Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of research, criticism or review as permitted in terms of the Copyright Act, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system without prior written permission from the publisher.
The publisher has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
There are instances where we have been unable to trace or contact the copyright holder. If notified, the publisher will be pleased to rectify any errors or omissions at the earliest opportunity.
Reg. No.: 2011/011959/07
English Home Language
Study guide
Grade 4
CAPS aligned
J Mansfield A Mills W Pichler
PREFACE
RECOMMENDED READING
Below is a short list of books you may find interesting.
• Narnia (C. S. Lewis)
• The Nine Lives of Montezuma (Michael Morpurgo)
• Mr Stink (David Walliams)
• Billionaire Boy (David Walliams)
• Junie B Jones (Barbara Park)
• The One and Only Ivan (Katherine Applegate)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (J. K. Rowling)
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Jeff Kinney)
• All children’s books by Roald Dahl including James and the Giant Peach; Matilda; Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator; George’s Marvellous Medicine; Danny the Champion of the World.
• A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L’Engle)
• How to Train Your Dragon (Cressida Cowell)
• A Light in the Attic (Shel Silverstein: a book of poetry)
• Charlotte’s Web (E. B. White)
• Tale of a 4th Grade Nothing; Superfudge; Fudge a Mania; Double Fudge (Judy Blume)
• Mr Nobody’s Eyes (Michael Morpurgo)
• A Series of Unfortunate Events (Lemony Snicket)
• Books by Jenny Nimmo (including Henry and the Guardians of the Lost)
• Books by Lauren St John (The Last Leopard; The White Giraffe and series)
1
LESSON 1: Tell me a story
LESSON 2: Make music
LESSON 3: In the library
LESSON 4: Cook it
LESSON 5: In the news 2
YEAR PLAN
3
LESSON 6: Whatever the weather
LESSON 7: What am I like?
LESSON 8: Fables and myths
LESSON 9: Make it
LESSON 10: Read for fun
LESSON 11: Into the forest
LESSON 12: Fun with poems
LESSON 13: Schedule it
LESSON 14: Drama, drama
LESSON 15: It’s a social issue
LESSON 16: The diary of …
LESSON 17: Attention-grabbing adverts
LESSON 18: Time for a play
UNIT 1: Weeks 1 – 2
Lesson 1: Tell me a story
In this lesson you will:
• listen to a story
• answer questions about a story
• read a story
• read aloud
• use a dictionary
• read independently and for fun
• learn about the writing process
• write a paragraph
• learn more about common nouns, proper nouns, countable and uncountable nouns
• identify and write simple sentences
• use full stops, capital letters and lower case letters
SECTION 1 LISTENING AND SPEAKING
Activity 1: Listen to a story
Look at the illustration at the beginning of this lesson. What do you see? Read the puzzle. Can you solve it?
Discuss the features of a story.
Features of a story
All stories have some aspects in common. Characters: people or animals in the story.
Setting: where and when the story takes place. Plot: main idea of a story or rather what happens.
Listen to the title of the story the facilitator reads and look at the illustrations on this page. Predict what you think the story will be about.
Listen carefully as the facilitator reads the story.
1. Talk about the characters, setting and main idea of the story.
2. What do you think of Jason’s actions? What do you think the other boys think of Jason’s actions?
3. Retell the story in your own words. Remember to tell the events in sequence (the order in which they happened).
4. Read the information on nouns with the facilitator.
Nouns
A noun is a naming word. It names people, places and things.
Common nouns are the names of ordinary objects such as net, nugget, and friend.
Proper nouns name specific people or places. They always begin with a capital letter. Most nouns can be counted, for example, one friend, two friends. These are called countable nouns. Countable nouns have a singular and a plural, for example, nugget – nuggets, net – nets.
Nouns which cannot be counted, for example, water, are called uncountable nouns. These stay the same in the singular and the plural.
SAMPLE
1. Listen as the facilitator reads a sentence.
a. Identify four common nouns
b. Which of these common nouns is countable?
c. Identify the proper noun.
