Year 4
The English curriculum is built around the three interrelated strands of language, literature and literacy. Teaching and learning programs should balance and integrate all three strands. Together, the strands focus on developing students' knowledge, understanding and skills in listening, reading, viewing, speaking, writing and creating. Learning in English builds on concepts, skills and processes developed in earlier years, and teachers will revisit and strengthen these as needed.
In Years 3 and 4, students experience learning in familiar contexts and a range of contexts that relate to study in other areas of the curriculum. They interact with peers and teachers from other classes and schools in a range of face-to-face and online/virtual environments.
Students engage with a variety of texts for enjoyment. They listen to, read, view and interpret spoken, written and multimodal texts in which the primary purpose is aesthetic, as well as texts designed to inform and persuade. These encompass traditional oral texts including Aboriginal stories, picture books, various types of print and digital texts, simple chapter books, rhyming verse, poetry, non-fiction, film, multimodal texts, dramatic performances and texts used by students as models for constructing their own work.
The range of literary texts for Foundation to Year 10 comprises Australian literature, including the oral narrative traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, as well as the contemporary literature of these two cultural groups, and classic and contemporary world literature, including texts from and about Asia.
Literary texts that support and extend students in Years 3 and 4 as independent readers describe complex sequences of events that extend over several pages and involve unusual happenings within a framework of familiar experiences. Informative texts include content of increasing complexity and technicality about topics of interest and topics being studied in other areas of the curriculum. These texts use complex language features, including varied sentence structures, some unfamiliar vocabulary, a significant number of high-frequency sight words and words that need to be decoded phonically, and a variety of punctuation conventions, as well as illustrations and diagrams that support and extend the printed text.
Students create a range of imaginative, informative and persuasive types of texts including narratives, procedures, performances, reports, reviews, poetry and expositions.
(source: www.australiancurriculum.edu.au)
Achievement Standard
Receptive modes (listening, reading and viewing)
By the end of Year 4, students understand that texts have different text structures depending on purpose and context. They explain how language features, images and vocabulary are used to engage the interest of audiences. They describe literal and implied meaning connecting ideas in different textsÂ
They fluently read texts that include varied sentence structures, unfamiliar vocabulary including multisyllabic words. They express preferences for particular types of texts, and respond to others' viewpoints. They listen for and share key points in discussions.
Productive modes (speaking, writing and creating)
Students use language features to create coherence and add detail to their texts. They understand how to express an opinion based on information in a text. They create texts that show understanding of how images and detail can be used to extend key ideas.
Students create structured texts to explain ideas for different audiences. They make presentations and contribute actively to class and group discussions, varying language according to context. They demonstrate understanding of grammar, select vocabulary from a range of resources and use accurate spelling and punctuation, re-reading and editing their work to improve meaning.
(source: www.australiancurriculum.edu.au)
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Subordinating Conjunctions for Contrast Interactive Activity
Assign this multiple choice subordinating conjunctions for contrast interactive activity for your students to correctly identify this type of conjunction in given sentences.
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Non-Fiction Text Features Flipbook – Read and Define
Use this text features flipbook as a student-centred literacy activity to teach your students about the purpose of text features in non-fiction books.
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Non-Fiction Text Features Teaching Slides
Explore the features of non-fiction texts with your students using this detailed and age-appropriate slideshow for primary school literacy lessons.
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Non-Fiction Text Features Task Cards
Get students exploring text feature examples with this set of tack cards perfect for literacy groups.
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Non-Fiction Visual Features Cut and Paste Worksheet
Use this visual text features worksheet when exploring text features such as photographs, maps, charts and diagrams with your students.
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Adverbial Phrases Comprehension Task: The Secret Garden
Help your students identify adverb groups in descriptive writing with this comprehension worksheet.
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Hunting for Homophones – SCOOT! Task Cards
Get your students to identify the correct homophones in sentences with this set of 36 task cards for your vocabulary lessons.
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Homophones Tarsia Puzzle
Challenge your students to identify and match pairs of homophones with this differentiated Tarsia puzzle, perfect for your primary school vocabulary lessons.
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Defining Homophones Task Cards
Print this set of 24 homophones task cards for your class literacy rotations.
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-Less Suffixes Worksheet
Build vocabulary skills with a suffix worksheet featuring the suffix -less.
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Prefix Puzzles - Match Up Cards
Practise building, reading, and understanding the meaning of words with prefixes with a fun set of prefix puzzles.
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Suffix Dominoes - Vocabulary Game
Identify new words that include common suffixes with a fun suffixes vocabulary game.
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Words with Suffixes - Word Building Activity
Build words by matching the root word to suffixes and recording the new words on the answer sheet.
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Narrative Writing Word Wall
Review terms related to narrative texts and narrative writing with a set of 33 narrative vocabulary word wall cards.
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Character Analysis Task Cards
Get your students to perform a character analysis for any fictional character using this set of 20 task cards.
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Greek and Latin Roots – Card Kaboom!
Explore Greek and Latin word origins with this hand-on card game.
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Concrete Poem Poster and Templates
Use this concrete poem example and accompanying template to teach your students how to write a concrete poem.
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Sensory Poems Poster and Template
Use this sensory poem example and accompanying template to teach your students how to write a sensory poem.
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How to Make a Paper Plane – Procedural Writing Worksheet
Explore how to make a paper plane while your students fine-tune their procedural writing skills.
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The Cautious Carnival – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a fake advertisement from the Year 3 magazine (Issue 3).
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Year 4 Magazine – "What's Buzzing?" (Issue 3) Task Cards
A set of five literacy rotation task cards to be used in conjunction with Issue 3 of Teach Starter’s Year 4 magazine.
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Literary Description Text Type Poster With Annotations
A poster about literary descriptions, including an annotated example.
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Discussion Text Type Poster With Annotations
A poster about discussions, including an annotated example.
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Stand Up For Your Homophone – Whole-Class Game
Help your students learn the different homophones and their meanings with an interactive, whole-class game.
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Poetry Poster with Annotations
Use this poetry poster to introduce your students to the structure and language features of poems through an annotated example.
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Compare and Contrast - Objects Worksheets
A pack of 5 worksheets comparing and contrasting pictures of similar objects.
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Comprehension Task Cards - Distinguishing Between Real And Make-Believe
A set of comprehension task cards to help students distinguish between real and make-believe when reading.
- Free Plan
Activating Prior Knowledge - Comprehension Strategy Poster
A poster explaining how to activate prior knowledge before reading.
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Gemstones Fact File and Report Writing Scaffold
Support your students in writing an information report about gemstones with this fact file and writing scaffold.
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Colour Me Carefully Worksheets
A set of four colouring pages to be used as speaking and listening activities.
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Story Archetypes Teaching Slides
Teach story archetypes with this engaging slide deck that introduces students to ten of the most common plot patterns in literature.
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Plot Archetypes Booklet
Explore plot archetypes with this engaging 8-page mini book that helps students analyse familiar story structures.