Spelling, Punctuation and

Grammar
I N S E T D A Y M O N D A Y 7 TH J A N U A R Y
 Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar
AIMS
*Present an overview of the new test requirements for
the end of key stage 2
*Become familiar with the proposals relating to SPAG in
the DRAFT English National Curriculum document
*Begin to develop a systematic programme to teach
vocabulary, grammar and punctuation throughout the
school
*Begin to review present practise in teaching spelling
and handwriting throughout the school
What Changes Are There To English Tests For KS2 In 2013?
What Changes?
• Writing will be assessed by teacher assessment.
• Assessment will be of a range of Year 6 writing done as part of the normal sequence of
lessons.
• Writing will be internally moderated. LA moderators will sample 15-25% of schools.
• There will no longer be a writing test or writing sample. This is replaced by a test of
English spelling, punctuation, vocabulary and grammar.
• The SPAG test will take place on Tuesday 14th May a.m.
• A level 6 SPAG test is available and will take place on 14th May p.m.
What Stays the Same?
• Maths tests as now; Reading test as now.
• Schools will submit teacher assessments by 28th June, i.e. before test papers are
returned.
What Don’t We Know?
• How the SPAG test results will fit in with the writing level or overall English level given to the
pupils
 Why Test SPAG?
• Government believes that pupils should have mastered these important aspects of English by the time they
leave primary school, and that recognition should be given to good use of English. It is also suggested that this
will help “close the gap” between pupils giving everyone access to the language (Standard English) of the
ruling group.
• The DRAFT curriculum for KS1 and KS2 English has a strong emphasis on SPaG .

DfE says:
The SPaG test will assess children’s abilities in the following technical aspects of English:
grammar punctuation spelling vocabulary
The SPaG test will assess level 3-5 of the current English curriculum.
• A separate level 6 test will be available for schools that wish to enter children who are expected to be working
above level 5 at the time of the test.

Test format
• The current English writing test assesses technical English skills through writing composition.
• In contrast, the new “English grammar, punctuation and spelling” test will use closed response and short
response questions to assess these elements of the programme of study.
• The level 6 test will include an extended response task.
 Contexts
Ofsted:
• Standards in English are not high enough and, since 2008,
there has been no overall improvement in primary pupil’s
learning….Above all this means being passionate about
high standards of literacy for every single pupil, and
creating a no-excuses culture both for pupils and staff.
• Among the ten steps to raise literacy is the
recommendation that government consider whether the
target of level 4 is sufficiently high to provide an adequate
foundation for success.
Michael Wilshaw March 2012
 “Moving English Forward” Recommendations:
The Department for Education should:
• publish research on the teaching of writing, drawing on national and international publications, to include the
effective teaching of spelling and handwriting, and how boys can be helped to become successful writers
• provide support in order to increase the number of specialist English teachers in primary schools and to
improve the subject knowledge of existing English coordinators in primary schools.

All schools should:

• develop policies to promote reading for enjoyment throughout the school
• ensure that preparation for national tests and examinations is appropriate, does not begin too early, and does
not limit the range of the curriculum or pupils’ opportunities for creativity in English
• improve transition and continuity in curriculum and assessment in English between Key Stages 2 and 3
• simplify lesson plans in English to concentrate on the key learning objectives and encourage teachers to be
more flexible in responding to pupils’ progress as lessons develop.

Nursery and primary schools should also:

• develop a structured programme for improving children’s communication skills in the Early Years Foundation
Stage
• secure pupils’ early reading skills by the end of Key Stage 1.
 Spelling
• What do we do now?
• Do we need to make any changes?
 Spelling Test
accelerator immacolete propeler
rasberry sherriff sieve
gaurdian effervescent perspiration
necessary because begining
tonsilitis libary cuboard
peeple misspell modelled
innocuous wierd seperate
surprizing leisure center

Which are correct?

