Scheme of Work – English Stage 4
Introduction
This document is a scheme of work created by Cambridge International as a suggested plan for delivery of Cambridge Primary English Stage 4.
Learning objectives for the stage have been grouped into topic areas or ‘units’. These have then been arranged in a recommended teaching order,
but you are free to teach objectives in any order within a stage as your local requirements and resources dictate.
The scheme of work assumes a term length of 10 weeks, with three terms per stage and three units per term. An overview of the sequence,
number and title of each unit for Stage 4 can be seen in the table on the next page. The scheme of work is based on the minimum length of a
school year to allow flexibility. You should be able to add in more teaching time as necessary, to suit the pace of your learners and to fit the work
comfortably into your own term times.
Some learning objectives are designed to be recurring across all units. As such, these are listed separately at the beginning of the scheme of
work as ongoing work across Stage 4. Each term consists of three units. Grammar, spelling and vocabulary learning objectives for the whole term
are listed first followed by learning objectives relating directly to the unit topic. Learning objectives are given using their curriculum framework codes
and a summary rather than following the precise wording in the curriculum framework. Activities and resources are suggested against the objectives
to illustrate possible methods of delivery. In the fiction and non-fiction units, these include more general activities that can be carried out at any point
across the unit to reinforce learners’ skills.
There is no obligation to follow the published Cambridge schemes of work to deliver Cambridge Primary. They have been created solely to
provide an illustration of how delivery might be planned over the six stages. A step-by-step guide to creating your own scheme of work and
implementing Cambridge Primary in your school can be found in the Cambridge Primary Teacher Guide available on the Cambridge Primary
support site. Blank templates are also available on the Cambridge Primary support site for you to use if you wish.
Two sample lesson plans (short-term plans), with suggested resources, are included in Appendix A at the end of this document.
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Overview
Nine units of work are suggested for Stage 4. In each school term there are three units: fiction, non-fiction, and poetry/playscripts. The range of
topics suggested is:
TERM 1
TERM 2
TERM 3
Fiction
(40% of teaching
time)
Unit 1A: Historical fiction
Reading and analysing historical fiction,
then planning and writing a story in a
historical setting.
Unit 2A: Fantasy stories
Reading and analysing fantasy stories,
then planning and writing a story.
Non-fiction
(40% of teaching
time)
Unit 1B: Non-chronological reports
Reading and analysing nonchronological reports, then planning
and writing a report.
Unit 2B: News reports
Reading and analysing news reports,
then planning and writing a report.
Poetry and
playscripts
(20% of teaching
time)
Unit 1C: Playscripts
Reading and analysing playscripts,
then planning and writing a playscript.
Unit 2C: Poems from different times
and cultures
Reading and analysing poems from
different times and cultures, then
planning and writing a poem.
Unit 3A: Stories with issues and
dilemmas
Reading and analysing real life stories
that feature an issue or dilemma, then
planning and writing a story.
Unit 3B: Explanations and
persuasive texts
Reading and analysing explanations
and persuasive texts, then planning
and writing them.
Unit 3C: Poems in a variety of forms
Reading and analysing poems in a
variety of forms, then planning and
writing a poem.
For learners to become more proficient in English skills, it is important that they keep revisiting and consolidating skills in different contexts. For
this reason, many of the learning objectives are revisited in different ways in different units. This gives all learners the opportunity to grasp the ideas
involved. Within each term, the order in which units are taught is not important – the level of expectation is consistent across all three units. It is
important, however, that you teach the Term 1 units before the Term 2 units, and the Term 2 units before the Term 3 units.
The teaching and learning of English skills is a continuum. The prior knowledge expected for these units is developed in earlier stages, and the
skills and understanding developed in Stage 4 are important for learners to make good progress in subsequent stages. If the Stage 4 level of work
is not appropriate for the learners in your class, it is recommended that you use ideas from the Stage 3 or Stage 5 units of work: comparable texts
are often studied in each stage, so matching a text type with the appropriate learning objectives is usually fairly straightforward.
In general, specific texts are not recommended because of the different resources available in each school and location. You have the flexibility
to include resources that they have available and locally or nationally relevant resources. Descriptions of the types of texts you will need are given
at the beginning of each unit. Large print books and electronic texts that can be displayed are particularly useful for teaching learners of this age –
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the more the learners can see and read the text, the more effective the teaching will be. It is assumed throughout that you have access to a
whiteboard, blackboard or flipchart to record brief texts for general discussion and analysis.
Key prior knowledge expected for these units is that learners:
● are familiar with all common ways of representing short and long vowel phonemes
● can use a variety of strategies for decoding unrecognised words, including using grammatical and contextual cues as well as various phonic
strategies
● are aware of simple morphology and know some common prefixes (including un, dis, de, re) and suffixes (including -s, -ed, -ing, -ful, -less, -ly)
and know what they signify
● can read longer texts with sustained concentration and awareness of when understanding of meaning is lost
● can form all letters correctly and use largely joined-up writing
● can write longer texts independently, with a high degree of accurate spelling
● can use sentence punctuation effectively and commas in lists.
Scheme of Work – English stage
4
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Ongoing work
The learning objectives listed below should be taught, reinforced and developed throughout the entire school year.
You may wish to allocate time each day to teaching these learning objectives, or you may prefer to allocate a set amount of time each week.
Ongoing phonics, spelling and vocabulary
Framework codes
4Ro6
Apply effective strategies to
read unfamiliar words,
4Wo1
4Ws6
4Ws9
4Ws10
Recognise syllables, prefixes,
suffixes and use this
information in spelling and
reading.
4Ws1
4Ws3
Extend knowledge and use of
spelling patterns and check
and correct spellings in
writing.
Summary of learning objectives
Suggested activities
● Use five-minute sessions, including at the beginning and end of lessons, where you write a
potentially unfamiliar word on the board. Ask learners to say how they think the word should
be pronounced and why.
Write a sentence containing the word and ask learners if gives any clues to what the word
says and/or what it means.
● As learners encounter more complex multisyllabic words in their reading, examine
multisyllabic words and model how to analyse them, e.g.
- Do any of the words have a prefix or suffix? If so, what is the root word?
- Do any of the words have common roots?
- Can I use this information to pronounce or spell the word?
- What does the prefix/suffix/root tell me about this word?
Model and practise dividing the words into syllables. A syllable must have a vowel sound, and
the vowel usually has consonants surrounding it. The precise placement of the syllable
boundary is not important, but breaking down the word into syllables can help with both
pronunciation and spelling.
● Use five-minute sessions, including at the beginning and end of lessons, where you write a
root word on the board (e.g. cover, correct, spell, friend, medic). Ask learners to work in
groups to create a list of words with the given root.
Create mind maps from common root words to display as word family charts.
● Ask learners to keep a spelling log of all the words they misspell. Once they have recorded
the correct spelling of the word, they should identify the tricky bit and find other words which
include the same tricky bit.
● Encourage review of learners’ writing for spelling errors. Ask learners to check:
- against words in their spelling log
- some given specific ‘tricky’ words that you know they should be able to spell
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4Ws2
4Ws4
4Ws7
Investigate relationships
between spelling patterns
and pronunciation.
- words they are not sure about using a dictionary
- a partner’s spelling.
Encourage learners how to identify and record the words they need to learn to spell.
● Introduce the term homophone and explain that it means ‘same sound’, i.e. words with the
same pronunciation but different spelling.
Identify and discuss common grammatical homophones, e.g. here/hear; there/their/they’re;
your/you’re; to/too/two; which/witch. Explain that learners need to make correct spelling
choices when they are writing. Ask them to think of ways they can remember which form is
correct in a sentence.
● Ask learners to create gap-fill sentences for a partner to complete, using:
- there, their or they’re
- your or you’re
- to, too or two.
● To help learners to remember less common homophones, e.g. piece–peace, ate–eight,
night–knight, him–hymn:
● Create sets of cards showing 16 pairs of homophones. Learners use them to play
‘Homophone snap’.
● Display pairs of sentences using different homophones, e.g. The mouse has a long tail.
The mouse has a long tale. Learners identify the correct sentence in each pair.
● Ask learners to write humorous sentences using homophones incorrectly. For example:
‘I’m board of this lesson.’, ‘I wish the bell wood go.’, ‘There’s a hare in my soup.’, A doctor
says, “I’m losing my patients with you.” They swap with a partner who corrects the
homophone.
● Ask learners to identify pairs of homophones and write definitions of each word.
● Explain that sometimes the same word can be pronounced in different ways (homographs).
Discuss some examples, e.g. read, wind, row, bow, asking learners to say the words in
sentences and then define their meaning, e.g. ‘I like to read.’, ‘Yesterday I read a whole
book!’. Then ask learners to work in pairs or small groups to identify other homographs.
4Rw3
4Wo4
Look for alternatives for
overused words/expressions;
● Explain that sometimes the same letter pattern is pronounced differently in different words.
Work together to make collections of word which have the same letter pattern but are
pronounced differently, e.g. head–bead, cough–enough–through, height–weight, what–hat.
● To encourage learners to apply and extend their vocabulary:
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4Wa4
4SL2
use more powerful verbs and
more varied and precise
vocabulary.
-
use more challenging vocabulary when you talk, giving alternative forms for the words you
use to help learners understand their meaning
when reading to or with the class, identify and discuss effective vocabulary and how it
adds to the reading experience
when modelling writing with the class, model writing and editing vocabulary to make it
more effective, e.g. ‘At the weekend, I saw a good really funny movie.’
