I can say and write simple, compound or complex sentences If children become confident at using a blend of simple, compound and complex sentence structures, their writing will be varied and accurate. For many young writers, this is not easy to achieve. These sentence skills must be revisited and rehearsed over and over again. Practising sentence skills could get boring! This lively dice game, to be played in pairs, generates lots of purposeful talk about sentences. Children collect game cards to win! If children record their sentences, it also generates plenty of good examples to refer back to during whole class sessions. The activity is differentiated three ways. At its most basic, children generate a mixture of the three sentence types. On track writers try a wider variety of subordinating conjunctions. More able writers are moved on to creating sentences with a greater number of clauses. I used this for myth writing. If you wanted to, the ‘game cards’ and sentence examples on the ‘dice guides’ could be easily changed to match any story or text. It’s a great way of learning or revisiting these three important sentence types. *I have added a version of the game with Beowulf game cards and another version with ‘ough’ words, to demonstrate how the game can be adapted to different texts or spelling patterns.

I can use the relative pronouns ‘who’, ‘which’, ‘where’, ‘when’, ‘whose’ and ‘that’ to write relative clauses. Specific relative pronouns are used when referring to different nouns. The fun dice game ‘Meet the relatives’ encourages children to think about which relative pronoun is most suitable for the noun in the sentence. The aim of the game is to be the first player to write an embedded relative clause using each of the relative pronouns on the game card. There are three versions of the game, to ensure that all learners are included and appropriately challenged. Enjoy meeting the relatives!

Five straightforward worksheets that require children to think about the meaning of prefixes, and select correct prefixes. A time-saver. Prefixes covered: dis, re, mis, over, in, il, im, ir, Suffixes covered: ence, ance

I couldn't find much out there on KS2 noun phrases. Lots of stuff for KS1, but I feel it still needs pushing in KS2. On top of that, I couldn't find any decent short texts for sci-fi writing... So here is a very exciting - but also brief - sci-fi text. Children have to expand the noun phrases. There are 6 suggested ways they can expand nouns and a detailed word bank to support them. The text could also be used as a model for writing - it would be easy to play with it create something entirely new. Worked for my class.

Assessment focus: I can write a sentence that makes sense by itself Children explore sentences that make sense and sentences that do not. They fix sentences and write them correctly. The main activity is differentiated 3 ways. Included: Lesson plan Warm up Activity differentiated 3 ways

Here is a short science fiction/suspense model for Year 5 or Year 6. I have also included an annotated version with teacher notes showing all of the key grammatical features, the way the text is structured and some suggested activities. How is this text organised? Are you good at hiding? Do you ever keep secrets? Can you keep secrets from your reader? This story is all about keeping secrets, and causing confusion, uncertainty and suspense! Can you keep the identity of your man character (a cat in the model text) hidden until the end and let the reader try and work out what they are? Can you keep the danger unknown until right at the end? Can you finish on a cliff hanger? So many questions… Build your own story from here. Scatter clues about the identity of your main character and keep the danger hidden. Here are the themes of each part of the story: Setting, fear, an unknown thing coming Flashback 1: unclear warnings and rhetorical questions Sustaining injuries: main character stops what she is doing and runs for home, but it is treacherous Home and family: How is the character motivated to survive? Her den and cubs! Flashback 2: she remembers more warnings, but the threat remains uncertain and confusing Main character finds a familiar place – nearly home? – nearly safe? A mysterious object finally appears – everything scatters – character’s identity revealed Fear changes to hunger – prey becomes predator… cliff hanger!

If you are confident with your classroom management, this game works well in a lesson observation. Children compete in teams, dropping relative clauses into prepared sentences. Children try out different roles, from author to reporter, and work collaboratively. I have found that children were quickly able to apply this skill in their writing after a session playing this game. Differentiation included, if needed. Give it a try!

I can identify unstressed vowels I can spell words with unstressed vowels Children (and adults!) often spell words with unstressed vowels incorrectly (how about these: diffrent, intresting, seprate, evryone…). This dice game encourages learners to engage with this tricky group of words. Players identify and sort unstressed vowel words into groups. They record them on a game sheet. No marking - peer assessment built in (answers are on the reverse of cards). There is a competitive element to add some fun, but it could just as easily be played collaboratively. I have included ideas on how to quickly differentiate the game, to include all learners. There is also a quick warm sorting activity. My class enjoyed it. I hope yours do too. All you need is 1-6 dice. The rest is all here.

