Punctuation, Spelling and Grammar

Aims of the evening: To give you an understanding of:- Government’s expectations. What your child will be learning. How you can support your child. To give you some confidence.

Discuss: What do you think grammar is? Do you think spelling, punctuation and grammar is important? Discuss your answers.

“Grammar to a writer is the same as a good pair of hiking boots to a hiker and more precisely, an oxygen tank to a deep-sea diver.”

“Grammar is the coat hanger on which language can hang. It provides structure for sentences the way door lintels can prevent a house collapsing.” (Quentin Letts.)

What is grammar? Grammar, punctuation and spelling are the foundations of the English language. We need grammar to help us effectively speak and write the language. Words are the ‘building blocks’ for writing.

What has changed with the teaching of grammar? More of an emphasis of it in the new curriculum. The children are expected to know more. The children are expected to now learn and use the terminology.

What has changed with the teaching of grammar? Expected to be taught it both explicitly and implicitly. Children in Years 2 and 6 will be tested on it at the end of the year.

Your turn! Have a go at the tests on your tables. These cover what your children will be learning throughout Primary School.

Discuss In your tables discuss: How did you find the test? Are there any questions that you were all unsure of? What are you confident in? What are you not confident in? What do you think the most common misunderstandings are?

Common misconceptions children make.

Common misconceptions Apostrophes- which one is correct?

Apostrophes are used to show the possessive- that something belongs to someone. Aaron’s coat.

They are also used when words are shortened- contractions: does not doesn’t

Homophones Why do you think children find these words tricky?

Over there. That is their book. They’re going to the zoo.

What was on the quiz:

Sentence forms Commands Bossy Telling you to do something Now brush your teeth. Statements Provide information Today it was sunny.

Sentence forms Questions Ask something Usually end in a question mark- ? What are we having for dinner? Exclamations Are sentences that show extreme feelings like: anger, happiness or shock. I can’t believe you lost my Ipad!

Punctuation Semi-colons: Like a comma but stronger. Joins two sentences together. Both sentences have to be on the same theme. The door swung open; a masked figure strode in. Alex bought a toy car; he played with it as soon as he got home.

Colons: For lists. I went to the shops and bought: chocolate, apples and carrots. Hyphens: Used to connect words and parts of words. Two-digit number.

Parts of speech Noun: Name of a person, place or thing. Adjective: Describes the noun, makes it more interesting. The fluffy cat.

Parts of speech Verb: A doing word- running, swimming, eating. The girl brushed her hair. Adverb: Describes how you do something. Usually ends in –ly. Zainab quickly ran across the playground.

Pronoun: In place of the noun- he, she, they, it, we. He put on his coat.

Past tense Simple ones Just add ed: walk= walked play= played cook = cooked Not so simple Verbs that change: Eat = ate swim = swam drive = drove

Verbs that change completely: go = went to be (is) = was were Was and were: Usually: was- for one (singular) I was at lunch. were- for more than one We were at the cinema. Exception- you You were at the library.

Past participle: This is when something happened in the past but continues now: He has done his homework.

Prefix and Suffixes Prefix: A group of letters at the beginning of words. Change the meaning of words. un-, dis-, mis- misunderstanding

Prefix and Suffixes Suffix: A group of letters at the end of words. Change the meaning of words. -ness, -ly, -er, est greater

Plurals Adding -s Examples of words to add –s to: boys girls apples Adding –es Usually to words that end in x, ch, sh, z, and s matches boxes washes

Plurals Changing to –ves: Words that end with f knife = knives shelf = shelves Exception words: roof- roofs, chief- chiefs

Determiners A word that goes before the noun. Provides more information about the noun. A boy sat on the chair. There are two apples.

Contractions Two words are joined together and shortened with an apostrophe- ‘. Does + not = doesn’t He + will = he’ll

Match the terminologies On your tables you have cards with the names and their meanings. Match them up.

Terminologies you will hear and their meanings.

Grammar expectations for year groups

How to support my child at home: Different ways to practise spellings: Colourful words Shape words Pyramids words

rainbow words Use post it notes Magnetic letters Play dough

Websites junior.kent.sch.uk/interactive/literacy.html junior.kent.sch.uk/interactive/literacy.html elling_grammar/ elling_grammar/

Reading

Reflection Fill out the star and wish sheet: What you found helpful. What you would like more support with in the future.