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Year 5/6
SPAG Workshop
Mr Fidler & Mr Dourass
In God’s family, learning, loving, growing to be our very best.
Aims of the Workshop
Overview of coverage of SPAG
 Understanding of key terminology and
techniques
 Provide you with useful knowledge and
skills to support your children
 Keep you awake!

In God’s family, learning, loving, growing to be our very best.
An Overview of SPAG
Years 1-6
In God’s family, learning, loving, growing to be our very best.
Key Terminology
Years 1-4
In God’s family, learning, loving, growing to be our very best.
Noun
A word which names a thing, place, idea or
person.
Nouns can be classified into four different
types: common nouns, proper nouns, collective
nouns, abstract nouns.
Proper Nouns
These are specific nouns which are usually
either people, places, days or months.
A proper noun needs a capital letter.
e.g. Simon, London, Tuesday, November.
Pronouns
Pronouns are normally used like nouns, but they
replace them.

We often use them to replace a noun, such as a
person.
Amanda waved to Michael. - She waved to him.
Michael waved at Amanda, Jasmine and Lucy. – He
waved at them.
Possessive Pronouns

When something is owned by a noun and we
want to show this ownership, we may use a
possessive pronoun instead of using the noun.
Juliet lost Juliet’s handbag.
This is clumsy and repetitious, so we say:
Juliet lost her handbag.
Adjective
A word that describes a noun.
e.g. the cat is very happy
Verb
A ‘doing’ word.


The boy played football.
The crowd clapped as One Direction took the
stage.
or ‘being’ word


He is happy.
I was upset.
Adverb
A word that usually describes a verb. It
nearly always answers the questions: How?
When? Where? or Why? Most adverbs in
English end in –ly and come from adjectives.
e.g. The cat moved stealthily.
Conjunction
A conjunction links words or groups of
words
(we used to refer to them as connectives)

Clauses and Phrases


A clause is defined as a group of related words that usually
contains a subject and verb.
e.g. he ran.
A phrase is defined as a group of related words that usually
does not contain a subject and a verb.
e.g. on the table.
◦ He reached school in time.
◦ I was standing near a wall.
◦ They are singing in a loud voice.
Fronted Adverbial

An adverbial is a group of words which does
the same job as an adverb (usually describes
a verb).
After some time, the scenery changed to
denser forests.
 Slowly and carefully, she took the gun from
her pocket.
 At the top of the garden, he built a shed.

Main Clause

A group of words in a sentence that can stand
alone and be used as a complete sentence.
The green bird pecked an apple, which had
become mouldy.
 The green bird, who had a fantastic plumage,
pecked an apple.

Subordinate Clause

A group of words in a sentence that cannot
be used as a complete sentence as they don’t
make sense on their own. It helps to give
more information to the main clause.
◦ The green bird pecked an apple, which had become
mouldy.
◦ The green bird, who had a fantastic plumage,
pecked an apple.
Key Terminology
Years 5-6
In God’s family, learning, loving, growing to be our very best.
Modal Verb
These are auxiliary verbs which are used to
express possibility or wanting, as well as the
future.
(e.g. can, will, may, might, should, ought to)
 You ought to do your homework.
 Many will find the experience exhilarating.
Synonym
These are words which have the same, or
nearly the same meaning as each other.
 Bad - awful, terrible, horrible
 Happy - content, joyful, pleased
 Look - watch, stare, glaze
Antonym
Words which mean the opposite to each other.
 The antonym of up is down
 The antonym of tall is short
 The antonym of add is subtract
Punctuation
Years 5-6
In God’s family, learning, loving, growing to be our very best.
Hyphen
A hyphen - is used to connect a word or parts of
a word to make a new word. E.g. ‘Left-handed’,
‘One-way’
It can often be used to avoid ambiguity.

‘Man eating shark’ suggests a man is eating a shark.

‘Man-eating-shark’ suggests a shark that eats men.
Colon
A colon is used before a list, summary or
quote. It is also used before using bullet
points.
I have several favorite genres of movies:
drama, science fiction and mystery.
This was first said by Shakespeare: “To thine
own self be true.”
A colon is also used to show linkage between
two main clauses instead of using a
conjunction (it gives more information about
the clause that comes before it).
We went to the cinema: it was on New
Street.
SemiSemi
-Colon
Used in place of a conjunction. It splits
two main clauses and shows that thoughts
on either side of it are balanced and
connected.

You need new brakes; you may not be able to
stop in time.

We had too many fumbles; we lost the game.
Dashes
Can be used in more informal writing in
place of colons or semi-colons (where they
are joining two main clauses).
Parenthesis
The words or phrase inside a set of
brackets, commas or dashes. They add
extra information.


My birthday cake was chocolate (which is my
absolute favourite) with chocolate icing and
chocolate buttons on top.
We catch the bus - the blue one – at 3:15pm
at the station.
Sentence Structure
Years 5-6
In God’s family, learning, loving, growing to be our very best.
Relative Clause
A type of subordinate clause that connects to
the main clause by a relative pronoun such as:
that, which, who, whom or whose.
I enjoyed the film, that we saw last night.
 We took a ride with Nigel, whose mother was
a nuisance.

Subject
The subject of a verb is normally the noun,
noun phrase or pronoun that names the ‘doer’ or ‘be-er’.
We might say that it is the person or thing a
sentence is about.
Sarah plays football.
Object

An object is normally a noun, pronoun or
noun phrase that comes straight after the
verb, and shows what the verb is acting
upon.
Charles kicked the football.
Active / Passive
The active voice has its usual pattern of subject
and object. (The subject carries out the action)
Active: The school arranged a visit.
The passive voice gives the same information, but
it makes the subject less responsible for it.
Passive: A visit was arranged by the school.
A
P
Subjunctive Mood
The subjunctive is a formal way of writing that
is only usually found in speeches and formal
letters (often of complaint).
If I were Prime Minister, I would abolish all
schools.
 I advise that you reconsider your plans.

Thank you for attending.
Mr Fidler & Mr Dourass
In God’s family, learning, loving, growing to be our very best.