10 February 2021

Senior Teaching and Learning Consultant: Natalie Derry

Teaching Grammar in KS1 Spelling and Phonics: What is going well? Is

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• To understand what the National curriculum

grammar requirements are and why teaching

grammar is important.

• To explore how grammar is assessed at the end of

KS1

• To consider the most effective ways to teach

grammar

• To explore some examples of teaching grammar in

context and using engaging grammar games

What are the National curriculum grammar requirements and why is

teaching grammar important?

In 2014, the revised National Curriculum raised the profile of grammar teaching in

primary schools.

The 2014 English National Curriculum states: ‘Explicit knowledge of grammar is very

important, as it gives us more conscious control and choice in our language.’

So, Why do you think it is important to explicitly teach grammar in primary school?

Share your thoughts using the slido link:

Grammar is the business of taking a

language to pieces to see how it works.

Professor David Crystal

The grammar of our first language is learnt naturally and implicitly through

interactions with other speakers and from reading. Explicit knowledge of

grammar is, however, very important, as it gives us more conscious control

and choice in our language.

National Curriculum 2014

It is important that young readers and writers know

about how language is organised to make

meaning.

David Reedy and Eve Bearne

Language study is a vitally important aspect of learning in

English, and grammar is an important strand of language

study, for its own intrinsic interest and for its contribution to

communication and the making of meaning.

UKLA

• What are your recollections of

being taught grammar at primary

school?

• How confident are you of the

grammar expectations by the end

of KS1 and beyond?

Word

Level

Sentence

Level

Text

Level

Punctuation

Terminology

for Pupils

Statutory Requirements outline for Year 1 to Year 6

Choosing the right word for the jobWord level grammar covers verbs and tenses, nouns, adverbs etc. This focuses on the

parts of speech that make a sentence.

Example: adjective, noun, adverb

Constructing and manipulating sentences to create different effects

Sentence level grammar covers explores the different sentence types and what

constitutes a sentence.

Example: phrases, clauses, reported speech

Tying texts together so that writing is linked and flows

Text level relates to the structuring of a text as a whole.

Example: Paragraphs, tense, headings

Punctuation creates sense, clarity and stress in sentences. The variety of

punctuation marks are taught ranging from full stops to dashes.

Example: Question Mark, semi-colon, brackets

Pupils learn to recognise and use the terminology through discussion and

practice. All terms in bold should be understood with the meanings set out in

the Glossary

What are the main

grammar learning points

in KS1?

Handout

The old man jumped quickly over the rusty fence.

He jumped over it.

Where are the nouns?

Where are the adjectives?

Where is the verb?

Where is the adverb?

Where are the pronouns?

Where is the preposition?

And ‘the’ is a ….. ?

Word

Level

The old man jumped quickly over the rusty fence.

He jumped over it.

Nouns-Name the things we talk about

Adjectives-Describe the nouns

Verb-Say what the action is

Adverb- Describe the verb

Pronouns-Stand in the place of a noun

Preposition-Tell you the position of the action

And ‘the’ is a determiner which pin down the

noun precisely.

Word

Level

A. Subordinating conjunction

B. Pronoun C. Noun Phrase D. Suffix

Confident to explain to a

peerNot heard of it

I think I understand it

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

De

finitio

n

Subordinating Conjunction Personal Pronoun Expanded Noun Phrase Suffix

A word that links a subordinate

clause with the clause it is

dependent on, e.g. that, because,

when, although, if. Also called

subordinator.

One of a group of pronouns

used to refer mainly to

people, but also to things.

They can be classified by

person, e.g. I

(speaker/writer: first

person), you (addressee:

second person), she/he/it

(others: third person).

An expanded noun

phrase is a descriptive

clause normally made

up of a noun as well

as one or more

adjectives.

