Overview of Key Objectives in Writing: Progression across Y3–Y6

Year 3 / Year 4 / Year 5 / Year 6
Genre / Narrative
  • Stories with historical settings
  • Dialogues and plays
  • Adventure stories
Non-Fiction
  • Reports
  • Instructions
  • Letters
Poetry
  • Shape poetry
  • Language play
/ Narrative
  • Mystery stories
  • Legends
  • Fables
Non- Fiction
  • Recount - newspapers Information texts
  • Explanation Texts
Poetry
  • Exploring form
  • Creating images
/ Narrative
  • Short stories with flashbacks
  • Dramatic convention
  • Stories from other cultures
Non- Fiction
  • Journalistic writing
  • Recount – diary
  • Persuasive text
Poetry
  • Classic narrative poems
  • Performance poetry
/ Narrative
  • Extending narrative
  • Myths
  • Stories with issues/dilemmas
Non-Fiction
  • Argument and debate
  • Explanation text
  • Biography and autobiography
Poetry
  • Powerful language
  • Poetic voices
Comprehension revision
Composition and Text Organisation / Plan their writing by:
  • discussing writing similar to that which they are planning to write in order to understand and learn from its structure, vocabulary and grammar
  • discussing and recording ideas
Draft and write by:
  • composing and rehearsing sentences orally (including dialogue), progressively building a varied and rich vocabulary and an increasing range of sentence structures
  • Organise paragraphs around a theme
  • In narratives, creating settings, characters and plot
  • In non-narrative material, using simple organisational devices [for example, headings and sub-headings]
Evaluate and edit by:
  • Assessing the effectiveness of their own and others’ writing and suggesting improvements
  • Proposing changes to grammar and vocabulary to improve consistency, including the accurate use of pronouns in sentences
  • Proof read for spelling and punctuation errors
  • read their own writing aloud to a group or the whole class, using appropriate intonation and controlling the tone and volume so that the meaning is clear
/ Plan their writing by:
  • discussing writing similar to that which they are planning to write in order to understand and learn from its structure, vocabulary and grammar
  • discussing and recording ideas
Draft and write by:
  • composing and rehearsing sentences orally (including dialogue), progressively building a varied and rich vocabulary and an increasing range of sentence structures
  • Organise paragraphs around a theme
  • In narratives, creating settings, characters and plot
  • In non-narrative material, using simple organisational devices [for example, headings and sub-headings]
Evaluate and edit by:
  • Assessing the effectiveness of their own and others’ writing and suggesting improvements
  • Proposing changes to grammar and vocabulary to improve consistency, including the accurate use of pronouns in sentences
  • Proof read for spelling and punctuation errors
  • read their own writing aloud to a group or the whole class, using appropriate intonation and controlling the tone and volume so that the meaning is clear
/ 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
/ 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

Transcription
Spelling /
  • Revision of work from years 1 and 2
  • Adding suffixes beginning with vowels to words of more than one syllable
  • The /i/ sound spelt ‘y’ elsewhere than at the end of words
  • Words with the /u/ sound spelt ou
  • More prefixes
  • The suffix – ly
  • Words with endings sounding –sure or –ture
  • Endings that sound like –sion
/
  • Endings spelt –tion, -sion, -ssion, -cian
  • Words with the /k/ sound spelt ch (Greek in origin)
  • Word with the / /sound ch (mostly French in origin)
  • Words ending with the /g/ sound spelt –gue and the /k/ sound spelt –que (French in origin)
  • Words with the /s/ sound spelt sc (Latin in origin)
  • Words with the /ei/ sound spelt ei, eigh or ey
  • Possessive apostrophe with plural words
  • Homophones or near homophones
/
  • Continue to distinguish between homophones and other words which are often confused
  • Words containing the letter string ‘ough’
  • Words ending in –able and –ible e.g., adorable, possible
  • Spell words with silent letters e.g., knight, psalm
  • Adding suffixes beginning with vowels to words ending in –fer, e.g., ‘referring’ when the ending is stressed and ‘preference’ when the ending is no longer stressed
  • Use the first three or four letters to look up words in a dictionary
  • Use of hyphens to link words e.g., co-ordinate
  • Words with silent letters (i.e. letters which cannot be predicted from the pronunciation of the word)
  • Proof read for spelling errors
  • Word ending in –ant, -ance/ -ancy, -ent, -ence/ -ency
  • Words with ei after c
/
  • Proof read for spelling errors
  • Use dictionaries to check the spelling and meaning of words
  • Use a thesaurus
  • Less common homophones e.g., alise/isle., assent/ascent
  • Endings which sound like /shul/ e.g., official. special
  • Endings which sound like /shus/ spelt -cious, or -tious e.g. vicious, precious, cautious
  • Morphology/Etymologyin spelling and understand that the spelling of some words needs to be learnt specifically, as listed inEnglish appendix 1