● Ask learners to collect words from their reading that might be useful in their writing.
Encourage the use of dictionaries to identify the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary.
● Ask learners to use thesauruses to find alternatives for mundane words and phrases. Expect
them to use these alternatives in their writing.
● As a warm up activity at the beginning of the lesson, write a common, mundane word on the
board, e.g. ‘walk’. In pairs, learners have 2 minutes to list as many synonyms as they can. At
the end, each pair gets 1 mark for every correct answer and 3 marks for a correct answer that
no other pair has included.
● For writing and speaking activities, give success criteria based vocabulary, e.g. using clear
and precise vocabulary, using powerful verbs, using a variety of vocabulary. Learners use
self/peer assessment to review their work against the success criteria.
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Ongoing reading
Framework
codes
Summary of learning
objectives
Suggested activities
4Ro1
4Ro2
Extend the range of reading
and explore the different
processes of reading silently
and aloud.
● Continue to use class novels in a variety of ways, e.g. reading aloud to the class (either with
learners simply listening or with them following in their own copies), asking learners to take
turns to read short passages or assigning individuals to read the dialogue of particular
characters.
● Continue to develop the range of books learners read independently. Extend their interaction
with texts, for example, encourage learners to:
- keep a reading log where they record key information about the books they read and their
responses to them
- write book reviews in a shared location for books they particularly enjoy. Learners can then refer
to these when they are selecting a book to read
- read non-fiction texts by posing questions for them to research or suggesting that they generate
their own questions on subjects they are interested in
- set up a book club where learners can discuss a book they have read recently.
● Talk about different styles of reading, both silently and aloud, and discuss the purposes of
both.
4Rx4
Find information in texts.
● Provide opportunities for reading silently and aloud, for example:
- have a silent reading session each week at the same time. This could be in the school library to
provide a special reading environment.
- give learners the opportunity to read the class novel to the class instead of you
- give learners the opportunity to read stories to younger learners.
● Display a text and a question that can be answered from it. Model scanning to find the
relevant paragraph and then focusing in on the specific information without reading the whole
text. Give learners other questions to answer in a similar way.
● Develop learners’ skills of finding information/evidence in non-fiction texts. Give each table a
small selection of books on a theme and display a few simple questions that they might be
able to use the books to answer. For example, you might give learners a selection of
bird/animal books and ask:
- Where do you find Emperor penguins?
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- What do they eat?
- How many eggs do they have?
- What do you call a baby penguin?
Give learners a couple of minutes to decide which books might be most useful to answer the
questions. Encourage them to use the contents page and index to help them.
Then give learners a few minutes to answer the questions.
Once learners have answered the questions, give them more time to read the whole text closely to
check that they gave the correct answers. Add more questions on the board which might
need closer reading and more considered answers. For example:
- Who raises the chicks?
- How do the penguins protect themselves from the cold?
- Why are penguins black and white?
4SL6
4SL7
Adapt speech when
performing or reading aloud.
● Give learners a range of opportunities to perform to different audiences (e.g. in groups, to the
class, to the whole school, to parents). Give them rehearsal time beforehand, so they can
experiment with varying their speech, pace and loudness, and using gesture, for example:
- reading their own story writing aloud using different voices for dialogue for different
characters
- reading a poem using pace and loudness for appropriate effect
- using gesture to reflect character traits when acting out a playscript or participating in a
role play.
● Ask learners to practise reading a poem or short fiction extract individually. Ask two or more
learners to perform the poem/extract to the class. Other learners compare the performances
and identify differences between them and examples of effective variance in speech, pace or
loudness and using gesture.
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Ongoing grammar and punctuation
Framework
codes
Summary of learning
objectives
Suggested activities
4Ro4
4Ro5
Understand the function of
punctuation marks and use
them to read with fluency,
understanding and
expression.
● While sharing a text, talk about the function of the punctuation. Draw learners’ attention to:
- different end-of-sentence punctuation (e.g. full stops, exclamation marks, question marks)
- speech marks and associated punctuation
- apostrophes used to mark omission of letters in words such as can’t, don’t, didn’t
- commas used to clarify the meaning of a sentence.
● Ask learners to read aloud using the punctuation to guide their intonation. Talk explicitly
about:
- the functions of the different punctuation marks
- how we respond to punctuation marks in reading
- how punctuation marks help us to make sense of a sentence.
4Wp3
4Wp7
● Ask learners to take turns reading from a suitable text in groups. As they listen, the other
learners identify where the punctuation comes.
Understand the punctuation ● Display a brief passage containing dialogue, but don’t include the dialogue punctuation. Ask
and tenses used for
learners to identify the words that should be enclosed in speech marks, and to punctuate the
dialogue.
passage.
Then consider features of the dialogue, including the tenses. Establish that dialogue is usually in the
present tense, whereas narrative is usually in the past tense.
4Wp3
4Wp4
4Ws5
● Give learners a short text containing dialogue with some mistakes in punctuation and tenses.
Learners correct the text.
● Share a text containing a range of regular and irregular verbs in their present simple, present
continuous, past simple and past continuous forms. Ask learners to highlight all the verbs in
the text. Discuss the differences between the verbs in terms of:
- when the actions happen
- regular and irregular verbs
- how the timing links to the spelling of regular verbs (-ing, -ed and -s endings)
Understand past, present
and future tenses, relating
them to spelling patterns as
appropriate.
● Ask learners to complete a gap-fill story with the correct verb given in its infinitive form next to
each gap in brackets. Include dialogue, regular and irregular verbs and a range of tenses.
Learners complete the gaps choosing the correct verb forms.
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Ongoing writing
Framework
codes
Summary of learning
objectives
Suggested activities
4Wo2
Make the presentation of
writing fit its purpose.
4Wo3
Use joined-up handwriting in
all writing.
When you set writing tasks, talk about the purpose of the writing and encourage learners to
consider the most appropriate layout and presentation to fit the purpose, e.g.
● bulleted notes for recording information as a person speaks, where speed and organisation
of thoughts are more important than neatness
● fluent sentences for writing in school notebooks, where structure and legibility is important,
but writing needs to be fairly quick
● writing / word processing for display, where accuracy and attractive appearance are
important.
By Stage 4, learners should be able to apply all joins confidently. Offer additional teaching
support for learners whose letter formation is still not secure and who are not joining their writing.
Check that learners’ pencil grip is comfortable for more sustained writing. Once you are
confident of learners’ handwriting, introduce a greater variety of writing tools including fountain
pens and rollerball pens (but not usually ballpoints yet).
4Wo8
Write dictated sentences
from memory.
To focus learners’ attention on their handwriting
- sometimes include handwriting in the success criteria for learners’ written work across the
curriculum
- ask learners to concentrate on joining accurately when copying spellings to learn (this will also
help learners to remember spelling patterns).
In order to practise spelling, grammar, punctuation and sentence structure, read authentic texts
aloud for learners to transcribe.
Ongoing speaking and listening
Framework
codes
Summary of learning
objectives
Suggested activities
4SL1
4SL2
4SL4
4SL5
Speak confidently and make
effective contributions in
group and class discussions.
● Across the curriculum, when you have class and group discussions, encourage learners to:
- organise their ideas clearly for the listener
- choose and use language and vocabulary that are appropriate to the purpose
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4SL8
- share their own opinions, giving evidence to support them (e.g. from books, general
knowledge, previously expressed ideas)
- show evidence of listening to what others in a group are saying by responding politely to
their ideas
- both give and accept constructive criticism of ideas in a group.
● Provide learners with opportunities to prepare, rehearse and deliver presentations, for
example:
- Choose a type of product that all learners are familiar with (e.g. a type of drink, snack or
clothing). Divide learners into small groups. Each group makes up their own new example
of the product type. They decide on the special features of their product and write a
presentation to persuade the rest of the class that their product is the best. Each member
of the group should have an active role in the presentation.
Once the learners have had time to practise their presentation, they deliver it to the class. Other
learners listen carefully and give constructive feedback – two things they liked about the
presentation and one thing that could be improved on. Once all groups have given their
presentations, the class decide which product they thought was the best.
- Divide learners into small groups. Give each group a topic which is relevant to current work
in another subject. Learners research any new information they require and record their
information in preparation for a presentation, e.g. as slides or a poster, or in a format of
their choice.
Once the learners have had time to practise their presentation (ensuring that each member of the
group has an active role in the presentation), they deliver it to the class. Other learners
listen carefully and ask questions at the end.
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TERM 1
Unit 1A: Historical fiction
Reading and analysing historical fiction, then planning and writing a story in a historical setting.
Unit 1B: Non-chronological reports
Reading and analysing non-chronological reports, then planning and writing a report.
Unit 1C: Playscripts
Reading and analysing playscripts, then planning and writing a playscript.
Grammar and punctuation activities for all units
Use these activities across the term to develop learners’ grammar and punctuation alongside the activities for each unit topic.
Framework
codes
Summary of learning
objectives
Suggested activities
4Rw4
4Ws6
Identify adverbs and
recognise -ly as a suffix
linked to adverbs.
Revise the term adverb. Explain that there are three kinds of adverbs:
● adverbs of manner, which tell you how something was done (e.g. softly, slowly, silently)
● adverbs of time, which tell you when something was done (e.g. later, meanwhile, afterwards,
next)
● adverbs of place, which tell you where something was done (e.g. outside, upstairs).
