National Curriculum KS2 Y3 & Y4: Word Reading

Statutory requirements

Pupils should be taught to:

• apply their growing knowledge of root words, prefixes and suffixes (etymology and morphology) as listed in English Appendix 1, both to read aloud and to understand the meaning of new words they meet
• read further exception words, noting the unusual correspondences between spelling and sound, and where these occur in the word.

Notes and guidance (non-statutory)

At this stage, teaching comprehension should be taking precedence over teaching word reading directly. Any focus on word reading should support the development of vocabulary.

When pupils are taught to read longer words, they should be supported to test out different pronunciations. They will attempt to match what they decode to words they may have already heard but may not have seen in print [for example, in reading ‘technical’, the pronunciation /tɛtʃnɪkəl/ (‘tetchnical’) might not sound familiar, but /tɛknɪkəl/ (‘teknical’) should].

National Curriculum KS2 Y3 & Y4: Reading Comprehension

Statutory requirements

Pupils should be taught to:

• develop positive attitudes to reading and understanding of what they read by:
  • listening to and discussing a wide range of fiction, poetry, plays, non-fiction and reference books or textbooks
  • reading books that are structured in different ways and reading for a range of purposes
  • using dictionaries to check the meaning of words that they have read
  • increasing their familiarity with a wide range of books, including fairy stories, myths and legends, and retelling some of these orally
  • identifying themes and conventions in a wide range of books
  • preparing poems and play scripts to read aloud and to perform, showing understanding through intonation, tone, volume and action
  • discussing words and phrases that capture the reader’s interest and imagination
  • recognising some different forms of poetry [for example, free verse, narrative poetry]
• understand what they read, in books they can read independently, by:
  • checking that the text makes sense to them, discussing their understanding and explaining the meaning of words in context
  • asking questions to improve their understanding of a text
  • drawing inferences such as inferring characters’ feelings, thoughts and motives from their actions, and justifying inferences with evidence
  • predicting what might happen from details stated and implied
  • identifying main ideas drawn from more than one paragraph and summarising these
  • identifying how language, structure, and presentation contribute to meaning
• retrieve and record information from non-fiction
• participate in discussion about both books that are read to them and those they can read for themselves, taking turns and listening to what others say.

Notes and guidance (non-statutory)

The focus should continue to be on pupils’ comprehension as a primary element in reading. The knowledge and skills that pupils need in order to comprehend are very similar at different ages. This is why the programmes of study for comprehension in years 3 and 4 and years 5 and 6 are similar: the complexity of the writing increases the level of challenge.

Pupils should be taught to recognise themes in what they read, such as the triumph of good over evil or the use of magical devices in fairy stories and folk tales.

They should also learn the conventions of different types of writing (for example, the greeting in letters, a diary written in the first person or the use of presentational devices such as numbering and headings in instructions).

Pupils should be taught to use the skills they have learnt earlier and continue to apply these skills to read for different reasons, including for pleasure, or to find out information and the meaning of new words.

Pupils should continue to have opportunities to listen frequently to stories, poems, non-fiction and other writing, including whole books and not just extracts, so that they build on what was taught previously. In this way, they also meet books and authors that they might not choose themselves. Pupils should also have opportunities to exercise choice in selecting books and be taught how to do so, with teachers making use of any library services and expertise to support this.

Reading, re-reading, and rehearsing poems and plays for presentation and performance give pupils opportunities to discuss language, including vocabulary, extending their interest in the meaning and origin of words. Pupils should be encouraged to use drama approaches to understand how to perform plays and poems to support their understanding of the meaning. These activities also provide them with an incentive to find out what expression is required, so feeding into comprehension.

In using non-fiction, pupils should know what information they need to look for before they begin and be clear about the task. They should be shown how to use contents pages and indexes to locate information.

Pupils should have guidance about the kinds of explanations and questions that are expected from them. They should help to develop, agree on, and evaluate rules for effective discussion. The expectation should be that all pupils take part.

National Curriculum KS2 Y3 & Y4: Spelling

Statutory requirements

Pupils should be taught to:

• use further prefixes and suffixes and understand how to add them (English Appendix 1)
• spell further homophones
• spell words that are often misspelt (English Appendix 1)
• place the possessive apostrophe accurately in words with regular plurals [for example, girls’, boys’] and in words with irregular plurals [for example, children’s]
• use the first two or three letters of a word to check its spelling in a dictionary
• write from memory simple sentences, dictated by the teacher, that include words and punctuation taught so far.

