Download Reading - Hillcrest Primary School

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Introduction
Why homework?
Whether an official task set by your child’s class teacher or a self-generated
activity, we believe that home-based learning can help:
 nurture a positive association with learning
 encourage young people to develop their skills
 enhance and extend school-based learning by consolidating and
reinforcing knowledge, understanding and skills
 support the attitude that learning is not confined to the classroom
 promote the range of learning opportunities on offer beyond school
 improve links between school and home
 recognise the rewards of independent study
 build self-confidence
 provide parents with opportunities to support their children as they learn
and to become more involved in the process
Official Homework
 Each week your child will receive phonics (Yr 1), spelling (Yr 2-6) and
Mathletics (Yr 1-6) tasks to work on at home, alongside regular reading.
 At the start of each term they will also receive a treasure trove of topic
ideas: open-ended research, design, writing and performance projects
in which they can demonstrate one or more of our four elements.
This pack is designed for all those other occasions.
When you want a story that will really tap into an interest they’ve shared with
you, when you want to use and apply their number skills, when you want to
broaden their general knowledge, when you want to explain a scientific
process, when you want to help them edit and improve a piece of self-led
writing…the possibilities are endless.
Here you will find ideas to help you stimulate and support your child’s learning.
Bridget Norman (Maths Leader) & Ellie Swain (English Leader)
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Contents
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Reading
Punctuation
Grammar
Spelling
Glossary
Useful literacy websites
Recommended reading
Other websites
p.4
p.13
p.14
p.18
p.26
p.45
p.46
p.48
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Reading
Reading is brilliant.
Listen to your child, share a book with your child, read
to your child…
But, as well as nurturing a love of books, think about
extending their outlook beyond story time and facilitate an awareness of
and interest in anything and everything: newspaper headlines, road
signs, menus, advertisements, timetables etc.
Just strive to make any reading an enjoyable and enriching experience.
Yes, you will need to focus on the technicalities as well, but all that is so
much easier if your child has a positive association with the whole idea
of reading.
Reading feeds into your child’s engagement with speaking, listening and
writing so all your child’s other literacy skills will benefit.
Feed and fire the imagination, nurture a love of language, show them the
world…and the rest will follow.
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Reading Comprehension – Understanding the Text
Comprehension is really important too, so make sure you find time to talk about the
text. And by ‘the text’, we’re talking ANYTHING. A film poster, a magazine, a poem,
a newspaper article, an advert, a letter…don’t just stop at stories.
There are a range of comprehension skills to get to grips with. Below you will find a
bank of questions to draw on when you are reading with your child to help develop
these skills.
1. Read a text accurately, fluently and expressively
To do this successfully, children need to be able to:
 blend phonemes
 break longer words into syllables
 pay attention to punctuation
 scan text for clues
 read ahead for meaning
 recognise when their reading doesn’t make sense and self-correct
 use appropriate expression
2. Understand, describe, select or retrieve information, events or ideas from
the text
1. Where does the story take place?
2. When did the story take place?
3. What did [insert character’s name] look like?
4. Where do the characters live?
5. Who is the main character? Who are the main characters?
6. What happened in the story?
7. What kind of people are in the story?
8. What happened after…?
9. Can you tell me why…?
10. Describe what happened at/when…
11. Find the bit where…
12. How many…?
13. Who was it that…?
14. Can you name the…?
15. Describe what happened at…?
16. Who spoke to…?
17. Can you tell me why…?
18. Where did it tell us…?
19. Which is true or false…?
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3. Deduce, infer and interpret information in the text
1. What does the word [insert word] imply/make you think of?
2. If you were going to interview/ask a character a question, who would you ask
and what would your question be?
3. What do you think will happen because of…?
4. What do you think happened before the story began?
5. Through whose eyes is the story told?
6. Why do you think [insert name of character] feels…?
7. If it was you, what would you do next?
Why?
8. How have the characters changed
during the story? What has brought
about these changes?
9. Predict what you think is going to
happen next. What makes you think
this?
10. How do you know that…?
11. What does the main character feel at this point in the story? How do you know
this? Can you pick out a word/phrase/sentence?
12. Can you describe in your own words…?
13. What do you think could have happened next…?
14. Who do you think…?
15. What was the main idea…?
16. Who was the main character?
17. Can you explain…?
18. What differences exist between…?
19. Can you provide an example of what you mean?
20. Can you provide a definition for…?
21. What did [insert name of character] do/say to make you think…?
4. Structure and organisation of the text (What does it look like?)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
How do headings help you when you scan the text?
How does the layout help the reader?
How does the title of the story encourage you to read more?
Some of the text is printed in a different way. Why do you think the writer has
done this?
Why has the author repeated structures such as specific word s and/or
phrases?
What is the purpose of the pictures/diagrams/illustrations?
Why did the author choose to change paragraphs here?
Why has the author used ‘fact boxes’ for key points?
Why has the author started each section with a question?
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10. What is the purpose of the chapter titles?
11. Which words tell you what order to follow?
12. What is this section about?
13. Can you describe the way the author organises this section?
14. What do you notice about the beginning/end of each paragraph?
15. What text features are used? (captions, sub-headings, fonts, illustrations etc.)
Why? How successful do you think these are?
5. The writer’s use of language (including grammatical features)
1.
2.
3.
4.
What does [insert word/phrase] mean?
Which words has the author used to make the writing sound formal/informal?
Can you come up with a formal/informal alternative?
Why has the author used…? (italics, bold font, exclamation marks, headings,
bullet points, captions etc.)
5. What has the author used in the text to make this character [insert
characteristic e.g. funny, sad, angry etc.]?
6. Think of another word you could use here. What different
effect would your word have?
7. As a reader, how do you feel about this character? What
makes you feel that way?
8. Can you find any examples of
similes/metaphors/personification in the story? What
effect do they have?
9. Find some adjectives/nouns/verbs/adverbs that help you picture the
setting/character/action in your mind.
10. Find a sentence that encourages you to want to read more of the story.
11. Can you pick out any punctuation/grammatical features that you think are
used effectively?
12. Why do you think the author has used [insert particular word, punctuation
mark or grammatical feature] here?
13. Why do you think this word is effective here?
14. What do you notice about the length of the sentences in this section?
15. What is the impact of…?
6. The writer’s purposes and viewpoint
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
What is the writer’s view of…?
What is the purpose of this text?
Who is the audience for this text?
Do you think there is another way of looking at this issue?
Do you share the author’s/character’s view of…?
Which words are used to persuade us that…?
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7. What makes you think that [insert name of character] is thinking/feeling…?
8. What does the author want us to feel about…?
9. What would you say to [insert name of character] to make him/her see things
differently?
10. How has the author made you think differently about…?
11. Can you think of another story that has a similar theme?
12. Why has the author chosen this setting?
13. What makes this a good story/information text?
14. What effect do you think the story has on the reader?
15. Could the story/information text be better? What would you suggest?
16. What impression does the author want to give of this character? Why? And
how do you know?
17. What is the purpose of this paragraph? (E.g. time has passed)
18. What question would you like to ask the writer of the story?
19. Who is this advert trying to persuade?
20. Does the article/story try to get you to care about anything?
21. Many stories have messages. What is the message of this story?
7. Relate the story to its social, historical or cultural tradition
1. Do you know any other stories like this? (E.g. good over evil, wise over
foolish)
2. Where is the story set?
3. How is the hero/heroine in the story similar to others you have read about?
4. What does the story remind you of?
5. Does the story remind you of anything that has happened to you?
6. How would you have felt in that situation?
7. What might you have done instead?
8. What other stories have similar openings/endings to this one?
9. Have you read any other books by [insert name of author]?
10. How do the stories compare?
11. What are the clues that tell us that this is [insert historical setting e.g. Victorian
London]?
12. Who is this character similar to? Why?
13. In what ways is this piece typical of/different from other [insert text type e.g.
newspaper report/Greek myths]?
14. Do [insert character type e.g. Greek Gods] usually behave/think in this way?
15. If you were living in [insert period in history e.g. World War II] how would you
interpret this text differently? Why?
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Reading Challenges
Here are some activities your child may enjoy. These could be done independently or
as a shared activity.

