English

Writing

During the Year, we will focusing on using the Year 4 mastery keys. The skills that the children should be applying are:

  • Using paragraphs in longer pieces of writing
  • Use fronted adverbials at the beginning of sentences
  • Use different kinds of connectives
  • Use headings and sub-headings
  • Use pronouns to avoid repetition in writing
  • Use expanded noun phrases
  • Use standard English
  • Use the correct tense- past/ present/ future
  • Use full stops and capital letters
  • Use question marks and exclamation marks
  • Use a comma in a list sentence
  • Use apostrophes to show possession
  • Know the difference between its and it’s
  • Use speech punctuation appropriately

Reading

We have 3 weekly reading lessons in which the children work on their comprehension skills and understanding. The main skills I am aiming to develop in the children’s reading are:

  • Discussion of words and phrases which capture the readers interest
  • Identifying the message of a book
  • Checking words make sense and explaining the meaning
  • Independently ask questions to improve their understanding
  • Making inferences about a characters thoughts and feelings
  • Making predictions
  • Summarising what they have read

Although we do lots of reading at school, it is important that the children have opportunities to read aloud and practise their comprehension skills out of school too. A super reading resource to use at home is Oxford Owl, on here you can sign up and have access to an eLibrary of lots of age appropriatre books. Some good questions to ask your child whilst they are reading are:

What has happened in the story so far?

What do you think will happen next?

Who is your favourite character? Why? / Who is the character you like least? Why?

Do you think the author intended you to like / dislike this character? How do you know?

Does your opinion of this character change during the story? How? Why?

Which part of the story was the funniest/scariest/ saddest/ happiest?

What is the purpose of this book? How do you know?

Pick three favourite words or phrases from this chapter. Can you explain why you chose them?

Did this book make you laugh? Can you explain what was funny and why?

What is the genre of the book: sci-fi, mystery, historical, fantasy, adventure, horror, comedy? What are the features that make you think this?

Find two sentences which describe the setting.

Would you like to read another book by this author? Why/ why not?

Spelling

Year Four are having daily Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar lessons teaching them how to choose the correct way to spell words and giving them strategies to remember tricky KS2 spellings. We are also using 'The Spelling Shed'. On a Friday, the children will have a spelling test.