Our Learning

Year 4 English

Approach

In English lessons, children are taught speaking, listening, reading and writing skills through studying a variety of styles of writing (genres).  Teachers follow the Teaching Sequence for Writing, which means that children will firstly be taught to read and understand the text, then practise the skills of the style of writing (including grammar) and apply into their own writing.

The Primary National Curriculum statements will be taught through the modules below.

Y4  English Coverage

The Year 4 English curriculum consists of the following modules:

Curriculum Content:

Speaking and Listening

Children will be taught to discuss their learning and to develop speaking skills. They will become more familiar with and confident in, using language in a variety of situations, for a range of audiences and purposes. They will, for example:

• develop their understanding of a subject through discussions, learning to give their opinions and listen to other view points
• speak clearly and in different ways for drama, formal presentations and debate

Reading

This part of the curriculum is broken down into ‘word reading’ and ‘comprehension’.

In word reading children will be taught to read and understand the meaning of new words using the skills they have learned previously and building on learning in year 3.  Children will develop the fluency and stamina to read longer texts and the focus for the Year 4 learner is comprehension.  Children will be taught key skills to enable them to read, understand and enjoy a wide range of books. They will, for example:

• Summarise the main ideas of a text
• Justify their opinion of particular characters
• Discuss ideas that are not obviously described in a text eg ‘Explain why the character may have felt like this.’
• Note how the author chooses language to create a mood or atmosphere
• Identify the structures or features of particular non- fiction texts

We are able to provide you with lists of age appropriate texts to support the learning:

• Traditional Tales – Myths (quests)
• The Firework Maker’s Daughter – Phillip Pullman
• The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – J.K. Rowling
• The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis
• Peter Pan in Scarlet – Geraldine McCaughrean
• The Wooden Horse – Geraldine McCaughrean
• Mission to marathon – Geoffrey Trease

Story settings

Stories set in imaginary worlds

• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – C S Lewis
• The Dream Master – Theresa Breslin
• Aquila (science-fiction) – Andrew Norriss
• The Widow’s Broom – Chris Van Allsburg
• Dragon’s Child – Jenny Nimmo
• Seth and the Strangers – Jenny Nimmo

Set in other countries

• Mamo on the mountain – Jane & Lewis Kurtz E.B. (Ethopia)
• The true story of Balto – Natalie Staniford (Arctic)
• Anna Hibiscus – Atinuke (Nigeria)
• The Big Book of Betsey Biggalow – Malorie  Blackman (West Indies)
• Sophie and the Albino Camel – Stephen Davies (Sahara Desert)
• Elephant child – Mary Ellis (African savannah)
• Grandpa’s Indian Summer – Jamila Gavin (India)
• The Colour of Home – Mary Hoffman (Somalia)
• A fistful of pearls and other tales from Iraq – Elizabeth Laird

Historical settings

• Street Child – Berlie Doherty
• Across the Roman Wall – Theresa Breslin
• The Time Travelling Cat – Julia Jarman
• The Roman Eagle – Julia Jarman
• The Tudor Treasure – Julia Jarman
• The Egyptian Goddess – Julia Jarman
• The Aztec Sacrifice – Julia Jarman
• The Viking Terror  – Julia Jarman
• Roger’s War – Robert Swindells
• Meet me by the steelmen – Teresa Tomlinson

A story/stories with a theme

• The Angel of Nitshill Road (bullying) – Anne Fine
• Secret Friends (bullying/peer pressure) – Elizabeth Laird
• The Forbidden Game (bullying) – Malorie Blackman
• The Widow’s Broom (prejudice – being different/misunderstood) – Chris Van Allsburg
• Prosper’s Mountain (prejudice – being different/misunderstood) – Henrietta Branford
• Rat heaven – Jeanne Willis (different points of view)
• Voices in the Park – Anthony Browne (different points of view)
• Dear Mrs LaRue; Letters from Obedience School (being misunderstood/different points of view) – Mark Teague
• Big Ben – Rachel Anderson (disability)
• Fred (bereavement) – Posy Simmonds

Writing

Writing is developed through teaching the following:

Spelling

Children should learn to spell new words correctly and have opportunities to practise spelling skills.  They will be taught spelling patterns and conventions, building on the spellings taught in Year 3.  They will continue to practise and use the words included in Appendix 1 of the National Curriculum for years 3 & 4.

Handwriting

This will continue to be taught, with the aim of increasing children’s consistency and fluency throughout their independent writing.

Composition (structure): This includes vocabulary, grammar and punctuation. To develop their composition skills, the children will be taught to

• Plan, draft, compose, edit and evaluate their writing
• Organise their writing into clear paragraphs
• Use an increasing range of sentence structures
• Expand sentences by adding detail
• Write for a range of purposes and audiences as part of their work across the curriculum. In year 4 this will include (cross curricular example, schools to insert their own)

Grammar

Grammar will be taught throughout the writing process and teachers will follow the terms and concepts of Appendix 2 of the National Curriculum.