How could you help someone learn to spell the others?
What words are commonly misspelled within our school?
What words do you often have to think about?
 All Correct?
accelerator immaculate propeller
raspberry sheriff sieve
guardian effervescent perspiration
necessary because beginning
tonsillitis library cupboard
people misspell modelled
innocuous weird separate
surprising leisure centre
 “Moving English Forward” and Spelling
• The close link between handwriting and spelling has been well established. In
particular, it is clear that pupils with a fluent cursive script are more likely to become
good spellers.
• Inspectors observed relatively little formal teaching of spelling and interviews with
pupils confirmed that spelling was rarely taught explicitly.
• Although inspectors came across examples of effective, individual marking of
spelling, there was little consistency within schools, with no general agreement on
which spelling mistakes to correct and how.
• Marking did not make it clear how pupils were expected to respond to any spelling
mistakes. As a result, teachers’ comments on spelling too rarely led to action by
pupils.
• Pupils with particular special needs related to spelling, and less regularly
handwriting, often received good, targeted support.
• However, this support did not stretch to include that broader group of pupils who
lacked confidence in their spelling or handwriting. All teachers agreed that
spelling and handwriting were important but most felt that they could not afford to
spend much time teaching spelling and handwriting since they were allocated
relatively few marks in national tests.
 Good practice Identified In “Moving English Forward”
• The school has recently rewritten its handwriting policy. This does not rely on any one
commercial scheme but identifies clearly the type of script to be used in all classes.
• There is a detailed progression chart for teachers giving examples of handwriting patterns,
families of letters and so on.
• Guidance is also provided on how pupils should develop pencil grips, and how to teach single
letters and joins.
• The frequency of handwriting sessions is laid down in policy. For example, there is expected to
be one weekly teacher-taught session for all Key Stage 2 classes.
• Sessions are to be linked to the spellings taught that week.
• A long-term plan for spelling identifies what is to be taught each year.
• Teachers are advised on the different strategies to be used such as analogy, mnemonics, word
banks, displays and interactive games.
• Pupils all have a spelling book and are encouraged to ‘have a go’ before seeking advice. Pupils
are taught how to proofread and to correct their own errors.
• Spelling is tested on a weekly basis and differentiated for groups of pupils.
• Teachers are expected to identify mistakes in spelling in pupils’ work and pupils copy the words
out a number of times, using the ‘look, cover, write, check’ approach.
 Marking Literacy Across The Curriculum
The most effective schools often have a whole-school marking policy
which emphasises the importance of literacy and is applied consistently.
However, in many primary schools, teachers’ marking in other subjects is
less detailed than in English and rarely focuses on key basic errors.
This can be most obvious in subjects like science where pupils often
write one-sentence answers to questions or short paragraphs evaluating
experiments.
In humanities, pupils often write extended pieces in diary, news report
or letter forms. All of these lend themselves well to marking for literacy
but often this is not the case.

Ofsted Distance Learning for Inspectors

 Spelling
• It’s important
• It’s not the most important aspect of writing
• It needs to be taught explicitly
• It is an active developmental process
• Teach cursive handwriting to help with spelling
• Be positive about spelling and about children
• Teach strategies not spellings
• Don’t avoid a word because it’s hard to spell
• How words look is as important as how they sound
• Words are often built up of units e.g. prefixes, suffixes, roots and
they have a history
• Words are fun

• A key text is Support for Spelling.

 Marking: Spelling
• Prompt don’t proof read
• Get pupils/writing partners to proof read
• Encourage self-correcting and marking (if pupils are uncertain how to
spell a word they’ve used, have them put a squigggly line beneath it)
• Marking should lead to action on the pupils’ part – put word in own
spelling log, find others with the same pattern, look-cover-say-write-
check, devise a way to remember, add the word to the working wall…
• Be selective and identify patterns
• Reward creative spelling and the application of learned patterns
• Be positive and praise– how many words are right? Has progress been
made from earlier on?
• Monitor the progress towards targets
 What Good Spellers Need 1.
• Knowledge of word structures and meanings. An increasing linguistic knowledge of
word structures and meanings is essential and is evident in attention to:
o Prefixes
o Tenses
o Words made up of smaller words (e.g football, birthday)
o Word roots
o Word origins ( e.g. photograph, photosynthesis)

• Growing independence. Knowing how and where to get help, how to proof read and
check their own and others work is essential. In addition to self-monitoring children
need to have effective ways of consciously learning new spellings

• To make analogies and deduce rules. These are fundamental processes that help
children make use of the spelling system. Much learning is implicit initially but as
knowledge grows children need to become more reflective and able to make more
explicit generalisations and deduce rules.

