skim, scan and close read a text to help our understanding. We will use different text types to help us develop our comprehension skills.

We will also be reading 'Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City' by Rob Biddulph as a class reader.

Autumn 1

Writing

This term in English, we will spend the first two weeks creating a non-chronological reports about Squirrels. We will explore features such as headings, subheadings, paragraphs and key information.

We will then move on to our next English text type, narratives. We will use the book 'The Last Wolf' to help us understand how narratives are formed and which features we would find in them, such as a setting and characters. We will also explore how to use to use expanded noun phrases and prepositions. 

Here is a short description of 'The Last Wolf'...

One day, Little Red puts on her hunting gear, packs her lunchbox and heads into the woods to catch a wolf. Fortunately, Mum knows that there are no wolves left in the woods, so Little Red will be safe. Red wanders deep into the shadowy woods until she finds a strange door where she meets the Last Wolf, the Last Lynx and the Last Bear.

The animals tell Little Red all about the Good Old Days, when the world was awash with flowers and dripping in honey. Red feels terrible that the forest the animals once roamed freely in has been so reduced – but there is something she can do to help.

Reading

This half term, we will be focusing on learning how to retrieve information from a text. We will learn how to skim, scan and close read a text to help our understanding. We will use different text types to help us develop our comprehension skills.

We will also be reading 'Fantastic Mr Fox' by Roald Dahl as a class reader.

Here is a link if you wish to buy a copy to read along with us at home. 

GAPS - Grammar, punctuation and Spelling

We will be using Rainbow Grammar to help us understand how to structure sentences. We will firstly being learning what a subject, predicate and stop is. Then we will move on to learning about subordinating conjunctions, time and manner adverbs, fronted adverbials and prepositions. We will also explore how to use inverted commas to show speech in our writing.

This half term, we will be revisiting Phase 5 and 6 spelling rules. We will be learning about alternative graphemes and a range of spelling rules.

The spelling words to learn set by the National Curriculum can be seen below. This is a list of words to learn by the end of year 4.