Give your book marks out of ten and explain in three sentences why you have given
it that mark.
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Draw a picture of your favourite part of the story. Colour it in and explain what you’ve
drawn.

Write down any new words you have come across in your book and look them up in
the dictionary. Record what each word means.

Draw a picture of your favourite character/s in the book. Write down their name/s and
what you have learnt about them from your reading.

Write about your favourite part in the story and explain why you liked it.

Write down five questions you could ask someone about this book to check whether
they have read it carefully.

Give your book marks out of ten and explain in three sentences why you have given
it that mark.

Draw a picture of your favourite part of the story. Colour it in and explain what you’ve
drawn.

Write down any new words you have come across in your book and look them up in
the dictionary. Record what each word means.

Draw a picture of your favourite character/s in the book. Write down their name/s and
what you have learnt about them from your reading.

Write about your favourite part in the story and explain why you liked it.

Write down five questions you could ask someone about this book to check whether
they have read it carefully.

Draw a picture of one of the settings in the story. Where is this place? What happens
there?
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
Copy out three sentences or phrases you really liked in this book. Why did you like
each of them?

Draw a poster to advertise the book you have read. Make sure you write on the
poster why people should read it.

Find five to ten interesting words in this book. Write down what
each one means. Then use each word in a sentence of your
own.

Draw a picture of one of the characters in the book. Find and
copy at least three things the writer says about this person.

Make notes about the story under these headings: opening,
build-up, dilemma, resolution.

Make up a wordsearch or crossword based on the book.

Write about the main character in the story. Choose five to ten words to describe his
or her behaviour. Give an example for each one. E.g. Sally is foolish when she goes
to the mill by herself.

Pick a descriptive word from the text, write it down and use a thesaurus to find 5
words that mean something similar and five words that mean the opposite.

Re-write a section as a playscript. Remember to include the correct features of a
playscript, including setting, names of characters and stage directions.

Pretend you are one of the characters in the book. Who will you be? Write your diary
for one day in the story.

Draw a large picture of one of the settings used in the story. Label everything in the
picture, using words and phrases from the book if you can.

Which chapter or part of the story so far is the most important? Explain what happens
in this section and why you think it’s important.

Write a letter to your friend telling him or her a bit about this book. Explain why you
think they ought to read it.

Do you think the writer uses language (words) in an interesting way? Find three to
five examples, copy them out and explain why you like them.
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
Think of five questions you would like to ask one of the characters in your book. Then
write the answers as if you were that character.

Write an interview between you and the main character of your book. Be sure you
write detailed responses for your characters.

Which character in this book are you most like? Which character do you like the
most? Which character do you least like? Explain your answers.

Construct a timeline to show all the main events in the story in the order they happen.

Write a summary of the story in only fifty words.

Make a list of as many adjectives and adverbs as
you can from the book. Choose five and use a
thesaurus to write a synonym for each one.
Extension: think of an antonym for each one.

What do other characters think or say about the main character? Why do they feel
this way?

Write a poem describing a place or a person in the story you’re reading.

Write a newspaper report about an important event including a headline, quotes
taken from interviews with people involved and pictures.

Imagine you are one of the characters. Draw a picture diary or comic strip recording
the key events that happened in the story. Add a comment about how you felt.

Write a list of features of your non-fiction book. Does it have a contents? An index?
How many features can you find?

Copy a sentence from your book and answer these questions: What tense is it
written in? (past/present/future) How do you know? Is it written in the 1st, 2nd or 3rd
person or is no-one referred to at all? Does it contain any speech? What is the
sentence about?

Find five to ten technical words that you don’t know and write your own glossary to
explain what they mean. Use a dictionary to help you.

Find any ten words in your book. Now put them into alphabetical order.

Read through three paragraphs in your book
and make notes on the most important points.

Make a list of as many adjectives and adverbs
as you can from the book. Choose five and use a
thesaurus to write other words that mean something
similar.

Make up a word search or crossword based on the book.
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
Draw a poster to advertise the book you have read. Make sure you write on the
poster why people should read it.

Think about five questions you would like to find out answers to when reading your
book.
Non-fiction

Write down five to ten interesting facts that you have found out in your reading.

Choose your favourite section from your book. Read each sentence and write down
the key words and phrases to summarise it.

Choose your favourite section from your book and summarise the main points.

What have you learnt from reading this book?

Draw a diagram of something mentioned in your book and label it with relevant
information.

Use the contents and/or index and/or glossary to look something up.

Discuss the way the text has been presented. Consider font, headings, captions,
labels, diagrams, questions
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Punctuation
Some children respond extremely positively to a kinaesthetic learning approach. Try
giving each punctuation mark a sound effect and an action (see table below for some
suggestions). By reading a sentence/passage aloud (including the punctuation)
children are made more aware of the role the punctuation is playing, and its
importance in shaping the sentence and conveying the correct meaning. It’s also a
lot of fun!
Punctuation Mark
Action
Sound effect
Full stop
Dot your finger on the palm Bop
of your hand
Capital letter
Take a top hat off
Ta-dah!
Comma
Make a comma shape with
your whole hand
Whoosh
Brackets
Make brackets signs with
your hands
Big hug
Exclamation mark
Make a surprised face
Make a surprised noise
Question mark
Draw out a question mark
with your finger
Make a confused sound
Inverted commas (speech
marks)
Make sign with two fingers
representing each inverted
comma
Make typewriter sound
Ellipsis
Make three dots in a line in
the air with your finger
Say ‘duh-duh-duh’ in your best
dramatic cliffhanger voice
As your child moves on to other punctuation marks, such as colons, semi-colons and
hyphens, encourage them to come up with their own action and sound.
Bop It
Show the children sentences and ask them to identify the missing punctuation using
their sounds and actions.
Punctuation Hat
Pick a punctuation mark card out of a hat and attach/give it to Player 1 so that they
are unable to see it. All other players can see it. Everyone composes and shares
sentences that use the punctuation mark with Player 1, whose job it is to try and
work out what it is.
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Grammar
In this section, you will find a range of fun and engaging grammar games and
activities for two or more people to play.
Guess my…
Players take it in turns to select an example of the chosen word
class e.g. adjectives and act it out. The others have to guess what it
is.
Which Word Class?
Put signs around the room that say verb, adverb, adjective and
noun. Call out a word that is an example of one of these (e.g. charged for verb) and
the other player/s must move to the correct sign. Extend by adding other
grammatical terminology e.g. preposition.
Articulate
Display words on a wall behind a child. Ask the rest of the group to give them clues
to guess each word. Excellent for developing knowledge and understanding of word
classes.
Taboo
Create cards with key grammar and/or punctuation terminology at the top, and
underneath a list of all the words they are not allowed to use when they are
trying to get their teammates to work it out.
Catch
Each player has a tennis ball and must throw it up in the air, say aloud an example of
the given grammar focus (e.g. adverbs, sequencing connectives, pronouns etc.) then
catch it. Give them a time limit and see how many they can come up with.
Extend by adding a clap before the catch and/or a more challenging grammar focus
(e.g. third person pronouns.
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Clapping
This is a great way to develop children’s vocabulary. Learn a simple clapping
sequence e.g. clap separately; diagonal clap with partner; other diagonal with
partner; high ten partner. When it comes to the high ten, take it in turns to say a
word that fits the brief e.g. proper nouns. Count how many you manage as a pair,
without hesitating, muddling the clapping routine or choosing an incorrect example.
N.B. This can be applied to any area of the curriculum (or simply to improve general
knowledge) e.g. 3D shapes, sports, French colours, capital cities of Europe,
mountain ranges etc.
Scattergories
Each player chooses a literacy focus e.g. connective. Players agree on a letter.
(You can of course pick a letter out of a bag/hat.) Each player must think of a word
for each category e.g. For the letter b and the following categories, a player might
choose:
adjective: bashful
connective: because
punctuation mark: brackets
verb in the past tense: bellowed
At the end of the allocated time, each player reads out their list. Any words
another player has are crossed out; a point is given for every correct word.
Odd One Out
Player A shares three words with the other player/s, one of which isn’t an example of
their chosen word class e.g. nouns: tree - forgot - nightmare. The other player/s
must identify the odd one out and explain why e.g. forgot is not a noun because it
has a tense (in this case the past) so it is a verb.
You can make this trickier by planting contrasting word classes which share a similar
spelling/same ending etc. For example:
adverb
cautiously
lovely
energetically
The odd one out is lovely because it’s an adjective - even though it ends in –ly which
is typical of an adverb.
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Snap! & Pairs
Choose a literacy focus e.g. synonyms. Create a pack of word cards comprising of
matching synonyms e.g. lazy/sluggish; annoyed/frustrated;
elegant/graceful. Players take it in turns to turn over one of the
cards from their pile (Snap!) or two cards from the face down
arrangement on the table (Pairs). The aim of the game is to
spot/find a pair.
Grammar Gladiators
Requires three players. Put up key words on the wall/fridge e.g. different types of
nouns. Two players stand side by side in front of the words, each holding a ruler or
other pointing device. Call out a word e.g. chair and the first player to hit the right
answer wins.
Mallet’s Mallet (themed rather than word association though)
Sit two players on chairs facing each other. Select a category e.g. synonyms,
connectives etc. Each child has to give an answer related to the category without
any repetition or hesitation. The first player to falter, repeat or answer incorrectly
loses (and gets a gentle bop on the head) and becomes the setter.
Get creative with your name for this (and any other) game. The more of a personal
connection the player/s feel with it, the more motivated they’ll be.
N.B. The traditional word association version is still an excellent option too, for
developing children’s thinking, speaking and listening skills.
Catch
Catching is a great way of engaging and focusing children. Pick a theme e.g.
alternatives for said. When the ball is passed, the catcher must give an example of
the theme before passing it to another player.
Alphabet Challenge
Create alphabets of a particular word class e.g. verbs
a = attack
b = boast
c = cajole
Extend by prescribing the tense they must be written in, or stick with the infinitive.
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Story Sack
Put some interesting items in a bag. Take it in turns to pull something out of the
sack. Decide on a writing focus. (See examples below.) Use it as a stimulus for
sentence composition featuring the agreed focus.