From: “Understanding Spelling” by Olivia O’Sullivan and Anne Thomas

 What Good Spellers Need 2.
• Extensive experience of written language gained through engagement with a variety of texts
of all kinds (read and written). Explicit teacher demonstration, drawing attention to the features
of written language is especially helpful in developing awareness.

• Phonological awareness. (syllabification, onset, rime, phonemic awareness) children learn to

attend more closely to increasingly detailed aspects of sound-letter relationships and to detect
patterns of sound associated with patterns of letter.
·
• Letter names and alphabetical knowledge – knowing and using the names, sounds and forms
is essential
·
• Known words. Children need to develop a lexicon of familiar words which are spelled correctly
and are a basis for analogy making
·
• Visual awareness, spellers need to know that spelling is as much to do with how words look as
with how they sound. Visual awareness includes a growing sense of the likely patterns of letters
that occur in English and the habit of looking at words within words and noting how words are
made up
·
• Awareness of common letter strings and word patterns. Children need to become familiar
with common letter patterns ( e.g. –at, -ad, -ee, -ing, -one, -ough) including patterns in words
which look alike but don’t sound alike.
 How To Spell: Strategies
• Break it into sounds ( d-i-a-r-y)

• Break it into syllables (re-mem-ber)

• Break it into affixes (dis + satisfy)

• Use a mnemonic (necessary has one collar and two sleeves)

• Refer to a word in the same family (muscle – muscular)

• Say it as it sounds (Wed-nes-day)

• Find words within words (I am in Parliament)

• Refer to etymology (bi+cycle = two + wheels)

• Use analogy (bright, light, night…)

• Use a key word (horrible/drinkable for able and ible)

• Apply spelling rules (writing, written)

• Learn by sight (look-cover-say-write-check)

• Create visual memory (look-cover-say-write-check)

 Daily 10 minute session recycling basic skills.
• In spelling: recycle PNS word lists from previous year:
o Put the words onto laminated cards for games of snap.
o Differentiate with words from all years. Say words as cards
are turned over.

• Pairs create complex nonsense words and give them

humorous meanings. Groups then pick their favourites,
spell and define them explaining what strategies they are
using.

