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)
- Plus Plan
Persuasive Writing Bump It Up Wall – Year 4
A visual display for your classroom to help students 'bump up' their persuasive writing.
- Free Plan
Matching Direct and Indirect Speech
Investigate the differences between direct and indirect speech with this match-up activity.
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Biography Brochure Template
A brochure template to use when writing biographies.
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Biography Writing Bump It Up Wall
Use this visual display in your classroom to help students ‘bump up’ their biography writing.
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Fantastic Forces Comprehension Worksheet
Download this forces reading comprehension worksheet to teach your Year 4 students about push and pull forces.
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Biography Flip Book Template
Create a flipbook that clearly illustrates the most significant aspects of a biography subject.
- Free Plan
Letter to the Editor (Indoor Play) – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a letter to the editor from the Year 3 magazine (Issue 3).
- Plus Plan
Acrostic Poems Poster and Templates
Use this acrostic poem example and accompanying templates to teach your students how to write an acrostic poem.
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Rhyming Poems Poster and Template
Teach your students all about rhyming couplet poems with this classroom poster and accompanying student worksheets.
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Digital Warriors: Scroll Trolls – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for the comic from the Year 4 magazine (Issue 3).
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Frida's Fiesta: Open for Business - Inquiry Project
An inquiry project where students get the opportunity to design their own restaurant.
- Free Plan
Extreme Environments: Lands of Ice and Sand – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for an information report from the Year 4 magazine (Issue 3).
- Plus Plan
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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Inference Car Classifieds - Worksheet
A series of car classifieds worksheets to use when teaching your students how to infer information from written texts.
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Their, There, They're Poster
Teach students to differentiate between their, there and they're with this classroom poster.
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Biography Structure Sorting Worksheets
Teach biography structure with engaging sorting worksheets that help students understand the key sections of a biography using authentic text examples.
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NAPLAN-Style Assessment Rubric - Persuasive Writing
A NAPLAN-style rubric designed to help teachers to assess students' persuasive writing.
- Plus Plan
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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Explanation Text Research Template
A research template for students to use when writing an explanation text.
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Using Words with Prefixes - Worksheet Pack
Practise using the prefixes Un-, Re-, Mis-, Pre-, Dis-, and In- with a pair of printable prefix worksheets.
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Year 4 Dictation Passages PowerPoint
Use this set of Year 4 dictation passages to promote listening and transcription skills in your students.
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Personal Response Text Type Poster With Annotations
A poster about personal responses, including an annotated example.
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Suffix -Able - Grammar Worksheet
Transform your students’ vocabulary skills with our skill-building English worksheets, featuring the powerful “-able” suffix
- Plus Plan
NAPLAN-Style Assessment Rubric - Procedural Writing
A NAPLAN-style rubric designed to help teachers to assess students' procedural writing.
- Free Plan
Inferring Written Scenario Task Cards
Task cards that help students use their knowledge and ideas to help them decode ideas in texts
- Plus Plan
Adverbs Worksheet
A 2 page worksheet that explores the use of adverbs.
- Free Plan
Identifying Procedural Language Worksheets
Help your students identify procedural language with this set of three worksheets.
- Free Plan
Bumping-Up Procedure Texts Worksheet
Download these procedural writing worksheets to get your students bumping-up some simple procedure texts.
- Plus Plan
Author's Purpose - Sentence Writing Game
A teaching resource to help teach your students the different reasons authors may write.
- Plus Plan
Inference or Prediction? Worksheet
A worksheet to use when teaching your students the difference between an inference and a prediction.
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Comprehension Task Cards - Recalling Facts And Details
A set of comprehension task cards to help students recall facts and details when reading.
- Plus Plan
Comprehension Task Cards - Distinguishing Between Fact and Opinion
A set of comprehension task cards to help students distinguish between fact and opinion when reading.