2. Listen to the second sentence the facilitator reads.
a. Identify the uncountable noun.
SAMPLE
Activity 2: Answer questions on the story How to listen properly
Listening is an important skill. Listen carefully the first time someone reads a text or story. Try to form a picture in your mind of what the story is about. Take notes when the story is read for the second time.
How to take notes
Read through any questions you have to answer before listening. This way you will know what to listen for. Only write down important points, do not write full sentences.
1. Listen to the questions the facilitator reads and then listen to the story from Activity 1 again. Take notes.
2. Write the numbers 1 – 10 in the margin in your exercise book. Answer the questions as they are read to you. Write only the letter of the correct answer. Hand in your answers for assessment.
3. You will now tell your own story about something that happened with your family and/or friends.
4. Before you prepare/plan your story, discuss these storytelling hints.
How to tell a good story
Content
The content of the story must be interesting and the events must be told in the correct sequence. Grab the audience’s attention from the start. Prepare properly and practise the story aloud before presenting it.
Language
Use words such as first, then, next, later, this will help the audience to follow the story. Use words that the audience can easily understand. However, this does not mean that slang is acceptable.
Speaking
SAMPLE
Speak clearly and pronounce all the words properly. Do not speak too fast. Vary the pitch of your voice: let it rise and fall the way it would in daily conversation.
Body language
Look interested in what you are saying. Make eye contact with the audience, this will make them feel as if you are speaking directly to them. Stand up straight, do not lean against anything or slouch. Do not touch your face and avoid too many hand gestures.
5. Tell your story.
SECTION 2 READING AND VIEWING
Activity 3: Read a story
Discuss the three parts of reading with the facilitator.
Reading
Good reading can be divided into three parts. Reading strategies (tactics) make reading easier and more effective.
1. Pre-reading: this prepares us for the story. The title of the book/story: clues as to what the story may be about and prepares us for what is to come. Illustrations in the story: visual clues as to what the story may be about. Look up any new or unfamiliar words – this will help you to understand what you are reading. Skim through the story to see what it may be about and how long it is. To skim means to read through a story very quickly to get an overview (the general idea).
2. During reading
Work out the meaning of new words by looking at them in context. This means reading the words around the new word to work out its meaning. Always have your dictionary nearby to look up any new or unfamiliar word. Form a picture in your mind of what you are reading, this is called visualising. Read the story more than once until you are very familiar with it. Make inferences (draw conclusions) from the writing.
3. Post-reading: after you have finished reading the story. Ask questions about the story. Identify the characters, plot and setting. Discuss the story – how does it make you feel? Do you like it or not? Answer questions about the story. Make a summary.
Read the title of the story and then look at the illustrations. Predict what the story will be about. Skim through the story. Now that you are ready, read the story aloud.
The Night Visitor
It’s midnight. Outside, the moon shines its silvery light in a velvet sky. In her room, Samantha is fast asleep. SKRITCH. Samantha sits up and rubs her eyes. What was that? She looks around her room. SKRITCH. There it is again. Someone or something is scratching at her bedroom window. She puts on her bedside lamp. Slowly, she pulls the curtains aside and tries to look out. All she sees is her reflection in the window. I must be imagining things, she thinks. She is just about to draw the curtains when: SKRITCH.
If I turn off my lamp, I may be able to see outside , she thinks. She leans over her bed and flicks off the lamp. Kneeling on her bed she peers out into the dark.
SAMPLE
Suddenly, she notices something outside. “It can’t be,” she whispers. There, on the windowsill, is the tiniest dragon she has ever seen. It has leathery wings and looks at her with big round eyes. “Are you real?” she asks the tiny creature. “No, of course, you’re not real, this is just another Jimbo trick. He put you there to fool me, as usual,” she mutters. “But I’ve never seen anything like this before …” The tiny dragon looks at Samantha and a puff of smoke coils from its snout.
Slowly, she opens the window. This scares the dragon and it takes off, wings flapping, into the night.
Samantha hears a sound at her bedroom door. Is it a chuckle? Is it the door creaking shut? She can hardly be sure …