A suffix is an ‘ending’,

used at the end of one

word to turn it into

another word. Unlike root

words, suffixes cannot

stand on their own as a

complete word.

call – called

teach – teacher [turns a

verb into a noun]

Te

ach

ing

Stra

teg

y

Cut up sentences

Use balancing scales

Spot examples in text

Experiment with changing the

position of the conjunction

Use sentence substitution

to investigate replacing

pronouns

Use hot-seating to practice

speaking in first person

Spot Examples when

reading

Zone of relevance

Shared Writing

Word Banks

Spy suffixes in reading

Explore patterns and

investigate rules

Practice spelling root

words

Use magnetic letters to

explore adding different

suffixes

Te

xt T

yp

es

Most Text Types

Most likely In non-fiction such

as non-chronological report,

explanation and instructions.

Writing in role

Post cards

Recount

Diary entry

Narrative

Non-

chronological

report

Most Text Types

‘adding ed’ when

writing past tense

such as diary,

recount or postcard.

How do we assess grammar in primary education?

• In year 2, pupils are tested on their knowledge about grammar,

punctuation and spelling.

• The tests are structured so that they can be easily marked online

so the questions require simply identifying particular grammatical

features.

• In order to perform well in the test, children need to be familiar with

the terminology and able to apply their understanding of

grammatical terms in an unfamiliar and artificial context.

• Since these were introduced, they have been optional at KS1.

It is worth remembering, even if they are successful at this paper,

it tells us nothing about their writing ability nor their ability to

reflect on how authors make grammatical choices for effects.

Remember why grammar is an important skill in life not just for a

test.

• We have moved away from the culture of ‘tick lists’ where children attempted to

‘shoe-horn’ all types of grammar into a piece of writing, where writing ‘ticked all

the boxes’ but did not necessarily flow.

• What we are seeing more and more is pupils being supported to make choices

and select appropriate grammar for specific writing.

• This way writing feels less forced and is more coherent.

The pupil can, after discussion with the teacher:

• write simple, coherent narratives about personal experiences and those of

others (real or fictional)

• write about real events, recording these simply and clearly

• demarcate most sentences in their writing with capital letters and full stops, and

use question marks correctly when required

• use present and past tense mostly correctly and consistently

• use co-ordination (e.g. or / and / but) and some subordination (e.g. when / if /

that / because) to join clauses

• segment spoken words into phonemes and represent these by graphemes,

spelling many of these words correctly and making phonically-plausible attempts

at others

• spell many common exception words*

• form capital letters and digits of the correct size, orientation and relationship to

one another and to lower-case letters

• use spacing between words that reflects the size of the letters.

KS1: Working at Expected Standard

What is the most effective way to teach grammar?

The key to effective use of grammar is to

open children’s eyes to the infinite

repertoire of choices which are available

to them as writers. Used in this way,

grammar helps children understand how

language works and how to express

themselves with greater craft and

creativity

• Research from Safford, Messer, McLachlan and Walker

(2015) looked at the impact that the statutory test has had on

teachers and the teaching of grammar.

• It is no surprise that it concludes that learning has

become ‘routine, explicit and formalised’ and significant time

is spent in preparation for the test.

• Research by Hillocks (1986) and Andrews et al. (2006),

concluded that no evidence exists that the formulaic teaching of

grammar by labelling and identifying items of language use has

any beneficial effect on language production.

• However, there is powerful research evidence, including a large-

scale study from Exeter University (Myhill et al., 2013) that

demonstrates the benefits of relevant grammar when taught

explicitly and in context.

• Teachers who contextualised the study of grammar within the

reading of literature and discussed real life texts reported a

positive impact on pupils’ writing and a deeper knowledge and

understanding of language.

When planning a unit of work for a specific text-

type we as teachers must very clear on the

R.A.F.T of writing, who the writing is for, why we

are writing, what tone it should be written in and

what grammatical features should be

and should not be included. With this in mind,

we can then select the appropriate grammar to

teach.

Reason- Why are they writing? What is the purpose?

Audience- Who are they writing to/for?