Working on biographies? Teach your class a simple structure for organising information within a paragraph. This whole class activity supports both reading and writing skills. Assessment focus I can group information into paragraphs I can organise the sentences in my paragraph into a sensible order I have used this 'paragraph party' approach several times for information texts and persuasive texts, and it really helped children to improve how well their writing was organised. That's why I have developed a similar approach to use when tackling biographies. Children will learn a simple pattern and later on they can apply to their own writing. Using lots of constructive talk, children have to work together to organise different sections of Anne Frank's life. Children need to find the host of the party (the 'topic sentence') and throw out any information that is not relevant (the 'uninvited guest'). Then they explore the subtle way information is ordered. Later on, children explore whole text structure. Each paragraph follows the same pattern, and children can use this pattern to support any biography writing that follows.

Assessment focus I can use colons to explain and add detail (description: detail) I can use colon sentences in non-fiction writing Colons can be used for various purposes (before lists, introducing quotes), but this activity focuses on the use of the colon to separate two main clauses. By playing this dice game, children get plenty of opportunities to practise this skill, whilst finding out about some very creepy creatures. There is also a version of the activity for learners that need a lot of support, and an explanation of what to do with your high attaining writers. Enjoy!

This resource is six activities linked to the text. They are ready for children to pick up and use independently. Defining and reusing tricky words from the text Picking out the key features of a fable from the text (and from ‘The Promise’) Adding fronted adverbials to sentences from the text Grouping synonyms to create a word bank for fable writing I can plan a fable of my own I can write a fable of my own

I can use a colon to introduce a list (when the clause before the list is independent) This fun dice game gives children lots of opportunities to use a colon to introduce a list. I have included three versions of the game, to ensure that all learners are included and challenged appropriately. On track version: In pairs, use the on track dice guide. As players progress in the game, they must shade one colon on their game board for every item (or noun phrase) they include in each list. The first player to reach the finish is the winner. Support version: In pairs, children use the support dice guide. During each round both players create a list sentence, using the opening clause on the dice guide, and a list of noun phrases. There are visual prompts on the dice guide to support writers with ideas. Challenge version: Use the ‘on track’ dice guide, but ask the children to experiment with lists made up of expanded noun phrases that include commas, wherever possible. They can try using semi-colons to separate the items in each list. Example of a sentence that could be created by playing this dice game at challenge level: To create her magic potion she needed the following: wild mushrooms, from the lower field; oak bark, from the oldest tree in Western Wood; three long, white feathers and a twist of fresh sap, not more than a day old. Your class will soon get the hang of colons to introduce lists if you play this for a session.

I use this in year 5 and year 6 - I'm sure it could be useful for ages 7-14. I can understand the meaning of ‘addition’ words and ‘cause and effect’ words I can develop an argument using ‘addition’ or ‘cause and effect’ Explanation When children try to add a further point to an argument they often get confused between two key language functions: • ‘addition’ - adding a further related point (also, in addition to, furthermore, moreover…); • ‘cause and effect’ - explaining the effect of the previous point (therefore, consequently, as a result of, because of this…). This can result in children making points that are nonsensical: Mobile phones make children safer because they can contact their parents in the event of an emergency. Consequently, children can contact online safety websites and get useful advice about online bullying. Here we see that a misunderstanding of the adverb ‘consequently’ has weakened the argument. An ‘addition’ adverb such as ‘furthermore’ would make a lot more sense. The same problem can occur in reverse. Text messaging during lessons is a distraction. In addition to this, children secretly sending text messages will fall behind their classmates. In this passage, the second point is a consequence of the first and not an additional argument. A cause and effect adverb such as ‘therefore’ would make much more sense. Use the activity "Addition or cause and effect?" to help children understand how to develop a point without confusing the reader.

In Key Stage 2, especially from Year 4 onwards, children are expected to use a variety of conjunctions accurately. I think that ‘if’ and ‘although’ deserve as a whole session on their own because they are two of the trickier conjunctions. Children often use ‘although’ inaccurately as they do not understand it’s meaning. Included is: a warm-up activity to get children thinking right from the moment they come in; a 20 slide PowerPoint with lots of activities to engage with; a detailed lesson plan; a simple SAN/low attainers activity.

This one works a treat! ***This game and 39 others are included in ‘40 Grammar Dice Games’ available from my TES shop*** ’More Grammar Dice Games’ is also now available Fronted adverbials should now be taught from Year 3 upwards and this is a useful way in - it will also stretch talented KS2 writers. This dice-based activity encourages children to add a wide variety of fronted adverbials to a main clause. The game is differentiated into three different versions. In its simplest version, less confident writers can pick appropriate adverbs to open sentences. In the most challenging version writers must elaborate and include more than one adverbial before the main clause. This can produce some stunning sentence work. My class have been able to apply this skill in their own writing and I’m sure yours will too. There is a presentation to provide your class (or any less confident teachers) with the knowledge needed to use the activity creatively. NEW! I have added a new game ‘Warrior Swords!’ to develop the skill of varying the length of fronted adverbials. It is more challenging than the other 3 versions attached. I hope you find the games as useful as I have. ***This game and 39 others are included in ‘40 Grammar Dice Games’ available from my TES shop*** ’More Grammar Dice Games’ is also now available

