COMMAND WORDS DESCRIPTORS Subject specific keywords Homophones – words that sound the same but have different meanings and spellings Start a new paragraph when there is: A change of topic, A jump in time, A change of place, A new speaker. Tips to improve your writing! Were Is the past tense of are We were playing tennis Where Is used for places and positions Where is Manchester? We’re Is short for ‘we are’ We’re going to school on today Wear Is what you do with clothes I wear jeans Their Belongs to someone The ladies hung up their coats They’re Is short for ‘they are’ They’re going to the shop Of The jar was full of sweets She is a friend of mine Off I took some time off work Too Means ‘as well’ or ‘excessive’ I ate too much last night Two Is just the number I want two pieces of toast To Means towards or is part of a verb I am going to the shop New Is not old Jim bought a new bike Knew Is the past tense of ‘know’ Jenny knew how to ride a bike No Is used to refuse or disagree No, I won’t go to school Know Is regarded as the truth. I know she won’t tell mum Common Misspelt Words embarrass prefer existence recommend achieve familiar receive apparently foreign Separate awkward immediately sensible beginning independent speech business knowledge successful completely necessary therefore customer occasion tomorrow definitely paid unfortunately disappoint possess wherever COMMAND WORDS DESCRIPTORS Give a clear, straightforward description that includes all the main points and links these together logically DESCRIBE Set out in detail the meaning of something, with reasons. More difficult than describing or listing so it can help to give an example to show what you mean. Start by introducing the topic then give the ‘how’ or ‘why’. EXPLAIN Give appropriate reasons to support your opinion or view and show how you arrived at these conclusions. JUSTIFY Subject specific keywords DISCUSS Provide a thoughtful and logical argument to support the case you are making Identify the main factors that apply in two or more situations and explain the similarities and differences or advantages and disadvantages. COMPARE Review the information then bring it together to form a conclusion. Give evidence for each view or statement. EVALUATE Give careful consideration to all the factors or events that apply and identify which are the most important and relevant, with reasons. ASSESS Use a comma between each item in a list, except for the last item where you use and. Before you start your list you should add a colon. There are: five gold rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree. sensitive/ly... timid/ly... aggressively... imaginatively... unfortunate... echoing... doubtful... emotion... anxiety... longing... system... leap... communication... ingredient... vibration... prefer... nourish... demonstrate... enjoy... container... fearful... marvellous... attractive... generously... echo... nervously... worriedly... patiently... feelings... courage... experience... peak... patience... furnishings... thunderous... gigantic... weird... freezing... quietly... happiness... joy... sadness... fear... shelter... baggage... companion... vehicle... bravely... transport... beautiful... awful... enormous... fierce... adventure... accident... magic... next lonely exciting Because interesting, afraid Use complex sentence structures appropriately. Vary sentence length and word order to keep your reader interested. in addition to contrary to despite so as to if after while as well as although however also besides even though never the less but so then because when and Connectives Vocabulary Having decided... Use complex sentences appropriately. Vary sentence length and word order to keep the reader interested. I actually... Due to... As time went... Never... Always... Besides... Even though... Meanwhile... Before very long... However... In addition to... Despite... We always... If/then... I felt as... Although I had... I discovered... Another thing... After a while... Although... Afterwards... Before... Eventually... Sometimes... Often... Because... After… First... Then... Next... Last... But... The last time... Soon... If... Another time... The... My... I... Openers “ ” ; , ... ( ) ? . ! . ‘ , ... ? ! “ ” . ? , ! . ? . Punctuation