Features- What grammatical features should we/should we not

see within this text-type?

Tone-What language and tone should be used?

Plan ahead for the opportunities to teach grammar in context

Text Type Language/grammatical feature

1. Non Chronological Report a. Personal Pronoun I

2. Recount b. Expanded Noun Phrases

3. Character Description c. Past tense

4. Instructions d. Conjunctions

5. Diary Entry e. Comma for list

Text Type Language/grammaticalfeature

Why?

1. Non Chronological Report

Conjunctions Conjunctions allow the writer to include additional information which is necessary when writing a non chronological report.

2. Recount Past Tense A recount recalls information that has happened in the past.

3. Character Description

Expanded Noun Phrases Creates a clearer picture in the mind of the reader.

4. Instructions Comma for list Clarity for reader. No need to use and when including list of resources.

5. Diary Entry Personal Pronoun I Used when writing in first person (Writing in role).

Grammar should be taught within English lessons and support the children’s learning of a specific text-type.

The evidence is clear – the isolated teaching of grammar has very little, if any, impact on children’s writing

content and ability.

• Decide which features you want to focus on and devise games that

help the pupils see how it functions within meaningful text.

• Build the grammar features you are focusing on into the model text to

increase understanding of, and confidence in using these features

Bringing out the Grammar in a text

The goal is to make direct and explicit links between being

a reader and a writer. When we read texts we read like a

reader but we also explore the author’s craft. When we

write, we write like a writer, but also need to imagine the

reader of our writing.’

Myhill, D. (2012) Wordplay: Rethinking Grammar and

Writing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJlLXoaglow What could you draw attention to

in this book?

Personal Pronouns, Proper Nouns, Sentence Types,

Punctuation, Suffixes (er, est, ful) Conjunction and,

contractions, adjectives, nouns, verbs, sentences.

• Hearing and speaking

examples

• Seeing examples in

authentic texts

• Working on texts and

hearing the terminology

used in context

• Experimenting with

techniques

• Using the knowledge to

make choices when

writing

Reading &

Investigation

Explicit Teaching

Discussion and

experimentation

Making controlled

choices

REDM Sequence- The process of teaching grammar in context: Myhill, Reedy

and Bearne

leads to

more

successful

learning

rather than

simply

rehearsing

definitions

Reading &

Investigation

Explicit Teaching

Silly

clever

fast

Strong

cheeky Nasty

Careless

Surprising

A zone of relevance

can be used to select

the most appropriate

adjectives. Words that

are most appropriate

are placed in the

centre and less

relevant vocabulary is

moved away from the

zones target.

Explicit Teaching

Silly

clever

fast

Strong

cheeky Nasty

Careless

Surprising

Does this word

describe the

Naughty Bus?

Children justify choices

using evidence from the

text. The teacher

models the use in

spoken sentence…”

Naughty Bus is cheeky

because he zooms past

the toys.”

Discussion and

experimentation

Teacher models

choosing and writing

adjectives into

sentences which the

pupils then apply in their

own writing of a

description.

When writing

independently, the

children chose

appropriate adjectives.

The teacher also asked

the children to identify

the post powerful

adjectives and explain

why.

Making controlled

choices

Making considered choices ensures that our writing reflects our intentions. This can only

be done properly if we fully understand the purpose of the structures and concepts..

Making controlled

choices

what effect

does this

phrase

have…?’

‘why has the

author chosen

to …?’

The dog darted through the bushes

searching for a place to hide.

The dog meandered through the

bushes looking for a place to settle

Which makes you

feel the most

sympathetic or

which builds

tension more?

Similar structures, but different language

and different effects on the reader. What is

the intention on the reader?

Reading &

Investigation

Explicit Teaching

Discussion and

experimentation

Making controlled

choices

REDM Sequence- The process of teaching grammar in context: Myhill, Reedy

and Bearne

https://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=r_kgmkU8q0M

What could you draw

attention to in this book?

