Composition
Free NZ teacher resources
Year 4 Writing Practice Statement trackers
A simple tracker for your class. Practice Statements down the left, ten student-name spaces across the top, and blank cells to use your way.
Choose a strand below. Write in the names, then add your own ticks, dates, codes or notes. For a class of 25, print three copies of the tracker.
Choose a tracker by strand
Each preview shows the first page of that PDF. Longer strands continue over several pages, with space for the same ten names on every page.
Prefer to work online? Choose Copy to Google Sheets to make your own editable copy in your Google account. The original is view-only. Add student names and notes to your own copy, and add more student columns if needed.
In Composition, Transcription Skills and Writing processes, each curriculum subcategory starts on a new page within its strand PDF. Longer subcategories continue under the same heading.
Practice Statements included
These trackers cover all 51 stored Year 4 Writing Practice Statements, organised into their curriculum strands and skill groups.
Composition
Audience, purpose, and language choice
- Identifying the audience and purpose for a text
- Planning and writing with the audience in mind, by selecting the appropriate text type, language register, and words to best communicate the intended meaning
- Selecting and using words and phrases appropriate to the purpose of writing
- Using figurative language, such as similes and metaphors, to create vivid images and engage the reader
Sentence structures, grammar, and punctuation
- Identifying fragments and run-on sentences
- Combining sentences orally, inserting phrases, and varying the position of the phrase
- Using a range of sentence structures and types to suit the purpose of the writing and enhance its impact
- Expanding sentences using adverbial phrases
- Using beginning and ending sentence punctuation correctly and consistently throughout multi-paragraph texts
- Using commas correctly with independent clauses, adverbs, and adverbial phrases, with some support
- Using speech marks and commas correctly for direct speech, with some support
Writing to entertain
- Writing texts to entertain that reflect personal experiences and knowledge
- Writing texts to entertain that contain narrative elements: character, setting, problem/purpose, plan, action, resolution
- Writing texts to entertain that begin to include paragraphs to organise events
- Writing texts to entertain that include time connectives
- Writing texts to entertain that begin to include dialogue
- Writing texts to entertain that begin to include sensory details
- Writing texts to entertain that describe characters' thoughts and feelings
- Writing texts to entertain that provide a sense of closure
- Writing texts to entertain that include poetic language, devices, and structures
Writing to inform
- Writing texts to inform that reflect personal experiences and knowledge
- Writing texts to inform that introduce a topic, and group information together using simple paragraphs
- Writing texts to inform that begin to include linking words and phrases (e.g. 'also', 'another', 'together with')
- Writing texts to inform that include topic-related vocabulary
- Writing texts to inform that have a concluding statement
Writing to persuade
- Writing texts to persuade that reflect personal experiences and knowledge
- Writing texts to persuade that introduce a topic and state their opinion
- Writing texts to persuade that organise writing into one or more paragraphs, with supporting reasons for their opinion
- Writing texts to persuade that begin to include some linking words and phrases (e.g. 'because', 'for example', 'also') to connect their opinions with the reasons
- Writing texts to persuade that provide a concluding statement
Transcription Skills
Handwriting
- Handwriting with increasing fluency, while maintaining legibility, when writing multi-paragraph texts
- Organising their writing environment, including their seating position and the position of their book
Spelling
- Spelling words with: <ea>, <ey> representing /long a/; <y>, <ey> representing /long e/; <igh>, <y>, <ie> representing /long i/; <oe> representing /long o/; <ew>, <ue> representing /oo/ as in 'mood'
- Spelling words with: soft c: <c> representing /s/; soft g: <g> representing /j/ (both usually followed by the letter 'e', 'i', or 'y')
- Spelling words with prefixes (un–, dis–, re–) and suffixes (–est, –ful, –less)
- Spelling contractions for two-word phrases ending with have, would, will (e.g. 'I've', 'he'd', 'she'll')
- Adding an apostrophe to show singular possession (e.g. 'the dog's bowl')
- Using common homophones correctly (e.g. correctly distinguishing between 'their', 'there', and 'they're'; 'your' and 'you're'; and 'we're' and 'where')
- Adding a vowel suffix to one-syllable CVC words by doubling the final consonant (e.g. 'hop' ➝ 'hopping')
- Using the correct spelling pattern for words ending with a consonant and '–le' (e.g. 'table')
Writing processes
Drafting
- Transferring ideas from planning organisers or mnemonics into sentences
- Writing a non-fiction paragraph that has a topic sentence, detail sentences, and a concluding sentence
- Writing a fiction paragraph or a poem stanza that has a clear focus and uses descriptive or figurative language
Planning
- Using organisers to organise and plan writing
- Making notes, reducing information into key words and phrases
- Setting and working towards specific writing goals based on reflection on their own writing content and processes
Revising and editing
- Rereading to check at the sentence, paragraph, and whole-text level
- Making simple revisions to their texts to improve the clarity for the intended audience and purpose (e.g. replacing words, adding sentences, using audience and peer feedback)
- Making edits to draft paragraphs using known punctuation
- Using a word card or simple dictionary to find the spellings of unknown words
- Giving feedback to and receiving feedback from peers
More class trackers
More Writing trackers: Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8
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