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)
- Free Plan
Writing a Speech Poster
A poster highlighting the main parts to a speech.
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Comprehension Task Cards - Recognising Cause And Effect
A set of comprehension task cards to help students recognise cause and effect when reading.
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Comprehension - Homework is Unnecessary
A comprehension activity using a persuasive text for lower grades.
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Fact File Sorting Activity
Use this fact sorting activity to teach your students about informative writing.
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Eagles Fact File and Report Writing Scaffold
Support your students in writing an information report about eagles with this fact file and writing scaffold.
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Elephants Fact File and Report Writing Scaffold
Support your students in writing an information report about elephants with this fact file and writing scaffold.
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Fiction and Non-Fiction Cloze Activities
A set of 7 fiction and non-fiction cloze worksheets with answer sheets.
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Objective Language Worksheet Pack
Use these objective language worksheets to teach your students about the specific language features found in neutral, factual writing.
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Elements of Visual Literacy Worksheets
Teach the elements of visual literacy with this engaging worksheet pack designed to help primary students analyse images and deepen their critical thinking skills.
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Author’s Purpose Pie Worksheet Set
Practise Author’s Purpose knowledge with this set of Author’s Purpose Worksheets.
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Word Detective Worksheet - Context Clues
Assign our Word Detective Worksheet to give your students extra practice in using context clues to find the meaning of unfamiliar words.
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English Spelling Practice Activity Cards
Make English spelling practice more exciting with this set of 24 spelling activity task cards.
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Reading Monitoring Comprehension Activity Pack
Explore easy ways to monitor comprehension with this quick draw activity pack perfect for primary students.
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Quotation Marks Poster - Single and Double
Display the rules for using single and double speech marks using a printable Quotation Marks Anchor Chart.
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Using Speech Marks in Direct Speech Task Cards
Practise adding double quotation marks to direct speech with printable quotation mark task cards.
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Direct and Indirect Speech in Comics – Worksheet
Consolidate understanding of direct and indirect speech with this set of worksheets.
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Narrative Text Type Poster With Annotations
Display this narrative text with annotations to help students identify the structure of a narrative.
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Cursive Handwriting Worksheets – Days, Months, Colours and Numbers
Trace and write days of the week, months of the year, number words, and colour words in cursive.
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Subordinating Conjunctions Posters
Display this colourful and informative subordinating conjunctions poster set to remind your students of the functions and types of subordinating conjunctions!
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Non-Fiction Text Features Flipbook – Read and Find
Get your students to find text features in non-fiction books with this student-centred flipbook activity perfect for literacy groups.
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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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Un- and Dis- Prefixes Worksheet
Build vocabulary skills with a prefix worksheet featuring the prefixes Un- and Dis-.
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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 Mini Anchor Charts
Give your students a visual reminder of the meanings of 28 affixes with a printable set of miniature suffix anchor charts.
- Free Plan
Biography Brochure Template
A brochure template to use when writing biographies.
- Free Plan
Tricky Tongue Twisters – Worksheet
A comprehension worksheet for a magazine article from the Year 3 magazine (Issue 3).
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Explanation Text Writing Task – How Does the Respiratory System Work?
A scaffolded writing task for students to complete when learning about the explanation text type.
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Literary Recount Text Type Poster With Annotations
A poster about literary recounts, including an annotated example.
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Persuasive Texts Writing Scaffold
A one page scaffolding sheet which can be used to write a persuasive text.
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Improving Persuasive Texts Worksheets
3 pieces of text for students to rewrite in order to make them more persuasive.
- Free Plan
Inference vs Prediction Poster
A poster outlining the similarities and differences between inference and prediction.
- Plus Plan
Narrative Tension – Text Analysis Worksheets
Teach narrative tension with this set of three worksheets designed to help students explore how authors build suspense and keep readers hooked.