Key Stage 2 Literacy
Year 3
Reading
Word reading:
 apply knowledge of root words, prefixes and suffixes when reading.
 read words where the sound does not correspond with the spelling.
Comprehension
 listen to, read and discuss a wide range of fiction, poetry, plays and nonfiction books.
 read books that are structured in different ways and reading for different
purposes.
 retell traditional stories.
 identify themes and conventions.
 performing plays and poems.
 discussing the author’s use of words and phrases.
 recognising different forms of poetry
 understanding what they read independently – summarise, ask questions,
infer character’s feelings, thoughts and motives, predictions, identify how
language, structure and presentation contribute to meaning.
 find information and write notes from non-fiction texts.
 participate in discussions about books.
Writing
Plan, draft, write, evaluate and edit:
Fiction
 Narrative writing based on other subjects and books read to the class.
 Adventure stories.
 Myths.
 Stories by the same author.
 Dialogue and plays.
Poetry
 Shape poetry and calligrams.
 Funny poems using word play.
Non-Fiction
 Recounts and reports.
 Instructions.
 Leaflet writing.
Handwriting
Using CUP Penpals for Handwriting Year 3 to:
 use the diagonal and horizontal strokes needed to join letters and
understand which letters, when adjacent to one another, are best joined.
 increase the legibility, consistency and quality of their handwriting.
Spelling
 Revision of work from Y1 & 2.
 Adding suffixes beginning with vowel letters to words of more than one
syllable.
 Formation of nouns using a range of prefixes, such as super–, anti–, auto–.
 Use of the forms a or an according to whether the next word begins with a
consonant or a vowel.
 The /ɪ/ sound spelt y elsewhere than at the end of words
 The /ʌ/ sound spelt ou.
 The suffix –ly.
 Possessive apostrophe with plural words.
 Homophones or near homophones.
 Word families based on common words, showing how words are related in
form and meaning.
 Using dictionaries.
 Writing from dictation.
 Recognise common mistakes to work upon.
Grammar and Punctuation
 Expressing time, place and cause using conjunctions, adverbs or
prepositions.
 Using paragraphs to organise related material.
 Use the present perfect form of verbs instead of the simple past.
 Introduction to inverted commas to punctuate direct speech.
 Using commas after fronted adverbials.
 Use and understand grammatical terminology.
 Choosing nouns or pronouns appropriately for clarity and cohesion and to
avoid repetition.
 Use fronted adverbials.
 Indicating possession by using the possessive apostrophe with singular
and plural nouns.
Year 4
Reading
Word reading:
 apply knowledge of root words, prefixes and suffixes when reading.
 read words where the sound does not correspond with the spelling.
Comprehension
•
listen to, read and discuss a wide range of fiction, poetry, plays and nonfiction books.
•
read books that are structured in different ways and reading for different
purposes.
•
retell traditional stories.
•
identify themes and conventions.
•
performing plays and poems.
•
discussing the author’s use of words and phrases.
•
recognising different forms of poetry
•
understanding what they read independently – summarise, ask questions,
infer character’s feelings, thoughts and motives, predictions, identify how
language, structure and presentation contribute to meaning.
•
find information and write notes from non-fiction texts.
•
participate in discussions about books.
Writing
Plan, draft, write, evaluate and edit:
Fiction
 Narrative writing based on other subjects and books read to the class.
 Stories with imaginary settings.
 Stories that have dilemmas.
 Stories with historical settings.
 Plays.
Poetry
 Looking at a variety of forms.
 Creating images.
Non-fiction
 Non- fiction writing from other subjects.
 Newspaper reports
 Explanation texts.
 Information texts.
 Persuasive texts – reviews.
Handwriting
Using CUP Penpals for Handwriting Year 4 to:
 use the diagonal and horizontal strokes needed to join letters and
understand which letters, when adjacent to one another, are best joined.
 increase the legibility, consistency and quality of their handwriting.
Spelling
 Revision of work from Y2/3
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More prefixes.
The suffix –ation.
The suffix –ly.
Words with endings sounding like /ʒə/ or /tʃə/
Endings which sound like /ʒən/
The suffix –ous.