• Pairs use dictionaries to uncover words they think no-one

will know. Teacher reads out and class tries to spell them
using their spelling strategies
Ros Wilson “Write on Target”
 Spelling in Draft NC English Document
Year 1 Pupils should be taught to:
* spell: a. words containing each of the 40+ phonemes already taught
b. common exception words, e.g. the, said, one, two
c. the days of the week
* name the letters of the alphabet:
a. naming the letters of the alphabet in order
b. using letter names to distinguish between alternative spellings of the same sound
* add prefixes and suffixes:
a. using the spelling rule for adding –s or –es as the plural marker for nouns and the third person singular
marker for verbs
b. using the prefix un
c. using –ing, –ed, –er and –est where no change is needed in the spelling of root words (e.g. helping,
helped, helper, eating, quicker, quickest)
• apply simple spelling rules and guidelines, as listed in Appendix 1
• write from memory simple sentences dictated by the teacher that include words taught so far.
Year 2 Pupils should be taught to:
* spell by: a. segmenting words into phonemes and representing these by graphemes, spelling many correctly
b. learning new ways of spelling phonemes for which one or more spellings are already known, and
learn some words with each spelling, including a few common homophones (e.g. two, to, too)
c. learning to spell common exception words
d. learning to spell more words with contracted forms, e.g. can’t, don’t e. distinguishing between
homophones and near-homophones
* add suffixes to spell longer words, e.g. –ment, –ness, –ful and –less
* apply spelling rules and guidelines, as listed in Appendix 1
* write from memory simple sentences dictated by the teacher that contain words and punctuation taught so far
 Spelling in Draft NC English Document
Year 3 / 4 Pupils should be taught to:
• use further prefixes and suffixes and understand how to add them (see Appendix 1)
• spell further homophones
• spell words that are often misspelt: disappear (just add dis to appear), disappoint (just
add dis to appoint), beginning (double the n at the end of begin to keep the short /i/
sound before it), business (busy + ness, with the y of busy changed to i according to
the rule), necessary, unnecessary (just add un to necessary) necessarily (add ly,
changing the y of necessary to i according to the rule)
• Year 3 / 4 Words to be learnt: accident, advertise, approve, benefit, behave,
bicycle, breath, breathe, building, calendar, certain, concentrate, chocolate,
congratulate, conscience, continue, decorate, describe, dictionary, difficult,
discover, disturb, early, earn, earth, educate, excite, experience, experiment,
explore, extreme, February, grammar, guide, guard, half, heart, immediate,
improve, increase, independent, injure, inquire, interest, island, junior,
knowledge, library, material, medicine, mention, multiply, murmur, nephew,
occasion, often, opposite, paragraph, particular, peculiar, position, possess,
produce, professor, promise, property, prove, punctuate, quality, quantity,
quarrel, quarter, recite, recover, register, regular, reign, remember, sentence,
separate, sew, situate, strength, sufficient, sure, surprise, surround, thought,
through, though, weary
• write from memory simple sentences, dictated by the teacher, that include words and
punctuation taught so far.
 Spelling in Draft NC English Document
• Year 5 / 6 Pupils should be taught to:
• a. use further prefixes and suffixes and understand the guidelines for adding them
• b. spell some words with ‘silent’ letters, e.g. knight, psalm, solemn
• c. continue to distinguish between homophones and other words which are often confused
• d. use knowledge of morphology and etymology in spelling and understand that the spelling of some words needs to
be learnt specifically, as listed in Appendix 1
o Word List for Years 5 and 6
Accommodate, debate, favour, identify lawyer narrate qualify similar umpire affection deceive familiar illustrate lecture nation
quench sincere unite analyse decimal festival investigate jealous juice junction jury knead knuckle magazine majesty majority
manage manufacture marvellous medium military mineral minor miracle mischief mischievous modern modest moisture mosquito
natural ninth nuisance persevere object reason observe occupy receive omit operate opinion organise origin parallel parliament
permanent phrase popular prefer privilege pronunciation protect punctual query rapid realise receipt recent recommend refuse
regret relevant imagine legend society utter ancient definite flavour imitate leisure solemn apparent demonstrate forbid immense
length sphere vacant appreciate deprive foreign impress lenient statue variety atmosphere destroy forty imprison lightning
stubborn attitude develop fruit include liquid style ventilate average index succeed villain awkward garage industry success virtue
electric genuine inferior suggest vocabulary bargain embarrass germ influence suit volcano believe emigrate govern(ment)
inhabitant superior volume blemish encounter gradual instrument surprise boundary encourage granite interfere remove syllable
wardrobe bruise endure guarantee interrupt request sympathy whether engineer interview resemble syrup wisdom career enrol
harass introduce resign wizard celebrate envelope haughty restore talent woollen century equator haunt revise telescope wrench
challenge equip hearty rhyme tempt committee especially height rhythm terminate yacht convince estimate hinder ridiculous
theatre yeast correspond Europe hindrance thorough coward European hoax sandwich tomorrow zero create evidence honour
satisfy tremendous zone curious exaggerate horizon purpose saucepan triumph zoology excavate humility scheme twelfth
exceed hurricane seize tyrant explanation severe sign
• e. use dictionaries to check spelling and meaning of words
• f. use the first three or four letters of a word to look up words in a dictionary to check spelling, meaning or both of
these.
• g. use a thesaurus
 Handwriting In DRAFT NC English Document
Year 1
Pupils should be taught to:
• sit correctly at a table, holding a pencil comfortably and correctly
• begin to form lower-case letters in the correct direction, starting and finishing in the right place
• form capital letters
• form digits 0–9
• understand which letters belong to which handwriting ‘families’ (i.e. letters that are formed in similar ways) and to practise these

Year 2
Pupils should be taught to:
• form lower case letters of the correct size relative to one another
• start using some of the diagonal and horizontal strokes needed to join letters
• understand which letters when adjacent to one another, are best left unjoined
• write capital letters and digits of the correct size, orientation and relationship to one another and lower case letters
• use spacing between words that reflects the size of the letters.

Years 3 / 4
Pupils should be taught to:
• use the diagonal and horizontal strokes that are needed to join letters and understand which letters, when adjacent to one another, are best left
unjoined
• increase the legibility and quality of their handwriting, e.g. by ensuring that the downstrokes of letters are parallel and equidistant; that lines of
writing are spaced sufficiently so that the ascenders and descenders of letters do not touch.