Revision of work from years 1 and 2

Pay special attention to the rules for adding suffixes.

New work for years 3 and 4

Statutory requirements	Rules and guidance (non-statutory)	Example words (non-statutory)
Adding suffixes beginning with vowel letters to words of more than one syllable	If the last syllable of a word is stressed and ends with one consonant letter which has just one vowel letter before it, the final consonant letter is doubled before any ending beginning with a vowel letter is added. The consonant letter is not doubled if the syllable is unstressed.	forgetting, forgotten, beginning, beginner, prefer, preferred, gardening, gardener, limiting, limited, limitation
The /ɪ/ sound spelt y elsewhere than at the end of words	These words should be learnt as needed.	myth, gym, Egypt, pyramid, mystery
The /ʌ/ sound spelt ou	These words should be learnt as needed.	young, touch, double, trouble, country
More prefixes	Most prefixes are added to the beginning of root words without any changes in spelling, but see in– below. Like un–, the prefixes dis– and mis– have negative meanings.	dis–: disappoint, disagree, disobey mis–: misbehave, mislead, misspell (mis + spell)
	The prefix in– can mean both ‘not’ and ‘in’/‘into’. In the words given here it means ‘not’.	in–: inactive, incorrect
	Before a root word starting with l, in– becomes il.	illegal, illegible
	Before a root word starting with m or p, in– becomes im–.	immature, immortal, impossible, impatient, imperfect
	Before a root word starting with r, in– becomes ir–.	irregular, irrelevant, irresponsible
	re– means ‘again’ or ‘back’.	re–: redo, refresh, return, reappear, redecorate
	sub– means ‘under’.	sub–: subdivide, subheading, submarine, submerge
	inter– means ‘between’ or ‘among’.	inter–: interact, intercity, international, interrelated (inter + related)
	super– means ‘above’.	super–: supermarket, superman, superstar
	anti– means ‘against’.	anti–: antiseptic, anti-clockwise, antisocial
	auto– means ‘self’ or ‘own’.	auto–: autobiography, autograph
The suffix –ation	The suffix –ation is added to verbs to form nouns. The rules already learnt still apply.	information, adoration, sensation, preparation, admiration
The suffix –ly	The suffix –ly is added to an adjective to form an adverb. The rules already learnt still apply. The suffix –ly starts with a consonant letter, so it is added straight on to most root words.	sadly, completely, usually (usual + ly), finally (final + ly), comically (comical + ly)
	Exceptions: (1) If the root word ends in –y with a consonant letter before it, the y is changed to i, but only if the root word has more than one syllable.	happily, angrily
	(2) If the root word ends with –le, the –le is changed to –ly.	gently, simply, humbly, nobly
	(3) If the root word ends with –ic, –ally is added rather than just –ly, except in the word publicly.	basically, frantically, dramatically
	(4) The words truly, duly, wholly.
Words with endings sounding like /ʒə/ or /tʃə/	The ending sounding like /ʒə/ is always spelt –sure.	measure, treasure, pleasure, enclosure
	The ending sounding like /tʃə/ is often spelt –ture, but check that the word is not a root word ending in (t)ch with an er ending – e.g. teacher, catcher, richer, stretcher.	creature, furniture, picture, nature, adventure
Endings which sound like /ʒən/	If the ending sounds like /ʒən/, it is spelt as –sion.	division, invasion, confusion, decision, collision, television
The suffix –ous	Sometimes the root word is obvious and the usual rules apply for adding suffixes beginning with vowel letters.	poisonous, dangerous, mountainous, famous, various
	Sometimes there is no obvious root word.	tremendous, enormous, jealous
	–our is changed to –or before –ous is added.	humorous, glamorous, vigorous
	A final ‘e’ of the root word must be kept if the /dʒ/ sound of ‘g’ is to be kept.	courageous, outrageous
	If there is an /i:/ sound before the –ous ending, it is usually spelt as i, but a few words have e.	serious, obvious, curious, hideous, spontaneous, courteous
Endings which sound like /ʃən/, spelt –tion, –sion, –ssion, –cian	Strictly speaking, the suffixes are –ion and –ian. Clues about whether to put t, s, ss or c before these suffixes often come from the last letter or letters of the root word.
	–tion is the most common spelling. It is used if the root word ends in t or te.	invention, injection, action, hesitation, completion
	–ssion is used if the root word ends in ss or –mit.	expression, discussion, confession, permission, admission
	–sion is used if the root word ends in d or se. Exceptions: attend – attention, intend – intention.	expansion, extension, comprehension, tension
	–cian is used if the root word ends in c or cs.	musician, electrician, magician, politician, mathematician
Words with the /k/ sound spelt ch (Greek in origin)		scheme, chorus, chemist, echo, character
Words with the /ʃ/ sound spelt ch (mostly French in origin)		chef, chalet, machine, brochure
Words ending with the /g/ sound spelt –gue and the /k/ sound spelt –que (French in origin)		league, tongue, antique, unique
Words with the /s/ sound spelt sc (Latin in origin)	In the Latin words from which these words come, the Romans probably pronounced the c and the k as two sounds rather than one – /s/ /k/.	science, scene, discipline, fascinate, crescent
Words with the /eɪ/ sound spelt ei, eigh, or ey		vein, weigh, eight, neighbour, they, obey
Possessive apostrophe with plural words	The apostrophe is placed after the plural form of the word; –s is not added if the plural already ends in –s, but is added if the plural does not end in –s (i.e. is an irregular plural – e.g. children’s).	girls’, boys’, babies’, children’s, men’s, mice’s (Note: singular proper nouns ending in an s use the ’s suffix e.g. Cyprus’s population)
Homophones and near-homophones		accept/except, affect/effect, ball/bawl, berry/bury, brake/break, fair/fare, grate/great, groan/grown, here/hear, heel/heal/he’ll, knot/not, mail/male, main/mane, meat/meet, medal/meddle, missed/mist, peace/piece, plain/plane, rain/rein/reign, scene/seen, weather/whether, whose/who’s

