Spell to Excel – An Introduction

Spell to Excel is a progressive and innovative scheme that comprehensively addresses the ‘spelling content’ of the National Curriculum (September 2014.)

The scheme puts the spelling content into a wider context and should be seen as a collection of resources that not only support spelling, but consolidate grammar and punctuation, develop vocabulary and encourage a genuine love of language.

The National Curriculum states that ‘Pupils should spell words as accurately as possible using their phonic knowledge and other knowledge of spelling, such as morphology and etymology.’ For many children, giving them weekly word lists in isolation is simply a waste of time. Children might learn the words but fail to retain them over a longer period of time. Others might experience anxiety at the thought of their weekly spelling ‘test.’ Spell to Excel places emphasis on children taking greater ownership of their learning and is underpinned by the principle that spelling is best taught through a ‘little and often’ approach.

Finally, ANY scheme is only as good as the teacher delivering it! Teachers should be encouraged to use the scheme flexibly, colour it with their own creativity and ensure that the children’s learning evolves over the course of each week, and beyond, to genuinely meet the needs of their children.

Recommended Structure

The children should work alongside ‘spelling partners’ (or a three if necessary) to support their Spell to Excel learning over the course of each week. The partners should have plenty of opportunities to generate word lists together and support each other when applying their learning through regular dictation ‘games’ at the end of each week.

At the start of the week there will be an introductory activity. This will be consolidated by a short activity/activities in the middle of the week, with an assessment activity at the end of each week. Partners should test each other orally on their weekly Word Walls for just a few minutes on Days 2 and 4. The weekly structure is therefore as follows:

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Monday Introductory activities (15 mins)

Tuesday Partner Work – Individual Word Walls/Key Words (5 mins)

Wednesday Workbook Activities (15 mins)

Thursday Partner Work – Individual Word Walls/Key Words (5 mins)

Friday Word Wall and Dictation Assessment Activities (15 mins)

Children’s Workbooks

Teachers may choose to use the Spell Excel resources selectively and expand upon them using their own creativity, taking into account the specific needs of the children in their class.

However, in terms of the scheme structure, there are two levels of booklet designed for each term. The colours of the booklets change from term to term. Autumn Term booklets are blue and red (with red being harder). Spring Term booklets are green and yellow (yellow is harder) and Summer Term booklets are pink and purple (purple is harder.)

Weekly Word WallsTeachers have access to ‘class word walls’ for most of the units. (A small minority of units include a more limited and specific list of words.) These word walls can, and should, be modified to include words that the children have generated themselves. They act as a supporting resource for the introduction of each unit and can be tweaked as appropriate at any point in the week.

The children will either generate their own words, or complete an activity that introduces them to the unit on the Monday. The class teacher builds upon this by introducing the class Word Wall and discussing any words that might represent new or challenging vocabulary. The children then select their own EIGHT words for their personal Word Walls. These Word Walls should be seen as starting points for the week’s learning and NOT as an isolated ‘spelling list’ for the week. (The children will be expected to learn their Word Wall words over the course of the week but equal emphasis is placed on putting the words

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into context, looking for similarities and patterns, using identified strategies to support their learning, and expanding upon their initial Word Walls at home.) It is vital that parents are part of the partnership and clear about the aims and intentions of the scheme.

Spelling PartnersSpelling partners should be selected at the start of the year (with a broadly similar spelling age.) Teachers will obviously get to know the children and be able to make the most appropriate pairings.) Spelling partners should agree a joint Word Wall list (eight words) at the start of the week.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays they will test each other (orally) for just a few minutes on their Word Wall words. On the Friday they will test each other and play the spelling dictation game together.

Dictation Sentences

Each word bank has a colour that matches the colour for the sentence dictation cards for that unit. There is no relevant order to the choice of colours, it is simply a feature to make it easier for teachers and children to quickly find the right dictation cards for the right units!

Children work with a partner and the dictation sentence exercises should be approached and promoted as a ‘game’ for the children. There are different levels of dictations for the two different workbook groups. It makes sense to organise the children into tables according to their workbook groups for the weekly dictations (eg blue group tables and red group tables for the Autumn Term.) The children on the table place the relevant dictation cards ‘face down.’ Partners A each choose a dictation card. They read the sentence aloud to their spellings partner. The spelling partner then repeats the sentence aloud. The two partners then say the sentence aloud together. Partner B then writes the sentence in their workbook. When the sentence has been completed, the two partners check it carefully (not just for spellings, but for correct punctuation.) If

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there are any errors then these are identified together and the sentence is corrected or re-written by Partner B. The two children then place the card back on the table and the roles are reversed, with Partner B choosing a card to read aloud to Partner A. The children could quite easily go on to choose additional cards for each other and complete additional dictation sentences should time permit.