Years 5 / 6
Pupils should be taught to:
• write legibly, fluently, with increasing speed and personal style by:
• a. choosing which shape of a letter to use when given choices and deciding, as part of their personal style, whether or not to join specific letters
• b. choosing the writing implement that is best suited for a task (e.g. quick notes, letters).
 Punctuation

.
.?
.?,!
. ? , … ! “”
- ? , … ! ‘ “” : ; ()
How would you punctuate this
sentence?

a woman without her man is

nothing
Two possible ways to punctuate the
sentence giving two different
meanings:

A woman, without her man, is nothing.

A woman: without her, man is nothing.

 Punctuation
Has anything changed?
The abuse of punctuation suggests that most candidates are ignorant of its function
in determining structure and meaning or are unimpressed by its importance.
O level English language report 1952

Present expectations:
National Curriculum Programmes of Study KS1
Pupils should be taught:
a. how punctuation helps a reader understand what is written
b. the connections between punctuation and sentence structure, intonation and emphasis
c. to use capital letters, full stops, question marks and to begin to use commas.

National Curriculum Programmes of Study KS2

Pupils should be taught to use punctuation marks correctly in their writing, including full
stops, question and exclamation marks, commas, inverted commas, and apostrophes to
mark possession and omission.
 Draft NC for English – Punctuation …
Year 1
Pupils should be taught to:
understand how spoken language can be represented in writing by:
• a. leaving spaces between words
• b. beginning to punctuate sentences using a capital letter and a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark
• c. using a capital letter for names of people, places, the days of the week, and the personal pronoun ‘ I ‘
Terminology: capital letter, full stop, question mark, exclamation mark, punctuation

Year 2
Pupils should be taught to:
understand how spoken language can be represented in writing by:
• a. learning how to use both familiar and new punctuation correctly, including full stops, capital letters, exclamation marks, question marks,
commas for lists and apostrophes for contracted forms
Terminology: apostrophe, comma

Years 3 / 4
Pupils should be taught to:
indicate grammatical and other features by:
• a. using commas after fronted adverbials
• b. indicating possession by using the possessive apostrophe with singular and plural nouns
• c. using and punctuating direct speech
Terminology: inverted commas (or speech marks)

Years 5 / 6
Pupils should be taught to:
indicate grammatical and other features by:
• a. using commas to clarify meaning or avoid ambiguity in writing
• b. using hyphens to avoid ambiguity
• c. using brackets, dashes or commas to indicate parenthesis
• d. using semi-colons, colons or dashes to indicate a stronger sub-division of a sentence than a comma
• e. punctuating bullet points consistently
Terminology: parenthesis, bracket, dash, hyphen, colon, semicolon, bullet point
How can punctuation change meaning?

Dear Glenn,

I want a man who knows what love is all

about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful.
People who are not like you admit to being
useless and inferior. You have ruined me
for other men. I yearn for you. I have no
feelings whatsoever when we’re apart. I
can be forever happy – will you let me be
yours?

Gill
Dear Glenn,

I want a man who knows what love is.

All about you are generous, kind,
thoughtful people who are not like you.
Admit to being useless and inferior.
You have ruined me. For other men I
yearn ! For you, I have no feelings
whatsoever. When we’re apart I can be
forever happy. Will you let me be ?
Yours

Gill
 Give children the chance to punctuate
silly sentences:

the vicar said the teacher is an idiot

----------------------------------------------
the pirate had a wooden leg on his head
he wore a pirate hat over his left eye
there was a black patch on his shoulder
he had a bright green parrot instead of a
hand he had a painted brass hook which
glittered in his cruelly-shaped mouth he
was smoking a pipe
 Don’t forget spaces are important too, as web names indicate:

• Pencil and pen manufacturers: ‘Pen Island’

becomes: www._________.com
_________________________________________
• Australian Centre for native plants:
‘Mole Station Nursery’
becomes: www._________________.com
Rules for life
 Grammar
We all need to know and be able to use:

Co-ordination and the compound sentence

Subordination and the complex sentence
Cohesive devices such as pronouns, consistent tense,
appropriate connectives and adverbials
Modification
The active and passive voice

These can be taught at stages appropriate to the child, the purpose of

the writing and the intended audience. Punctuation will also need to be
taught at the same time so that getting to grips with the grammar
doesn’t get in the way of clear communication.

