Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling (GaPS) AIMS *Present an overview of the new test requirements for the end of key stage 1 *Gain an understanding of the spelling, punctuation and grammar requirements in Early Years & Key Stage 1 *Take a away a few ideas of how to help your child at home

All Change… At the end of Key Stage 1, all children will now do two additional tests: Spelling Paper 1: a 20-word spelling test taking approximately 15 minutes and worth 10 marks. Punctuation & Grammar a grammar, punctuation and vocabulary test, in two sections of around 10 minutes each (with a break between, if necessary), worth 20 marks. This will involve a mixture of selecting the right answers e.g. through multiple choice, and writing short answers. These tests will be sat in May (dates to be confirmed) by most schools with some schools selected to sit the test earlier in April.

What is Grammar? Grammar is the set of structural rules governing the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language…in other words, it is how we “build” sentences.

What do children need to know?

Year R Grammar Terminology SentenceFull stopletterWord Capital letter Reception

How do we teach Grammar? Research indicates the most effective method of teaching grammar is in the context of writing. Skills build gradually. Teachers model the writing to demonstrate what a ‘good’ piece of work looks like. It enables the children to rehearse the language. Link key ideas and punctuation to actions. Rehearsing the language enables the children to scaffold their writing.

Year 2 Planning Example Daily Objective: to understand the term “adjective”; to recognise an adjective in context and use to adjectives to describe a character from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Guided Reading: Chapter 14 – Read or listen to the description of Willy Wonka. Now, without looking at the illustration, draw a picture of the character. How do you what Willy Wonka looks like? How do you know what colour to use for his trousers/jacket? These words are called adjectives. Let’s underline the adjectives in the description in the book.

Spelling It’s important It is taught explicitly Year 2 learn cursive handwriting to help with spelling Learning strategies is important, not just spellings How words look is as important as how they sound Words are often built up of units e.g. prefixes, suffixes, roots

RECEPTION Phonics: s a t p i n m d g o c k ck e u r h b f l j v w x q z qu ch sh th ng ai ee igh oa oo ar or ur ow oi ear air ure er Tricky Words : the to I no go into he she we me be was you they all are my her one two

Year 1 Phonics: Name the letters of the alphabet in order Using letter names to distinguish between alternative spellings of the same word ff, ll, ss, zz, ck, nk, tch, plurals The /v/ sound at the end of words (live give) Add Prefixes and Suffixes: Adding the endings –ing, –ed and –er to verbs where no change is needed to the root word (eg helper, helping, helped) Adding –er and –est to adjectives where no change is needed to the root word (quicker, quickest) Use spelling rules for adding –s or –es as the plural Write from memory simple sentences dictated by the teacher that include spellings taught so far. Tricky Words : the, a, do, to, today, of, said, says, are, were, was, is, his, has, I, you, your, they, be, he, me, she, we, no, go, so, by, my, here, there, where, love, come, some, one, once, ask, friend, school, put, push, pull, full, house, our Days of the week,

Year 2 learning new ways of spelling phonemes for which one or more spellings are already known (eg: ay, ai, a-e, eigh), including a few common homophones (eg here, hear; they’re, their, there; sea, see) learning to spell more words with contracted forms (don’t, can’t, wasn’t) learning the possessive apostrophe [eg, the girl’s book]

Year 2… add suffixes to spell longer words, including – ment, –ness, –ful, –less, –ly (eg. happily, enjoyment, happiness) apply spelling rules and guidance, as listed in English Appendix 1learning to spell common exception words write from memory simple sentences dictated by the teacher that include spellings and punctuation taught so far.