Conjunctions,

Proper nouns,

expanded noun

phrases, range of

sentence types,

proper nouns,

adjectives, nouns,

verbs.

Games that support the idea that a noun is a word that labels or ‘names’ something.

Most nouns can be either singular (only one) or plural (lots of them)

Tent Tents

You can have an adjective before them: The spooky tent.A collective noun is a word that refers to a group: herd of elephants

Proper nouns begin with capital letters and name people, places, organisations and unique things: Leon, Abdul Kazam

All other nouns are common nouns.

Concrete nouns are nouns that name people, place and things that can be experienced through the five senses: Boy, circus, wand

Abstract Nouns name feelings, ideas and concepts Wonder, happiness.

Games that support the idea that a noun is a word that labels or ‘names’ something.

Play I spy and jot down everything they can see. This is a list of nouns.

Games that support the idea that a noun is a word that labels or ‘names’ something.

noun

tent

MemoriesSetting up a tent in the living room

TypesCircus, camping,

wigwam, Den

RhymesWent, sent, bent,

lent, dent

Words that start with the same sound

Table, T-shirt, Ticket

WorldDumbo

Angry

Brave

Cool

Deadly

Emerald

Frosty

Gorgeous

Helpless

Impressive

Cup

Table

Chair

Grass

Tree

Bus

Car

Bike

Computer

parrot

Pencil

Ruler

Desk

Bell

Tower

Forest

Lake

Banana

Carrot

Owl

NOUNS:ADJECTIVES: Jealous

Keen

Lazy

Moody

Naughty

Old

Pale

Quick

Red

Bad

Tall

Pairs-A game-choose six adjectives and six nouns. Write them on your

whiteboard, number them 1-6. Roll a dice and first choose an adj, then

repeat and choose a noun. Use your noun and adjective to make a

sentence. Your sentence has to make sense but can be silly.

Reading &

Investigation

Explicit Teaching

Discussion and

experimentation

Making controlled

choices

• Read the text aloud to the children

• Ensure the children know the meaning of the vocabulary

• Pull out the text and highlight the learning opportunities.

• What do you notice about the words in red?

The boy went into the tent.

The curtains slowly parted.

Nouns

Reading &

Investigation

Explicit Teaching

Discussion and

experimentation

Making controlled

choices

What happens if we change the nouns that we use?

Build a picture: change the noun(s) to make the writing more precise:

Example:The man came into the school with a dog.The policeman came into LaycockPrimary School with a German Shepherd.

Nouns

The boy went into the tent.

The curtains slowly parted.

Reading &

Investigation

Explicit Teaching

Discussion and

experimentation

Making controlled

choices

Discussion: What happens when we change the noun?

Can we change the nouns to make it more precise?

How does this change the impact on the reader?

The toddler went into the Wigwam.

Charlie went into the tent.

The drapes slowly parted.

Reading &

Investigation

Explicit Teaching

Discussion and

experimentation

What nouns can you see in this image?

Choose 3 concrete nouns (e.g. wand, curtain, doorway).

Now choose 3 abstract nouns that explain feelings of characters in the book (e.g. Excitement, kindness, hopefulness).

Now collate your nouns to form an interesting noun phrase

Making controlled

choices

A doorway of disappointment.

A wand of kindness.

A banjo of excitement.

Games that support the concept of a sentence

Is a group of words that creates a unit of meaning Is separated from other sentences by punctuation Starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop, question or

exclamation mark or ellipsis Consists on one of more clauses, one of which will be the main clause Is built around a verb Can be a single word but is usually several words or more that make

sense together.

What we know about sentences:

A sentence…

The sentence

Children are taught that a sentence is ‘a group of words that go together to make sense’. Within that sentence, there are smaller

chunks of sense.

Sentence

Sentences are made up of clauses

Phrases are made up of words

Phrases dogbigA

Clauses are made up of phrases

Clauses made the thief Jump.

dog barkedbig loudly and made the thief Jump.A

Words

dog barkedbig made thief

↓ Reading and investigation

↓ Explicit teaching

↓ Discussion and experimentation

↓ Making controlled writing choices

What are the sentences?Which are the clauses?What are the phrases?What are the words?