Key texts: Grammar for Writing. Developing Early Writing.

Vocabulary: Play the “Uxbridge English Dictionary Game” from “I’m Sorry I
Haven’t A Clue”

Think up unusual definitions for familiar words, e.g.

bunny – a bit like a bun

piecrust – what happens if you don’t polish your pike

buffalo – a naked greeting

malady – a bit like a duck

 EYFSP Writing
Scale Point:
1. Experiments with mark-making, sometimes ascribing meaning to the
marks.
2. Uses some clearly identifiable letters to communicate meaning.
3. Represents some sounds correctly in writing.
4. Writes own name and other words from memory.
5. Holds a pencil and uses it effectively to form recognisable letters,
most of which are correctly formed.
6. Attempts writing for a variety of purposes, using features of different
forms.
7. Uses phonic knowledge to write simple regular words and make
phonetically plausible attempts at more complex words.
8. Begins to form captions and simple sentences, sometimes using
punctuation.
9. Communicates meaning through phrases and simple sentences with
some consistency in punctuating sentences.
EYFSP Statutory Guidance
 Draft NC Framework for English: Grammar and Vocabulary
Year 1
In writing, pupils should be taught to:
understand how spoken language can be represented in writing
by:
• a. leaving spaces between words
• b. using the word ‘and’ to join words and join
sentences
In reading pupils should be taught to:
• recognise and join in with predictable phrases when listening to
stories and poems
• learn by heart and recite rhymes and poems
 Draft NC Framework for English: Grammar and Vocabulary
Year 2
In writing pupils should be taught to:
Understand how spoken language can be represented in writing by
• learning how to use:
 sentences with different forms: statement, question, exclamation, command
 expanded noun phrases to describe and specify, e.g. the blue butterfly
 subordination (using when, if, that, or because) and co-ordination (using or, and, or but)
• using some features of written Standard English
Writing Composition:
Pupils should be taught to:
• consider what they are going to write before beginning by writing down ideas and/or key words, including new
vocabulary they have learnt from their reading, wider experiences and conversations about language.
• re-reading to check that their writing makes sense and that verbs to indicate time (tense) are used correctly and
consistently, including verbs in the continuous form
In reading:
• The sooner that pupils can read well and do so frequently, the sooner they will be able to increase their
vocabulary …
• Introduce pupils to the meaning of new words within the context of what they are reading or about to read so that
they are supported in learning new vocabulary and understanding what they are reading.
• Discuss pupil’s favourite words and phrases
• Continue to build up a repertoire of poems learnt by heart and recite some of these, with appropriate intonation
to make the meaning clear
• Ensure that deliberate steps are taken to increase pupils’ vocabulary and their awareness of grammar so that
they continue to understand the differences between spoken and written language
 Draft NC Framework for English: Grammar and Vocabulary
Years 3 / 4
In writing pupils should be taught to:
• * develop their understanding of how spoken language differs from and can be represented in writing by:
• a. extending the range of sentences with more than one clause by using a wider range of connectives
e.g. when, if, because, although
• b. choosing nouns or pronouns appropriately for clarity and cohesion
• c. choosing nouns or pronouns appropriately within a sentence to avoid ambiguity and repetition
• d. using conjunctions, adverbs and prepositions to express time and cause
• e. using fronted adverbials
• f. discussing dialogue in narratives or characters’ language in drama
At this stage, ensure that pupils start to learn about some of the differences between Standard English and non-
Standard English and begin to apply what they have learnt, for example, in writing dialogue for characters.
Composition: Pupils should be taught …
• to draft and write by composing and rehearsing sentences orally (including dialogue), progressively building a
varied and rich vocabulary and an increasing range of sentence structures .
• to evaluate and edit by proposing changes to grammar and vocabulary to improve consistency e.g. the accurate use
of pronouns in sentences
• to proof-read for spelling and punctuation errors
In reading:
• Any focus on word reading should support the development of vocabulary.
• Pupils should be taught to understand what they can read in books independently by discussing words and phrases
that capture the reader’s interest and imagination
 Draft NC Framework for English: Grammar and Vocabulary
Years 5 / 6
• Pupils should be able to write down their ideas quickly. Their grammar and punctuation should be broadly accurate. Pupils’ spelling of most words taught so far should
be accurate and they should be able to spell words that they have not yet been taught by using what they have learnt about how spelling works in English. During Years 5
and 6, teachers should continue to emphasise pupils’ enjoyment and understanding of language, especially vocabulary, to support their reading and writing.

