Zambia Grade 3 English Syllabus

This syllabus outlines the key components of the Grade 3 English curriculum, focusing on developing listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. It builds upon the foundational literacy skills acquired in prior grades, using a communicative approach to language learning.

General Outcomes

• Acquire listening and speaking skills.
• Acquire reading and writing skills.

Key Competences

• Express feelings, thoughts, experiences, and convictions clearly and effectively in speech and writing.
• Apply life skills to address challenges using English.
• Apply reading skills to comprehend written texts for academic work.

Curriculum Components

The Grade 3 English curriculum is structured around the following core components:

Listening and Speaking

This component emphasizes developing receptive and expressive oral language skills. Topics covered include:

• Conversations: Engaging in dialogues about chores, family responsibilities, and community objects (shops, clinics, etc.).
• Time: Telling time, recalling days of the week and months of the year.
• Storytelling: Retelling traditional and modern stories, sequencing events.
• Puzzles: Recognizing and solving word puzzles.
• Proverbs/Sayings: Recognizing and interpreting simple proverbs.
• Drama: Dramatizing familiar stories, developing voice projection and confidence.
• Poetry and Tongue Twisters: Reciting poems, rhymes, and tongue twisters.
• Occupations: Identifying occupations in the locality and the tools/equipment used.
• Objects in School: Talking about objects found in the school environment.
• Colors: Discriminating colors in different objects.
• Antonyms and Synonyms: Identifying and using antonyms and synonyms.
• Appropriate Language: Using socially acceptable language for expressing gratitude, disapproval, and acknowledgment.
• Animals: Identifying names of wild animals.
• Games: Using language in playing games.
• Community Practices: Discussing good and bad practices in communities.
• Riddles: Recognizing and interpreting riddles.
• Processes: Describing simple processes.

Reading

This component focuses on developing reading comprehension and fluency. Key areas include:

• Reading Words: Reading familiar and new words, including names of wild animals.
• Alphabet: Identifying capital and small letters.
• Pronunciation: Pronouncing words correctly.
• Syllable Identification: Identifying syllables in familiar words.
• Word Formation: Forming words using syllables.
• Sentence Formation: Forming simple sentences.
• Intensive Reading: Practicing silent reading skills.
• Reading Aloud: Reading passages with appropriate pace, pronunciation, and understanding.
• Stories: Identifying themes or central ideas of stories.
• Interpreting Information: Locating information in print resources (charts, graphs, tables, maps).

Writing

This component aims to develop writing skills for various purposes. Topics include:

• Alphabet: Writing capital and small letters, sequencing letters in alphabetical order.
• Handwriting: Writing legibly and neatly using cursive and print.
• Sequencing: Rearranging sentences in a logical sequence to form paragraphs.
• Conjunctions: Using "and" and "but" to join simple phrases.
• Singular and Plural Nouns: Writing plural and singular forms of words.
• Dictation: Taking dictation of sentences and passages.
• Sentence and Paragraph Construction: Constructing short paragraphs on topical issues.
• Punctuation: Punctuating sentences and short paragraphs using capital letters, full stops, commas, and question marks.
• Summarizing: Summarizing simple stories.

Structure

• Tenses: Using simple present and present continuous tenses.
• Punctuation: Correct use of punctuation marks (capital letters, full stop, comma, question mark).

Resources

Textbooks and learning materials are used to support the teaching and learning process. Examples include:

• Longman English Learner's Book Grade 3
• English Matters For Zambia Basic Education Grade 3
• New Zambia Basic Education Course English Grade 3 Pupils Book