Notes and guidance (non-statutory)

Pupils should learn to spell new words correctly and have plenty of practice in spelling them.

As in years 1 and 2, pupils should continue to be supported in understanding and applying the concepts of word structure (see English Appendix 2).

Pupils need sufficient knowledge of spelling in order to use dictionaries efficiently.

Word list – years 3 and 4

accident(ally) actual(ly) address answer appear arrive believe bicycle breath breathe build busy/business calendar caught centre century certain circle complete consider continue decide describe different difficult disappear

early earth eight/eighth enough exercise experience experiment extreme famous favourite February forward(s) fruit grammar group guard guide heard heart height history imagine increase important interest island

knowledge learn length library material medicine mention minute natural naughty notice occasion(ally) often opposite ordinary particular peculiar perhaps popular position possess(ion) possible potatoes pressure probably promise purpose

quarter question recent regular reign remember sentence separate special straight strange strength suppose surprise therefore though/although thought through various weight woman/women

Notes and guidance (non-statutory)

Teachers should continue to emphasise to pupils the relationships between sounds and letters, even when the relationships are unusual. Once root words are learnt in this way, longer words can be spelt correctly, if the rules and guidance for adding prefixes and suffixes are also known.

Examples:

business: once busy is learnt, with due attention to the unusual spelling of the /i/ sound as ‘u’, business can then be spelt as busy + ness, with the y of busy changed to i according to the rule.

disappear: the root word appear contains sounds which can be spelt in more than one way so it needs to be learnt, but the prefix dis– is then simply added to appear.

Understanding the relationships between words can also help with spelling. Examples:

• bicycle is cycle (from the Greek for wheel) with bi– (meaning ‘two’) before it.
• medicine is related to medical so the /s/ sound is spelt as c.
• opposite is related to oppose, so the schwa sound in opposite is spelt as o.

National Curriculum KS2 Y3 & Y4: Handwriting

Statutory requirements

Pupils should be taught to:

• use the diagonal and horizontal strokes that are needed to join letters and understand which letters, when adjacent to one another, are best left unjoined
• increase the legibility, consistency and quality of their handwriting [for example, by ensuring that the downstrokes of letters are parallel and equidistant; that lines of writing are spaced sufficiently so that the ascenders and descenders of letters do not touch].

Notes and guidance (non-statutory)

Pupils should be using joined handwriting throughout their independent writing. Handwriting should continue to be taught, with the aim of increasing the fluency with which pupils are able to write down what they want to say. This, in turn, will support their composition and spelling.

