National Curriculum in England for Vocabulary, Grammar and Punctuation

National Curriculum in England for English Language

The following is the national curriculum for the English Language in England. The full report can be downloaded here. I have posted it on this blog as a reference to help us develop our own curriculum at Sriwittayapaknam School. Although the sections on Spoken Language, Reading, and Writing are not so easy to mirror for students learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL), this section on Vocabulary, Grammar and Punctuation will be of use.

Year 1: Detail of content to be introduced

WORD	Regular plural noun suffixes –s or –es [for example, dog, dogs; wish, wishes], including the effects of these suffixes on the meaning of the noun Suffixes that can be added to verbs where no change is needed in the spelling of root words (e.g. helping, helped, helper) How the prefix un– changes the meaning of verbs and adjectives [negation, for example, unkind, or undoing: untie the boat]
SENTENCE	How words can combine to make sentences Joining words and joining clauses using and
TEXT	Sequencing sentences to form short narratives
PUNCTUATION	Separation of words with spaces Introduction to capital letters, full stops, question marks and exclamation marks to demarcate sentences Capital letters for names and for the personal pronoun I
TERMINOLOGY	letter, capital letter word, singular, plural sentence punctuation, full stop, question mark, exclamation mark

Year 2: Detail of content to be introduced

WORD	Formation of nouns using suffixes such as –ness, –er and by compounding [for example, whiteboard, superman] Formation of adjectives using suffixes such as –ful, –less Use of the suffixes –er, –est in adjectives and the use of –ly in Standard English to turn adjectives into adverbs
SENTENCE	Subordination (using when, if, that, because) and co-ordination (using or, and, but) Expanded noun phrases for description and specification [for example, the blue butterfly, plain flour, the man in the moon] How the grammatical patterns in a sentence indicate its function as a statement, question, exclamation or command
TEXT	Correct choice and consistent use of present tense and past tense throughout writing Use of the progressive form of verbs in the present and past tense to mark actions in progress [for example, she is drumming, he was shouting]
PUNCTUATION	Use of capital letters, full stops, question marks and exclamation marks to demarcate sentences Commas to separate items in a list Apostrophes to mark where letters are missing in spelling and to mark Singular possession in nouns [for example, the girl’s name]
TERMINOLOGY	noun, noun phrase statement, question, exclamation, command compound, suffix adjective, adverb, verb tense (past, present) apostrophe, comma

Year 3: Detail of content to be introduced

WORD	Formation of nouns using a range of prefixes [for example super–, anti–, auto–] Use of the forms a or an according to whether the next word begins with a consonant or a vowel [for example, a rock, an open box] Word families based on common words, showing how words are related in form and meaning [for example, solve, solution, solver, dissolve, insoluble]
SENTENCE	Expressing time, place and cause using conjunctions [for example, when, before, after, while, so, because], adverbs [for example, then, next, soon, therefore], or prepositions [for example, before, after, during, in, because of]
TEXT	Introduction to paragraphs as a way to group related material Headings and sub-headings to aid presentation Use of the present perfect form of verbs instead of the simple past [for example, He has gone out to play contrasted with He went out to play]
PUNCTUATION	Introduction to inverted commas to punctuate direct speech
TERMINOLOGY	preposition, conjunction word family, prefix clause, subordinate clause direct speech consonant, consonant letter vowel, vowel letter inverted commas (or ‘speech marks’)

Year 4: Detail of content to be introduced

WORD	The grammatical difference between plural and possessive –s Standard English forms for verb inflections instead of local spoken forms [for example, we were instead of we was, or I did instead of I done]
SENTENCE	Noun phrases expanded by the addition of modifying adjectives, nouns and preposition phrases (e.g. the teacher expanded to: the strict maths teacher with curly hair) Fronted adverbials [for example, Later that day, I heard the bad news.]
TEXT	Use of paragraphs to organise ideas around a theme Appropriate choice of pronoun or noun within and across sentences to aid cohesion and avoid repetition
PUNCTUATION	Use of inverted commas and other punctuation to indicate direct speech [for example, a comma after the reporting clause; end punctuation within inverted commas: The conductor shouted, “Sit down!”] Apostrophes to mark plural possession [for example, the girl’s name, the girls’ names] Use of commas after fronted adverbials
TERMINOLOGY	determiner pronoun, possessive pronoun adverbial

Year 5: Detail of content to be introduced

WORD	Converting nouns or adjectives into verbs using suffixes [for example, –ate; –ise; –ify] Verb prefixes [for example, dis–, de–, mis–, over– and re–]
SENTENCE	Relative clauses beginning with who, which, where, when, whose, that, or an omitted relative pronoun Indicating degrees of possibility using adverbs [for example, perhaps, surely] or modal verbs [for example, might, should, will, must]
TEXT	Devices to build cohesion within a paragraph [for example, then, after that, this, firstly] Linking ideas across paragraphs using adverbials of time [for example, later], place [for example, nearby] and number [for example, secondly] or tense choices [for example, he had seen her before]
PUNCTUATION	Brackets, dashes or commas to indicate parenthesis Use of commas to clarify meaning or avoid ambiguity
TERMINOLOGY	modal verb, relative pronoun relative clause parenthesis, bracket, dash cohesion, ambiguity

Year 6: Detail of content to be introduced

WORD	The difference between vocabulary typical of informal speech and vocabulary appropriate for formal speech and writing [for example, find out – discover; ask for – request; go in – enter] How words are related by meaning as synonyms and antonyms [for example, big, large, little].
SENTENCE	Use of the passive to affect the presentation of information in a sentence [for example, I broke the window in the greenhouse versus The window in the greenhouse was broken (by me)]. The difference between structures typical of informal speech and structures appropriate for formal speech and writing [for example, the use of question tags: He’s your friend, isn’t he?, or the use of subjunctive forms such as If I were or Were they to come in some very formal writing and speech]
TEXT	Linking ideas across paragraphs using a wider range of cohesive devices: repetition of a word or phrase, grammatical connections [for example, the use of adverbials such as on the other hand, in contrast, or as a consequence], and ellipsis Layout devices [for example, headings, sub-headings, columns, bullets, or tables, to structure text]
PUNCTUATION	Linking ideas across paragraphs using a wider range of cohesive devices: repetition of a word or phrase, grammatical connections [for example, the use of adverbials such as on the other hand, in contrast, or as a consequence], and ellipsis Layout devices [for example, headings, sub-headings, columns, bullets, or tables, to structure text]
TERMINOLOGY	subject, object active, passive synonym, antonym ellipsis, hyphen, colon, semi-colon, bullet points