Adverbs are often found in adverbial phrases (where a group of words does the job of an adverb,
e.g. very softly, later that day, in the garden). As you read, point out the use of adverbs and
adverbial phrases.
Explore the position of adverbs in a sentence. They are mobile and can occur in many places,
e.g. sweetly, she smiled; she sweetly smiled; she smiled sweetly. Notice that adverbials are
often used at the beginning of a paragraph in fiction texts.
Discuss how the adverb adds to the meaning of a sentence.
Point out that adverbs are often used as connectives, linking ideas in a text.
4Wp4
4Wp5
Investigate tenses and
forms of verbs.
Remind learners about the importance of verbs in sentences. Ask them to identify the verbs in a
text. Remind learners to look out for all parts of the verb to be – which is the most common verb
in English – and the verb to have, as well as ‘doing word’ verbs.
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Collect all the parts of the verb to be on to a poster. Learners can add to the collection every
time they come across a new part of the verb.
Talk about features of verbs which help us to recognise the tense (e.g. the ed ending for regular
past tense verbs). Introduce the term irregular verbs and check that learners know all the tenses
of common irregular verbs and can match past and present forms.
Discuss different ways in which the future can be expressed (e.g. will, be going to, using the
present tense – my train leaves at five past three).
4Wp2
Understand that commas
can separate clauses in a
sentence.
Find adverbs of time and place in sentences. Point out how often they are marked off with
commas.
Introduce learners to the terms main clause and subordinate clause, explaining that the main
clause introduces the main idea and subordinate clause(s) adds information which is linked to
the main idea.
Find sentences in your stories which contain more than one clause and a comma (e.g. Oliver
Bard and his friend Toki were in the way, so she sent them off to find firewood). Ask learners to
identify the main information in the sentence and then to find the additional information which is
introduced by a connective. Note how often there is a comma separating the clauses.
Ask learners to search for commas in a text. They already know that commas are used in lists
and in dialogue and speech. Can they find commas used to separate clauses?
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Spelling and vocabulary activities for all units
Use these activities across the term to develop learners’ spelling and vocabulary alongside the activities for each unit topic.
Framework
codes
Summary of learning
objectives
Suggested activities
4Ws8
Be confident with
alphabetical order.
In order for learners to use indexes and other alphabetically organised texts efficiently, it is
important that they are very familiar with alphabetical ordering. Develop this by:
● reciting the alphabet
● having time challenges for finding words in dictionaries
● having quizzes going round the class, with learners competing to answer questions like
Which letter comes after T?
● placing letter tiles in order starting in the middle of the alphabet, at the letter R, for example
● completing ‘fill in the missing letter’ activities where the first letter in the sequence is not
necessarily A.
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Unit 1A: Historical fiction
Reading and analysing historical fiction, then planning and writing a story in a historical setting
This is the first of nine units for Stage 4. You should expect to cover three units each term (fiction, non-fiction, poetry/playscripts). Time
suggested for this unit is four weeks.
Outline:
Learners will read and discuss a variety of historical stories, first enjoying the texts as readers, then reading as writers and analysing features of
the text. Then they will plan and write a story based on one of the texts they have read and analysed.
Resources needed:
● three or four short historical novels or a range of historical stories, ideally linked to the history curriculum. You will need to have extracts of these
stories enlarged for all learners to share, or multiple copies.
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Unit 1A: Historical fiction
Framework
codes
Summary of learning
objectives
Suggested activities
4Ro1
Read and enjoy historical
fiction.
Read some historical fiction texts. Ask learners to give their first responses, supported by
reference to the text.
● What did they like/dislike? How did it make them feel?
● Which passages/events were particularly effective or interesting? Can they begin to explain
the features of those parts of the text?
● Which characters did they like? Why did they like / were they interested in these characters?
4Rx4
4Ri1
4Ri2
4Rw3
Understand how the
historical setting and mood
are created, and recognise
how much we need implicit
knowledge to read historical
fiction.
Find out their impression of the setting:
● Did they recognise this was a historical story? Why? Ask learners to find examples in the
text.
● Did they learn anything new about the times from the story?
● Was the setting believable? Can they find evidence for their view?
● Would they like to have lived in the setting?
● Which features of the setting did they like the most/least?
Re-read a historical story. Focus first on the setting. Ask learners to look for clues that the setting
isn’t the modern day (e.g. All wood was precious and every house had a pile of logs against the
wall ready for winter). Each of the clues individually doesn’t have to be exclusively evidence of
the historical nature of the setting, but the accumulation of clues should support it.
Discuss the fact that a historical story can’t include all of the details about the place. The writer
needs to assume that the reader will infer more information and so create a more complete
picture of the setting. Can learners think of anything which they have added to their picture of the
story although it’s not mentioned explicitly in the text? (For example: Where was the woman
cooking – in an oven or over a fire? Why did the women spin and dye wool?)
As well as giving historical facts, the writer has to interest us in the place and give it an
atmosphere. Can learners find words and phrases at different points in the story that help to
create this atmosphere?
How much does the weather and time of day contribute to the story? They are part of the setting
as much as the place is.
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4Rx4
4Ri1
4Ri2
4Rw3
Understand how the
characters are created in
historical fiction.
4Rx1
4Rw7
4Rw8
Understand how the story is
structured.
Discuss the characters:
● How much do we know about them?
● How are the characters in historical stories different from those in modern stories?
● Could the story still happen in modern times? If so, would the characters’ actions and feelings
be similar?
Ask learners to briefly describe each of the characters.
Introduce the idea that most short stories are told in five main stages:
● the introduction – we are introduced to the characters and setting
● the problem or build-up – something happens which triggers the rest of the story
● the climax or conflict – the most exciting part of the story, what it is about
● the resolution – the climax is resolved, the story begins to wind down
● the conclusion – the story is brought to an end, a twist is added, or a sequel is hinted at.
Sometimes some of the stages are conflated, and a different number of paragraphs may be
used for different parts of the story, but this is a typical story structure.
Re-read a story. Ask learners to draw the events of the story on a flow diagram with five boxes.
Can they write one important event in each of the boxes to show the structure of the story?
4Wa6
4Wa10
4Wt1
Plan a historical story.
Explore whether each stage the learners identify begins at the beginning of a new paragraph. (It
is normal for authors to use a new paragraph to mark that they are moving on to the next stage
in their writing.)
Ask learners to say how they have previously planned their writing. The planning tools they have
experience of should include flow diagrams, mind maps and storyboards / story maps.
Introduce them to the idea of planning their story from a paragraph plan. This can be like a flow
diagram, or linear down a piece of paper, but it will probably include more information than an
action flow diagram. Each paragraph on the plan should have:
● a heading showing which part of the story the paragraph relates to
● notes about the characters and setting
● notes about the action in the paragraph.
If you give learners a limited amount of space on the page for their planning, it will encourage
them to plan effectively and they won’t be able to write the whole story in their plan.
Encourage learners to consider two alternative openings and/or endings to their plan.
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4Wt1
4Wt2
4Wa6
Write a historical story from
a plan.
4Rw3
4Wo4
4Wa2
4Ws3
Redraft the story, improving
the selection of vocabulary
and checking spelling and
punctuation.
Ask learners to share their plan with a response partner and tell their story aloud, using the plan
as a guide. The response partner should make suggestions for improvement and about which
opening and/or ending to use. Learners can alter their plans as necessary.
After learners have finished planning their story, ask them to write the first draft. Give them the
success criteria for the story, e.g. ‘Write a story with a historical setting, including details to build
the setting. Build your characters by including details about them. Use paragraphs and a good
story structure.’
After learners have written the first draft of their story, ask them to do the ‘writer’s mumble’, i.e.
read it aloud several times to check it.
● Does it make sense?
● Have you used paragraphs?
● Have you given enough detail about the setting and characters to know it’s a historical story?
● Have you used a range of vocabulary?
● Have you chosen the best language to create the required mood?
● Are your punctuation and spelling correct?
Unit 1B: Non-chronological reports
Reading and analysing non-chronological reports, then planning and writing a report.
This is the second of nine units for Stage 4. You should expect to cover three units each term (fiction, non-fiction, poetry/playscripts). Time
suggested for this unit is four weeks.
Outline:
Learners will read and discuss a variety of non-chronological reports, first reading the reports as readers and finding information in the texts,
then reading as writers and analysing features of the text. Then they will plan and write a report based on one of the texts they have read and
analysed.
Resources needed:
● a range of non-chronological reports, ideally linked to a cross-curricular topic learners are studying.
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Unit 1B: Non-chronological reports
Framework codes
Summary of learning objectives
Suggested activities
4Rv1
Find information in non-chronological reports.
Teach learners how to draw and use a KWWL
grid. This is a grid with four columns: What I
Know, What I Want to know, Where I will look,
and What I have Learnt. Model asking a
general question (e.g. Why is plastic a
problem in the oceans?), then:
● complete the first column of the grid
together with what is already known
● frame questions for the second column,
asking what needs to be found out
● suggest resources in the third column for
where to look (include books and
websites).
Allocate different questions to different groups
of learners and challenge them to find the
answer to their question. When they have had
time to research their question, gather
together again and record what they have
learnt in the fourth column.
Ask pairs of learners to devise their own
question and complete their own KWWL grid.
Ask learners to reflect on how they knew
where to look for the information they wanted
in the non-chronological report texts, whether
printed texts or online. Can learners list the
organisational features they used? Record
ideas such as:
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English Stage 4
● the contents and index (check that
learners recognise the differences in
organisation and function)
● headings and subheadings
● topic sentences (the first sentence of a
paragraph which often introduces the topic
for the paragraph).
