UK Year 4 Study Plan

By the beginning of Year 3, pupils should be able to read books written at an age-appropriate interest level accurately and at a speed that supports understanding, not decoding. They should decode most new words outside their spoken vocabulary, making a good approximation to pronunciation.

As decoding becomes increasingly secure, teaching should focus more on vocabulary and the breadth and depth of reading. Pupils should become independent, fluent and enthusiastic readers who read widely and frequently, including stories, poetry, plays, non-fiction, and reference books or textbooks. They should learn to read silently and justify their views about what they have read, with support at the start of Year 3 and increasingly independently by the end of Year 4.

Pupils should be able to write down their ideas with reasonable accuracy and good sentence punctuation. Teaching should consolidate writing skills, vocabulary, sentence structure and linguistic terminology. Pupils should build a wider range of writing forms, grammar, vocabulary and narrative structures, and begin to understand differences between writing and speech. Joined handwriting should be the norm, fast enough to keep pace with what they want to say.

Spelling of common words should be correct, including common exception words and other words learnt. Pupils should spell as accurately as possible using phonic knowledge plus morphology and etymology. Most pupils will not need further direct teaching of word reading, but pupils still struggling to decode should be taught urgently through a rigorous and systematic phonics programme, while still following the Years 3 and 4 programme in terms of listening to new books, vocabulary, grammar and discussion.

In Years 3 and 4, pupils should become more familiar with and confident in spoken language across more situations, audiences and purposes, including drama, formal presentations and debate.

Pupils should demonstrate understanding of figurative language, distinguish shades of meaning among related words, and use age-appropriate, academic vocabulary.