Use an adverb to tell the next part of a story
e.g. Staring intently, I noticed a shiny coin (the item pulled out of the sack)
nestled in the long grass.
Describe the item using two adjectives
e.g. The scarf (the item pulled out of the sack) was torn and stained.
Use a verb as an opener
e.g. Creeping down the stairs, Billy’s heart was racing with excitement.
Item pulled from sack: Christmas stocking
N.B. Explore the use of objects as a stimulus for other genres too e.g. persuasive
letter/advert; recount; nonsense poetry.
For example:
Sell the item using a rhetorical question
e.g. Want perfect locks? (Item pulled from the sack: a hairbrush)
Real Life SPAG shockers
Identify, explain and correct SPAG errors in a real life context e.g. shop signs.
Move it
Physical activities are a great time to consolidate core literacy skills e.g. verbs and/or
adverbs: take it in turns to travel in different ways for the other player/s to describe.
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Spelling
Strategies
1. Context
Learning words in context is great for your child on several levels:
 ensuring they understand the meaning of the word
 aiding their recall of the spelling
 reinforcing their punctuation and grammar skills
Challenge your children to create a sentence which uses both/all their focus words
Correctly give them a sentence with a missing focus word/s and challenge them to
select the correct one/s. Make an informed choice as to whether to give them all the
options as a visual reference, or not.
2. Sounding Out
Use knowledge and understanding of sound/grapheme representation and the
ability to discriminate sounds and the beginning, middle and end of words to
sound a word out. N.B. Only works with phonetically regular words.
3. Tapping Out Syllables
Break multisyllabic words up into their beats e.g. fan-tas-tic.
4. Breaking it Down
Take the word and break it into manageable chunks (that are not necessarily
syllables) e.g. un – com – for – table.
Sometimes there will be a root word from which variations are made e.g.
smile > smiling.
5. Analogy - Linking Similarities
Prompting your child to think of known words and common letter strings can help
guide the spelling of unfamiliar words.
For example: use words that you already know to help you e.g. could;
would; should.
6. Spelling by Rhyme
If children can think of words that rhyme with the word they are trying to spell,
they can use this tactic to guide them towards producing the correct word.
7. Illustrate
Illustrate each word with a picture
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8. Flashcards
Make a set of flashcards to reinforce rapid recall.
9. A Funny Saying
Make up a sentence to help remember the word e.g. could = (c) o u lucky duck
10. Using Your Own Voice
Hearing you own voice leaves a stronger memory trace. Get children to record
themselves saying the letter names and the word. Play the recording, stop it and
write the word.
11. Spelling Bee
Spell your words out loud to someone at home.
12. Does it Look Right?
Some children may be able to write a word and then, by looking at it, be able to
decide if it looks right.
13. Shaping Up
Does the word have a special shape? Are there any tall letters (sticks/poles) or
dangly letters (tails)?
14. Say it Wrong to Spell it Right
If it helps to remember the spelling, try intentionally pronouncing the word incorrectly
e.g. def - i (as in I)- nitely; Feb - ru - ary
15.Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
Make up words to practise using common roots e.g. –cious (delicious)
e.g. fabulicious, terrificous etc.
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Spelling – Practise Practise Practise!



