Year Four

  • This is a suggested sequence of lessons only. Once a lesson objective has been taught, the skill/concept needs to be revised regularly and embedded into curriculum content. Sentence-level writing is best taught in the context of student writing, and curriculum content drives the rigor of the writing activities.

    All lessons are in PowerPoint format so they can be edited and expanded upon. We find the best opportunity to embed the skill/concept into curriculum content is during the ‘You Do’ phase of a lesson.

    Depending on the skill & conceptual knowledge of your students, you may wish to use lessons from earlier grades.

    Remember: The Writing Revolution sentence strategies should be continually revised and embedded into content after teaching them explicitly.

Download the Year 3-6 Sentence Punctuation Posters here

Lessons:

Term 1

Define and identify concrete & abstract nouns, and use abstract within a sentence (patience, loyalty, kindness).

Identify and correct run on sentences in a passage. TWR strategy

Upgrade verbs- use action and speaking verbs within a sentence- duplicate of Year 3.

Identify determiners within a sentence (possessives, demonstratives, numerals, ordinals and quantifiers).

Expand sentences using 2 or more adjectives using complete order of adjectives (determiners, observation, size, shape, age, colour, origin etc.).

Expand sentences using adverbs of manner, place, time and frequency.

Expand simple sentences E.g. (who/what? when? where? why? how?) TWR strategy

Term 2

Use an apostrophe + ‘s’ to signal possession within a sentence. E.g. Tom’s house

Differentiate between apostrophes for contractions and signalling possession

Identify the different clauses within a sentence and categorise if it is dependent or independent

Complete sentence stems with coordinating conjunctions FANBOYS to form compound sentences (separated by a comma before the conjunction).

Complete sentence stems starting with a subordinating conjunctions to form a complex sentence (D,I: Dependent clause, Independent clause). TWR strategy

Complete sentence stems containing subordinate conjunctions to form a complex sentence (ID: Independent clause, Dependent clause). TWR strategy

Combine 2-3 short, declarative sentences using a pronoun (cohesive device) and coordinating or subordinating conjunction. E.g. Lucy walked to the shop. Lucy's car broke down. Lucy walked to the shop because her car broke down. TWR strategy

Term 3- will be completed by August 2023

Combine two sentences using an appositive. TWR strategy

Given a subject (noun or noun phrase) or appositive, write a sentence using an appositive. TWR strategy

Use quotation marks to punctuate direct speech / dialogue.

Use ellipses to indicate an incomplete thought, pause for emphasis, uncertainty/hesitation or a break in dialogue/narration.

Make use of pronoun reference as a cohesive device- use pronouns which are consistent with the number and case of the subject or object, i.e. E.g. The children watched the game. They enjoyed it.

Term 4- will be completed by October 2023

Upgrade nouns within an argument (e.g. people who believe/disagree --> advocates, critics, defenders, opponents, proponents). - Link to persuasive arguments

Upgrade verbs within an argument (e.g. believe/ think --> advocate, argue, criticize, defend, propose).- Link to persuasive arguments

Use adverbs of affirmation (e.g. certainly, indeed, surely, definitely, obviously) within a sentence to convey an opinion. - Link to persuasive arguments

Describe the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs and identify them in the context of a sentence.