Endings which sound like /ʃən/, spelt –tion, –sion, –ssion, –cian
Words with the /k/ sound spelt ch (Greek in origin)
Words with the /ʃ/ sound spelt ch (mostly French in origin)
Words ending with the /g/ spelt –gue and the /k/ sound spelt –que (French
in origin)
 Words with the /s/ sound spelt sc (Latin in origin)
 Words with the /eɪ/ sound spelt ei, eigh, or ey
 The grammatical difference between plural and possessive -s
 Standard English forms for verb inflections instead of local spoken forms.
Grammar and Punctuation
 Noun phrases expanded by the addition of modifying adjectives, nouns
and preposition phrases
 Fronted adverbials
 Use of paragraphs to organise ideas around a theme
 Appropriate choice of pronoun or noun within and across sentences to aid
cohesion and avoid repetition
 Use of inverted commas and other punctuation to indicate direct speech
e.g. a comma after the reporting clause; end punctuation within inverted
commas
 Apostrophes to mark singular and plural possession
 Use of commas after fronted adverbials
Year 5
Reading
 Apply knowledge of root words, prefixes and suffixes to read.
Comprehension
 Read and discuss a wide range of fiction, poetry, plays and non-fiction.
 Read books that are structured in different ways and for a range of
purposes.
 Be familiar with a wide range of texts including myths, legends and
traditional stories, modern fiction, older fiction, fiction from other cultures
and traditions.
 Identify and discuss themes and conventions.
 Discuss and compare texts.
 Learn poetry by heart.
 Perform poems and plays to an audience.
 Demonstrate understanding through discussion, exploring meaning of
words in their context, organisation and presentation of texts, asking
questions, drawing and justifying inferences with evidence, making
predictions and writing summaries.
 Discuss and evaluate how authors use language, including figurative
language.
 Retrieve, record and present information.
 Participate in discussions on books read.
 Provide reasoned justifications for their views.
Writing
Plan, draft, write, evaluate and edit:
Fiction
 Legends and fables.
 Stories based on work by a significant children’s author.
 Stories based on stories from other cultures.
 Stories based on older literature.
 Plays.
Poetry
 A variety of poetic styles
 Narrative poetry
Non-fiction
 Instructions
 Recounts
 Persuasive writing
 Information texts
Handwriting
Using CUP Penpals for Handwriting Year 5 to:
 Develop writing style for speed
 Use a range of styles for different purposes
Spelling
 Revision of year 3/4 work
 Words ending in –able and –ible, words ending in –ably and –ibly
 Words containing the letter string ough
 Words with silent letters
 Homophones and other words that are often confused.
Grammar and Punctuation
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Converting nouns or adjectives into verbs using suffixes
Relative clauses
Indicating degree of possibility using adverbs or modal verbs
Using adverbials of time, place and number or tense choices to link ideas
across paragraphs
 Brackets dashes and commas to indicate parenthesis
 Use of commas to clarify meaning or avoid ambiguity
Year 6
Reading
 In depth study of guided reading texts (Holes, Uncle Montague’s Tales of
Terror, The Switch, Spilled Water, Secret Friends, Green Children)
 Class reading books: Once, Wolf Brother, Tales of the Black Ship.
 Ongoing reading of a range of text types and fiction genres.
Writing
Plan, draft, write, evaluate and edit:
Fiction
 Descriptive writing and figurative language
 Different fiction genres.
 Mystery stories
Poetry
 Imagery in poetry
 Poems about issues
Non-fiction
 Revision of key non-fiction text types.
 Reading reviews and summaries
 Argument both persuasive and balanced.
 Biography/Autobiography
 Journalistic Writing
 Formal and impersonal writing.
Handwriting
Using CUP Penpals for Handwriting Year 6
Spelling
 cious/tious endings
 cial/tial endings
 ent ence ency/ ant ance ancy endings
 adding suffixes to fer endings
 using hyphens
 ei after c
Grammar and Punctuation
 Informal and formal vocabulary
 Synonyms and antonyms
 Use of passive sentences
 Structure of informal and formal speech
 Use of repeated words/phrases, adverbials and ellipses as cohesive devises
 Layout devises to structure texts
 High level punctuation to separate clauses
 Use of hyphen to avoid ambiguity