Should you wish for a more detailed explanation, please follow this link to the Primary National Curriculum document.

Year 4 Maths

Working mathematically

By the end of year 4, children will apply their understanding of maths to solve a wide variety of problems with more than one step and be expected to prove their thinking through pictures, jottings and conversations. They will continue to make connections between different areas of maths and ask their own questions, working in an organised way to find solutions which help them identify common patterns or any errors more easily.

Number

Counting and understanding numbers

Children will be very familiar with numbers that have up to 4 digits and will be able to order and compare by showing them in different ways such as on a tape measure or using hands-on resources.  Using their understanding of place value (how the value of each digit changes depending on its position in the number), children will be able to partition (break and make) numbers in different ways e.g. 2345 = 2000 and 300 and 40 and 5 but could also represent this as 1000 and 1000 and 200 and 100 and 40 and 5 or 2000 and 200 and 145.  They will work with numbers securely up to 10,000 and may begin to count beyond in 1s, 10s, 100s and 1000s.  They will use this to help them find 10, 100 or 1000 more or less than any given number.  They will multiply and divide whole numbers by 10 and 100 and understand that this changes the value of each digit rather than ‘just adding a 0’.  They will develop their understanding to decimal hundredths, comparing and ordering these using contexts such as money.  Children will also learn about the pattern to find any Roman numeral to 100.

Children will develop their expertise when counting forwards and backwards from 0 to include multiples of 6, 7, 9 and 25; decimals with up to 2 places and fractions. They will be able to fluently count in tenths, hundredths and simple fractions. They will develop their understanding of negative numbers through counting backwards through 0.  Children will be able to recognise and describe number patterns and relationships including multiples (e.g. 3, 6, 9, 12 are multiples of 3) and factor pairs (e.g. 1 and 12, 2 and 6, 3 and 4 are all factor pairs for 12) for known times tables.

Calculating

Children will develop various strategies for solving +, -, x, ÷ calculations mentally, using jottings when appropriate and for checking that their answers are sensible.  Children will be encouraged to share their methods with others to help them see which work best, are quickest and most accurate. Over the course of the year, children will become fluent in all multiplication and division facts up to 12 x 12 and apply these facts to other problems e.g. 232 x 7 = (200 x 7) + (30 x 7) + (2 x 7). Children will use the = sign to demonstrate equal value e.g. 3 x 8 = 48 ÷ 2 and solve missing number problems e.g. 3 x ? = 48÷2. They will explore patterns and rules for the times tables they learn and use pictures and objects to support their understanding.

Children will be required to solve problems accurately using the column addition and subtraction methods for numbers with up to 4-digits and explain how the methods work. They will use apparatus to secure their understanding of these. This will include addition and subtraction calculations with different numbers of digits (such as 1286 + 357); and numbers containing 0s (such as 8009 – 3231).  They will use formal written methods of short multiplication and short division for two and three digit numbers by a single digit.  Children who become very adept at these types of calculations will be stretched through problems such as those containing missing numbers so that they know when, if and why they need to use the methods.

Fractions including decimals

Children will develop their understanding of fractions by comparing to, or finding a part of, the whole. Through hands-on resources, pictures or jottings, such as a number line, children will add and subtract two fractions with the same denominator (e.g. 2/3 + 2/3). Children will solve problems involving fractions such as ‘find ¾ of 20 litres’ using their knowledge of multiplication and division and through practical equipment. Children secure their understanding that fractions and decimals are different ways of expressing numbers and proportions.

Measurement

Children secure their understanding of place value and decimals to record measurements accurately. They use their understanding of multiplying and dividing by 10, 100 and 1000 to convert between different units of measure of length (km, m, cm, mm), weight (kg, g) and money (£ and p). Children will link their understanding of area to multiplication and describe how to find the perimeter of a rectangle quickly. Children will read and write the time accurately using analogue and digital clocks, including clocks with Roman numerals.  They will convert between units of time (hours, minutes and seconds). Children estimate, compare, calculate and solve a variety of problems involving all units of measurement.

Geometry

Children will extend their knowledge of shape to include more unusual quadrilaterals (four-sided shapes) and triangles. They will use increasingly more specific vocabulary such as parallelogram, rhombus and trapezium; scalene and isosceles. They refine their understanding of symmetry and solve problems where the shape is not displayed in its usual way (e.g. it might be on its side). Children find and name different angles and use this information to decide if a shape is regular or irregular. Children describe position and movement on a grid as coordinates and will plot points to draw 2D shapes.

Statistics

Children will complete, read and interpret information on bar charts; they will solve problems that involve finding information in charts, tables and graphs; including time graphs.