little and often
find what works for your child
keep it fresh and fun
Spelling Scramble
Scramble a word (in alphabetic magnetic letters, Scrabble/Bananagrams tiles, in
written form etc.) for children to rearrange/rewrite correctly.
Extend them by muddling up a series of words (using the same spelling pattern or a
random selection), using a different colour for each word.
Take a Step if…
Give each player a word. Children start the game at the opposite end of the space to
the leader. The leader gives a specific instruction e.g. Take a step forward if your
word contains the x sound/phoneme. The first child to reach the leader wins.
Spelling Poem
Write a poem using as many of your spellings as possible. Underline your spelling
words.
Hangman
Play Hangman with your spellings.
Sign Language
Use sign language to spell your words.
Spelling Flowers
Draw a big flower. Write your words on the petals and/or
leaves.N.B. This can be adapted for all sorts of objects.
Read all about it!
Cut out letters from old magazines and newspapers, combine them
to form your spellings and glue them into a book.
Match Up
Record each of your spellings twice, on two separate pieces of
paper/card. Turn the whole set over. Take it in turns to turn two card
over. If they match, you get to keep the pair and have another go.
Snap!
Record each of your spellings twice, on two separate pieces of paper/card. Shuffle
and deal out all the cards. Take it in turns to turn over one of your cards. The first
player to call ‘Snap!’ when two consecutive cards match wins all the cards that have
played to that point.
Rhyme Time
Write each spelling. Next to it, write a rhyming word (real or nonsense).
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Hopscotch Words
Make a hopscotch with chalk. Give each square a letter/selection of letters. Hop out
your word.
The Game of Not Quite the Same
Take a pair or group of similar words that the child often
confuses and challenge them to select the appropriate one to fill
the blank in a sentence. Here are some common culprits:
where/were; bought/brought; thought/though/through;
which/with.
Example challenge: At the weekend I ____ Anthony Horowitz’s
new novel. (bought/brought)
Word Sandwiches
Take the beginning of one word and the end of another to make up a word that
means a combination of both e.g. scared + brave = scave
Trace Around
Write spellings. Trace around them with a crayon/coloured pencil/pen.
Type ‘Em
Type your spellings on the computer. Give each word a different font.
Charades
Play charades with your words. Once someone has guessed it, spell it.
Colour
Assign a particular colour to each word. Sometimes the association of a colour can
help trigger the memory.
Scrabble
Use Scrabble tiles to spell out your words. Work out how many points each number
will have.
Morse Code
Use Morse Code to spell the word.
Words Without Vowels
Write your spellings in a list; replace all the vowels with a line. Then go back to the
beginning and see if you can fill in the correct vowels.
Words Without Consonants
See above but adapt for consonants.
Make Some Music
Write a song or rap incorporating your spellings.
Record Yourself
Record yourself spelling your words aloud. Play back and check if you were right.
21
Spelling Baseball
Draw four bases or use four markers. The pitcher selects a word. If the
batter can spell a word correctly, move forward one base. One point earned
every time you pass the home plate.
Squiggly Spelling
Write your words in squiggly letters.
Dot to Dot
Write your words in dots then connect the dots within each letter with a pen.
Vowels & Consonants
Write out your spellings. Circle all the vowels; draw a square around all the
consonants. (The way you choose to identify each is of course up to you.)
Objects
Arrange objects, such as pieces of pasta, to spell out your words.
Feel the Words
Write your words in different textures e.g. sand, shaving foam etc.
Pyramid
Write out all your spellings in the shape of a pyramid.
Telephone
Use the telephone keypad to type out the letters of each of your spellings. What
phone number has your word made?
Word Search
Create a word search containing all your spellings.
Crossword
Create a crossword featuring all your spellings as answers to the clues.
Fair & Square
A game for two (or more) players. Make a square of four (or more) dots. When
someone spells one of their words correctly, they can connect two of their dots.
Once a square has been made, that player writes their intials inside the box. The
winner is the player with the most boxes.
ABC
Write out your words in alphabetical order. Try writing them in reverse alphabetical
order too.
Flash Writing
In a darkened room (or outside at night), use a torch to write words in the air.
22
Air Write
Write your spellings in the air using your finger.
Back it Up
Use your finger to write out a word on your child’s back. Can they work out which of
their spellings it is? Swap over.
Fancy Pants
Write each word using fancy writing
Pass the Word
Roll/throw/kick a ball back and forth with a partner, spelling out each letter of the
word with each pass.
Choo Choo Words
Write all your spellings as one entire word, end-to-end like a
train. Use a different colour and/or style for each word.
Bubble Letters
Write each spelling using bubble letters.
Acrostic Poem
Choose one of your spellings. Record it down the left-hand side
of the page. Compose a poem using each letter of your spelling
word as the start of a line.
Three Times
Write a word out three times, each time with a different implement.
Advertise your Spelling
Create a 30 second radio ad including some/all of your spelling words.
Adding up
Give letters a value (e.g. use Scrabble scoring system or make consonants 10 points
and vowels 5 points). Calculate the total of each word.
Hidden Words
Draw and colour a picture. Hide your spellings inside your picture.
Can a partner find your words?
Rainbow Write
Write your spellings in red. Repeat in orange, yellow, green, blue,
indigo and violet to create the arcs of a rainbow.
or
Just keep rewriting the whole word in an arc, using a different
colour each time, so that the end result actually looks like a rainbow.
Story Time
Write a paragraph of a (silly) story using all your spellings.
23
Across & Down
Write each word across and down,
Spell-er-size
Pretend you are a cheerleader and chant the letters in each word.
Secret Agent Words
Number the alphabet from 1-26. Convert words into a number code. Challenge each
other with sets of numbers that the other player must decode to uncover the spelling.
Code Words
Similar to ‘Secret Agent Words’, make up a symbol for each letter of the alphabet.
Write your spellings in code.
Driving round the Alphabet
Using a toy vehicle, travel back and forth through a visual representation of the
alphabet (e.g. poster, handwritten version), stopping at each letter in the word and
saying it aloud.
Double Trouble
Attach two different writing implements together (e.g. a
pen and a pencil) and write your spellings out.
Colour your vowels/consonants/syllables
Colour specific parts of each spelling in using a
particular colour.
Riddle Me
Compose a riddle for each word.
Change Hands
Write your words with your dominant writing hand, then have a go with your nondominant hand. How do they compare?
Scrambled Hands
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Fold a piece of paper into three columns.
Write your spellings in the first column
Write them in the second column, but this time all jumbled up
Fold the correct answers behind the page
Unscramble the letters to form the correct spelling
24
Other Things to Bear in Mind…
Speak Now or Forever Spell it Wrong

Place a big emphasis on spoken English and feed that into the written form.
For example, if a child says ‘fink’ or ‘brover’, it is unlikely that they will go on to
spell it correctly as ‘think’ or ‘brother’.

Similarly, pronounce words like ‘our’ as ow-er, rather than ar, to help your
child make the distinction between ‘our’ and ‘are’.

The same goes for phrases. A commonly mispronounced (and subsequently
misspelt) example throughout KS2 is ‘of’, rather than ‘have’, in the context of
phrases such as ‘would have’.

Correct a child’s spoken English if it is grammatically incorrect e.g. ‘done’ for
‘did’, ‘brung’ or ‘brang’ for ‘brought’ etc.
Ownership

Promote spelling at home by maintaining an interactive display of the weekly
spelling focus, where children can add examples that they already know, or
have come across in their reading/discussions.
Little and Often
Our objective is that Hillcrest pupils do not simply learn words for a test, but spell
them accurately in all their writing. This requires the word to be so well remembered
that they can either recall it automatically, or recall the strategy that they have been
taught to spell the word. To reach a stage where words are spelt without conscious
thought requires regular on-going practice.
Revisit & Refresh
Make a point of revisiting previous spellings as well as learning current ones. This
will help hugely in embedding spelling recall.
25
Glossary
The following glossary includes all the technical grammatical terms used in the
programmes of study for English, as well as others that might be useful. It is
intended as an aid, not as the body of knowledge that should be learnt by all pupils.
Apart from a few which are used only in schools (e.g. root word), the terms below are
used with the meanings defined here in most modern books on English grammar.
Term
active voice
adjective
Guidance
An active verb has its usual pattern of
subject and object (in contrast with the
passive).
Example
Active: The school arranged a visit.
The surest way to identify adjectives is
by the ways they can be used:
 before a noun, to make the
noun’s meaning more specific
(i.e. to modify the noun), or
 after the verb be, as its
complement.
The pupils did some really good work.
[adjective used before a noun, to
modify it]
Adjectives cannot be modified by other
adjectives. This distinguishes them from
nouns, which can be.
Passive: A visit was arranged by the
school.
Their work was good. [adjective used
after the verb be, as its complement]
Not adjectives:
The lamp glowed. [verb]
It was such a bright red! [noun]
He spoke loudly. [adverb]
It was a French grammar book. [noun]
Adjectives are sometimes called
‘describing words’ because they pick out
single characteristics such as size or
colour. This is often true, but it doesn’t
help to distinguish adjectives from other
word classes, because verbs, nouns and
adverbs can do the same thing.
adverb
The surest way to identify adverbs is by
the ways they can be used: they can
modify a verb, an adjective, another
adverb or even a whole clause.
Adverbs are sometimes said to describe
manner or time. This is often true, but it
doesn’t help to distinguish adverbs from
other word classes that can be used as
adverbials, such as preposition phrases,
noun phrases and subordinate clauses.
Usha soon started snoring loudly.
[adverbs modifying the verbs started
and snoring]
That match was really exciting!
[adverb modifying the adjective
exciting]
We don’t get to play games very
often. [adverb modifying the other
adverb, often]
Fortunately, it didn’t rain. [adverb
modifying the whole clause ‘it didn’t
26
Term
Guidance
Example
rain’ by commenting on it]
Not adverbs:
adverbial
An adverbial is a word or phrase that is
used, like an adverb, to modify a verb or
clause. Of course, adverbs can be used
as adverbials, but many other types of
words and phrases can be used this
way, including preposition phrases and
subordinate clauses.

