Grade 4 English
Grade 4 English: longer sentences, pronouns used accurately, and writing that is properly punctuated.
What Grade 4 covers
The same four competencies continue — listening, speaking, reading and writing — but the language widens. Grade 4 is where pronouns, polite requests and larger numbers are expected to be used correctly rather than merely recognised.
The four competencies in Grade 4
| Skill | What the syllabus asks for at this grade |
|---|---|
| Listening | Understanding questions about personal information, likes and dislikes, abilities, polite offers and requests, and simple instructions and directions. Recognising cardinal numbers 0–50 and ordinals to 31st. |
| Speaking | Pronouncing short and long vowel sounds correctly. Using personal, possessive and object pronouns. Introducing others, describing animals and places, expressing feelings, asking and answering about likes and abilities. |
| Reading | Reading aloud words with short and long vowel sounds. Extracting specific information — names, things, places, numbers — from texts of five to eight sentences. |
| Writing | Copying words with correct letter formation, size and spacing. Using the period and the question mark appropriately. Writing simple sentences with correct spacing between words. |
Vocabulary and language patterns
Grade 4 works with SV, SVO and SVC sentence patterns through controlled writing, and with nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs in sentences. Shapes, distances and measurements are named, and there is a defined strand of science and technology vocabulary — operating a computer, tablet or telephone, and talking about plants, animals and insects in the immediate environment.
Source: English Language Teachers' Guide, Grade 04, Department of English, National Institute of Education, Maharagama.
Activities for this grade
Reading
Short passages with questions — the five-to-eight sentence length Grade 4 expects.
Listening and speaking
Ten-minute speaking and listening activities needing no materials.
Games and practice
Word and sentence activities that explain every answer.
Still being prepared for Grade 4
Pronoun practice, short and long vowel work, and number and ordinal exercises are being prepared against the Grade 4 Teacher's Guide.