Short interactive exercises for the sentence skills taught in each writing unit: punctuation, joining ideas, expanding noun phrases, and writing with purpose. Answers are checked in your browser and nothing is sent anywhere.
Say a whole sentence, hold it in your head on your fingers, then write one word at a time.
Curriculum: EYFS Writing ELG: write simple phrases and sentences that can be read by others.
Used in: A caption: I can see a...
Say a word slowly, count the sounds, and write a letter or letters for each sound.
Curriculum: EYFS Writing ELG: spell words by identifying sounds in them and representing the sounds with a letter or letters.
Used in: Mark-making to name writing, Labels for a picture, A list: a picnic for teddy
A sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop, a question mark or an exclamation mark. Names and the word I always get a capital letter.
Curriculum: Year 1: introduction to capital letters, full stops, question marks and exclamation marks to demarcate sentences; capital letters for names and for the personal pronoun I.
Used in: Sentences with capital letters and full stops
Tap a word to give it a capital letter. Tap the small gap after a word to add a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark.
And joins two ideas that go together into one sentence.
Curriculum: Year 1: joining words and joining clauses using and.
Used in: And sentences about me
Time words show the order of what happened. They make a short recount easy to follow.
Curriculum: Year 1: sequencing sentences to form short narratives.
Used in: A recount of a trip
A question asks and ends with a question mark. An exclamation shows strong feeling and ends with an exclamation mark.
Curriculum: Year 1 punctuation; Year 2: how the grammatical patterns in a sentence indicate its function as a statement, question, exclamation or command.
Used in: A postcard
Add the capital letter and the right end mark. Tap a word for a capital, tap the gap after it for a mark.
Instructions start with a bossy verb (a command) that tells the reader what to do: cut, stir, press.
Curriculum: Year 2: statement, question, exclamation and command; terminology: command, verb.
Used in: Simple instructions
But shows a problem or a surprise. So shows what happened as a result. Because gives the reason.
Curriculum: Year 2: subordination (when, if, that, because) and co-ordination (or, and, but).
Used in: A story ending
Add an adjective, another noun or a place phrase to tell the reader more: the tall, old oak tree beside the river.
Curriculum: Year 2: expanded noun phrases for description and specification. Year 4: noun phrases expanded by modifying adjectives, nouns and preposition phrases.
Used in: Character description with adjectives
A paragraph groups sentences about one idea or one part of the story. Start a new paragraph when time, place, topic or speaker changes.
Curriculum: Year 3: introduction to paragraphs as a way to group related material. Year 4: use of paragraphs to organise ideas around a theme.
Used in: Paragraphs in a recount
Words and phrases like first, after that, meanwhile and later on keep events in order. A comma follows a time phrase at the start of a sentence.
Curriculum: Year 3: expressing time, place and cause using conjunctions, adverbs (then, next, soon, therefore) or prepositions. Year 4: fronted adverbials and commas after them.
Used in: Paragraphs in a recount, Instructions with time connectives
Tap a word for a capital letter and the gap after it for punctuation. Remember the comma after the time phrase.
Fact files and information texts use the present tense and clear headings: Otters live in rivers. They eat fish.
Curriculum: Year 2: correct choice and consistent use of present and past tense. Year 3: headings and sub-headings to aid presentation.
Used in: A fact file
Give reasons to make writing thoughtful: I liked the book because it was funny. It was funny, so I read it twice.
Curriculum: Year 2 and 3: because, so; subordination and expressing cause using conjunctions.
Used in: A letter of thanks
Subordinating conjunctions add time, condition or contrast to the main idea and make sentences richer.
Curriculum: Year 3: expressing time, place and cause using conjunctions (when, before, after, while, so, because).
Used in: A story with a problem and a solution
Put the when, where or how at the front of the sentence, then a comma: Before breakfast, Mum fed the hens.
Curriculum: Year 4: fronted adverbials and use of commas after fronted adverbials.
Used in: A story with a problem and a solution
Add the capital letter, the comma after the opener and the end mark.
Inverted commas go around the words actually spoken. Punctuation stays inside them. Start a new line for a new speaker.
Curriculum: Year 3: introduction to inverted commas. Year 4: use of inverted commas and other punctuation to indicate direct speech.
Used in: Narrative with dialogue
Persuasive writing uses strong modal verbs, rhetorical questions, direct address and groups of three to move the reader.
Curriculum: Year 5: indicating degrees of possibility using adverbs or modal verbs (might, should, will, must).
Used in: A persuasive letter
A balanced argument links points for and against with formal connectives and keeps a calm, fair tone.
Curriculum: Year 5: linking ideas across paragraphs using adverbials of time, place and number. Year 6: grammatical connections such as on the other hand, in contrast, as a consequence.
Used in: A balanced argument
In the passive, the thing that is affected comes first: The window was broken. News reports use it to focus on what happened, not who did it.
Curriculum: Year 6: use of the passive to affect the presentation of information in a sentence; terminology: active, passive.
Used in: A newspaper report
A relative clause adds detail about a person, thing or place using who, which, where, whose or that. Commas often frame extra information.
Curriculum: Year 5: relative clauses beginning with who, which, where, when, whose, that, or an omitted relative pronoun; commas to clarify meaning.
Used in: A biography
A simile compares using like or as. A metaphor says one thing is another. Personification gives human actions to things.
Curriculum: Reading, Years 5 and 6: discuss and evaluate how authors use language, including figurative language, considering the impact on the reader.
Used in: Narrative with dialogue, Poetry with figurative language
Curriculum statements are paraphrased. All exercises are original to Litlings.