Usha went up the stairs.
[preposition phrase used as
adverbial]

She finished her work this
evening. [noun phrase used as
adverbial]

She finished when the teacher
got cross. [subordinate clause
used as adverbial]
The bus leaves in five minutes.
[preposition phrase as adverbial:
modifies leaves]
She promised to see him last night.
[noun phrase modifying either
promised or see, according to the
intended meaning]
She worked until she had finished.
[subordinate clause as adverbial]
antonym
Two words are antonyms if their
meanings are opposites.
hot – cold
light – dark
light – heavy
apostrophe
Apostrophes have two completely
different uses:
I’m going out and I won’t be long.
[showing missing letters]

showing the place of missing
letters (e.g. I’m for I am)
Hannah’s mother went to town in
Justin’s car. [marking possessives]

marking possessives
(e.g. Hannah’s mother).
article
The articles the (definite) and a or an
(indefinite) are the most common type
of determiner.
The dog found a bone in an old box.
auxiliary verb
The auxiliary verbs are: be, have, do and
the modal verbs. They can be used to
make questions and negative
statements. In addition:
They are winning the match. [be used
in the progressive]

be is used in the progressive and
passive
Have you finished your picture? [have
used to make a question, and the
perfect]
No, I don’t know him. [do used to
27
Term
Guidance
 have is used in the perfect

clause
do is used to form questions and
negative statements if no other
auxiliary verb is present
A clause is a special type of phrase
whose head is a verb. Clauses can
sometimes be complete sentences.
Clauses may be main or subordinate.
Traditionally, a clause had to have a
finite verb, but most modern
grammarians also recognise non-finite
clauses.
cohesion
A text has cohesion if it is clear how the
meanings of its parts fit together.
Cohesive devices can help to do this.
In the example, there are repeated
references to the same thing (shown by
the different style pairings), and the
logical relations, such as time and cause,
between different parts are clear.
cohesive device
Cohesive devices are words used to
show how the different parts of a text
fit together. In other words, they create
cohesion.
Some examples of cohesive devices are:

determiners and pronouns, which
can refer back to earlier words

conjunctions and adverbs, which
can make relations between
words clear

ellipsis of expected words.
Example
make a negative; no other auxiliary is
present]
Will you come with me or not? [modal
verb will used to make a question
about the other person’s willingness]
It was raining. [single-clause sentence]
It was raining but we were indoors.
[two finite clauses]
If you are coming to the party, please
let us know. [finite subordinate clause
inside a finite main clause]
Usha went upstairs to play on her
computer. [non-finite clause]
A visit has been arranged for Year 6,
to the Mountain Peaks Field Study
Centre, leaving school at 9.30am. This
is an overnight visit. The centre has
beautiful grounds and a nature trail.
During the afternoon, the children will
follow the trail.
Julia’s dad bought her a football. The
football was expensive! [determiner;
refers us back to a particular football]
Joe was given a bike for Christmas. He
liked it very much. [the pronouns refer
back to Joe and the bike]
We’ll be going shopping before we go
to the park. [conjunction; makes a
relationship of time clear]
I’m afraid we’re going to have to wait
for the next train. Meanwhile, we
could have a cup of tea. [adverb;
refers back to the time of waiting]
Where are you going? [ ] To school!
[ellipsis of the expected words I’m
going; links the answer back to the
question]
28
Term
complement
Guidance
A verb’s subject complement adds more
information about its subject, and its
object complement does the same for
its object.
Unlike the verb’s object, its complement
may be an adjective. The verb be
normally has a complement.
Example
She is our teacher. [adds more
information about the subject, she]
They seem very competent. [adds
more information about the subject,
they]
Learning makes me happy. [adds more
information about the object, me]
compound,
compounding
A compound word contains at least two
root words in its morphology; e.g.
whiteboard, superman. Compounding is
very important in English.
blackbird, blow-dry, bookshop, icecream, English teacher, inkjet, oneeyed, bone-dry, baby-sit, daydream,
outgrow
conjunction
A conjunction links two words or
phrases together.
James bought a bat and ball. [links the
words bat and ball as an equal pair]
There are two main types of
conjunctions:
Kylie is young but she can kick the ball
hard. [links two clauses as an equal
pair]


consonant
co-ordinating conjunctions (e.g.
and) link two words or phrases
together as an equal pair
subordinating conjunctions (e.g.
when) introduce a subordinate
clause.
A sound which is produced when the
speaker closes off or obstructs the flow
of air through the vocal tract, usually
using lips, tongue or teeth.
Most of the letters of the alphabet
represent consonants. Only the letters
a, e, i, o, u and y can represent vowel
sounds.
continuous
See progressive
co-ordinate,
co-ordination
Words or phrases are co-ordinated if
they are linked as an equal pair by a
co-ordinating conjunction (i.e. and, but,
or).
In the examples on the right, the co-
Everyone watches when Kyle does
back-flips. [introduces a subordinate
clause]
Joe can’t practise kicking because he’s
injured. [introduces a subordinate
clause]
/p/ [flow of air stopped by the lips,
then released]
/t/ [flow of air stopped by the tongue
touching the roof of the mouth, then
released]
/f/ [flow of air obstructed by the
bottom lip touching the top teeth]
/s/ [flow of air obstructed by the tip of
the tongue touching the gum line]
Susan and Amra met in a café. [links
the words Susan and Amra as an equal
pair]
They talked and drank tea for an
hour. [links two clauses as an equal
29
Term
Guidance
ordinated elements are shown in bold,
and the conjunction is underlined.
The difference between co-ordination
and subordination is that, in
subordination, the two linked elements
are not equal.
determiner
A determiner specifies a noun as known
or unknown, and it goes before any
modifiers (e.g. adjectives or other
nouns).
Some examples of determiners are:
digraph
ellipsis
etymology
finite verb

articles (the, a or an)

demonstratives (e.g. this, those)

possessives (e.g. my, your)

quantifiers (e.g. some, every).
Example
pair]
Susan got a bus but Amra walked.
[links two clauses as an equal pair]
Not co-ordination: They ate before
they met. [before introduces a
subordinate clause]
the home team [article, specifies the
team as known]
a good team [article, specifies the
team as unknown]
that pupil [demonstrative, known]
Julia’s parents [possessive, known]
some big boys [quantifier, unknown]
Contrast: home the team, big some
boys [both incorrect, because the
determiner should come before other
modifiers]
A type of grapheme where two letters
represent one phoneme.
The digraph ea in each is pronounced
/i:/.
Sometimes, these two letters are not
next to one another; this is called a split
digraph.
The digraph sh in shed is pronounced
/ʃ/.
Ellipsis is the omission of a word or
phrase which is expected and
predictable.
Frankie waved to Ivana and she
watched her drive away.
A word’s etymology is its history: its
origins in earlier forms of English or
other languages, and how its form and
meaning have changed. Many words in
English have come from Greek, Latin or
French.
The word school was borrowed from a
Greek word ó÷ïëÞ (skholé) meaning
‘leisure’.
Every sentence typically has at least one
verb which is either past or present
tense. Such verbs are called ‘finite’. The
Lizzie does the dishes every day.
[present tense]
The split digraph i–e in line is
pronounced /aɪ/.
She did it because she wanted to do it.
The word verb comes from Latin
verbum, meaning ‘word’.
The word mutton comes from French
mouton, meaning ‘sheep’.
Even Hana did the dishes yesterday.
30
Term
Guidance
imperative verb in a command is also
finite.
Verbs that are not finite, such as
participles or infinitives, cannot stand
on their own: they are linked to another
verb in the sentence.
fronting, fronted
A word or phrase that normally comes
after the verb may be moved before the
verb: when this happens, we say it has
been ‘fronted’. For example, a fronted
adverbial is an adverbial which has been
moved before the verb.
When writing fronted phrases, we often
follow them with a comma.
future
Reference to future time can be marked
in a number of different ways in English.
All these ways involve the use of a
present-tense verb.
See also tense.
Unlike many other languages (such as
French, Spanish or Italian), English has
no distinct ‘future tense’ form of the
verb comparable with its present and
past tenses.
GPC
See grapheme-phoneme
correspondences.
grapheme
A letter, or combination of letters, that
corresponds to a single phoneme within
a word.
Example
[past tense]
Do the dishes, Naser! [imperative]
Not finite verbs:

I have done them. [combined
with the finite verb have]

I will do them. [combined with
the finite verb will]