Choose a sentence a write it onto a strip of paper.

Now deconstruct the sentence by cutting into parts.

How have you cut it?

How do you know how to put it back together again?

↓ Reading and investigation

↓ Explicit teaching

↓ Discussion and experimentation

↓ Making controlled writing choices

Do all of the

sentences finish at

the end of a line?

Consider the ‘Reading and investigation’ part of the sequence.

How could you support children and address this misconception.

Where’s my other half? When the children have really got to know a book well,

write some of the sentences out on card, and cut each sentence into two parts.

Give the cards out to pairs of children and give them a few moments to read them

together, checking with you or other children for any words they are stuck on. Now

tell the children to find the pair of children with the other half of their sentence and

to go and sit down with them. Ask them to be sure the sentence makes sense and

that it has a capital letter at the beginning and a full stop at the end. Choose two or

three groups of children to read their sentences out.

Leon could smell the magic.

Leon fell down, down until he tumbled onto a carpet.

Sentence Doctor Copy a page of text from a book. Leave

occasional verbs, pronouns or prepositions out, but don’t leave

a space. Read through with the children sentence by sentence,

stopping where they think there’s a word missed out. The

children could write possible words on their dry-wipe boards

and then you could discuss the best of the alternatives.

Leon could the magic.

fell down, down until he tumbled onto a carpet.

Leon could smell the.

Leon fell down, down until tumbled onto a carpet.

Leon fell down, down until he tumbled onto a.

Sentence √ Non-Sentence

Sentence, non-sentence post box activity: Provide sentences

and non-sentences on strips. A child takes a strip and holds it up

and the children read it and decide whether it goes in the

sentences or non-sentences post box.

Leon could the magic.Leon fell down, down until he tumbled onto a carpet.

At last the barrel organ fell silent.

Leon fell down, down until tumbled a carpet.

At last barrel organ fell silent.

Leon could smell the magic.

Jumbled sentences: use magnetic words or words on card to

create sentences:

Leon fell down, down until he tumbled onto a carpet.

Jumble up the words and challenge pupils to order the words

back into the original sentence:

Leon down onto fell a until

he tumbled down carpet.

Check it makes sense.

Discuss whether we can re order the words so it still makes

sense:

Onto a carpet, Leon fell down, down he tumbled.

When children write, ask them to put a small tick at the bottom of

the page as they write each sentence – or count the number of

sentences and write the number down. Encourage them to be

sentence spotters and writers.

Model not including punctuation. Give the children blue tac and

ask them to add it where they think it needs to go. How do they

know?

• What are the different sentence types taught in KS1?

Why has the author

used a question

here? Who is it to?

Discuss other examples of directly asking the reader a

question

Questions??

How else might we teach questions in

context?

‘Pouff!’

Is this an exclamation

sentence?

How might we add one to fit

with this page?

How extraordinary the wizard was!

What an unusual cloud of smoke it was!

An exclamation sentence must start with what or how.

Agree or Disagree?

The exclamatory sentence

• An exclamation is one of the four forms of sentences in the 2014 NC

• An exclamation must be introduced by a phrase with ‘what’ or ‘how’ and should be followed by a subject + verb + any other elements.

• What big teeth you have, Grandma!

• How beautiful Cinderella looks in that dress!

• The exclamation mark can be used in a variety of sentence forms and not just in exclamations.

What big eyes you have!What big ears you have!What large hands you have!What a terribly large mouth you have!

CommandsExplore commands through playful use of language.

What do you get told off for doing?

Discuss with a partner the sorts of things grownups tell you not to do.

Then think about a list of daft things you might be told not to do.

How might we use the context of Leon to teach commands?

CommandsExplore commands through playful use of language.