What other strategies did the learners use?
Did they use any relevant images?
Ask learners to evaluate the different
organisation features:
● Which was the most useful, and why?
● Which was the least useful, and why?
● Did any learners fail to find any
information? Can they explain why that
was?
● Can others help them to solve their
problem?
4Rx3
4Rw6
4Rv1
Know or find language features of nonchronological report texts.
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English Stage 4
Ask learners to re-read a paragraph of text.
Agree a list of language features of report
texts, including:
● use of the present tense, unless it is a
historical report
● use of the third person
● a more formal style, not ‘chatty’
● full sentences, with few questions (except
as headings or subheadings) and no
dialogue
● topic sentences to introduce the topic for
the paragraph.
(This should be revision from Stage 3; see
Stage 3 Scheme of Work, Unit 3B.)
4Rw9
Understand the function of paragraphs in nonchronological reports.
4Wa11
4SL3
4SL5
Summarise a paragraph of text in a sentence.
Ask: Can reports contain opinions as well as
facts? Use examples to demonstrate that
although reports are usually factual, they can
also contain opinions.
Revisit the use of paragraphs in report texts.
Ask learners to read a page from a report text
and consider the paragraphs.
● How do paragraphs help to structure and
organise ideas?
● How are paragraphs in non-fiction texts
used differently from paragraphs in fiction
texts?
Ask learners to re-read a paragraph from a
report text, then shut the book and tell a
partner what the key ideas in the paragraph
were. They can only use one sentence to
summarise the key ideas. In a sentence, there
should only be one (or at most two) main
ideas.
Having spoken the summary, learners should
write the sentence.
After learners have summarised several
paragraphs from the full text, ask them to
compare their summary with the text.
● Have they isolated all the main ideas?
● What has been left out of the summary?
● Are the summary sentences very similar to
the topic sentences, or are there
differences?
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4Rx2
4Wo5
4Wo6
Plan a non-chronological
report using information
collected from other texts.
Ask learners to tell you how they previously planned non-fiction report texts. Mind maps, concept
maps and spider diagrams are the most effective ways of planning these texts because they
allow learners to organise and link information on the page; it doesn’t matter what order ideas
are noted down – information can be added to the diagram at any point.
Model how to record the information from the KWWL grid on a mind map diagram (don’t forget to
include the information in the K – first – column). Demonstrate how to:
● write the central theme in the centre of the page (e.g. plastic pollution in oceans)
● write the related main topic areas around the word – these will eventually become headings
(e.g. eaten by animals, animals get entangled in plastic, possible solutions); information
found can be collected and linked to the relevant headings.
4Wa7
4Wt2
Plan and write a nonchronological report using
information collected from
other texts.
Present the final text using
paragraphs with headings
and subheadings.
4Wo4
4Wo7
4Wa4
4Ws3
Redraft the report,
improving the selection of
vocabulary and checking
spelling and punctuation.
Ask learners to complete a diagram like this for their own research, using their own KWWL grid.
Model using the diagram you completed in a planning session for creating a report text. First,
determine the order of the paragraphs. Write the title and main heading. Model crafting
sentences to include the information you have recorded. Once you have recorded all the
information about one aspect, write a new heading and record the information in sentences.
Before learners begin to write their own text, give them the success criteria, e.g.:
● write a non-chronological report text using appropriate sentences and vocabulary
● organise the information into paragraphs
● use headings to help the reader to locate information quickly and effectively.
After learners have written the first draft of their report, ask them to do the ‘writer’s mumble’, i.e.
read it aloud several times to check it.
● Does it make sense?
● Have you used paragraphs?
● Have you used headings to help the reader know where different information will be found?
● Is it formal enough?
● Have you chosen the best words? Try to improve the quality of the verbs and nouns.
● Are punctuation and spelling correct?
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English Stage 4
Unit 1C: Playscripts
Reading and analysing playscripts, then planning and writing a playscript.
This is the third of nine units for Stage 4. You should expect to cover three units each term (fiction, non-fiction, poetry/playscripts). Time
suggested for this unit is two weeks.
Outline:
Learners will read and discuss a variety of playscripts, firstly enjoying them as readers, then reading as writers and analysing features of the
texts. Then they will plan and write a playscript based on ones they have read and analysed.
Resources needed:
● Sets of playscripts for learners to read. These may be linked to books you have read in class.
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Unit 1C: Playscripts
Framework
codes
Summary of learning
objectives
Suggested activities
4Ro1
4Ro7
4Rx4
4Ri2
4Rw2
4Rw3
Read playscripts, exploring
how scenes are built up.
In groups, learners read at least two different playscripts aloud.
As a class talk about the content of the different plays and the experience of reading them.
4Ro7
4SL7
Perform a playscript.
4Ro7
Plan and write a playscript
based on a familiar story.
Check that learners are aware of the basic features and structures of playscripts, including:
● layout conventions and punctuation of speeches
● the use of adverbs to show how a character speaks and moves
● the use of stage directions.
Talk about the characters in the plays. Consider how you get a sense of the characters through
a playscript. Make sure learners understand that, unlike in stories, there is no narrative
description to help develop the characters. Discuss and model how voice and gesture might be
used when performing the plays.
Groups of learners practise and then perform one of the playscripts to the class. Ask them to
focus on developing their characters through careful use of voice and gesture.
After each performance, ask the audience to give feedback on how the actors’ voices and
gestures enhanced the sense of character.
Ask learners to plot the development of the story in one of the plays on a flow diagram. Compare
how the story of a play matches the story in a narrative text. Look at the use of new scenes and
acts to show the progression and structure of the story. What are they most closely linked to in
narrative stories?
Work together to use a flow diagram to plot the development of a known story. Discuss how
learners could use this as the basis of the story for a playscript.
4Wo4
4Wo7
4Wa4
Redraft the poem and
playscript, improving the
selection of vocabulary and
Ask learners to make a list of the characters, then to work in small groups to write one scene’s
worth of dialogue as a playscript. Remind them to use the layout and conventions of playscripts.
They should aim to give each character a clear voice and make their speeches consistent with
their character. They should also consider where it might be useful to include stage directions
that will help actors to develop key elements of the characters through voice and gesture.
After learners have written the first draft of their play, ask them to do the ‘writer’s mumble’, i.e.
read it aloud several times to check it.
● Does it make sense?
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4Wa5
4Ws3
4Ro7
4SL7
checking spelling and
punctuation.
Perform a playscript.
● Have you chosen the best words? Try to improve the quality of the verbs and nouns.
● Are punctuation and spelling correct?
If time allows, ask groups to swap their playscript with another group so that groups can practise
and perform each other’s playscripts.
Groups give feedback on how easy it was to use the playscript they performed.
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TERM 2
Unit 2A: Fantasy stories
Reading and analysing fantasy stories, then planning and writing a story.
Unit 2B: News reports
Reading and analysing news reports, then planning and writing a report.
Unit 2C: Poems from different times and cultures
Reading and analysing poems from different times and cultures, then planning and writing a poem.
Grammar and punctuation activities for all units
Use these activities across the term to develop learners’ grammar and punctuation alongside the activities for each unit topic.
Framework codes
Summary of learning objectives
Suggested activities
4Rw4
4Ws6
4Wp4
Identify adverbs and recognise -ly as a suffix
linked to adverbs.
Investigate tenses and forms of verbs.
Continue the work from last term on
recognising adverbs and adverbial phrases.
Continue the work on tenses from last term.
4Wp2
4Rw1
4Wa4
Choose more accurate
words/expressions in
description.
Develop the use of commas to separate
Continue the work on commas from last term.
clauses in a sentence.
Find words and phrases which describe people, things and places in books and poems. The
three most likely ways of describing are:
● a specific noun (e.g. the caretaker rather than the man)
● adding an adjective (e.g. the old caretaker)
● using a simile or metaphor (e.g. The caretaker who was as old and wrinkled as a tortoise, or
The tortoise crawled towards us, clutching a broom in his hand).
Learners may not be familiar with simile and metaphor, so spend time exploring this way of
describing.
● Ask learners to suggest a simile for a place or person in the book.
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English Stage 4
● Give learners sentence starters, e.g. He walked as slowly as …
● Make outlandish statements about a character or creature.
● Look for similes and metaphors in books and poems (some whole poems are extended
metaphors).
● Listen for them in spoken language.
Revisit the accuracy of adjectives, particularly those with comparative and superlative forms.
Find comparative and superlative forms of adjectives.
Consider the suffix -ish and its use with adjectives (e.g. warmish, reddish).
Make lists of adjectives which express degrees of something (e.g. ancient, antique, aged, old,
elderly, enormous, huge, vast, big, large).
Add similes into your lists of degrees. Where do they tend to fit?
4Wp8
Use an apostrophe to show
possession.
Revise the use of the apostrophe to show omission of letters in words like we’ll, can’t, I’m, didn’t,
etc. Introduce the possessive apostrophe, emphasising the fact that it is used to show
ownership. Make sure learners understand that if they add an ‘s’ to mark a plural word, they
don’t need to add an apostrophe (i.e. the ‘grocer’s apostrophe’).
Find examples of possessive apostrophes in reading and talk about what they signify.
Give learners little exercises in deciding whether or not to use an apostrophe.
