English

English National Curriculum for Year 6.

Spoken Language - Years 1 - 6

The children will be taught to:

listen and respond appropriately to adults and their peers
ask relevant questions to extend their understanding and knowledge
use relevant strategies to build their vocabulary
articulate and justify answers, arguments and opinions
give well-structured descriptions, explanations and narratives for different purposes, including for expressing feelings
maintain attention and participate actively in collaborative conversations, staying on topic and initiating and responding to comments
use spoken language to develop understanding through speculating, hypothesising, imagining and exploring ideas
speak audibly and fluently with an increasing command of Standard English
participate in discussions, presentations, performances, role play, improvisations and debates
gain, maintain and monitor the interest of the listener(s)
consider and evaluate different viewpoints, attending to and building on the contributions of others
select and use appropriate registers for effective communication.

Reading - word reading

The children will be taught to:

apply their growing knowledge of root words, prefixes and suffixes (morphology and etymology), as listed in English Appendix 1 below, both to read aloud and to understand the meaning of new words that they meet.

Reading - comprehension

The children will be taught to:

maintain positive attitudes to reading and understanding of what they read by:
continuing to read and discuss an increasingly wide range of fiction, poetry, plays, non-fiction and reference books or textbooks
reading books that are structured in different ways and reading for a range of purposes
increasing their familiarity with a wide range of books, including myths, legends and traditional stories, modern fiction, fiction from our literary heritage, and books from other cultures and traditions
recommending books that they have read to their peers, giving reasons for their choices
identifying and discussing themes and conventions in and across a wide range of writing
making comparisons within and across books
learning a wider range of poetry by heart
preparing poems and plays to read aloud and to perform, showing understanding through intonation, tone and volume so that the meaning is clear to an audience
understand what they read by:
checking that the book makes sense to them, discussing their understanding and exploring the meaning of words in context
asking questions to improve their understanding
drawing inferences such as inferring characters’ feelings, thoughts and motives from their actions, and justifying inferences with evidence
predicting what might happen from details stated and implied
summarising the main ideas drawn from more than one paragraph, identifying key details that support the main ideas
identifying how language, structure and presentation contribute to meaning
discuss and evaluate how authors use language, including figurative language, considering the impact on the reader
distinguish between statements of fact and opinion
retrieve, record and present information from non-fiction
participate in discussions about books that are read to them and those they can read for themselves, building on their own and others’ ideas and challenging views courteously
explain and discuss their understanding of what they have read, including through formal presentations and debates, maintaining a focus on the topic and using notes where necessary
provide reasoned justifications for their views.

Writing - transcription

Spelling (see English Appendix 1 below)

The children will be taught to:

use further prefixes and suffixes and understand the guidance for adding them
spell some words with ‘silent’ letters [for example, knight, psalm, solemn]
continue to distinguish between homophones and other words which are often confused
use knowledge of morphology and etymology in spelling and understand that the spelling of some words needs to be learnt specifically, as listed in English Appendix 1
use dictionaries to check the spelling and meaning of words
use the first three or four letters of a word to check spelling, meaning or both of these in a dictionary
use a thesaurus.

Handwriting and presentation

The children will be taught to:

write legibly, fluently and with increasing speed by:
choosing which shape of a letter to use when given choices and deciding whether or not to join specific letters
choosing the writing implement that is best suited for a task.

Writing - composition

The children will be taught to:

plan their writing by:
identifying the audience for and purpose of the writing, selecting the appropriate form and using other similar writing as models for their own
noting and developing initial ideas, drawing on reading and research where necessary
in writing narratives, considering how authors have developed characters and settings in what pupils have read, listened to or seen performed
draft and write by:
selecting appropriate grammar and vocabulary, understanding how such choices can change and enhance meaning
in narratives, describing settings, characters and atmosphere and integrating dialogue to convey character and advance the action
précising longer passages
using a wide range of devices to build cohesion within and across paragraphs
using further organisational and presentational devices to structure text and to guide the reader [for example, headings, bullet points, underlining]
evaluate and edit by:
assessing the effectiveness of their own and others’ writing
proposing changes to vocabulary, grammar and punctuation to enhance effects and clarify meaning
ensuring the consistent and correct use of tense throughout a piece of writing
ensuring correct subject and verb agreement when using singular and plural, distinguishing between the language of speech and writing and choosing the appropriate register
proof-read for spelling and punctuation errors
perform their own compositions, using appropriate intonation, volume, and movement so that meaning is clear.

Writing - vocabulary, punctuation and grammar

The children will be taught to:

develop their understanding of the concepts set out in English Appendix 2 below by:
recognising vocabulary and structures that are appropriate for formal speech and writing, including subjunctive forms
using passive verbs to affect the presentation of information in a sentence
using the perfect form of verbs to mark relationships of time and cause
using expanded noun phrases to convey complicated information concisely
using modal verbs or adverbs to indicate degrees of possibility
using relative clauses beginning with who, which, where, when, whose, that or with an implied (i.e. omitted) relative pronoun
learning the grammar for years 5 and 6 in English Appendix 2
indicate grammatical and other features by:
using commas to clarify meaning or avoid ambiguity in writing
using hyphens to avoid ambiguity
using brackets, dashes or commas to indicate parenthesis
using semi-colons, colons or dashes to mark boundaries between independent clauses
using a colon to introduce a list
punctuating bullet points consistently
use and understand the grammatical terminology in English Appendix 2 accurately and appropriately in discussing their writing and reading.