Punctuation /
  • Use speech marks to punctuate direct speech
  • Indicate possession by using the possessive apostrophe with plural nouns
/
  • Use of speech marks to punctuate direct speech
  • Apostrophes to mark singular and plural possession
  • Use of commas after fronted adverbials (e.g., Later that day, I heard some bad news)
/
  • Brackets, dashes or commas to indicate parenthesis
  • Use of commas to clarify meaning or avoid ambiguity
  • Proof read for punctuation errors
/
  • Proof read for punctuation errors
  • Semi-colon, colon, and dash to indicate stronger sub-division of a sentence
  • How hyphens can be used to avoid ambiguity (e.g., man eating shark versus man-eating shark)
  • Punctuation of bullet points to list information

Grammar /
  • Extend the range of sentences with more than one clause by using a wider range of conjunctions, including: when, if, because, although
  • Use the present perfect form of verbs in contrast to the past tense
  • Choose nouns or pronouns appropriately for clarity and cohesion and to avoid repetition
  • Use conjunctions, adverbs and prepositions to express time and cause
  • Use fronted adverbials
  • Learn the grammar for years 3 and 4 in English appendix 2
/
  • Fronted adverbials
  • Pronouns, nouns
/
  • Converting nouns or adjectives into verbs using suffixes
  • Verb prefixes
  • Relationship clauses to mark time and cause beginning with who, which, where, why, or whose
  • Modal verbs or adverbs to indicate degrees of possibility
  • Use of adverbial phrases and other cohesive devices
  • Use and understand the grammatical terminology in English appendix 2 accurately and appropriately in discussing their writing and reading
/
  • Use of adverbial phrases and other cohesive devices
  • Modal verbs or adverbs to indicate degrees of possibility
  • Relationship clauses to mark time and cause beginning with who, which, where, why, or whose
  • Use and understand the grammatical terminology in English appendix 2 accurately and appropriately in discussing their writing and reading
  • Use of the passive voice to affect the presentation of the information in a sentence
  • Expanded noun phrases to convey complicated information concisely

Transcription
Handwriting /
  • Use the diagonal and horizontal strokes needed to join letters and understand which letters, when adjacent to one another , are best left un-joined
  • Increase the legibility and quality of their handwriting e.g. ensuring the down strokes of the letters are parallel and equidistant; that lines of writing are spaced sufficiently so that ascenders and descenders of letters do not touch
/
  • Use the diagonal and horizontal strokes needed to join letters and understand which letters, when adjacent to one another, are best left un-joined
  • Increase the legibility and quality of their handwriting e.g. ensuring the down strokes of the letters are parallel and equidistant; that lines of writing are spaced sufficiently so that ascenders and descenders of letters do not touch
  • By the end of Y3 pupils should be expected to use joined handwriting throughout their independent writing.
/
  • Write fluently, with increasingspeed and personal style bychoosing which shape of a letter to use when given choices and deciding as part of their personal style, whether or not to join specific letters
  • choosing the writing implementthat is best suited for a task
/
  • Write fluently, with increasing speed and personal style by choosing which shape of a letter to use when given choices and deciding as part of their personal style, whether or not to join specific letters
  • choosing the writing implement that is best suited for a task

KEY

Red – Text types (bold) – new for each year group

Blue - New teaching in each year group to show progression

Black - Consolidation of skills

References

DFE- National Curriculum for English Key Stages 1 and 2 – Draft

DSCF - National Strategies Primary Framework for Literacy and Mathematics

DFEE – The National Literacy Strategy Framework for Teaching

DFEE/QCA - The National Curriculum A handbook for Primary Teachers in England

Early Education - Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

Minster CE Primary School May 2014

Anne-Marie Maggs English Leader