I want to do them! [combined
with the finite verb want]
Before we begin, make sure you’ve got
a pencil.
[Without fronting: Make sure you’ve
got a pencil before we begin.]
The day after tomorrow, I’m visiting
my granddad.
[Without fronting: I’m visiting my
granddad the day after tomorrow.]
He will leave tomorrow. [presenttense will followed by infinitive leave]
He may leave tomorrow. [presenttense may followed by infinitive leave]
He leaves tomorrow. [present-tense
leaves]
He is going to leave tomorrow.
[present tense is followed by going to
plus the infinitive leave]
The grapheme t in the words ten, bet
and ate corresponds to the phoneme
/t/.
The grapheme ph in the word dolphin
corresponds to the phoneme /f/.
grapheme-phoneme
correspondences
The links between letters, or
combinations of letters (graphemes)
and the speech sounds (phonemes) that
The grapheme s corresponds to the
phoneme /s/ in the word see, but…
…it corresponds to the phoneme /z/ in
31
Term
Guidance
they represent.
Example
the word easy.
In the English writing system,
graphemes may correspond to different
phonemes in different words.
head
See phrase.
homonym
Two different words are homonyms if
they both look exactly the same when
written, and sound exactly the same
when pronounced.
Has he left yet? Yes – he went through
the door on the left.
Two different words are homophones if
they sound exactly the same when
pronounced.
hear, here
A verb’s infinitive is the basic form used
as the head-word in a dictionary (e.g.
walk, be).
I want to walk.
homophone
infinitive
The noise a dog makes is called a bark.
Trees have bark.
some, sum
I will be quiet.
Infinitives are often used:
inflection
intransitive verb
main clause

after to

after modal verbs.
When we add -ed to walk, or change
mouse to mice, this change of
morphology produces an inflection
(‘bending’) of the basic word which has
special grammar (e.g. past tense or
plural). In contrast, adding -er to walk
produces a completely different word,
walker, which is part of the same word
family. Inflection is sometimes thought
of as merely a change of ending, but, in
fact, some words change completely
when inflected.
dogs is an inflection of dog.
A verb which does not need an object in
a sentence to complete its meaning is
described as intransitive. See ‘transitive
verb’.
We all laughed.
A sentence contains at least one clause
which is not a subordinate clause; such
a clause is a main clause. A main clause
may contain any number of subordinate
It was raining but the sun was shining.
[two main clauses]
went is an inflection of go.
better is an inflection of good.
We would like to stay longer, but we
must leave.
The man who wrote it told me that it
was true. [one main clause containing
32
Term
Guidance
clauses.
Example
two subordinate clauses.]
She said, “It rained all day.” [one main
clause containing another.]
modal verb
Modal verbs are used to change the
meaning of other verbs. They can
express meanings such as certainty,
ability, or obligation. The main modal
verbs are will, would, can, could, may,
might, shall, should, must and ought.
A modal verb only has finite forms and
has no suffixes (e.g. I sing – he sings, but
not I must – he musts).
modify, modifier
One word or phrase modifies another
by making its meaning more specific.
Because the two words make a phrase,
the ‘modifier’ is normally close to the
modified word.
morphology
I can do this maths work by myself.
This ride may be too scary for you!
You should help your little brother.
Is it going to rain? Yes, it might.
Canning swim is important. [not
possible because can must be finite;
contrast: Being able to swim is
important, where being is not a modal
verb]
In the phrase primary-school teacher:

teacher is modified by primaryschool (to mean a specific kind
of teacher)

school is modified by primary
(to mean a specific kind of
school).
A word’s morphology is its internal
make-up in terms of root words and
suffixes or prefixes, as well as other
kinds of change such as the change of
mouse to mice.
dogs has the morphological make-up:
dog + s.
Morphology may be used to produce
different inflections of the same word
(e.g. boy – boys), or entirely new words
(e.g. boy – boyish) belonging to the
same word family.

where unhelpful = un + helpful

and helpful = help + ful
unhelpfulness has the morphological
make-up:
unhelpful + ness
A word that contains two or more root
words is a compound (e.g. news+paper,
ice+cream).
noun
The surest way to identify nouns is by
the ways they can be used after
determiners such as the: for example,
most nouns will fit into the frame “The
__ matters/matter.”
Our dog bit the burglar on his behind!
Nouns are sometimes called ‘naming
Not nouns:
My big brother did an amazing jump
on his skateboard.
Actions speak louder than words.
33
Term
noun phrase
object
Guidance
words’ because they name people,
places and ‘things’; this is often true,
but it doesn’t help to distinguish nouns
from other word classes. For example,
prepositions can name places and verbs
can name ‘things’ such as actions.
Example
 He’s behind you! [this names a
place, but is a preposition, not
a noun]
Nouns may be classified as common
(e.g. boy, day) or proper (e.g. Ivan,
Wednesday), and also as countable (e.g.
thing, boy) or non-countable (e.g. stuff,
money). These classes can be
recognised by the determiners they
combine with.
common, countable: a book, books,
two chocolates, one day, fewer ideas
A noun phrase is a phrase with a noun
as its head, e.g. some foxes, foxes with
bushy tails. Some grammarians
recognise one-word phrases, so that
foxes are multiplying would contain the
noun foxes acting as the head of the
noun phrase foxes.
Adult foxes can jump. [adult modifies
foxes, so adult belongs to the noun
phrase]
An object is normally a noun, pronoun
or noun phrase that comes straight after
the verb, and shows what the verb is
acting upon.
Year 2 designed puppets. [noun acting
as object]
Objects can be turned into the subject
of a passive verb, and cannot be
adjectives (contrast with complements).
participle
Verbs in English have two participles,
called ‘present participle’ (e.g. walking,
taking) and ‘past participle’ (e.g.
walked, taken).
Unfortunately, these terms can be
confusing to learners, because:

they don’t necessarily have

She can jump so high! [this
names an action, but is a verb,
not a noun]
common, non-countable: money,
some chocolate, less imagination
proper, countable: Marilyn, London,
Wednesday
Almost all healthy adult foxes in this
area can jump. [all the other words
help to modify foxes, so they all
belong to the noun phrase]
I like that. [pronoun acting as object]
Some people suggested a pretty
display. [noun phrase acting as object]
Contrast:

A display was suggested.
[object of active verb becomes
the subject of the passive verb]

Year 2 designed pretty.
[incorrect, because adjectives
cannot be objects]
He is walking to school. [present
participle in a progressive]
He has taken the bus to school. [past
participle in a perfect]
The photo was taken in the rain. [past
participle in a passive]
34
Term
Guidance
anything to do with present or
past time

passive
Example
although past participles are
used as perfects (e.g. has eaten)
they are also used as passives
(e.g. was eaten).
The sentence It was eaten by our dog is
the passive of Our dog ate it. A passive
is recognisable from:
A visit was arranged by the school.

the past participle form eaten
Active versions:

the normal object (it) turned into
the subject


the normal subject (our dog)
turned into an optional
preposition phrase with by as its
head
the verb be(was), or some other
verb such as get.
Our cat got run over by a bus.

The school arranged a visit.

A bus ran over our cat.
Not passive:

He received a warning. [past
tense, active received]

We had an accident. [past
tense, active had]
Contrast active.
A verb is not ‘passive’ just because it has
a passive meaning: it must be the
passive version of an active verb.
past tense
Verbs in the past tense are commonly
used to:
Tom and Chris showed me their new
TV. [names an event in the past]

talk about the past

talk about imagined situations

make a request sound more
polite.
Antonio went on holiday to Brazil.
[names an event in the past; irregular
past of go]
Most verbs take a suffix –ed, to form
their past tense, but many commonlyused verbs are irregular.
See also tense.
perfect
The perfect form of a verb generally
calls attention to the consequences of a
prior event; for example, he has gone to
lunch implies that he is still away, in
contrast with he went to lunch. ‘Had
gone to lunch’ takes a past time point
I wish I had a puppy. [names an
imagined situation, not a situation in
the past]
I was hoping you’d help tomorrow.
[makes an implied request sound
more polite]
She has downloaded some songs.
[present perfect; now she has some
songs]
I had eaten lunch when you came.
[past perfect; I wasn’t hungry when
you came]
35
Term
Guidance
(i.e. when we arrived) as its reference
point and is another way of establishing
time relations in a text. The perfect
tense is formed by:

turning the verb into its past
participle inflection

adding a form of the verb have
before it.
Example
It can also be combined with the
progressive (e.g. he has been going).
phoneme
A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound
that signals a distinct, contrasting
meaning. For example:

/t/ contrasts with /k/ to signal the
difference between tap and cap

/t/ contrasts with /l/ to signal the
difference between bought and
ball.
The word cat has three letters and
three phonemes: /kæt/
The word catch has five letters and
three phonemes: /kaʧ/
The word caught has six letters and
three phonemes: /kɔ:t/
It is this contrast in meaning that tells us
there are two distinct phonemes at
work.
There are around 44 phonemes in
English; the exact number depends on
regional accents. A single phoneme may
be represented in writing by one, two,
three or four letters constituting a single
grapheme.
phrase
plural
A phrase is a group of words that are
grammatically connected so that they
stay together, and that expand a single
word, called the ‘head’. The phrase is a
noun phrase if its head is a noun, a
preposition phrase if its head is a
preposition, and so on; but if the head is
a verb, the phrase is called a clause.
Phrases can be made up of other
phrases.
She waved to her mother. [a noun
phrase, with the noun mother as its
head]
A plural noun normally has a suffix –s or
–es and means ‘more than one’.
dogs [more than one dog]; boxes
[more than one box]
She waved to her mother. [a
preposition phrase, with the
preposition to as its head]
She waved to her mother. [a clause,
with the verb waved as its head]
36
Term
Guidance
There are a few nouns with different
morphology in the plural (e.g. mice,
formulae).
Example
mice [more than one mouse]
possessive
A possessive can be:
Tariq’s book [Tariq has the book]

a noun followed by an
apostrophe, with or without s
The boys’ arrival [the boys arrive]

a possessive pronoun.
The relation expressed by a possessive
goes well beyond ordinary ideas of
‘possession’. A possessive may act as a
determiner.
prefix
A prefix is added at the beginning of a
word in order to turn it into another
word.
His obituary [the obituary is about
him]
That essay is mine. [I wrote the essay]
overtake, disappear
Contrast suffix.
preposition
A preposition links a following noun,
pronoun or noun phrase to some other
word in the sentence. Prepositions
often describe locations or directions,
but can describe other things, such as
relations of time.
Words like before or since can act either
as prepositions or as conjunctions.
preposition phrase
present tense
progressive
Tom waved goodbye to Christy. She’ll
be back from Australia in two weeks.
I haven’t seen my dog since this
morning.
Contrast: I’m going, since no-one
wants me here! [conjunction: links
two clauses]
A preposition phrase has a preposition
as its head followed by a noun, pronoun
or noun phrase.
He was in bed.
Verbs in the present tense are
commonly used to:
Jamal goes to the pool every day.
[describes a habit that exists now]

talk about the present

talk about the future.
He can swim. [describes a state that is
true now]
I met them after the party.
They may take a suffix –s (depending on
the subject).
The bus arrives at three. [scheduled
now]
See also tense.
My friends are coming to play.
[describes a plan in progress now]
The progressive (also known as the
‘continuous’) form of a verb generally
describes events in progress. It is
formed by combining the verb’s present
Michael is singing in the store room.
[present progressive]
Amanda was making a patchwork
37
Term
pronoun
Guidance
participle (e.g. singing) with a form of
the verb be (e.g. he was singing). The
progressive can also be combined with
the perfect (e.g. he has been singing).
Example
quilt. [past progressive]
Pronouns are normally used like nouns,
except that:
Amanda waved to Michael.

they are grammatically more
specialised

it is harder to modify them
In the examples, each sentence is
written twice: once with nouns, and
once with pronouns (underlined).
Where the same thing is being talked
about, the words are shown in bold.
punctuation
Punctuation includes any conventional
features of writing other than spelling
and general layout: the standard
punctuation marks . , ; : ? ! - – ( ) “ ” ‘ ’ ,
and also word-spaces, capital letters,
apostrophes, paragraph breaks and
bullet points. One important role of
punctuation is to indicate sentence
boundaries.
Received
Pronunciation
Received Pronunciation (often
abbreviated to RP) is an accent which is
used only by a small minority of English
speakers in England. It is not associated
with any one region. Because of its
regional neutrality, it is the accent
which is generally shown in dictionaries
in the UK (but not, of course, in the
USA). RP has no special status in the
national curriculum.
register
Classroom lessons, football
commentaries and novels use different
registers of the same language,
recognised by differences of vocabulary
and grammar. Registers are ‘varieties’ of
a language which are each tied to a
Usha had been practising for an hour
when I called. [past perfect
progressive]
She waved to him.
John’s mother is over there. His
mother is over there.
The visit will be an overnight visit. This
will be an overnight visit.
Simon is the person: Simon broke it.
He is the one who broke it.
“I’m going out, Usha, and I won’t be
long,” Mum said.
I regret to inform you that Mr Joseph
Smith has passed away. [formal letter]
Have you heard that Joe has died?
[casual speech]
Joe falls down and dies, centre stage.
38
Term
Guidance
range of uses, in contrast with dialects,
which are tied to groups of users.
Example
[stage direction]
relative clause
A relative clause is a special type of
subordinate clause that modifies a
noun. It often does this by using a
relative pronoun such as who or that to
refer back to that noun, though the
relative pronoun that is often omitted.
That’s the boy who lives near school.
[who refers back to boy]
A relative clause may also be attached
to a clause. In that case, the pronoun
refers back to the whole clause, rather
than referring back to a noun.
The prize that I won was a book. [that
refers back to prize]
The prize I won was a book. [the
pronoun that is omitted]
Tom broke the game, which annoyed
Ali. [which refers back to the whole
clause]
In the examples, the relative clauses are
underlined, and both the pronouns and
the words they refer back to are in bold.
root word
schwa
Morphology breaks words down into
root words, which can stand alone, and
suffixes or prefixes which can’t. For
example, help is the root word for other
words in its word family such as helpful
and helpless, and also for its inflections
such as helping. Compound words (e.g.
help-desk) contain two or more root
words. When looking in a dictionary, we
sometimes have to look for the root
word (or words) of the word we are
interested in.
played [the root word is play]
The name of a vowel sound that is
found only in unstressed positions in
English. It is the most common vowel
sound in English.
/əlɒŋ/ [along]
unfair [the root word is fair]
football [the root words are foot and
ball]
/bʌtə/ [butter]
/dɒktə/ [doctor]
It is written as /ə/ in the International
Phonetic Alphabet. In the English
writing system, it can be written in
many different ways.
sentence
A sentence is a group of words which
are grammatically connected to each
other but not to any words outside the
sentence.
John went to his friend’s house. He
stayed there till tea-time.
John went to his friend’s house, he
stayed there till tea-time. [This is a
39
Term
Guidance
The form of a sentence’s main clause
shows whether it is being used as a
statement, a question, a command or
an exclamation.
A sentence may consist of a single
clause or it may contain several clauses
held together by subordination or coordination. Classifying sentences as
‘simple’, ‘complex’ or ‘compound’ can
be confusing, because a ‘simple’
sentence may be complicated, and a
‘complex’ one may be straightforward.
The terms ‘single-clause sentence’ and
‘multi-clause sentence’ may be more
helpful.
Example
‘comma splice’, a common error in
which a comma is used where either a
full stop or a semi-colon is needed to
indicate the lack of any grammatical
connection between the two clauses.]
You are my friend. [statement]
Are you my friend? [question]
Be my friend! [command]
What a good friend you are!
[exclamation]
Ali went home on his bike to his
goldfish and his current library book
about pets. [single-clause sentence]
She went shopping but took back
everything she had bought because
she didn’t like any of it. [multi-clause
sentence]
split digraph
See digraph.
Standard English
Standard English can be recognised by
the use of a very small range of forms
such as those books, I did it and I wasn’t
doing anything (rather than their nonStandard equivalents); it is not limited
to any particular accent. It is the variety
of English which is used, with only minor
variation, as a major world language.
Some people use Standard English all
the time, in all situations from the most
casual to the most formal, so it covers
most registers. The aim of the national
curriculum is that everyone should be
able to use Standard English as needed
in writing and in relatively formal
speaking.
I did it because they were not willing
to undertake any more work on those
houses. [formal Standard English]
A syllable is stressed if it is pronounced
more forcefully than the syllables next
to it. The other syllables are unstressed.
about
The subject of a verb is normally the
noun, noun phrase or pronoun that
Rula’s mother went out.
stress
subject
I did it cos they wouldn’t do any more
work on those houses. [casual
Standard English]
I done it cos they wouldn’t do no more
work on them houses. [casual nonStandard English]
visit
40
Term
Guidance
names the ‘do-er’ or ‘be-er’. The
subject’s normal position is:

