Planning in Year 3: focus on poetry
Narrative
Non-fiction
Poetry
UNIT 1
UNIT 2
Stories with familiar
Dialogue and plays
settings
(3 weeks)
(4 weeks)
UNIT 1
Reports
(4 weeks)
UNIT 3
UNIT 4
UNIT 5
Myths, legends, fables,
Adventure and
Authors and letters
traditional tales
mystery
(4 weeks)
(4 weeks)
(3 weeks)
UNIT 2
UNIT 3
Instructions
Information texts
(3-4 weeks)
(4 weeks)
Poetry
(4 weeks, which could be spread out)
Number of weeks identified for each unit are suggestions only
The content (narrative and plays, non-fiction, poetry) carries the learning that children can be
expected to achieve in Year 3. This is summarised in the objectives in the twelve strands. It does
not differ markedly from the content in the NLS Framework for teaching. The year divides into
roughly 18 weeks on narrative, 12 weeks on non-fiction and 4 weeks on poetry. It is expected that
the non-fiction units will take place before, after, or alongside units in other curricular areas
providing the content and purpose for speaking, listening, reading and writing. Many schools will
also wish to link poetry with other curriculum areas. This will have the effect of increasing the time
on non-fiction, and possibly poetry, to balance that for narrative.
The poetry block addresses the following learning objectives:
Poetry
Speak and listen for a wide range of purposes in different context
1. Speaking

Choose and prepare poems or stories for performance, identifying appropriate expression, tone, volume and use of voices and other
sounds

Explain process or present information, ensuring items are clearly sequenced, relevant details are included and accounts ended
effectively

Sustain conversation, explain or giving reasons for their views or choices
2. Listening and Responding

Follow up others’ points and show whether they agree or disagree in whole class-discussion

Identify the presentational features used to communicate the main points in a broadcast

Identify key sections of an informative broadcast, noting how the language used signals changes or transitions in focus
3. Group discussion and interaction

Use talk to organise roles and action

Actively include and respond to all members of the group

Use the language of possibility to investigate and reflect on feelings, behaviour or relationships
4. Drama

Present events and characters through dialogue to engage the interest of an audience

Use some drama strategies to explore stories or issues

Identify and discuss qualities of others’ performances, including gesture, action, costume
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X
Read a wide range of texts on screen and on paper
5. Word reading skills and strategies

Read independently using phonics, including the full range of digraphs and trigraphs, to decode unknown words, and syntax, context
and word structure when reading for accuracy and meaning

Recognise a range of prefixes and suffixes to construct the meanings of words in context
6.
Understanding and interpreting texts

Identify and make notes on the main points of section(s) of text

Infer characters’ feelings in fiction and consequences in logical explanations

Identify how different texts are organised, including reference texts, magazines, leaflets, on paper and on screen

Explore how different texts appeal to readers using varied sentence structures and descriptive language
7.
Engaging with and responding to texts

Share and compare reasons for reading preferences, extending range of books read

Empathise with characters and debate moral dilemmas portrayed in texts

Identify features that writers use to provoke readers’ reactions
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X
Write a wide range of texts on paper and on screen
8.


Creating and shaping texts
Make decisions about form and purpose, and identify success criteria for their writing
Use beginning, middle and end to write narratives in which events are sequenced logically and conflicts resolved
X
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9.
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10.
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11.
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12.
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Write non-narrative texts using structures of different text types
Select and use a range of technical and descriptive vocabulary
Use layout, format, graphics, illustrations for different purposes
Text structure and organisation
Signal sequence, place and time to give coherence
Group related material into paragraphs
Sentence structure and punctuation
Show relationships of time, reason and cause, through subordination and connectives
Compose sentences using adjectives, verbs and nouns for precision, clarity and impact
Clarify meaning through the use of exclamation marks and speech marks
Word structure and spelling
Spell unfamiliar words using known conventions and rules and a range of strategies including phonemic, morphemic and
etymological
Spell words containing short vowels, common prefixes and suffixes and inflected forms, doubling the final consonant where
necessary
Presentation
Write neatly and legibly with handwriting generally joined, consistent in size and spacing
Use keyboard skills to type, edit and redraft
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Match between current planning and the NLS example of medium-term planning in 2003
and summary of unit
Match with
2003 NLS
example
Summary
Poetry units in
terms 1, 2 and 3
Read a range of poems to include a selection on the same theme; oral and performance poetry and
humorous poetry. This block can be subdivided into three parts which focus on:

vocabulary

using language to create effects

performance
These can be taught at any point during the year. Children listen, read aloud and recite poems. They
discuss and respond to poems in a variety of ways including performance, music and art. Children
explore the use of language, rhyme and other effects. They write different types of poem, experimenting
with a wide vocabulary and using language to create different effects.
1998 Framework objectives covered: Read aloud and recite poems.
Discuss choice of words to create impact and collect examples. Write shape poems.
Explore, compare and categorise humour in poems. Recognise rhyme, alliteration, patterns of sound to
create effects. Write using sound to create effects.
Perform poems. Write new verses for performance. Evaluate performance.