When learners are revising their writing, remind them to circle all the apostrophes they have
used, then to check whether the apostrophe is really needed each time.
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English Stage 4
Unit 2A: Fantasy stories
Reading and analysing fantasy stories, then planning and writing a story
This is the fourth of nine units for Stage 4. You should expect to cover three units each term (fiction, non-fiction, poetry/playscripts). Time
suggested for this unit is four weeks.
Outline:
Learners will read and discuss a variety of fantasy stories and stories set in imaginary worlds, first enjoying the texts as readers, then reading
as writers and analysing features of the text. Then they will plan and write a story based on one of the texts they have read and analysed.
Resources needed:
● three or four short fantasy stories and stories set in imaginary worlds. You will need to have extracts of these stories enlarged for all learners to
share, or multiple copies.
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Unit 2A: Fantasy stories
Framework
code
Summary of learning
objectives
Suggested Teaching Activities
4Ro1
4Ro2
4Ro3
Read and enjoy fantasy
stories.
Read some fantasy stories. Ask learners to give their first responses, supported by reference to
the text.
● What did they like/dislike? How did it make them feel?
● Which passages/events were particularly effective or interesting? Can they begin to explain
the features of those parts of the text?
● Which characters did they like? Why did they like / were they interested in these characters?
4Ro2
4Ro3
4Rx4
4Ri1
4Ri2
4Rw2
4Rw3
4Wa5
Understand how the setting
and mood are created in
fantasy stories, and
recognise how much we
need implicit knowledge to
read fantasy.
4Ro2
4Ro3
4Ro8
4Rx4
4Ri1
4Ri2
4Rw2
4Rw3
Understand how the
characters are created in
fantasy stories.
Find out their impression of the setting:
● Did they recognise this was fantasy? Why? Ask learners to find examples in the text.
● Was the setting believable? Can they find evidence for their view?
● Would they like to live in the setting?
● Which features of the setting did they like the most/least?
Re-read a fantasy story. Focus first on the setting. The setting is one of the key features which
make fantasy fiction different from contemporary fiction. Look at one of the settings used in a
story.
● What are we told about it?
● What aren’t we told but left to infer about the setting? (For example, if the place is dark and
cold, we can infer that it is unwelcoming; if it has unearthly plants and trees, we can infer that
the setting is not on Earth.)
● Study the language used to describe the setting. Does the author make use of specific
nouns, adjectives and figurative language (including metaphor and simile)? Can learners find
examples of each? Evaluate how effective these descriptions are. Is a writer who is trying to
create a weird planet more or less likely to use a simile to compare it with our own planet?
Discuss learners’ answers.
Discuss the characters:
● How much do we know about them?
● Do we know most about what they look like, what they think about or what they do? In
different books the answer will be different.
● How are characters described? Using specific nouns, adjectives or similes? Does the way
they are described contribute to our reaction to them? How?
● Could the story you are reading happen on Earth? If so, would the characters’ actions and
feelings be similar?
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4Rx1
4Rw7
4Rw8
4Rw9
Understand how the story is
structured.
Let learners work in groups, one describing a character, the others guessing which character is
being described. Which characteristic is the one that gives it away?
Remind learners of the five stages in a short story: introduction, problem/build-up, climax/conflict,
resolution, and conclusion.
Draw a hump-backed bridge. Write Introduction on the ground on the left and Conclusion on the
ground at the right. The highest point of the hump should be the Climax (i.e. the most interesting
point in the story). The Problem and Resolution slope up and slope down of the bridge
respectively. This can be a visual metaphor for the story, with the slope and height of the bridge
showing the level of excitement in the story.
4Wa6
Consider story openings
before writing them.
4Wa1
4Wa6
4Wa10
4Wt1
4SL2
4SL5
Plan a fantasy story.
Re-read the story. Ask learners to draw the events of the story on a flow diagram with five boxes.
Can they write one important event in each of the boxes to show the structure of the story?
Examine the opening lines of a variety of fantasy stories.
● Notice that most stories don’t begin with the words One day … How do they begin? Does the
opening line make any difference?
● How does the writer hook the reader in so that they want to read to the end of a story?
● How soon in the story does the writer establish that it’s a fantasy?
● How early are the characters introduced?
Remind learners how to use a paragraph planner to plan their story. Each paragraph on the plan
should have:
● a heading showing which part of the story the paragraph relates to
● notes about the characters and setting
● notes about the action in the paragraph.
If you give learners a limited amount of space on the page for their planning, it will encourage
them to plan effectively and they won’t be able to write the whole story in their plan.
Alongside their planning, also ask learners to create a character profile for their main character.
4Wa10
Explore alternative openings
for the story.
Ask learners to share their plan and character profile with a response partner and tell their story
aloud, using the plan as a guide. The response partner should make suggestions for
improvement. Learners can alter their plans as necessary.
When learners have established the plan for their story, ask them to plan two or three alternative
openings. Each opening should have a different kind of beginning:
● an expression of time (e.g. One fine day)
● dialogue (e.g. ‘What’s your name?’ asked …)
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● action (e.g. He ran as he had never run before).
4Wa3
4Wa6
4Wa10
4Wt1
Write a fantasy story from a
plan.
4Wo4
4Wo7
4Wa4
4Wp1
4Wp3
4Wp6
4Wp7
Redraft the story, improving
the selection of vocabulary
and checking spelling and
punctuation.
After learners have written each of their story beginnings, they should evaluate them and decide
which one to use.
When learners have planned their story, ask them to write the first draft. Give them the success
criteria for the story, e.g.:
● Write a story with a fantasy setting, including details to build the setting.
● Build your characters by including details about them.
● Use paragraphs and a good story structure, including a strong beginning.
After learners have written the first draft of their fantasy story, ask them to do the ‘writer’s
mumble’, i.e. read it aloud several times to check it.
● Does it make sense?
● Have you written a strong beginning and used paragraphs for the rest of the story?
● Have you given enough detail about the setting and characters to know it’s a fantasy story?
● Have you used tenses correctly?
● Have you used a variety of appropriate words (including connectives)?
● Have you chosen the best words? Try to improve the quality of the verbs and nouns.
● Is your punctuation (including for speech and at the end of sentences) correct?
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English Stage 4
Unit 2B: News reports
Reading and analysing news reports, then planning and writing a report
This is the fifth of nine units for Stage 4. You should expect to cover three units each term (fiction, non-fiction, poetry/playscripts). Time
suggested for this unit is four weeks.
Outline:
Learners will read and discuss a variety of news reports, first enjoying the texts as readers, then reading as writers and analysing features of
the text. Then they will plan and write a report based on one of the texts they have read and analysed.
Resources needed:
● a range of news reports reporting on the same events. These can include print versions of national and local newspapers and online news sites
● fiction texts (for comparison).
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Unit 2B: News reports
Framework
code
Summary of learning
objectives
Suggested activities
4Rv1
4Rv2
Know and name different
features in a newspaper.
Give the different newspapers to pairs of learners. Give learners a list of labels, and ask them to
match the correct label to the different features on the newspaper pages, including:
● masthead (newspaper name)
● headline
● by-line
● story/report
● column
● adverts
● classified ads
● leader
● sections, e.g. sport, TV listings, film guides.
Discuss the purpose of the different features of the newspaper and where they are on the page
and in the paper. Focus particularly on the headline, whose purpose is not only to introduce the
story but also to grab readers’ attention and make them want to read the story. Point out that
headlines may contain puns, alliteration or common phrases used slightly oddly, and that
headlines are not written in sentences.
Discuss the front page of the newspaper and compare it with the cover of a book. Talk about
why newspapers often start more than one story on the front page and then have to continue
some of the stories on inside pages.
Compare the stories on the front pages of national and local newspapers. Look at a page and
ask learners to identify whether it’s from a local or national paper. What clues did they use?
If a story is front page news, what does that tell us about the story’s importance? Is it because
some news is more important than other news, or is it a matter of choice/opinion? Who decides?
Help learners to understand that even facts are prioritised by the editor of a newspaper, so the
order in which stories are presented is one way in which the editor can express an opinion about
the importance of news stories relative to one another.
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English Stage 4
4Rx3
4Rx4
4Ri2
4Rv2
4Rv3
Read newspaper reports
and recognise that they
usually contain both fact
and opinion.
Give learners different newspapers and ask them to find reports about an event preselected by
you (ideally it will be front page news in some newspapers and on the inside pages in others).
Ask learners to read the account of the event in their paper.
Make a table with two columns: Fact and Opinion. Discuss what the terms mean.
Ask one pair of learners to tell you something from their newspaper article. Is it in everybody’s
paper? If so, it may well be a fact and can be recorded in the first (facts) column. Is it in some
papers, but not others? Or are there contradictory ideas in different papers? If so, add the ideas
to the second (opinions) column.
4Rw3
4Rv2
4SL5
Consider the style of writing
in different newspapers.
Discuss the way that newspaper articles contain both facts and opinions, but mixed together so
that it is not always easy to tell which is which. Talk about why newspapers do this and the effect
it has on readers.
Put each pair of learners with another pair who have different kinds of newspapers, so that all
learners have the opportunity of reading a variety of styles of newspaper and of seeing how they
are laid out, how they use colour, what kind of stories they think will interest their readers, etc.
Ask learners to choose any story and read it, looking at the language. They should consider, for
example:
● the length and complexity of the sentences and the number of different kinds of connectives
● how many sentences there are in a paragraph
● how the newspaper uses headings
● whether the style is chatty or formal
● the kind of vocabulary chosen – (everyday, chatty vocabulary or more formal vocabulary?)