Walk run swim push pull move stretch open crawl tiptoe hop pour

CommandsExplore commands through playful use of language.

Fantasy Commands:

Walk to the distant mountain.Pick up the first feather that falls from the sky.Ride the purple unicorn until you reach the purple bridge made of clouds.

Command: Hold on tightly to the train.Question: Where are you going to end up?Statement: The boy was holding onto the train.Exclamation: How completely terrified the boy must have been!What a disastrous day it had turned out to be!

Use images and short burst writing to play around with sentence types.

Conjunctions

Conjunctions link things or actions withinsentences.

They are like glue- they help joins words, phrases and clauses.

By joining the parts of sentences together they can turn simple sentences into compound or complex sentences.

Co- ordinating conjunctions

Co-ordinating conjunctions join clauses of equal weight.

So, each clause could be a stand alone sentence.

We tend to use and but or so

It will rain in the morning it will rain in the afternoonand

Co-ordinating conjunctions

When we use these 3 conjunctions and but or to join two main clauses, we make a compound sentence.

It was late and I ran home

I felt ill and I went to bed

I like playing computer games and I like going to the park.

In Y1 we can help pupils to extend their sentences using and.

As pupils progress into Y2 we introduce a wider range of co-ordinating conjunctions but and or .

I like playing computer games but my brother likes playing football.

We can go home on the train or we can go home on the bus.

A compound sentence has more than one action going on. It contains two simple sentences, joined by a co-ordinating conjunction, such as: and, but, or, nor, yet, so, for, neither

The door shut and

Leon could smell the magic.

Painted animals paraded into the ark and a flying machine lurched through the air

Subordinating conjunctions

Subordinate conjunctions introduce a subordinate clause.

We tend to use when, if, although, because, after, until etc.

The use of a comma is optional if the main clause begins the sentence.

We will light the fire it gets darkwhen

Subordinating conjunctions

If the subordinate clause begins the sentence, the end of the clause is signalled by a comma.

We will light the fire

it gets dark,When

Subordinating conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions connect a subordinate clause to a main clause: if when because that

If it rains, we will get wet.

I am hungry because it is tea time.

In Y2 pupils further develop sentence structure using some subordinating conjunctions to make complex sentences.

A complex sentence has a main clause and a subordinate clause.

As Y2 pupils begin to use complex sentences it helps them to express ideas more economically and to show the inter relationship between ideas. Their writing moves on from the relentless and…and…and….and then….

A complex sentence is a simple sentence plus a subordinate clause which adds extra information.

The subordinate clause cannot stand on its own as a sentence, as it doesn’t make sense without the main clause.

When the door shut, Leon could smell the magic.

Can add complexity and sophistication to ideas in your writing; allows you to interweave ideas or express the relationship between ideas

Join it

after but as As soon as

Because while before although

whenever when so immediately

• The teacher smiled…

• The wolf looked up.

• He ran after the girl

The skittles went up ____ they didn’t come down.

The handle began to turn ___ there was no hand upon it.

He threw his arms into the air ____ the magic began.

He stepped up to the stage ____ climbed into the box.

And but

Verbs and tense (past/ present )

• In writing, verbs are very important words because every sentence has to have one.

• Verbs are the words that tell us what’s happening in a sentence, without a verb we couldn’t have a sentence.

These are verbs taken from the text. Organise them into the

table below:

Whisper, believe, fidgeted, look, cough, lit, twitched, parted,

tumbled, flew, rattled, spun, twisted, cheered, clapped, bowed,

bounced, turn, dance.

Yesterday (Past) Today (present)

Whisper

Believe

Lit

dance

Clapped

What do you notice about these verbs:

Flew, lit, spun ?

Reading &

Investigation

Explicit Teaching

Discussion and

experimentation

Making controlled

choices

• Read the text aloud to the children• Ensure the children know the

meaning of the vocabulary• Pull out the text and highlight the

learning opportunities.• Ask the children to repeat parts with

you so they are used to saying …’is…’• What do you notice about the words

in red?

