Steps in learning

Year 4
10 Text structure and organisation
Progression summary During Year 4, children begin to explore ways of organising texts to improve their effectiveness for a reader. When planning what to write, they apply their knowledge of text structures to help them chunk ideas and information in logical or interesting ways. Children make progress in establishing textual cohesion with exploratory use of connectives within and between paragraphs. Learning objectives Organise text into paragraphs to distinguish between different information, events or processes Use adverbs and conjunctions to establish cohesion within paragraphs
Step in learning 1 Children focus independently on the beginnings of paragraphs in a recount, to check for cohesion through a complete text. view Classroom example: Writing non-fiction (recounts) During the process of writing a newspaper article, children work independently in pairs or small groups on editing their first draft of the recount. They share their drafts and provide feedback for one another on the organisation and sequencing of the paragraphs. Are the events recounted in the right order? Is there a good reason for the start of each new paragraph? The children reread aloud the first few words of each new paragraph to make sure that the order of events being recounted is clearly signposted for a reader. They use an aide memoire of connectives as a source of alternatives to choose from when they are editing. The list of connectives provided can be grouped into examples that serve the same purposes such as conjunction (also, in addition to) or concession (but, although, however, and yet). Year 4 Non-fiction - Unit 1 - Recounts: newspapers/magazines
Step in learning 2 Children focus on the beginnings and endings of paragraphs in an explanation text through the support of shared writing. They collaboratively edit in more detail for textual cohesion between one paragraph and another. view Classroom example: Writing non-fiction (explanations) Shared writing is used to compose two or three short paragraphs of an explanation text such as an explanation of the way something works or why something is the way it is. The example in Non-fiction Unit 3 (The Shirt Machine by Jon Davis) can be used for this activity. Teacher demonstration and modelling focus on the cohesive links between the content of one paragraph and the paragraph that follows it. The teacher uses text marking (such as highlighting, circling and joining with a line or changing font colour in a shared digital text) to create a visual connection between the grammatical and syntactical links. Example Humans and some other animals have a skeleton. The skeleton is made up of bones. The bones all do important jobs^g. [Teacher draws a line to connect the highlighted^g words above and below.] For example^g, the ribs protect the lungs and the cranium protects the brain. Other bones have the job of helping us to walk, pick things up or move around in different ways. Hundreds of bones each have a special purpose^y, even the tiny ones. [Teacher draws a line to connect the highlighted^y words above and below.] This^y is why it can be dangerous to break a bone if it is not repaired properly. Year 4 Non-fiction - Unit 3 - Explanation
Step in learning 3 Children are guided in the final stage of editing of a persuasion text. They reread the text aloud to check for cohesion between sentences and paragraphs. view Classroom example: Writing non-fiction (persuasion) Children have already completed their first draft of a persuasion text, applying what they have learned about the language of persuasion. During guided writing, they edit and refine the text to a second draft with a focus on textual cohesion. They first check links in meaning between paragraphs to ensure cohesion at whole-text level. They reread the end of each paragraph and make links between its content and the paragraph that follows. Do the connectives suggest a logical order? (The first thing you will notice ... Not only that ... Finally, we must mention the wonderful ...) They then check cohesion within paragraphs by reading and rereading pairs of consecutive sentences. How does each sentence lead into the next or lead on from the one before? Can the meaning be made clearer? Example Exercise keeps us healthy. We need to move around every day. Walking is good exercise. You should walk somewhere whenever you can. Exercise keeps us healthy. That’s why* we need to move around every day. Walking is good exercise so you should walk somewhere whenever you can.* Year 4 Nonfiction - Unit 4 - Persuasive texts

Year 4

10 Text structure and organisation

Progression summary

During Year 4, children begin to explore ways of organising texts to improve their effectiveness for a reader. When planning what to write, they apply their knowledge of text structures to help them chunk ideas and information in logical or interesting ways. Children make progress in establishing textual cohesion with exploratory use of connectives within and between paragraphs.

Learning objectives

Organise text into paragraphs to distinguish between different information, events or processes
Use adverbs and conjunctions to establish cohesion within paragraphs

Step in learning 1

Children focus independently on the beginnings of paragraphs in a recount, to check for cohesion through a complete text.

view Classroom example: Writing non-fiction (recounts)

During the process of writing a newspaper article, children work independently in pairs or small groups on editing their first draft of the recount.

They share their drafts and provide feedback for one another on the organisation and sequencing of the paragraphs.

Are the events recounted in the right order?
Is there a good reason for the start of each new paragraph?

The children reread aloud the first few words of each new paragraph to make sure that the order of events being recounted is clearly signposted for a reader.

They use an aide memoire of connectives as a source of alternatives to choose from when they are editing. The list of connectives provided can be grouped into examples that serve the same purposes such as conjunction (also, in addition to) or concession (but, although, however, and yet).

Year 4 Non-fiction - Unit 1 - Recounts: newspapers/magazines

Step in learning 2

Children focus on the beginnings and endings of paragraphs in an explanation text through the support of shared writing. They collaboratively edit in more detail for textual cohesion between one paragraph and another.

view Classroom example: Writing non-fiction (explanations)

Shared writing is used to compose two or three short paragraphs of an explanation text such as an explanation of the way something works or why something is the way it is. The example in Non-fiction Unit 3 (The Shirt Machine by Jon Davis) can be used for this activity.

Teacher demonstration and modelling focus on the cohesive links between the content of one paragraph and the paragraph that follows it. The teacher uses text marking (such as highlighting, circling and joining with a line or changing font colour in a shared digital text) to create a visual connection between the grammatical and syntactical links.

Example

Humans and some other animals have a skeleton. The skeleton is made up of bones. The bones all do important jobs^g.

[Teacher draws a line to connect the highlighted^g words above and below.]

For example^g, the ribs protect the lungs and the cranium protects the brain. Other bones have the job of helping us to walk, pick things up or move around in different ways. Hundreds of bones each have a special purpose^y, even the tiny ones.

[Teacher draws a line to connect the highlighted^y words above and below.]

This^y is why it can be dangerous to break a bone if it is not repaired properly.

Year 4 Non-fiction - Unit 3 - Explanation

Step in learning 3

Children are guided in the final stage of editing of a persuasion text. They reread the text aloud to check for cohesion between sentences and paragraphs.

view Classroom example: Writing non-fiction (persuasion)

Children have already completed their first draft of a persuasion text, applying what they have learned about the language of persuasion. During guided writing, they edit and refine the text to a second draft with a focus on textual cohesion.

They first check links in meaning between paragraphs to ensure cohesion at whole-text level. They reread the end of each paragraph and make links between its content and the paragraph that follows. Do the connectives suggest a logical order? (The first thing you will notice ... Not only that ... Finally, we must mention the wonderful ...)

They then check cohesion within paragraphs by reading and rereading pairs of consecutive sentences. How does each sentence lead into the next or lead on from the one before? Can the meaning be made clearer?

Example

Exercise keeps us healthy. We need to move around every day. Walking is good exercise. You should walk somewhere whenever you can.

Exercise keeps us healthy. That’s why we need to move around every day. Walking is good exercise so you should walk somewhere whenever you can.

Year 4 Nonfiction - Unit 4 - Persuasive texts

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Steps in learning

10 Text structure and organisation

Progression summary

Learning objectives

Step in learning 1

Step in learning 2

Example

Step in learning 3

Example

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