Year 4 Autumn 1 English Planning Unit : Sparks Might Fly!

Year 4 Autumn 1 English Planning Unit : Sparks Might Fly!

This half term block, based around a theme of Sparks Might Fly, consists of three English units:

• Explanations
• Stories with fantasy settings
• Film and playscripts

Cross curricular links
Although the units will stand alone, they can be planned to run alongside Science work on electricity (series circuits, switches, conductors, insulators). Further links could be made to ICT and electrical systems (control and electrical components) through Design and Technology. The unit on film and playscripts has been chosen to fulfil the National Curriculum requirement that children in lower Key Stage 2 should be developing their understanding and enjoyment of stories, poetry, plays and nonfiction.

Vocabulary, Grammar and Punctuation
Skills have been specifically identified for each unit from Key Learning in Writing. The full set of units include all skills for the year group. However, if these units and/or skills are rearranged from the planned order, modifications to the identified grammar skills may be necessary. When planning, consider if the suggested skills are the most appropriate for the class or if different skills are needed based on assessments of children’s outcomes. This may involve the revisiting of skills from previous year groups. Refer to Key Learning in Writing for the year group to ensure full coverage over the year.

Our English Planning Units have all recently been updated to include:

• new ideas and approaches for planning through the teaching sequence phases with more detailed guidance on reading and gathering content phases;
• updated suggestions of texts, direct links to specific film clips and resources within every unit;
• a tighter focus on grammar skills via warm-up sessions and integration within units;
• increased emphasis on vocabulary for reading and writing;
• further short and longer writing opportunities built into each unit; and
• updated outcome suggestions for scaffolded writing whilst highlighting the need for independent writing for assessment purposes.