Year 3/4 English Curriculum Objectives

Reading - Word Reading

apply their growing knowledge of root words, prefixes and suffixes (etymology and morphology) as listed in - see English appendix 1, 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

develop positive attitudes to reading, and an understanding of what they read, by listening to and discussing a wide range of fiction, poetry, plays, non-fiction and reference books or textbooks

develop positive attitudes to reading, and an understanding of what they read, by reading books that are structured in different ways and reading for a range of purposes

develop positive attitudes to reading, and an understanding of what they read, by using dictionaries to check the meaning of words that they have read

develop positive attitudes to reading, and an understanding of what they read, by increasing their familiarity with a wide range of books, including fairy stories, myths and legends, and retelling some of these orally

develop positive attitudes to reading, and an understanding of what they read, by identifying themes and conventions in a wide range of books

develop positive attitudes to reading, and an understanding of what they read, by preparing poems and play scripts to read aloud and to perform, showing understanding through intonation, tone, volume and action

develop positive attitudes to reading, and an understanding of what they read, by discussing words and phrases that capture the reader's interest and imagination

develop positive attitudes to reading, and an understanding of what they read, by recognising some different forms of poetry [for example, free verse, narrative poetry]

understand what they read, in books they can read independently, by checking that the text makes sense to them, discussing their understanding, and explaining the meaning of words in context

understand what they read, in books they can read independently, by asking questions to improve their understanding of a text

understand what they read, in books they can read independently, by drawing inferences such as inferring characters' feelings, thoughts and motives from their actions, and justifying inferences with evidence

understand what they read, in books they can read independently, by predicting what might happen from details stated and implied

understand what they read, in books they can read independently, by identifying main ideas drawn from more than 1 paragraph and summarising these

understand what they read, in books they can read independently, by identifying how language, structure, and presentation contribute to meaning

Retrieve and record information from fiction and non-fiction

participate in discussion about both books that are read to them and those they can read for themselves, taking turns and listening to what others say

Writing - Transcription

Spelling

use further prefixes and suffixes and understand how to add them - see English appendix 1

spell further homophones

spell words that are often misspelt

Add suffixes beginning with vowel letters to words of more than one syllable

Spell words with the /ɪ/ sound spelt y elsewhere than at the end of words

Spell words with the /ʌ/ sound spelt ou

Spell more prefixes

Spell using the suffix -ation

Spell using the suffix -ly

spell words with endings sounding like /ʒə/ or /tʃə/

Spell words with endings which sound like /ʒən/

Spell using the suffix -ous

Spell words with endings which sound like /ʃən/, spelt -tion,-sion, -ssion, -cian

Spell words words with the /k/ sound spelt ch (Greek in origin)

Spell words words with the /ʃ/ sound spelt ch (mostly French in origin)

Spell words words ending with the /g/ sound spelt - gue and the /k/ sound spelt -que (French in origin)

Spell words words with the /s/ sound spelt sc (Latin in origin)

Spell words words with the /eɪ/ sound spelt ei, eigh, or ey

Spell using the possessive apostrophe with plural words

spell homophones and near-homophones

Spell words from the word list - years 3 and 4

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 2 or 3 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

Handwriting

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

Writing - Composition

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

plan their writing by 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 - see English appendix 2

draft and write by organising paragraphs around a theme

draft and write by in narratives, creating settings, characters and plot

draft and write by 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

evaluate and edit by proposing changes to grammar and vocabulary to improve consistency, including the accurate use of pronouns in sentences

proofread for spelling and punctuation errors

read their own writing aloud to a group or the whole class, using appropriate intonation and controlling the tone and volume so that the meaning is clear