Punctuation and

grammar28th September 2017

What is grammar?

‘Studying how language works – grammar – should help young writers to say what

they want to say as effectively as they can.’

‘When we read texts we read like a reader…When we write, we write like a

writer, but also need to imagine the reader of our writing.’

This isn’t and shouldn’t be about a SPAG test. It has to be about improving

children’s writing.

Where to start?

So much crossover…

To build/develop sentences we need to have an awareness of a number of

different areas.

Integral to all of this is our use/development of word classes.

Word classes

Sentences are built and developed through use of word groups.

How many different types of word class do we know?

8 major word classes in the English language

Noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun, preposition, conjunction,

determiner

First 4 are KS1 objectives.

Verbs

What are verbs?

What are the most common verbs in the English language?

An action or a state of being – miss verbs such as was, is, am (to be)

Verbs are integral - without a verb you do not have a sentence.

Tense

What types of tense do we know?

Tense

What types of tense do we know?

Where does the following sentence

belong?

The Tear Thief listened.

Present Past

Simple

Progressive

Perfect

Perfect

Progressive

Tense

What types of tense do we know?

Create the table on a sheet of

paper.

Where does the following sentence

belong?

The Tear Thief listened.

Present Past

Simple The Tear Thief

listens.

The Tear Thief

listened.

Progressive

Perfect

Perfect

Progressive

Tense

What types of tense do we know?

Create the table on a sheet of

paper.

Where does the following sentence

belong?

The Tear Thief listened.

Present Past

Simple The Tear Thief

listens.

The Tear Thief

listened.

Progressive The Tear Thief is

listening.

The Tear Thief

was listening.

Perfect

Perfect

Progressive

Tense

What types of tense do we know?

Create the table on a sheet of

paper.

Where does the following sentence

belong?

The Tear Thief listened.

Present Past

Simple The Tear Thief

listens.

The Tear Thief

listened.

Progressive The Tear Thief is

listening.

The Tear Thief

was listening.

Perfect The Tear Thief has

listened.

The Tear Thief

had listened.

Perfect

Progressive

Tense

What types of tense do we know?

Create the table on a sheet of

paper.

Where does the following sentence

belong?

The Tear Thief listened.

Present Past

Simple The Tear Thief

listens.

The Tear Thief

listened.

Progressive The Tear Thief is

listening.

The Tear Thief

was listening.

Perfect The Tear Thief has

listened.

The Tear Thief

had listened.

Perfect

Progressive

The Tear Thief has

been listening.

The Tear Thief

had been

listening.

Noun phrases - activity

A noun phrase (or any phrase) does not contain a verb.

Select an object

Name it – common/proper noun.

Add an adjective and a determiner e.g. The old shoe

Add a preposition phrase e.g. under the stairs

Add two adjectives joined by ‘and’ e.g. battered and torn

Add a relative clause (which, who, that, whom)

Experiment with variations and select your favourite.

Finish your sentence by adding a verb.

Battered and torn, the old shoe, under the stairs…sat undiscovered.

Adverbs/Adverbials

When she saw the girl quietly crying in the street, the Tear Thief

stopped. There was always room in the sack for more tears.

She reached out her hand.

Adverbs of time, place and manner (when, where, how)

How did the Tear Thief reach out her hand?

When did she?

Does it have to be one word?

With care, she slowly reached out her hand.

Activity

Look at the images.

Write a simple (single) clause sentence to describe what is happening.

Now add a word or phrase to describe: how, when, where, how often.

Create a mix of adverbs/adverbials within the sentence.

How many can you include?

You’re the writer, decide when to stop!

Examples

The Thief touched the child’s face.

The Thief, with care, touched the child’s face.

After the tears fell, the Tear Thief gently touched the child’s face.

In the reflection of the puddle, the Thief touched the child’s face, every day, as the tears fell.

Every night, after the tears fell, the Thief would quietly enter the room without making a

sound, and gently collect the little droplets of water.

Children can colour code as an activity, to see if their adverbs fall into the same category.

Explain everything activity

Do the sentences below include adverbs/adverbials? Be prepared to explain

your answer.

The little girl squealed loudly when she saw the Tear Thief.

The Tear Thief’s reflection could be seen faintly in the puddle.

In wonder, the child stared at the moon.

Fronted adverbials – varying openings

The Tear Thief watched.

Begin the sentence in the following ways:

An adverb/adverbial: how;

An adverb/adverbial: time;

An adverbial: where;

An adverbial: how often.

Which is your favourite – why?

Sentences…

What is a sentence?

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/sentence

A sentence needs to have a clause…so what is one?

Contains a subject and a verb

Clauses

Endurance sailed on the sea towards

Antarctica.

Clauses

Endurance sailed on the sea towards

Antarctica.

Endurance sailed.

Multiclause sentences

Sentences containing more than one clause.

Can be a mix of main, subordinate and relative.

Main clause makes sense on its own – therefore every sentence needs one.

Subordinate clause does not make sense on its own – needs a subordinating

conjunction.

Relative clause – gives extra information, often about a noun – need a relative

pronoun.

Subordinate clauses

Write a single clause sentence based on the picture.

Add a subordinating conjunction.

Decide whether it sounds better at the start, middle or end of the sentence.

Add any punctuation needed – commas.

Always needed if subordinate clause first; personal choice if not.

Subordinate clauses

The men climbed.

The men climbed as the moonlight shone from

above.

As the moonlight shone from above, the men

climbed.

Relative clauses

Modifies the noun and is introduced by a relative pronoun.

Who, whom, whose, which, that

Identify the nouns in a sentence and add extra information to them.

As the moonlight shone from above, the men climbed.

Relative clauses

Modifies the noun and is introduced by a relative pronoun.

Who, whom, whose, which, that

Identify the nouns in a sentence and add extra information to them.

As the moonlight shone from above, the men climbed.

As the moonlight, which was particularly bright that evening, shone from

above, the men climbed.

As the moonlight shone from above, the men, who were tired and weary,

continued to climb.

Comma splice

The tiny boat rocked on the ocean, the wind was as strong as it had ever been.

Commas are used to mark phrases and clauses.

Two main clause cannot be joined with a comma.

Must have either:

Full stop

Conjunction

Semi colon

Colon

Even if children do not put a comma, it is still incorrect.

Build a sentence activity

Add stimulus – picture

Write a single clause sentence.

Add a subordinate conjunction.

Decide on whether it goes at the start or end.

Add a relative clause.

The dark clouds, that were heavy with rain, swirled

violently, while the tiny boat rocked on the ocean.

Build a sentence activity

Add stimulus – picture

Write a single clause sentence.

Add a subordinate conjunction.

Decide on whether it goes at the start or end.

Add a relative clause.

The dark clouds, that were heavy with rain, swirled

violently, while the tiny boat rocked on the ocean.