In writing pupils should be taught to::

understand how spoken language can be represented in writing by:
• a. recognising vocabulary and structures that are appropriate for formal speech and writing, including the subjunctive (The subjunctive form of a verb is occasionally
used in very formal contexts to indicate unreality, uncertainty, wish, emotion, judgement, or necessity, e.g. “If she were the President, things would be much better.” (But
she isn’t the President.)
• b. using the passive voice to affect the presentation of information in a sentence
• c. using expanded noun phrases to convey complicated information concisely
• d. using modal verbs or adverbs to indicate degrees of possibility
• e. using relative clauses beginning with who, which, where, why or whose
Composition
• Pupils should be taught to draft and write by selecting appropriate grammar and vocabulary, understanding how such choices can change and enhance meaning Pupils
should be taught to evaluate and edit by:
 proposing changes to grammar, vocabulary and punctuation to enhance effects and clarify meaning
 ensuring the consistent and correct tense throughout a piece of writing
 ensuring correct subject and verb agreement when using singular and plural
 distinguishing between the language of speech and writing and choosing the appropriate register
• Pupils should be taught to proof-read for spelling and punctuation errors

In reading pupils should be taught to:

• Learn a wider range of poetry by heart
• Prepare poems and play scripts to be read aloud and performed, using appropriate intonation and volume so that the meaning is clear
• Discuss how authors use language, including figurative language, in the books they read, and considering the impact on the reader

• Teachers should ensure that pupils are taught the technical and other terms needed for discussing what they hear and read, such as metaphor, simile, analogy,
imagery, style, and effect.
 Grammatical Terminology
Year 1
word, sentence, letter, singular, plural
Year 2
verb, tense (past, present), adjective, noun, suffix
Years 3
word family, conjunction, adverb, preposition, direct speech, prefix, consonant, vowel,
clause, subordinate clause
Year 4
pronoun, possessive pronoun, adverbial
Year 5
relative clause, modal verb, relative pronoun, parenthesis, determiner, cohesion, ambiguity
Year 6
active and passive voice, subject and object, synonym
How many different sentences can you make?

Anna was happy and excited running home

 Using Connectives …

How many different ways can you find to

connect these sentences?

Mum was happy.

Dad did the washing-up.
Mum was happy because Dad did the washing up.
Mum was happy although Dad did the washing up.
Mum was happy whenever Dad did the washing up!
Mum was happy so Dad did the washing up.
Mum was happy but Dad did the washing up.
Mum was happy and Dad did the washing up.
Mum was happy then Dad did the washing up…
Mum was happy until Dad did the washing up.
Mum was happy after Dad did the washing up?
Mum was happy if Dad did the washing up.

…and many more.

 How should we teach grammar?
•Embed it in lessons on writing or reading
so that it is meaningful
•Encourage discussion, experimentation,
choice and decision making rather than
correctness
•Be explicit about it
•Consider whether you need a metalanguage
and at what level
•See grammar as a creative tool
•Enjoy difference and divergence
 Does SPAG matter?
We have
upped our game.
Now up yours!

If the baby does not thrive on fresh milk

it should be boiled.
 Does learning grammar help writing?
Past research has suggested that it doesn’t, despite the
tendency of politicians and pedants to say it not only improves
writing but makes people law abiding, courteous and better
people all round.
Recent research from Exeter University suggests that it may all
depend on how you teach grammar:
• Grammatical metalanguage is used but is always explained
through examples and patterns
• Links are always made between the language feature
introduced and how it might enhance the writing being tackled
• The use of creative imitation is encouraged: offering model
patterns for students to play with then use in their own writing
• Authentic examples from authentic texts are used as models
wherever possible
• Activities are used which support students in making choices
and being designers of writing, including active discussion
about language choices and effects, and language play,
experimentation and games.
 And confusion?
“the vowle befor a single consonant is said
cappitle the vowle befor a double consonant
is said lower case”