Traction Man is

diving in the foamy

waters of the sink.

He is searching for

the Lost Wreck of

the Sieve.

Present progressive form of Verbs

Reading &

Investigation

Explicit Teaching

Discussion and

experimentation

Making controlled

choices

• Read the text again and scribe down examples from the text of action words with the children’s help.

Present progressive form of Verbs

Traction man…

• Is zooming• Is guarding• Is diving• Is searching• Is crawling• Is wearing• Is speeding• Is sitting

What do you notice about all of these verbs?

They all end in the suffix ing.

Progressive tense verbs end in ing.*

Sentences written in the present progressive tense have the words am, are or is before the verb.

* Opportunity to teach/revise root and suffix

The present continuous tense is used to

describe an action that is happening at

the moment. In Traction Man, it shows

the reader that this is happening right

now!

Reading &

Investigation

Explicit Teaching

Discussion and

experimentation

Making controlled

choices

• What happens if we want to write verbs from the past tense?

• Model changing to past tense verbs and writing in a sentence:

• Traction man zoomed all around.• Traction man dived into the foamy

waters.

Present progressive form of Verbs

Traction man…

• Is zooming• Is guarding• Is diving• Is searching• Is crawling• Is wearing• Is speeding• Is sitting

Children continue to write verbs in the past tense.

Reading &

Investigation

Explicit Teaching

Discussion and

experimentation

Making controlled

choices

• Experiment writing own story and apply present progressive form

• Write post card in role to practice past tense verbs

• Opportunity to develop adverbs: Why has Mini Grey not included these? What might they add for the reader?

Present progressive form of Verbs

• Opportunities to apply learning

• Use drama and props to explore new things that Traction Man might do.

The man got into the car.

Consolidate and revise grammar through short burst writing

opportunities

The boy went into the tent

When did it take place? – e.g. At midnight?

How did he ‘sneak’? – e.g. impatiently?

Where was he? – e.g. Far away?

1.Change the noun

2.Change the verb

3.Add an expanded noun phrase

4.Add a prepositional phrase

5.Add a fronted adverbial

6.Now change the sentence order to add impact

Consider using the following punctuation . ? ! ,

Abc…def!ghi?j.k.l,m,n

opqrstu…v.wxyz!

The slim, thin, slender boy went into the tent.

The youthful boy was young.

The magical magician was magic.

We can always improve our sentences when

we add more information.

Agree or Disagree?

• Children can have the misconception that certain grammatical features have

intrinsic merit. For example: “adding adjectives in makes it more descriptive”,

“avoid simple sentences because they look basic”, or “use complex sentences

because they make the writing look fancier”.

• Sometimes, a simple, but powerful sentence has much more impact than a

longer, more complex sentence.

• Improving writing isn’t about adding lots of adjectives, verbs or adverbs but

about achieving the effect that the writer wants.

Collaborative writing

Create a rhetorical question which includes a modal verb.

Create a command using powerful language.

Describe how the magician moves using a powerful verb.

Describe the magician in a sentence that begins with two

adjectives.

Starting a sentence with an adverb, describe how the magician

looks out at the crowd gathering.

Add a subordinate clause to this sentence to make it more

descriptive.

Excitedly, the magician gazes out with wide eyes.

His stage, which is a magical space, can feel like it is

out of this world.

Hopeful and proud, he is keen to spread his joy.

In what way would you approach this most mysterious

man?

The man of power strides around his stage of wonder.

Believe in magic.

Further Reading:

National Curriculum Glossary: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/244216/English_Glossary.pdf

National Curriculum Grammar appendix: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/335190/English_Appendix_2_-_Vocabulary_grammar_and_punctuation.pdf

University of Exeter writing resources for teachers: http://socialsciences.exeter.ac.uk/education/research/centres/writing/grammar-teacher-resources/grammaraschoice/grammarsubjectknowledge/