National Curriculum KS2 Y3 & Y4: Composition

Statutory requirements

Pupils should be taught to:

• plan their writing by:
  • discussing writing similar to that which they are planning to write in order to understand and learn from its structure, vocabulary and grammar
  • discussing and recording ideas
• draft and write by:
  • composing and rehearsing sentences orally (including dialogue), progressively building a varied and rich vocabulary and an increasing range of sentence structures (English Appendix 2)
  • organising paragraphs around a theme
    • in narratives, creating settings, characters and plot
    • in non-narrative material, using simple organisational devices [for example, headings and sub-headings]
• evaluate and edit by:
  • assessing the effectiveness of their own and others’ writing and suggesting improvements
  • proposing changes to grammar and vocabulary to improve consistency, including the accurate use of pronouns in sentences
• proof-read for spelling and punctuation errors
• read aloud their own writing, to a group or the whole class, using appropriate intonation and controlling the tone and volume so that the meaning is clear.

Notes and guidance (non-statutory)

Pupils should continue to have opportunities to write for a range of real purposes and audiences as part of their work across the curriculum. These purposes and audiences should underpin the decisions about the form the writing should take, such as a narrative, an explanation or a description.

Pupils should understand, through being shown these, the skills and processes that are essential for writing: that is, thinking aloud to explore and collect ideas, drafting, and re-reading to check their meaning is clear, including doing so as the writing develops. Pupils should be taught to monitor whether their own writing makes sense in the same way that they monitor their reading, checking at different levels.

National Curriculum KS2 Y3 & Y4: Vocabulary, Grammar and Punctuation

Statutory requirements

Pupils should be taught to:

• develop their understanding of the concepts set out in English Appendix 2 [see the table below on this page] by:
  • extending the range of sentences with more than one clause by using a wider range of conjunctions, including when, if, because, although
  • using the present perfect form of verbs in contrast to the past tense
  • choosing nouns or pronouns appropriately for clarity and cohesion and to avoid repetition
  • using conjunctions, adverbs and prepositions to express time and cause
  • using fronted adverbials
  • learning the grammar for years 3 and 4 in English Appendix 2 [see the table below on this page]
• indicate grammatical and other features by:
  • using commas after fronted adverbials
  • indicating possession by using the possessive apostrophe with plural nouns
  • using and punctuating direct speech
• use and understand the grammatical terminology in English Appendix 2 [see the table below on this page] accurately and appropriately when discussing their writing and reading.

Y3: Detail of content to be introduced
Word	Formation of nouns using a range of prefixes [for example super–, anti–, auto–]. Use of the forms a or an according to whether the next word begins with a consonant or a vowel [for example, a rock, an open box]. Word families based on common words, showing how words are related in form and meaning [for example, solve, solution, solver, dissolve, insoluble].
Sentence	Expressing time, place and cause using conjunctions [for example, when, before, after, while, so, because], adverbs [for example, then, next, soon, therefore], or prepositions [for example, before, after, during, in, because of].
Text	Introduction to paragraphs as a way to group related material. Headings and sub-headings to aid presentation. Use of the present perfect form of verbs instead of the simple past [for example, He has gone out to play contrasted with He went out to play].
Punctuation	Introduction to inverted commas to punctuate direct speech.
Terminology for pupils	preposition, conjunction, word family, prefix, clause, subordinate clause, direct speech, consonant, consonant letter, vowel, vowel letter, inverted commas (or ‘speech marks’).

 

Y4: Detail of content to be introduced
Word	The grammatical difference between plural and possessive –s. Standard English forms for verb inflections instead of local spoken forms [for example, we were instead of we was, or I did instead of I done].
Sentence	Noun phrases expanded by the addition of modifying adjectives, nouns and preposition phrases (e.g. the teacher expanded to: the strict maths teacher with curly hair). Fronted adverbials [for example, Later that day, I heard the bad news.]
Text	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.
Punctuation	Use of inverted commas and other punctuation to indicate direct speech [for example, a comma after the reporting clause; end punctuation within inverted commas: The conductor shouted, “Sit down!”]. Apostrophes to mark plural possession [for example, the girl’s name, the girls’ names]. Use of commas after fronted adverbials.
Terminology for pupils	determiner, pronoun, possessive pronoun, adverbial.

Notes and guidance (non-statutory)

Grammar should be taught explicitly: pupils should be taught the terminology and concepts set out in English Appendix 2 [see the table above on this page], and be able to apply them correctly to examples of real language, such as their own writing or books that they have read.

At this stage, pupils should start to learn about some of the differences between Standard English and non-Standard English and begin to apply what they have learnt [for example, in writing dialogue for characters].