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Year 3 Narrative

Narrative, plays and scripts
18 weeks

UNIT 1
Stories with familiar settings *
(3 weeks)

UNIT 2
Myths and legends *
(4 weeks)

UNIT 3
Adventure and mystery *
(4 weeks)

UNIT 4
Authors and letters *
(3 weeks)

UNIT 5
Dialogue and plays
(4 weeks)

Non-fiction
11-12 weeks

UNIT 1
Reports *
(4 weeks)

UNIT 2
Instructions *
(3-4 weeks)

UNIT 3
Information texts
(4 weeks)

Poetry
5 weeks

UNIT 1
Poems to perform
(1 week)

UNIT 2
Shape poetry and calligrams *
(2 weeks)

UNIT 3
Language play
(2 weeks)

Numbers of weeks identified for each unit are suggestions only

* Where the unit title is asterisked, detailed planning exemplification has been produced and can be accessed by clicking on the title.

The combined content of these units, together with continuous and discrete work at word and sentence level, carries the learning that children can be expected to achieve in Year 3. Further work on presentational skills and speaking and listening will be ongoing throughout the year. Literacy learning in Year 3 is summarised in the objectives in the twelve strands. The year divides into 18 weeks on narrative, plays and scripts, 11-12 weeks on non-fiction and 6 weeks on poetry but these timings and the ordering of many of the units can be flexible. This flexibility means that schools can position the units to create purposeful links across the curriculum. However care must be taken to maintain the progression in learning at text, sentence and word levels if these units are taught in a different order from the one suggested.

It is expected that the non-fiction units will take place before, after or alongside units from across the curriculum that will provide the content and purpose for speaking, listening, reading and writing. Many schools will also wish to link narrative, plays and poetry units across the curriculum.

See pages 29-36 of Learning and teaching in the primary years: Designing opportunities for learning (Ref: 0521-2004) to see how curriculum maps can be used to align units of study across curriculum areas.
See the Qualification and Curriculum Authority's opportunities for and examples of embedding aspects of English in art and design, design and technology, geography, history, music, science and mathematics at Key Stages 1 and 2 (http://www.qca.org.uk/qca_5226.aspx).

Narrative and plays block

Although these units do not simply repeat the exemplified planning previously published, this remains relevant, and in some instances may be drawn upon for materials and approaches. The relationship between the two is shown in one of the tables below.

The narrative and plays block addresses the following learning objectives.

Narrative	UNIT 1	UNIT 2	UNIT 3	UNIT 4	UNIT 5
1. Speaking
Choose and prepare poems or stories for performance, identifying appropriate expression, tone, volume and use of voices and other sounds
Explain process or present information, ensuring items are clearly sequenced, relevant details are included and accounts ended effectively
Sustain conversation, explain or give reasons for their views or choices
Develop and use specific vocabulary in different contexts
2. Listening and responding
Follow up others' points and show whether they agree or disagree in whole-class discussion
Identify the presentational features used to communicate the main points in a broadcast
Identify key sections of an informative broadcast, noting how the language used signals changes or transitions in focus
3. Group discussion and interaction
Use discussion to organise roles and action
Actively include and respond to all members of the group
Use the language of possibility to investigate and reflect on feelings, behaviour or relationships
4. Drama
Present events and characters through dialogue to engage the interest of an audience
Use some drama strategies to explore stories or issues
Identify and discuss qualities of others' performances, including gesture, action and costume
5. Word recognition (objectives covered by the end of Year 2)
6. Word structure and spelling
Spell high and medium frequency words
Recognise a range of prefixes and suffixes, understanding how they modify meaning and spelling, and how they assist in decoding long, complex words
Spell unfamiliar words using known conventions including phoneme/grapheme correspondences and morphological rules
7. Understanding and interpreting texts
Identify and make notes on the main points of section(s) of text
Infer characters' feelings in fiction and consequences in logical explanations
Identify how different texts are organised, including reference texts, magazines, leaflets, on paper and on screen
Use syntax, context and word structure to build their store of vocabulary when reading for meaning
Explore how different texts appeal to readers using varied sentence structures and descriptive language
8. Engaging with and responding to texts
Share and compare reasons for reading preferences, extending range of books read
Empathise with characters and debate moral dilemmas portrayed in texts
Identify features that writers use to provoke readers reactions
9. Creating and shaping texts
Make decisions about form and purpose, identify success criteria and use them to evaluate their own writing
Use beginning, middle and end to write narratives in which events are sequenced logically and conflicts resolved
Write non-narrative texts using structures of different text types
Select and use a range of technical and descriptive vocabulary
Use layout, format, graphics, illustrations for different purposes
10. Text structure and organisation
Signal sequence, place and time to give coherence
Group related material into paragraphs
11. Sentence structure and punctuation
Show relationships of time, reason and cause, through subordination and connectives
Compose sentences using adjectives, verbs and nouns for precision, clarity and impact
Clarify meaning through the use of exclamation marks and speech marks
12. Presentation
Write with consistency in size and proportion of letters and spacing within and between words, using the correct formation of handwriting joins
Develop accuracy and speed when using keyboard skills to type, edit and redraft

Match between current planning and the previous National Literacy Strategy planning materials

Narrative and plays 2006	UNIT 1 Stories with familiar settings (3 weeks)	UNIT 2 Myths, legends, fables, traditional tales (4 weeks)	UNIT 3 Adventure and mystery (4 weeks)	UNIT 4 Authors and letters (3 weeks)	UNIT 5 Dialogue and plays (4 weeks)
National Literacy Strategy 2003	Term 1 Narrative setting	Term 2 Narrative themes Narrative plot	Term 3 Narrative plot Narrative character	Term 3 Narrative authors Note-taking and letters	Term 1 Narrative dialogue Plays

Primary Framework for literacy and mathematics

Related links

Year 3 Narrative

Narrative and plays block