Real Writing Year 4, Unit 7
Who is Matthew Bourne?
Curriculum links: P.E (dance)
Writing unit overview
This writing unit for Year 4 is built around an original model text by Loretta Schauer - a recount of the career of Matthew Bourne. The example text is available as a PDF in three versions (plain, illustrated and annotated); annotated and non-annotated PowerPoint presentations are also included.
In this two-week unit, pupils will read an information text about the celebrated dancer and choreographer, Matthew Bourne. They will have an opportunity to learn technical vocabulary related to dance and theatre. This unit gives pupils the chance to practise writing for a purpose and has cross-curricular links to P.E - and culminates in them researching and writing their own biographical recount about Matthew Bourne.
Key curriculum skills
Two fully resourced lesson plans are included for the following Year 4 English objectives, which can form part of the unit or be taught discretely:
1. Vocabulary: To use further prefixes and suffixes
Pupils will: understand what is meant by etymology and morphology; look at how adding prefixes and suffixes to root words can build word families; sort words into families; use words from the sorting activity in sentences.
2. Grammar: To use the present perfect form of verbs
Pupils will: revisit tenses; understand what is meant by the present perfect tense, how it is formed and when it is used; sort sentences into those that use the present perfect tense and those that do not; rewrite paragraphs in the present perfect and simple past tense.
Additional skills to teach or revisit
- using a range of conjunction
- commas to separate items within a list
- the use of questions
Additional year 4 curriculum teaching points
- using fronted adverbials
- modifying nouns to create expanded noun phrases
- organising information into paragraphs
- using headings and subheadings
- using nouns and pronouns to build cohesion
Year 4 vocabulary
Tier two words: autograph, stereotype
Tier three words: audience, ballet, choreographer, contemporary, director, musicals, performer, production, theatre
Year 3/4 statutory spelling words: different, famous, history, popular, strength, various
What is a prefix?
A prefix is a group of letters that can be added to the beginning of a word to a create a new word. Prefixes have different meanings so they can be used to change the meaning of a word.
Examples of prefixes are un-, dis-, mis-, in-, super-, anti-, auto-, sub-, semi-, bi- and non-.
What is a suffix?
A suffix is a group of letters that can be added to the end of a word. The suffix can change the word’s meaning.Examples of suffixes include -ing, -ed, -er, -est, -ness, -less, -ful, -ly, -ment and -ous.
What is a word family?
Word families are groups of words that are related to each other in a combination of having the same root word (with prefixes, suffixes or other words added to make compound words like superman), grammar and meaning. Words that change when written in the past and present tense (for example understand and understood) are also part of the same word family. A word root is a basic word with no prefix or suffix added. The words play, playful, playing and replay are all part of the same word family as they all have the same word root (play) and are related in meaning.
What is the present perfect tense?
The present perfect tense is used to show how events or actions are related in time or cause. It shows that things happened in the past but are still happening, or are still relevant and important now. It is also referred to as the present perfect verb form.
The present perfect tense uses the words has/have + the past tense verb.
The present perfect tense can be used instead of the simple past tense.
- She has walked to school.