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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Exploring Poetry - Year 3 and Year 4 Unit Plan
This English unit addresses common poetic devices such as sound play, word play and imagery and explores how these may be applied to narrative poetry.
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Narrative Skills - Independent Writing
A 60 minute lesson in which students will independently write a narrative, using appropriate text structure, language and features.
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Narrative Skills - Planning a Story
A 60 minute lesson in which students will independently plan a setting, characters and plot for a narrative text.
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Narrative Skills - Proofreading and Editing
A 60 minute lesson in which students will learn and apply proofreading and editing skills.
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Narrative Skills - Shared Writing
A 60 minute lesson in which students will write a narrative, in pairs, using appropriate text structure, language and features.
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Narrative Skills - Sensational Story Starters
A 60 minute lesson in which students will investigate exciting, attention-grabbing methods of starting a story.
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Narrative Features - Developing a Plot
A 60 minute lesson in which students will develop a plot for a narrative which includes a setting, characters and a problem to be solved.
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Quotation Marks in Narrative Writing
A 60 minute lesson in which students will explore the correct use of quotation marks in narrative writing.
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Narrative Features - Building a Character
A 60 minute lesson in which students will use descriptive language effectively to build a character.
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Narrative Features - Creating a Setting
A 60 minute lesson in which students will use descriptive language effectively to create a narrative setting.
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Constructing a Narrative Paragraph
A 60 minute lesson in which students will identify and use the correct paragraph structure for narrative writing.
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Parts of a Narrative Story
A 60 minute lesson in which students will identify and explore the parts of a narrative story.
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Narrative Texts - Language Features
A 60 minute lesson in which students will identify and explore the language features of narrative texts.
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Creating a Narrative Writing Station
A 60 minute lesson in which students will discuss writing goals and explore a classroom writing station.
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Tell Me A Story
A 60 minute lesson designed to introduce the narrative text type using familiar stories.
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Using A Fact File - Shared Writing
A 60 minute lesson in which students will use a fact file and scaffolding sheet to write an informative text in pairs.
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Common Homophones
A 60 minute lesson in which students will choose the correct homophone to use in the context of a sentence.
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Publishing a Poetry Anthology
A 60 minute lesson in which students will create a class anthology of narrative poems.
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Planning and Writing a Narrative Poem
A 60 minute lesson in which students will plan and write a narrative poem which includes a setting, characters and a storyline.
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Storytelling Through Poetry
A 60 minute lesson in which students will explore storytelling through poetry.
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Word Play in Poetry
A 60 minute lesson in which students will identify and explore word play in poetry.
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Sound Play in Poetry - Onomatopoeia
A 60 minute lesson in which students will identify and explore onomatopoeia in poetry.
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Sound Play in Poetry - Alliteration
A 60 minute lesson in which students will identify and explore alliteration in poetry.
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Exploring Poetic Devices
A 60 minute lesson in which students will explore the common literary devices found in poetry.
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A Thinker Like Me – Animated Poem Video
Use this short animated poem video with your students to explore and appreciate the poem, 'A Thinker Like Me' by Stephanie Mulrooney.