Fully resourced 3 week unit for this text also available in my store! I wrote this model text for year 3/4 children learning about the Stone Age (Bronze Age and Iron Age models are also included in your download). Important year 3/4 conjunctions, prepositions and adverbs are shown in red. The model has been written so that the children can easily use it to help them structure their own reports on the Bronze Age or the Iron Age. There is one image and it is from PIXABAY. I have also included some teacher notes about the text. If you are a talk for writing school, I have included the ‘story map’ for the first 4 paragraphs - that’s the amount we ‘talk’ off-by-heart. I have included Bronze Age and Iron Age versions of the Stone Age model. This is to show how the model can easily adapted to new subjects, and to give ideas for outcomes that the children could research and write. Finally, there are two activities related to the Iron Age version of the model that may be handy. One involves adding prepositions to information sentences. The other involves organising information in a sensible way (sub headings, captions etc).

I or Me? These two pronouns are used regularly in English spoken language and writing, but often incorrectly! In KS2 children are expected to make an 'appropriate choice of pronoun or noun within and across sentences to aid cohesion and avoid repetition'. This resource provides a lesson plan outlining the rules regarding when to use 'I' and 'me' correctly (focussing on using I or me with another name) through a Powerpoint presentation with working examples and a board game. It also teaches the children a 'trick' to use to self-check that they have chosen the correct pronoun. There are 'support' and 'challenge' versions of the game and the grids are complete with no cutting out required, saving you plenty of time! The game is a fun way to consolidate the learning and includes a simple lesson plan, the game, the powerpoint presentation and the game boards, all of which can be edited and adpated to suit your pupils. I or Me? is best suited to Years 4-6 for use with children who speak english as their first language or for older children for whom english is an additional language.

This is a terrific descriptive writing lesson. Children contrast the inside of a tent (at night) to the outside. Lesson summary: 1. Vocabulary/simile sorting activities for 'meaning breakdown' and then for inside/outside 2. Release high attaining (AMA) writers to do indoor/outdoor writing independently 3. Shared (teacher led) writing of ‘indoor’ for everyone else 4. Rest of class use word bank (developed during part 1) for independent ‘outdoor’ writing It would work well from Y2 upwards - I used it in Y3, but I can imagine older writers enjoying this activity. Children use images and word banks to create wonderfully rich descriptive writing. You are buying: a detailed lesson plan and presentation, with inside/outside image word banks tasks suggested shared writing Enjoy!

There are two useful resources here: 1. A carefully planned lesson about dashes, exploring how different types of extra information can be added to a sentence. This includes a detailed lesson plan and 3 activities (the final one is a team game, with clear differentiation). All resources are included. The lesson covers these Year 5/Year 6 objectives: I understand the terms dash and parenthesis/parentheses I can explain some uses for dashes I can use dashes creatively for lots of different purposes This is perfect for a demonstration lesson or an observed session. There is minimal ‘teacher talk’ and lots of active pupil engagement. 2. I have also included a further punctuation game: ‘Punctuation show-offs’. I can use brackets, dashes (parentheses) and semi-colons in my sentences. Would you like the writers in your class to be ‘punctuation show-offs’? Me too. I created this dice activity to encourage children to add extra information to sentences using parentheses (brackets and dashes) and also to separate closely related main clauses using semi-colons. I have also provided teacher and - more importantly - child friendly explanations and examples of all concepts. Children may incidentally find out about Usain Bolt, Picasso, Stephen Hawking and a 1000kg bowl of cereal. Have I caught your interest yet? This whole activity has a ‘show-off’ theme and it’s fun. After playing this, you can remind your class to be ‘punctuation show-offs’ in their own writing. Finally, I have added a ‘Victorian’ version of the same game, to show how it can be adapted to different themes.

Two dice games for KS2: ‘Point or show quantity’ pupils explore the two basic functions of determiners. ‘Introduce the noun’ pupils add determiners to noun phrases and sort determiners into groups. Both games have a competitive element but are tightly focused on the following objectives: I know that determiners have two jobs: ‘pointing’ or ‘showing quantity’ I can use determiners accurately in sentences I can use a wide variety of determiners to introduce nouns I can sort determiners into groups Determiners can get a little confusing for primary school aged children when you get beyond simple ‘a’ or ‘an’ activities. How far you go with your class is best judged by you (of course!). Through the presentation (which you may wish to simplify, depending on how far you wish to go with determiners) and engaging dice games, children will use lots of talk, and really engage with this tricky-to-define but important group of words.