Year 3/4 Mixed Age English Planning

A fun block drawing on dance crazes, cures from Horrible Histories, happy minds and active bodies. Explore paragraphs and headings, possessive apostrophes and commas. Write instructions and letters of explanation.

Starting with Grace Nichols' Paint me a Poem, find poetic inspiration in art. Use prepositions and adverbs to write descriptively and practise punctuating dialogue. Celebrate creativity in a class exhibition inspired by Lubaina Himid.

The beautiful book The Wolf's Secret, a new story in the traditional style, is the starting point for this block. Focus on the plot, rich language, design and layout alongside learning about adverbials and the present perfect form.

A topical block focusing on the depletion of species in the UK and around the world. Using Last by Nicola Davies as a starting point, build noun phrases and use paragraphs to organise texts. Produce infographics and letters.

Enjoy Michael Rosen's poetry, looking at narrative and rhyming poems. Revise speech punctuation and add detail using conjunctions of time and cause. Write rhyming poems and use poems read as inspiration for story-writing.

Enjoy looking at Fairy Tales from a new perspective; the Wolf's version of the Three Little Pigs is quite a different story... Revise dialogue punctuation and use of the perfect form.

Study biographies and shape poems inspired by historical heroes in Liz Brownlee's wonderful anthology Shaping the World. Carry out word investigations and revise fronted adverbials. Write a biography and poem about a hero.

Meet the engaging characters in Atinuke's No.1 Car Spotter and Anna Hibiscus and enjoy stories of their daily life. Revise speech punctuation and verb tenses. Create a character and write a story modelled on those read.

Compare and contrast texts about the water cycle, researching and summarising information. Plan, design and create an information page using features studied. Grammar includes pronouns and conjunctions.

Using the lovely Poetry for a Change anthology, read, discuss and perform poems about change. Study prepositions and expanded noun phrases. Plan, write and publish a poem on this theme plus a brief for a poet.

Follow the fantastical adventures in the stunning books The Antlered Ship and The Barnabus Project. Grammar includes adverbials and verb tenses. Write a new adventure for the characters in a story sequel.

Introduce explanation texts using the entertaining Until I met Dudley. Use conjunctions to extend sentences and nouns and pronouns to write cohesively. Design and invent a new machine and clearly explain its purpose.

Enjoy reading Dick King-Smith's humorous tale of a mischievous parrot. Study formal language and Americanisms and learn from the author's use of dialogue to build character. Use fronted adverbials to build tension as you write your own animal story inspired by Harry's Mad.

Read and discuss a selection of information texts about transport. Revise organisational devices and adverbials and use these to create an information brochure for a futuristic 'clean' mode of transport.

Explore a range of classic poems enjoying their rhyme and humour. Write seaside sound poems, list and recipe poems. Role-play characters from a poem, creating dialogue and writing playscripts.

Using Dara McAnulty's fantastic book Wild Child as a starting point, explore the local environment, writing fact files, information cards and reports. Grammar includes using conjunctions and developing noun phrases for vivid description.

It’s Raining Cats and Dogs! Explore poems about dogs and cats. Investigate form and language and make comparisons. Write a poem from the point of view of a pet.

Meet intrepid foxes Ted and Nancy and immerse yourself in the wonderful world of Grimwood! Practise punctuating dialogue and using conjunctions before writing a story to follow on from this book.

Kick-start this block on written communication with the wonderful Oi! Get off our train. Write text conversations, letters, playscripts and blogs. Learn how to punctuate dialogue and use paragraphs to organise writing.

Enjoy reading Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes and Dirty Beasts. Revise verb tenses and apostrophes for possession. Plan and write a 'twisted tale' of their own.

Study the classic Stig of the Dump by Clive King. Discuss openings, settings, characters and powerful language. Learn about prepositions and punctuating direct speech. Plan, write and publish your own chapters, illustrating them with cave paintings.

Study classic and contemporary forms of kennings and haiku, then write your own about animals and the weather. Learn how to use expanded noun phrases and fronted adverbials in your poetry. Explore rhyming ballads and develop your own following the given patterns.

Read and enjoy a selection of Anthony Browne books. Explore how illustrations add to the story. Revise pronouns and learn how to use conjunctions to add descriptive detail. Create and describe a new fictional character.

Have fun recounting mysterious events and exploring the award-winning Real-life Mysteries: Can you explain the unexplained?. Investigate the use of adverbs, headings and paragraphs. Plan and write a mysterious hoax report.

Enjoy reading and performing poems from Daydreams and Jellybeans. Learn how to punctuate dialogue while writing playscripts. Use fronted adverbials in descriptions. Create poems and short stories inspired by poems from the book.

Discover the imaginative world of author/illustrator Satoshi Kitamura, reading and listening to some of his books. Compose vivid descriptions, learn how to punctuate direct speech and write present perfect sentences. Have fun writing about switching bodies with your favourite pet!

Enjoy reading Dragon Post and discussing the structure and form of a range of letters. Have fun writing formal and informal letters while exploring the idea of a dragon as a class pet. Learn about personal and possessive pronouns and when to use a and an.

Listen to and read the short stories in Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds. Discuss use of language, dialogue and the characters. Learn how to use direct speech and adverbials in their writing. Plan and write a short story about a walk home from school where something happens.

Explore Questions and Answers: How does it work? answering comprehension questions and making lift-the-flap questions and answers. Use conjunctions to order and explain and adverbs to order and specify. Create a booklet which draws together everything studied in this block.

Explore rhythm, rhyme and repetition in poems from Poems Aloud and other fun poems. Learn to use fronted adverbials and homophones in sentences. Select a poem to learn and perform.