First Additional Language (Grade 4)

This course focuses on developing foundational language skills in listening, speaking, reading, writing, and viewing. The curriculum is designed to build proficiency in English as the First Additional Language, preparing learners for its use across the curriculum in subsequent grades. The curriculum uses a text-based, communicative, and process-oriented approach, emphasizing practical application and engagement with diverse texts.

Term 1

Orientation (Weeks 1-2)

This introductory period focuses on familiarizing learners with classroom routines, procedures, and rules. Activities include answering simple questions, giving recounts, reading stories, writing personal recounts, and creating personal dictionaries. A review of phonics and sight words is also incorporated.

Accidents (Weeks 3-4)

Listening and Speaking: Learners listen to and discuss news articles about accidents, focusing on making connections and sharing ideas. They also practice giving factual recounts based on personal experiences and giving and following directions.

Reading and Viewing: Learners engage with various informational texts, including news reports and advertisements, practicing prediction and using contextual clues. They also learn to interpret simple maps. Supplementary reading materials may include texts like "Schoolgirls save boys life" (DBE Workbook 1, page 20).

Writing and Presenting: Learners write factual recounts based on personal experiences and design posters for safety campaigns, focusing on specific details, vocabulary, and grammar.

Language Structures and Conventions: Focus on direct speech, punctuation (full stop, comma), countable and uncountable nouns, adjectives, verbs, simple past and present progressive tenses, and connecting words (but, because, so that).

We All Matter (Weeks 5-6)

Listening and Speaking: Learners listen to and discuss stories about people's strengths and helping others, focusing on visualization and evaluation. They also practice giving personal recounts and participating in discussions.

Reading and Viewing: Learners engage with stories and social texts like invitations and messages, focusing on plot, setting, characters, and text features. Supplementary reading may include "The big lion and the tiny mouse" (DBE Workbook 1, page 44).

Writing and Presenting: Learners write personal recounts using frames and descriptive paragraphs about people, focusing on adjectives, vocabulary, and spelling. They also practice writing short messages.

Language Structures and Conventions: Focus on adverbs, proper nouns, adjectives, simple past tense, and connecting words (and, then, before).

Dragons (Weeks 9-10)

Listening and Speaking: Learners listen to and discuss stories and poems about dragons, focusing on visualization, evaluation, and identifying rhyme and rhythm. They also practice performing poems and playing language games.

Reading and Viewing: Learners engage with poems and word puzzles, focusing on rhyme, rhythm, and word meanings. Supplementary reading may include "Belinda's pet dragon" (DBE Workbook 1, page 64).

Writing and Presenting: Learners write rhyming sentences and simple poems using frames, focusing on rhythm, rhyme, and syllables.

Language Structures and Conventions: Focus on alliteration, syllables, verbs ("to be"), simple past and present progressive tenses, personal pronouns, and vocabulary development.

Term 2

This term builds upon the skills developed in Term 1, introducing more complex texts and activities. Learners continue to develop their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills through engagement with various text types, including stories, informational texts, procedural texts, and poems. Formal assessment includes a narrative essay and responses to literary, non-literary, and visual texts. Emphasis is placed on using a dictionary, expanding vocabulary, and applying language structures and conventions in context. The term culminates in a summative assessment covering oral reading, listening, speaking, and written components.

Term 3

This term focuses on refining language skills and applying them to a wider range of contexts. Learners engage with more complex texts, including stories with dialogue, plays, information texts with visuals, procedural texts, and poems. They develop their ability to summarize information, write descriptions, give short talks, and participate in conversations and role-plays. Formal assessments include tasks related to information texts, visual texts, and plays. The writing process is emphasized, with learners brainstorming, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing their work.

Term 4

This term consolidates the language skills developed throughout the year. Learners engage with various text types, including stories, personal letters, information texts from across the curriculum, media texts, visual texts, and poems. They practice participating in discussions, giving talks, writing news reports, designing posters, and writing book reviews. Formal assessment includes tasks related to information texts, visual texts, and stories with dialogue. The term culminates in a summative end-of-year examination covering oral and written components.

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