Summer 1

Writing 

This half term, in conjunction with our Science topic, Plants, we will be creating a beautiful setting description as an insert to the book The Tin Forest by Helen Ward. In this we will learn how to use precise nouns, expanded noun phrases and prepositional phrases. For our second unit we will explore 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 visualise a text and learning how to answer fill the gap questions to help deepen our understanding of the content of the texts we read. These are essential skills which will help our children apply their previous reading skills, such as skimming and scanning. 

Class Reader - The boy who grew dragons - Andy Shepherd 

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! 

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

Spring 2

Writing

This half term, we will be learning all about poetry. We will explore different kinds of poetry to ignite our interest. We will then progress to learning how to use similes, alliteration and adverbial clauses to create our own poetry based on our emotions. As part of our Rainbow grammar learning to support this, we will learn how to select ambitious vocabulary and using subordinating conjunctions. 

As well as this, we will be researching how to eat healthily and writing a letter to the Head Chef in our school kitchen to explain all about how we know how important it is to eat a healthy meal. We will be learning the appropriate lay out of a letter and making our point and clearly explaining our reasoning. 

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:

Class Reader

Although Sam has a long-term illness, all he wants is the chance to lead a normal life. So he is thrilled when he finally gets his mum and dad to let him go on the school trip to the Scottish Highlands. Sam's desperate for an adventure and wants to prove to everyone that he's just as strong as his friends. But when some of the boys from his class take a reckless risk in order to win a challenge, the trip turns out to be more dangerous than Sam could have imagined

Spring 1

Writing

This half term, we will be building on our fiction writing skills by writing our second narrative. We will be exploring the wonderful book 'Stone Age Boy' by Satoshi Kitamura in which a young boy journeys to 2.500.000 BC and discovers a whole new way of living. We will be building on our knowledge of how to use paragraphs, creative effective, descriptive scene setting, speech and narrative structures. 

We will be using our Rainbow Grammar card to build in sentence structures such as non-finite clauses and three predicate sentences. 

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:

For our class reader we will be enjoying 'The Wild Way Home' by Sophie Kirtley. 

When Charlie’s longed-for brother is born with a serious heart condition, Charlie’s world is turned upside down. Upset and afraid, Charlie flees the hospital and makes for the ancient forest on the edge of town. There Charlie finds a boy floating face-down in the stream, injured, but alive. But when Charlie sets off back to the hospital to fetch help, it seems the forest has changed. It’s become a place as strange and wild as the boy dressed in deerskins. For Charlie has unwittingly fled into the Stone Age, with no way to help the boy or return to the present day. Or is there?

What follows is a wild, big-hearted adventure as Charlie and the Stone Age boy set out together to find what they have lost – their courage, their hope, their family and their way home.

Autumn 2

Writing

This term in English, we will be creating a biography based on the famous Black Roman Emperor, Septimius Severus. We will explore features such as headings, subheadings, paragraphs, subordinating conjunctions and fronted adverbial phrases. 

We will then move on to our next English text type, persuasive writing, where we will try and persuade the reader about our opinions on art. In order to do this, we will explore different pieces of writing to help us structure and plan our own writing. We will learn how to use rhetorical questions and linking adverbs as well as how to use adjectives to create impact. 

Reading

This half term, we will be focusing on learning how to match information from a text. We will learn how to do this using skimming, scanning and close reading 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. 

Drawing feels like magic to Peanut Jones. But art can't fix her problems. Her dad has gone missing, and she's stuck in a boring new school. Until the day she finds a unique pencil turbo-charged with special powers. Suddenly she's pulled into a world packed with more colour, creativity, excitement and danger than she could ever have imagined. And maybe, just maybe, she might find out what happened to her dad.

Autumn 1

Writing

This term in English, we will spend the first two weeks creating a non-chronological report about Squirrels and Foxes. We will explore features such as headings, subheadings, paragraphs, the use of pronouns and key information about each animal.

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.

Oracy

During this half term, we will be using our oracy skills to express our views and opinions. We will take part in a Soapbox Challenge week,  where we will create our own speeches about a topic we feel passionate about.

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.

GAPS - Grammar, punctuation and Spelling

We will be using Rainbow Grammar to help us understand how to structure sentences. We will firstly be 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.