SPaGParent Workshop

Agenda

� English and the 2014 Curriculum� Spelling � How we teach spelling� How to help your children at home with

spelling� SPaG� How we teach SPaG� How to help your children at home with SPaG� Sample questions from the 2016 SPaG tests� Glossary of terms

Aims

� Enable you to understand the changes that have happened in English due to the 2014 curriculum

� Provide you with a greater understanding of how SPaG is taught in school and progression of spelling, punctuation and grammar through Key Stages 1 and 2.

� Enable you to see the types of different questions children will be asked to do by the end of year 6.

� Help you understand how you can help your child at home.

What is SPaG?

�Spelling�Punctuation�And�Grammar

Why do we test SPaG?� At the end of KS2 there is no longer a written test for writing.� Prior to 2011 children at the end of their primary education had to

sit tests in writing, reading and maths. The writing test analysed children’s spelling and grammar abilities, creativity and capacity to structure texts.

� Now writing is teacher assessed. � Children do not get tested in writing. Instead teachers collect

writing that children complete over the course of year 6 and they decide on the level that children leave year 6 with.

� In 2012 the SPAG test was introduced� ‘... we want to make sure that when children leave primary school

they are confident in grammar, punctuation and spelling. The test will ensure that primary schools place a stronger focus on the teaching of these skills than in previous years.’ Michael Gove

Spelling in KS1

� We teach spelling patterns and rules from the National Curriculum Spelling guidance

� These are reinforced and revisited over the two years � Spellings are taught daily in phonics lessons. � Spellings are tested weekly based on spelling

patterns, rules and common exception words (tricky words)

� Spellings are reinforced during class based writing

Spelling Teaching Methods KS1

� Dot-dash method: identifying graphemes and patterns

� Chunking longer words� Visualisation� Making words practically� Word roots/suffixes/prefixes� Dictations� Word jumbles� Rhymes to remember

Spelling in KS2

� We teach patterns from the National Curriculum Spelling lists

(spellings are repeated in 3&4 and in 5&6).� The core lists are available today and online. � Spellings taught daily in class. � Spellings are tested weekly – this can include some

new but related words.

Spelling Teaching Methods in KS2

� Word meaning� Dot-dash method� Visualisation� Dictionary skills� Thesaurus skills� Derivations� Word roots/suffixes/prefixes� Dictations� Anagrams� Gnilleps

What can be done at home to support spelling

� Children have spelling books that they bring home with their lists in.

� Check your child’s previous results – value effort� They should revise the spellings 4 times at home

during the week – encourage.� Little and often works best but research says it

takes 9 attempts to embed a new word in your long term memory.

What can I do to help?

� Display the spellings somewhere visible. � Practically make words and play games focusing on

the patterns and rules� Test your child orally. � Test your child in writing – make sure they complete

the Look, Cover, Write, Check methods. � Spelling games, e.g., Scrabble, Bananagrams, Boggle,

fridge letters.

SPaG Across KS1

Year 1� To be able to recognise regular plural noun suffixes � T begin to use suffixes and prefixes � To use verbs in sentences� To use adjectives in sentences � To use the conjunction ‘and’ to join clauses� To understand the difference between singular and plural � To use Capital letters, full stops, question marks and

exclamation marks to demarcate sentences

Vocabulary:Sentence, word, punctuation, capital

letter, full stop, singular, plural, exclamation mark, question mark

SPaG Across KS1

Year 2� To form nouns using suffixes � To form adjectives using suffixes � To use adverbs in sentences � To use conjunctions to express subordination and

coordination � To use expanded noun phrases � To create sentences with different forms � To be able to use present, past and continuous (progressive)

tense � To use capital letters, full stops, question marks, exclamation

marks, commas and apostrophes in sentences

Vocabulary:

Expanded noun phrase, suffix, compound, statement, command, question, verb, comma, adjective,

adverb, tense, apostrophe, exclamation, conjunction

SPaG across KS2

Year 3� To express time, place and cause using conjunctions (e.g.

when, before, after, while, so, because), adverbs or prepositions (e.g. before, after, during, in, because of)

� To introduce paragraphs as a way to group related material

� To use headings and subheadings to aid presentation

� To use the present perfect form of verbs instead of the simple past

Vocabulary:

adverb, preposition, conjunction, word family, prefix, clause, subordinate clause, direct speech, consonant, letter, vowel,

inverted commas

SPaG across KS2

Year 4� To use noun phrases expanded by the addition of modifying adjectives,

nouns and preposition phrases

� To use fronted adverbials

� To use paragraphs to organise ideas around a theme

� To use the appropriate choice of the pronoun or noun within and across sentences to aid cohesion and avoid repetition.

� To use inverted commas and other punctuation to indicate direct speech.

� To use apostrophes to mark singular and plural possession.

� To use commas after fronted adverbials.

Vocabulary:

determiner, pronoun,

possessive pronoun, adverbial, fronted adverbial, apostrophe, plural possession

SPaG across KS2

Year 5� To use relative clauses beginning with, who, which, where, when, whose,

that or an omitted relative pronoun

� To indicate degrees of possibility using adverbs or modal verbs

� To use devices to build cohesion within a paragraph

� To link ideas across paragraphs using adverbials of time, place and number or tense choices

� To use brackets, dashes or commas to indicate parenthesis

� To use commas to avoid ambiguity and to clarify meaning

Vocabulary

modal verb, relative pronoun, relative clause, parenthesis, bracket, dash, cohesion, ambiguity

SPaG across KS2

Year 6� To use the passive to affect the presentation of information within a sentenceand structures appropriate for formal speech and writing or the use of subjunctive forms� To know the difference between structures typical of informal speech

� To link ideas across paragraphs using a wider range of cohesive devices: repetition of a word or phrase, grammatical connections and ellipsis

� To use layout devices – headings, subheadings, colons, bullets, tables

� To use the semi-colon, colon and dash to mark the boundary between independent clauses

� To use the colon to introduce a list and use of semi-colons within lists

� To use bullet points to list information. To use hyphens to avoid ambiguity.

Vocabularysubject, object, active, passive,

synonym, antonym, ellipsis, hyphen, colon, semi-colon, bullet points

How we teach SPaG

� Discretely, in 20 minute sessions five times per week

� In context as a part of English lessons� Spellings are given at the beginning of each

week and a range of activities are used in class throughout the week to support learning

How you can help at home

� When reading, talk about grammatical features used in books.

� Support the development of punctuation and sentences when writing in learning logs.

How could you develop/ extend that sentence?What punctuation could you add there?

Websites

� The School Run Website gives a clear explanation of key terms, examples and describes how and why they should be taught.

� http://www.theschoolrun.com

� http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/english/spelling_grammar/

� Practice papers� https://www.spag.com

Questions from the sample SPaG test for 2016

Glossary of Terms