● how the paper refers to eye witnesses and the kind of information given about them
● how many facts and how many opinions are in a story
● the wording of the headlines.
4Rx2
4Wo5
4Wo6
4Wa11
Recognise the main point in
an article.
Ask each group of four to evaluate the newspapers and tell you which they would prefer to read
and why.
Give learners an article to read, without the headline. Ask them to write a headline for the article,
which should pick up on the main point in a way which will draw the reader in.
Discuss the process of making notes, establishing that notes don’t have to be written in
sentences, but should include all the key words and key ideas from the article.
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4Wa2
4Wa7
Plan a newspaper report.
Ask the learners to make notes to show what the article is about. Their notes will form the basis
of their own writing later.
Learners plan a newspaper report about an event in the news (local, national or international),
something that happened in the school, or an event in a book.
They can use a concept map or a flow diagram (which may be more appropriate) for planning
their report. They should plan using two different colours, one to record facts, the other to record
opinions.
4Wo6
4Wa8
4Wa9
Write a newspaper report
from a plan.
4Wo4
4Wa4
4Ws3
Redraft the report,
improving the selection of
vocabulary and checking
spelling and punctuation.
Remind them to think about headings and the order in which the events will be reported in the
piece.
When learners have planned their report, ask them to write the first draft. Give them the success
criteria for the report. For example: ‘Write a newspaper report modelling the language and style
on the language and style in one of the newspapers you have looked at. Use paragraphs to
present your report, a headline that grabs readers’ attention and introduces the report.’
After learners have written the first draft of their report, ask them to do the ‘writer’s mumble’, i.e.
read it aloud several times to check it.
● Does it make sense?
● Have you included an attention-grabbing headline?
● Have you written in paragraphs?
● Have you chosen the best words? Try to improve the quality of the verbs and nouns.
● Are punctuation and spelling correct?
35
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English Stage 4
Unit 2C: Poems from different times and cultures
Reading and analysing poems from different times and cultures, then planning and writing a poem
This is the sixth of nine units for Stage 4. You should expect to cover three units each term (fiction, non-fiction, poetry/playscripts). Time
suggested for this unit is two weeks.
Outline:
Learners will read and discuss a variety of poems, first enjoying them as readers, then reading as writers and analysing features of the text.
Then they will plan and write a poem based on one of the texts they have read and analysed.
Resources needed:
● poetry anthologies containing both modern and classic poetry from a range of different cultures and times. Try to select anthologies containing
poems that all learners can read independently.
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English Stage 4
Unit 2C: Poems from different times and cultures
Framework codes
Summary of learning objectives
Suggested activities
4Ro1
4Ro3
4Rx4
4Ri2
4Rw2
4Wa5
Read and enjoy poetry.
Let learners browse through collections of
poems which are clearly about a different time
or culture and choose those that they
particularly enjoy. Possibly ask learners to
make copies of the poems to add to a class
anthology.
Work in groups with the learners and discuss
each poem:
● likes and dislikes – Did you like/dislike the
poem? Why? Were there certain words or
phrases that you liked/disliked?
● effects – What effect does the poem have
on you, the reader?
● pictures – Does the poem paint a picture
in your mind? How?
● patterns – Look for patterns of rhyme,
rhythm, alliteration, lines, verse structure.
● words – Which words and phrases were
particularly effective? Why?
● interesting things – What else would you
like to say about the poem?
(For individual poems, you can ask questions
and have discussions about different topics,
but this list includes many of the issues it is
interesting to discuss with poetry.)
Bring some of the poems discussed by
groups back to the whole class for a widerranging discussion and to model good
discussion for groups where it didn’t happen.
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4Ro1
4Ro3
4Rw2
Extend the range of poems read.
4Rw10
Discuss the features of different poems.
Try to extend learners’ choices of poems
beyond modern, light-hearted verse. Once
learners have selected their favourite poems,
find some other ‘classic’ poems which are on
a similar theme and some poems from other
cultures.
Choose pairs of poems which share a theme
but are from different times and cultures and
compare them.
What tells us that the poem comes from a
different time or culture? Give learners any
relevant background information about the
poem. Discuss the vocabulary, sentence
structures and images and references.
Encourage learners to use specific terms
when describing poetry structure, including
terms such as rhyming couplet, rhyme
pattern, alternate line of rhyme, chorus.
4Ro3
Plan to write a poem based
on the structure and theme
of an existing poem.
Encourage learners to read the poems aloud,
appreciating the time, the culture and the
structure.
Re-read one of the poems you have previously used in comparison. Ask learners what they
recall of:
● the time and culture in which it was written
● its structure (including patterns of rhyme)
● its vocabulary.
In shared writing, write a new poem which is closely linked to one of those learners have studied,
but changing it to a different time and place (including modern times).
4Wo4
4Wo7
Redraft the poem, improving
the selection of vocabulary
Explore what it might mean to ‘change it’ to a different time and culture. What should stay the
same? What can change?
After learners have written the first draft of their poem, ask them to do the ‘writer’s mumble’, i.e.
read it aloud several times to check it.
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4Wa4
4Ws3
and checking spelling and
punctuation.
● Does it make sense?
● Have you chosen the best words? Try to improve the quality of the verbs and nouns.
● Are punctuation and spelling correct?
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TERM 3
Unit 3A: Stories with issues and dilemmas
Reading and analysing real life stories that feature an issue or dilemma, then planning and writing a story.
Unit 3B: Explanations and persuasive texts
Reading and analysing explanations and persuasive texts, then planning and writing them.
Unit 3C: Poems in a variety of forms
Reading and analysing poems in a variety of forms, then planning and writing a poem.
Grammar and punctuation activities for all units
Use these activities across the term to develop learners’ grammar and punctuation alongside the activities for each unit topic.
Framework
code
4Rw4
4Ws6
4Wp2
4Wp8
4Rw1
4Wa4
4Rw11
Summary of learning
objectives
Identify adverbs and
recognise -ly as a suffix
linked to adverbs.
Develop the use of commas
to separate clauses in a
sentence.
Use an apostrophe to show
possession.
Choose more accurate
words/expressions in
description.
Investigate the grammar of
statements, questions and
orders.
Suggested activities
Continue the work from last term on recognising adverbs and adverbial phrases.
Continue the work on commas from last term.
Continue the work on apostrophes from last term.
Continue the work on adjectives and figurative language from last term.
Find or write an example of a simple statement, e.g. Samir was worried. Ask learners to tell you
about the sentence. Establish that this sentence:
●
●
●
●
●
begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop
has a verb
only has one main clause
is in the past tense
is very short.
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Introduce the word statement and explain that most sentences are statements. Can the learners
think of any other sentence types? (Hint: they may be able to if they think about the punctuation
marks that can be found at the end of a sentence.)
Ask learners to turn the statement into a question. Explore what has changed and what has
stayed the same.
Ask them to turn the statement into an order. Explore what has changed and what has stayed
the same.
Once learners have explored the three sentence types starting from the simple sentence, find
longer sentences in books and explore how to transform them into different sentence types.
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Unit 3A: Stories with issues and dilemmas
Reading and analysing real life stories that feature an issue or dilemma, then planning and writing a story
This is the seventh of nine units for Stage 4. You should expect to cover three units each term (fiction, non-fiction, poetry/playscripts). Time
suggested for this unit is four weeks.
Outline:
Learners will read and discuss a variety of stories with issues and dilemmas, first enjoying the texts as readers, then reading as writers and
analysing features of the text. Then they will plan and write a story based on one of the texts they have read and analysed.
Resources needed:
● three or four short stories in which characters face an issue or dilemma and have to solve/resolve it (e.g. rejection, loss, rivalry, friendship
problems). You will need to have extracts of these stories enlarged for all learners to share, or multiple copies.
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Unit 3A: Stories with issues and dilemmas
Framework
codes
Summary of learning
objectives
Suggested activities
4Ro3
4SL5
Develop an understanding
of a particular author and
read a variety of books by
them.
Can learners name any authors? Ask them what they know about the authors they name.
Discuss the idea that if they read a book by a particular author and enjoy it, they may want to try
and find other books by the same author.
If learners are keeping reading logs, suggest they record their responses to different books by
the same author.
4Ro1
4SL5
Read and enjoy real life
stories with issues and
dilemmas.
4Rx4
4Ri1
4Ri2
4Rw2
4Rw3
4SL5
Understand how the
characters are created in
real life stories with issues
and dilemmas.
If a learner is particularly fond of an author and has already read two or three of their books, ask
them to do a brief presentation to the class explaining why they like that author.
Read some chosen stories. Ask learners to give their first responses, supported by reference to
the text.
● What did they like/dislike? How did it make them feel?
● Which passages/events were particularly effective or interesting? Can they begin to explain
the features of those parts of the text?
● Which characters did they like? Why did they like / were they interested in these characters?
● Does one of the characters face an issue/dilemma/problem they have to solve? Ask learners
to summarise the issue and the solution.
Discuss the characters:
● How much do we know about them?
● Do we know most about what they look like, what they think about or what they do? In
different books the answer will be different.
● How are characters described? Using specific nouns, adjectives or similes? Does the way
they are described contribute to our reaction to them? How?
● What is the main issue/dilemma/problem faced by the character? Evaluate whether the
character solves it in a satisfactory way.