just before the verb in a
statement

just after the auxiliary verb, in a
question.
Example
That is uncertain.
The children will study the animals.
Will the children study the animals?
Unlike the verb’s object and
complement, the subject can determine
the form of the verb (e.g. I am, you are).
subjunctive
subordinate,
subordination
In some languages, the inflections of a
verb include a large range of special
forms which are used typically in
subordinate clauses, and are called
‘subjunctives’. English has very few such
forms and those it has tend to be used
in rather formal styles.
The school requires that all pupils be
honest.
A subordinate word or phrase tells us
more about the meaning of the word it
is subordinate to. Subordination can be
thought of as an unequal relationship
between a subordinate word and a main
word. For example:
big dogs [big is subordinate to dogs]

an adjective is subordinate to the
noun it modifies

subjects and objects are
subordinate to their verbs.
The school rules demand that pupils
not enter the gym at lunchtime.
If Zoë were the class president, things
would be much better.
Big dogs need long walks. [big dogs
and long walks are subordinate to
need]
We can watch TV when we’ve
finished. [when we’ve finished is
subordinate to watch]
Subordination is much more common
than the equal relationship of coordination.
See also subordinate clause.
subordinate clause
A clause which is subordinate to some
other part of the same sentence is a
subordinate clause; for example, in The
apple that I ate was sour, the clause
that I ate is subordinate to apple (which
it modifies). Subordinate clauses
contrast with co-ordinate clauses as in It
was sour but looked very tasty.
(Contrast: main clause)
That’s the street where Ben lives.
[relative clause; modifies street]
He watched her as she disappeared.
[adverbial; modifies watched]
What you said was very nice. [acts as
subject of was]
She noticed an hour had passed. [acts
as object of noticed]
41
Term
Guidance
However, clauses that are directly
quoted as direct speech are not
subordinate clauses.
Example
Not subordinate: He shouted, “Look
out!”
suffix
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
Contrast prefix.
teach – teacher [turns a verb into a
noun]
terror – terrorise [turns a noun into a
verb]
green – greenish [leaves word class
unchanged]
syllable
synonym
tense
A syllable sounds like a beat in a word.
Syllables consist of at least one vowel,
and possibly one or more consonants.
Cat has one syllable.
Two words are synonyms if they have
the same meaning, or similar meanings.
Contrast antonym.
talk – speak
In English, tense is the choice between
present and past verbs, which is special
because it is signalled by inflections and
normally indicates differences of time.
In contrast, languages like French,
Spanish and Italian, have three or more
distinct tense forms, including a future
tense. (See also: future.)
He studies. [present tense – present
time]
The simple tenses (present and past)
may be combined in English with the
perfect and progressive.
Fairy has two syllables.
Hippopotamus has five syllables.
old – elderly
He studied yesterday. [past tense –
past time]
He studies tomorrow, or else! [present
tense – future time]
He may study tomorrow. [present
tense + infinitive – future time]
He plans to study tomorrow. [present
tense + infinitive – future time]
If he studied tomorrow, he’d see the
difference! [past tense – imagined
future]
Contrast three distinct tense forms in
Spanish:
transitive verb
A transitive verb takes at least one
object in a sentence to complete its

Estudia. [present tense]

Estudió. [past tense]

Estudiará. [future tense]
He loves Juliet.
She understands English grammar.
42
Term
Guidance
meaning, in contrast to an intransitive
verb, which does not.
Example
trigraph
A type of grapheme where three letters
represent one phoneme.
High, pure, patch, hedge
unstressed
See stressed.
verb
The surest way to identify verbs is by
the ways they can be used: they can
usually have a tense, either present or
past (see also future).
Verbs are sometimes called ‘doing
words’ because many verbs name an
action that someone does; while this
can be a way of recognising verbs, it
doesn’t distinguish verbs from nouns
(which can also name actions).
Moreover many verbs name states or
feelings rather than actions.
Verbs can be classified in various ways:
for example, as auxiliary, or modal; as
transitive or intransitive; and as states
or events.
vowel
He lives in Birmingham. [present
tense]
The teacher wrote a song for the class.
[past tense]
He likes chocolate. [present tense; not
an action]
He knew my father. [past tense; not
an action]
Not verbs:
 The walk to Halina’s house will
take an hour. [noun]

All that surfing makes
Morwenna so sleepy! [noun]
A vowel is a speech sound which is
produced without any closure or
obstruction of the vocal tract.
Vowels can form syllables by
themselves, or they may combine with
consonants.
In the English writing system, the letters
a, e, i, o, u and y can represent vowels.
word
A word is a unit of grammar: it can be
selected and moved around relatively
independently, but cannot easily be
split. In punctuation, words are normally
separated by word spaces.
headteacher or head teacher [can be
written with or without a space]
I’m going out.
9.30 am
Sometimes, a sequence that appears
grammatically to be two words is
collapsed into a single written word,
indicated with a hyphen or apostrophe
(e.g. well-built, he’s).
word class
Every word belongs to a word class
which summarises the ways in which it
can be used in grammar. The major
word classes for English are: noun, verb,
adjective, adverb, preposition,
43
Term
Guidance
determiner, pronoun, conjunction.
Word classes are sometimes called
‘parts of speech’.
Example
word family
The words in a word family are normally
related to each other by a combination
of morphology, grammar and meaning.
teach – teacher
extend – extent – extensive
grammar – grammatical –
grammarian
44
Useful Websites
http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/
Phonics practice
www.oxfordowl.co.uk
As well as being a great online reading resource, Oxford Owl also offers
spelling and language games for all primary phases.
http://www.ictgames.com/literacy.html
Reading, spelling and phonics
http://www.topmarks.co.uk/english-games/7-11-years/punctuation
Grammar and spelling games
www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/english/
Spelling, grammar and punctuation activities
www.funenglishgames.com/games.html
Lots of games and activities
www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/
Lots of word, punctuation and grammar games
5 Card Flickr
Great story writing prompt pictures for KS2
http://www.roalddahl.com/
http://www.seussville.com/
http://www.bigmyth.com/
45
Recommended Reading
Puffin
http://www.puffin.co.uk/static/grownups/downloads/handbook.html

The perfect little guide to the 70 best books for children including:
o How to read to your baby
o Picture books
o Young fiction
o Libraries & bookshops – how to delve into those shelves
o Mixing picture books and fiction
o Fiction
o Puffin Digital
o Puffin Classics
o Fiction: What to Read Next
o Express yourself
o Books for Teenage Puffins
Lovereading
www.lovereading.co.uk



Sign up to receive free personalised email newsletters.
If you love reading, this is a great way of keeping up with new books and
major goings on in the literary world.
Using their guidance tools, Lovereading will help you find great books to read
that will keep you inspired and entertained
Booktrust
http://www.booktrust.org.uk/Books/Children




Top tips on how to read with your child
Disability and children’s books
Get dads reading
Booktrust Best Book Guide 2014
The School Reading List
http://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/category/reading-lists-for-ks2-school-pupils/

Recommended reading lists by year group
46
Junior Magazine
http://www.juniormagazine.co.uk/books/the-top-100-childrens-books/60.html

The top 100 children's books of all time, as voted for by its readers
Oxford Reading Scheme - online
http://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/reading-owl/find-a-book




The online resources to compliment Hillcrest’s levelled reading scheme
Browse through Oxford’s library of250 FREE eBooks to find the right book for
your child, whether you’re looking for a book to share with your youngest child
or something to keep your ten year old motivated
All Oxford eBooks are tablet friendly
Simply register and enjoy a world of reading and fun activities
The Guardian
http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site
The Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3670594/100-books-every-child-shouldread-An-introduction-by-Michael-Morpurgo.html
Includes:
 100 books every child should read - Part 1: Early years
 100 books every child should read - Part 2: Middle years
 100 books every child should read - Part 3: Early teens
 Your view: Which books should every child read?
Children’s Book Guide
http://childrensbooksguide.com/



Top 100 best children’s books of all time
Top 100 best children’s chapter books of all time
Option to filter your search by subject or social issues and behaviour
47
Other Useful Websites
History
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/
Science
http://www.brainpop.com/science/
Geography
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/
Art
http://kids.tate.org.uk/
All
http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/
The very popular Woodlands resources support children’s learning at home by
providing them with easy to read pages illustrated with photos.
http://topicbox.net/
2,128 free resources
Interactive games (all subjects)
Mainly KS1 but some KS2
http://www.educationcity.com/
48