Grade 4 English FAL Term 4: Story Writing and End-of-Year Test Prep

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For: Grade 4 English First Additional Language teachers in Term 4.

Term 4 2026 at a glance

Term 4 of 2026 runs from Tuesday 6 October to Wednesday 9 December for learners. Teachers close on Friday 11 December. That is 10 weeks and 47 school days for learners, with no public holidays in the term (source: DBE 2026 school calendar and gov.za school calendar).

The ATP numbers weeks 1 to 10. In 2026 they fall like this:

Term 4 week 2026 dates (Mon to Fri)
Week 1 Tue 6 Oct to Fri 9 Oct
Week 2 12 to 16 Oct
Week 3 19 to 23 Oct
Week 4 26 to 30 Oct
Week 5 2 to 6 Nov
Week 6 9 to 13 Nov
Week 7 16 to 20 Nov
Week 8 23 to 27 Nov
Week 9 30 Nov to 4 Dec
Week 10 7 to 9 Dec (learners’ last day Wed 9 Dec)

Exam and test dates for Grades 4 to 9 are set by your school, district or province, not by one national timetable. Check your school’s own exam timetable before you plan revision days.

Term 4 formal assessment in Grade 4 English FAL

These come from the Grade 4 English FAL ATP (DBE), which Circular S19 of 2025 keeps in use for 2026.

Task What it is
Formal Assessment Task 7: Oral Started in Term 3; presentation on the creative writing project, completed and recorded in Term 4 (formal assessment of the oral in weeks 7 to 8)
Formal Assessment Task 8: Writing Transactional writing (10 marks), written before the controlled test
Formal Assessment Task 9 End-of-year controlled test: Response to texts (40 marks)

The 40 mark controlled test is split like this:

Question Marks
1. Literary or non-literary text comprehension 15
2. Visual text comprehension 10
3. Summary writing 5
4. Language structures and conventions 10

In the Intermediate Phase the promotion mark is 80% SBA and 20% end-of-year. Your school sets the test date.

Story elements lesson (about 60 minutes)

Term 4 in the ATP includes listening to, reading and writing a short story. This lesson supports reading for comprehension and the creative writing oral.

Start (10 minutes). Read a short local story aloud (for example, a folk tale). Ask: who is in the story, where is it, and what goes wrong?

Teach (15 minutes). Build a story map on the board:

Element Question to ask
Characters Who is in the story?
Setting Where and when does it happen?
Problem What goes wrong?
Events What happens next?
Solution How is the problem solved?

Guided practice (15 minutes). In pairs, learners fill in a story map for the story you read.

Independent writing (10 minutes). Learners plan their own story using the map.

Exit ticket (10 minutes). Learners name the characters, setting, problem and solution of a short paragraph you give them.

Test-style practice

Use a short text (about 150 words) and ask:

  1. Who is the main character? (1)
  2. Where does the story take place? (1)
  3. What is the problem in the story? (2)
  4. Write the main idea of the story in one sentence. (2)
  5. Find two verbs in the past tense. (2)
  6. Rewrite one sentence using direct speech with the correct punctuation. (2)

Add a picture, poster or advert for visual text questions, and ask learners to summarise a short information text in a few points for the summary question.

End-of-year revision checklist (Grade 4 English FAL)

  • ☐ Read a short text and answer literal and inferential questions
  • ☐ Answer questions about a poster, advert or cartoon
  • ☐ Write a summary in a few points or sentences
  • ☐ Use nouns, verbs, adjectives, tenses and punctuation correctly
  • ☐ Use direct speech with quotation marks
  • ☐ Plan and write a short story with a beginning, middle and end
  • ☐ Practise the oral presentation

Related CAPS123 pages

Disclaimer

CAPS123 is not an official Department of Basic Education site. Topics, weeks and marks here come from the DBE Annual Teaching Plans and circulars linked on this page. Always check the official ATP index and your school’s assessment programme and exam timetable.