● Look again at what we know about the characters. In these stories, is the emphasis on what
the characters do, or what they feel and think?
● How does the author show the reader how the characters feel and what they think?
● Do the readers ever have to infer what a character is feeling or thinking from what is written
in the text? Can learners find an example?
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4Ro8
4Rx4
4Ri1
4Ri2
4Rw2
4Rw3
Understand how the setting
and mood are created in
real life stories with issues
and dilemmas, and
recognise how much we
need implicit knowledge to
read these stories.
4Rx1
4Rw7
4Rw8
4Rw9
Understand how the story is
structured.
4Wa6
Consider story openings
before writing them.
4Wa6
Consider story endings
before writing them.
4Wa1
Write a character study.
Re-read a story. In real life stories with issues/dilemmas the setting is usually less important than
the character and the issue. Despite this, however, the story is established within a setting which
can increase the drama in the story.
Look at the main setting used in a story.
● What are we told about it?
● What aren’t we told but left to infer about the setting?
● How does the setting contribute to the story? Could the same story happen in a different
setting? How would the story have to change?
● Study the language used to describe the setting. Does the author make use of specific
nouns, adjectives and figurative language (including metaphor and simile)? Can learners find
examples of each? Evaluate how effective these descriptions are.
Remind learners of the five stages in a short story: introduction, problem/build-up, climax/conflict,
resolution, and conclusion. Remind them too of the story bridge (see Unit 2A) to help learners to
visualise the structure of the story.
Re-read the story. Ask learners to draw the events of the story on a flow diagram with five boxes.
Can they write one important event in each of the boxes to show the structure of the story?
Examine the opening lines of the story.
● Notice that most stories don’t begin with the words One day … How does it begin? Does the
opening line make any difference?
● How does the writer hook the reader in so that they want to read to the end of a story?
● How early are the characters introduced?
● When is the issue/dilemma introduced?
Examine the endings of the story.
● Is the ending satisfactory – does it leave the reader feeling that the story has been rounded
off nicely?
● Does the ending relate to the beginning?
● How does the author build up to the ending of the story? Or does it seem a sudden, abrupt
ending?
● Have all the loose ends been tied up?
● Look at the final sentences. Are they effective?
Before learners write their own story, ask them to write a character study. This can be based on
a character from a story already shared together, or one in a new story they plan to write. The
character study should include all the information they think the reader needs to know about the
character, such as:
● the character’s age and information about their family
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4Wa3
4Wa6
4Wt1
4Wt2
4Wa10
Plan a story with an issue.
● a description of the character’s appearance
● information about the character’s friends, and how the character reacts to them and how they
react to the character
● what the character likes to do
● information about the character’s fears, worries and dislikes.
Remind learners how to use a paragraph planner to plan their story. Each paragraph on the plan
should have:
● a heading showing which part of the story the paragraph relates to
● notes about the characters and setting
● notes about the action in the paragraph.
If you give learners a limited amount of space on the page for their planning, it will encourage
them to plan effectively and they won’t be able to write the whole story in their plan.
4Wa3
4Wa6
4Wa10
4Wt1
4Wt2
4Wo4
4Wo7
4Wa4
4Wp1
4Wp3
4Wp6
4Wp7
Write a story from a plan.
Redraft the story, improving
the selection of vocabulary
and checking spelling and
punctuation.
Ask learners to share their plan with a response partner and tell their story aloud, using the plan
as a guide. The response partner should make suggestions for improvement. Learners can alter
their plans as necessary.
When learners have planned their story, ask them to write the first draft. Give them the success
criteria for the story, e.g.:
● Write a story about a character who has an issue to deal with or who faces a dilemma.
● Build your character by including details about them.
● Use paragraphs and a good story structure, including a strong beginning and ending.
After learners have written the first draft of their story, ask them to do the ‘writer’s mumble’, i.e.
read it aloud several times to check it.
● Does it make sense?
● Have you written a strong beginning and used paragraphs for the rest of the story?
● Have you given enough detail about the character?
● Have you rounded the story off nicely?
● Have you used tenses correctly?
● Have you used a variety of appropriate words (including connectives)?
● Have you chosen the best words? Try to improve the quality of the verbs and nouns.
● Is your punctuation (including for speech and at the end of sentences) correct?
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Unit 3B: Explanations and persuasive texts
Reading and analysing explanations and persuasive texts, then planning and writing them
This is the eighth of nine units for Stage 4 You should expect to cover three units each term (fiction, non-fiction, poetry/playscripts). Time
suggested for this unit is four weeks.
Outline:
Learners will read and discuss a variety of explanations and persuasive texts, first enjoying the texts as readers, then reading as writers and
analysing features of the text. Then they will plan and write an explanation and persuasive text based on ones they have read and analysed.
Resources needed:
● a range of short texts containing explanations or persuasion. You can find persuasive letters in adverts and holiday brochures as well as in
letters to newspapers and magazines. Explanations are in many non-fiction books including manuals. You will need to have extracts of these
stories enlarged for all learners to share, or multiple copies.
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Unit 3B: Explanations and persuasive texts
Framework
codes
Summary of learning
objectives
Suggested activities
4Rv1
Recognise the main
features of non-fiction text
types.
Look at an explanation together. Many explanations are presented as flow diagrams and often
contain language similar to that of a report text. The main difference between the text types is
their purpose: a report text aims to describe how things are; an explanation explains a process
or how something works.
Discuss the key features of explanations:
● The order in which the events are described is important (in a non-chronological report, on
the other hand, the order isn’t important). Ordering the paragraphs in the correct sequence is
key to making the explanation clear.
● There are usually a lot of connectives, especially connectives of cause and effect (e.g. so, in
order to, because) and connectives of sequence (e.g. first, next, meanwhile, then, after that).
4Rx2
4Rw9
4Rv1
Use the paragraph structure
of a text and key words to
help identify the main
points.
4Wa11
Summarise an explanation.
4Rw6
4Rv1
4Rv3
Consider how persuasive
texts are structured and
ordered to make a
convincing argument.
Look at another explanation and ask learners to find features which show that it is an
explanation, not a report text.
Examine the structure and language of explanations:
● How many main ideas are there in each paragraph? (Usually just one. Paragraphs in
explanations are often similar to those in report texts and begin with a topic sentence.)
● Explanations tend to list the main ideas from each of the paragraphs in order.
● Explore what happens to the explanation if these ideas are mixed up. Does the explanation
still make sense?
● Compare explanations with flow diagrams with explanations in words only. Is the language
different? Which is easier to follow?
Ask learners to read an explanation. Then ask them to re-read each paragraph and summarise
its main point in one or two sentences. Remind learners to write in sentences and to state the
main point using different words and phrases from the original text as much as possible.
Look at some persuasive texts together (e.g. adverts for holidays in brochures) and discuss
them:
● What is the purpose of the text?
● Do you find it convincing? Why?
● Who do you think the text is aimed at? Why?
● Do you think the text is based on opinions or facts? Find some of each.
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Look more carefully at the structure:
● Is there an opening statement (e.g. explaining why it would be good for you if you …)?
● After the opening statement, are points made to prove the opening statement, usually
followed by evidence for them?
● Is there a summary at the end (e.g. recommending that you should …)?
4Rw6
4Rv1
4Rv3
Explore the language of
persuasive texts.
4Rw5
4Rw6
4Rv3
Explore the connectives
used in persuasive texts.
4SL1
4SL3
4SL4
4SL5
4Wo5
4Wo6
4Wa9
4Wa10
Develop and organise
ideas, express an opinion,
consider alternative
opinions, and deal politely
with opposing points of
view.
Plan and write an
explanation.
Some persuasive texts also mention possible reasons against what they are trying to persuade
you to do, in order to point out that these reasons are worthless – and so make the case for
doing the thing even stronger.
Ask learners to compare a persuasive text with a report text:
● Look at the language used. Which is more formal (usually the report) and which ‘chattier’
(usually the persuasive text)? Why?
● Which one talks to the reader more directly? Point out that persuasive texts often address the
reader directly, even using pronouns like we to identify very closely with the reader and to
draw the reader in.
● Which one uses a wider range of descriptive adjectives? The persuasive text is likely to have
lots of adjectives to make its point more forceful and dramatic.
● Which one contains more opinions? Again, this is likely to be the persuasive text; how good it
identifies something is a matter of opinion not quantifiable fact.
Choose a persuasive text written in paragraphs in order to look more closely at connectives.
Give learners highlighter pens and ask them to find and highlight the connectives, e.g. if … so, if
… then, although, however, nevertheless, therefore, moreover, furthermore, because, and.
Point out that these connectives are rarely found in reports or explanations, but are commonly
found in persuasive texts. The precise choice of connective depends on the audience and
purpose of the text. Time/sequence connectives are found much less often in persuasive texts.
Before learners begin writing either of these text types, get them to develop and practise the
necessary language skills through some speaking and listening activities. Ask them to:
● explain the rationale behind a decisions or opinion
● prepare a short presentation to explain how something works
● plan a radio advert advertising a school event
● participate in a class debate.
Link the writing task (explanation) to a cross-curricular subject, e.g. explaining how skeletons
move; the processes involved in picking, preparing and shipping tea; how to work effectively as a
team; how to choose which unit to use for measurements. Before learners begin their plan,
remind them:
● that their explanation should begin with a general statement to introduce the topic
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● that ideas should be explained in paragraphs
● of the importance of getting the paragraphs in the right order, to make a series of logical
steps
● that time connectives are often appropriate
● to finish with a conclusion.
Learners should use a flow diagram to plan their explanation, with the introduction in the first box
and the conclusion in the last. They may find it helpful to record ideas for connectives on their
plan to make sure they aren’t overusing the same one and making their writing repetitive.
4Rw5
4Wo5
4Wo6
4Wa8
4Wa9
4Wa10
4Wo4
4Wo7
4Wa4
4Ws3
Plan and write a persuasive
text.
Ideally, learners should share their plan with a response partner before beginning to write.
Response partners should check that the plan makes sense and that all of the important
information has been included.
Before learners begin to plan their persuasive text, they need to be sure they have enough
information and understand the issues. Make sure they have made notes and gathered
information from other sources before they start trying to put them into a persuasive framework.
One effective way of planning a persuasive text is for learners to write each successive point
they want to make on a separate small sheet of paper. They can then explore changing the
order of the points and the impact this has. What order gives the most persuasive message?
Again, it is sensible for them to record connectives on their plan.
Redraft the text, improving
the selection of vocabulary
and checking spelling and
punctuation.
Ideally, learners should share their plan with a response partner before beginning to write.
Response partners should check that the plan makes sense and that all of the important
information has been included.
After learners have written their first draft, ask them to do the ‘writer’s mumble’, i.e. read it aloud
several times to check it.
● Does it make sense? Is the explanation clear? / Does it persuade you to …?
● Have you chosen the best words? Try to improve the quality of the verbs and nouns.
● Are punctuation and spelling correct?
Scheme of Work – English stage 4
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Unit 3C: Poems in a variety of forms
Reading and analysing poems in a variety of forms, then planning and writing a poem
This is the ninth of nine units for Stage 4. You should expect to cover three units each term (fiction, non-fiction, poetry/playscripts). Time
suggested for this unit is two weeks.
Outline:
Learners will read and discuss poems written in a variety of forms, first enjoying them as readers, then reading as writers and analysing features
of the text. Then they will plan and write a poem based on one of the texts they have read and analysed.
Resources needed:
● a range of poetry anthologies containing poems written in a variety of forms, including haiku, Tanka and cinquain, limerick, riddle and lists. Try to
select anthologies containing poems that all learners can read independently.
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Unit 3C: Poems in a variety of forms
Framework
codes
Summary of learning
objectives
Suggested activities
4Ro1
4Ro3
4Ro8
4Rx4
4Ri2
4Rw2
4Rw3
4Wa5
Read and enjoy poetry.
Let learners browse through poems in a variety of forms. Work in groups with learners and
discuss each poem:
● likes and dislikes – Did you like/dislike the poem? Why? Were there certain words or phrases
that you liked/disliked?
● effects – What effect does the poem have on you, the reader?
● pictures – Does the poem paint a picture in your mind? How?
● patterns – Look for patterns of rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, lines, verse structure.
● words – Which words and phrases were particularly effective? Why?
● interesting things – What else would you like to say about the poem?
(For individual poems, you can ask questions and have discussions about different topics, but
this list includes many of the issues it is interesting to discuss with poetry.)
4Rw10
4Wo2
Discuss the features of
syllabic poetry.
Bring some of the poems discussed by groups back to the whole class for a wider-ranging
discussion and to model good discussion for groups where it didn’t happen.
What do learners notice about the poems written with syllabic forms, e.g. haiku, Tanka,
cinquain? Have they deduced that the syllable pattern is?
● haiku: 3 lines, 17 syllables – 5,7,5
● Tanka: 5 lines, 31 syllables – 5,7,5,7,7
● cinquain: 5 lines, 22 syllables – 2,4,6,8,2
Both haiku and Tanka are traditional Japanese forms; the cinquain was invented in the 20th
century in America. In all of these poems, the aim is to capture a moment in nature or the
seasons, and the challenge is not to use similes to do so.
4Rw10
4Wo2
Discuss features of other
poems written in a specific
form.
Re-read the syllabic poems you have looked at so far, count the syllables and consider how
successful the poet was at ‘capturing a moment’.
Re-read examples of limericks, riddles and lists. What can learners tell you about them? What
are the features which define the poem’s form and challenge the poet?
● limerick: 5 lines, characteristic ‘skipping’ rhythm, a twist in the last line
● riddle: poem or verse builds up a puzzle with clues for the reader to solve
● list poem: has a line or phrase which repeats, or is a list
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4Rw10
4Wo2
4Wo4
4Wo7
4Wa4
4Ws3
Plan to write a poem with a
specific form.
Redraft the poem,
improving the selection of
vocabulary and checking
spelling and punctuation.
Let learners re-read the poems, particularly those with the form they have chosen to write in
later. Ask them to note down the key features of the form they are going to write in.
Learners can then work individually or in pairs to draft their poem.
After learners have written the first draft of their poem, ask them to do the ‘writer’s mumble’, i.e.
read it aloud several times to check it.
● Does it make sense. Read it aloud. Does it ‘work’?
● Does it meet all the requirements of the form?
● Have you chosen the best words? Try to improve the quality of the verbs and nouns.
● Are punctuation and spelling correct?
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Appendix A: Sample lesson plans
Stage 4: Lesson plan 1
Week beginning:
Timing
Framework
ref.
Learning objectives
Success criteria
Unit 2B: News reports
Class: Stage 4
Activities
Resources
(see notes below re. differentiation details, etc.)
Evidence of
achievement
W: whole class; G: group; I: Individual
10 mins
4Wp8
Learn the use of the
apostrophe to show
possession, e.g. girl’s,
girls’.
15 mins
Description
W/G/I
Can I say where an
apostrophe should be in
a sentence?
Display sentences and discuss use of apostrophe for
possession.
W
Prepared sentences
on flipchart or IWB
(Once rules are agreed,
they can be the success
criteria for a revision
activity later.)
Learners to work in pairs:
G/W
‘Apostrophes’
worksheet
O/D
G/W
Newspapers and
sticky notes
O/D
A to decide which sentences are correct
B to decide which statements are true.
Learners share ideas and decide upon rules.
30 mins
4Rv1
4Rv2
Identify different types of
non-fiction text and their
known key features.
Read newspaper reports
and consider how they
engage the reader.
Can I find the different
parts of a newspaper?
Can I say what the
different parts are for?
Give newspapers to pairs of learners. Ask them to
find the different parts. Write labels on sticky notes
next to the feature. Collect all of the ideas.
Discuss ideas including where found in the
newspaper.
Flipchart or board for
collating
Paper for recording
ideas
Word banks of
features for support as
necessary
5 mins
Set homework.
Organisation: details of differentiation / groups / adults’ role (linked to activities)
Notes / extension opportunities / homework
Most of lesson will be closely led by teacher to keep on track.
Homework: Look for newspapers at home; try to identify different parts; bring to
school for next lesson.
Q&A: question and
answer
Extension work: Ask learners to investigate another newspaper to see if the parts
(features) they have found are also in another newspaper – are they common to all
newspapers? If not, which ones are?
D: discussion
For support: Learners number sticky notes and write later when word banks of
newspaper features can be made available.
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O: observation
M: marked work
Stage 4: Lesson plan 2
Week beginning:
Timing
Framework
ref.
Learning objectives
Success criteria
Unit 2B: News reports
Class: Stage 4
Activities
Resources
(see notes below re. differentiation details, etc.)
Evidence of
achievement
W: whole class; G: group; I: Individual
10 mins
4Rv1
4Rv2
Identify different types of
non-fiction text and their
known key features.
Description
W/G/I
As before.
Discuss the newspapers from home. Are the
features common to all papers?
W
D
Can I say what a good
headline should be like?
Ask learners to cut out headlines from newspapers.
W/G
O/D
Discuss with partners what a good headline should
be like.
G
O/D
Invite learners to write their own headlines. Share
with partners.
I/G
M
W
D
Read newspaper reports
and consider how they
engage the reader.
10 mins
Examine them and discuss style/language/purpose.
What is the language like?
15 mins
15 mins
(Learners to agree
success criteria.)
Assessment then takes place to decide if the criteria
have been met.
10 mins
Share headlines.
Organisation: details of differentiation / groups / adults’ role (linked to activities)
Notes / extension opportunities / homework
Some learners may need reading support.
At the end of the session all should have made a promising start with the text type.
Active learning and assessment will have been managed successfully.
Q&A: question and
answer
ICT: News on the internet could be examined (under supervision). Is the language in
headlines similar?
D: discussion
Writing headlines: a classroom assistant could act as scribe for a group. They
have an important role in assessing each learner’s input and ability to produce
headlines that meet the criteria.
Teacher could challenge some learners to use specific language features, e.g.
alliteration.
M: marked work
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English Stage 4
Stage 4
Apostrophes
1. You be the teacher!
Look at the sentences.
Decide which ones use an apostrophe correctly.
Mark the sentences with a tick or a cross.
1.
The girls looked at the book.
2.
It was late when the boy’s father
came home.
3.
There were thirty potatoe’s in the
sack.
4.
The learners’ toys were broken.
5.
The horses saddle was dark brown.
2. True or false?
Read the statements.
Which ones are true? Which are false?
Circle T for true or F for false.
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a.
An apostrophe goes before or after the
letter s to show something belongs to
someone. T / F
b.
You should always put an apostrophe
before an s.
T / F
c.
You only use an apostrophe after
an s.
English
StageT4 / F
d.
You only use an apostrophe if you have