In an ideal world, the children would create their own sentences using their Word Wall words for the week. Teachers could adapt the scheme to ensure that partners select their eight weekly word walls together and therefore use the same word list as their starting point for the week’s work. This makes the scheme much easier to implement when it comes to testing each other on the Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Children can be challenged to create their own sentences for the Friday dictation. This is better than simply playing the dictation game but it is harder to monitor when it comes to ‘checking corrections.’ It is a greater challenge to check that every child has written out their own sentences correctly whereas the sentence dictation answers are easily at hand. Close liaison with parents is really valuable here. If part of the week’s homework is to create an interesting ‘dictation sentence’ (or a couple of sentences) using their Word Wall words, then parents could get into the habit of checking this through with their children. The children would then be taking responsibility for a key part of the Friday lesson, the spelling dictation game! Children’s ownership of their learning is a key principle to underpin the Spell to Excel philosophy.

Key Words

The Key Words lists that are identified in the National Curriculum are included in the scheme’s programme of study, with specific Key Words units for each year group. However, the best way to learn the key words is to raise their profile on a continuous, on-going basis. A selection of key words can be put up on class display (using a Key Word Wall.) A few words could be changed each week. Can the children identify the new words? Can they tell you which words have been removed? Can they remember how to spell the words that have been removed?

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Teachers may also use the Key Word Key Rings to support the on-going learning of key words. Spelling partners can practise these for a couple of minutes on the Tuesday and Thursday. The Key Rings progress in rainbow colours, starting with red (the simplest) and progressing through to violet (the hardest.) Teachers may work alongside parents and agree that the Key Rings can be taken home and practised (just a few minutes for a couple of times per week.) Many children will enjoy the challenge of progressing though the colours.

An assessment of Key Words is recommended before tackling any units on Key Words within the scheme. The Key Words Assessment Tests should be used at the start of the year to determine the appropriate colour for each child. Administer Test 1 first. (red, orange and yellow words.) The first section where a child makes FOUR or more mistakes will determine their start colour. All children who make less than four mistakes in each of the sections should be given the Assessment Test 2. For excellent spellers, who may spell nearly all of the key words correctly, then the suggestion would be that the teacher creates an extended list using mis-spelt words from the children’s own writing along with more complex and challenging vocabulary.

Key Words could also be used if the school decide to carry out a sponsored spelling test!

Working with ParentsThe success of the scheme is clearly enhanced through positive working relationships with parents. A Spell to Excel Parent Information Leaflet is included within the resources. Holding a specific Presentation Evening to launch the scheme and inform parents is also highly recommended. Parents who help out in the classroom could also support the Friday assessment sessions.

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Autumn TermThe National Curriculum states that children should be taught to ‘apply their growing knowledge of root words, prefixes and suffixes, both to read aloud and to understand the meaning of new words they meet.’

UNIT 1 ex-The prefix ‘ex’ has two main meanings.

One of these is ‘out’/out of’ or ‘outside/extra’ to what is usual

(eg extraordinary – out of the ordinary, except/exception – the odd one out, exaggerate is to get something out of proportion, extra or excessive is more than usual, an exit leads out, extreme sports are not your usual sports, external and exterior are related to the ‘outside,’ exquisite is so much better than normal, and if you excel (or are excellent) then that’s definitely above average!

The other meaning is ‘former’ and will include a hyphen (as in ex-girlfriend, ex-hockey player).

Share some of the meanings but make it clear that some words are less obvious than others. A few examples (as above) is perfectly sufficient for the introduction to the prefix ex-, but challenge the children to think of other ‘ ex-‘words where they can make clearly defined links to the prefix.

Other words begin with ‘ex’ where ‘ex’ is not a prefix, or not an obvious prefix. Words such as ‘excuse’ or ‘examine.’

When the children generate words (preferably with a partner or within a small group) you might ask them to highlight those where they can identify ‘ex’ as a prefix.

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UNIT 2 re-The prefix ‘re’ is linked to doing something ‘again’

(eg rebuild, repeat, replay, rejoin, remake, revise, retell, reiterate,)

One of the activities in this unit explores this meaning by looking at root words. Draw attention to what happens to the root word when re- is added as a prefix. Point out that many other words begin with the letters ‘r’ and ‘e’ where this is NOT a prefix (eg red, reason, reel, read.)

When the children generate their ‘re’ words (preferably with a partner or within a small group) stress that the focus is to find words with the prefix ‘re’ rather than including all words that begin with the letters r,e.

When showing the children the word wall, challenge them to identify words that use the prefix ‘re’ (and explain their thinking.) Look at the word relay. Ask children to explain what a relay race is. Then write the word re-lay with a hyphen. What does this mean? Why have we used a hyphen? Give a clear example (eg dad had to re-lay the carpet.) Consider the difference in sound and emphasis between ‘relay’ and ‘re-lay.’ Are there any other similar examples where you might use a hyphen to clarify the meaning (eg remark and re-mark, resign and re-sign.) Put these examples into context with the children.

UNIT 3 sub-

The prefix ‘sub’ means ‘under.’ Words such as submarine, subtitle and subway are obvious examples. Words such as substitute could get children thinking... (‘under’ the main team selection?) or ask the children what they think sub-standard means (below the standard). What would a teacher think if they received sub-standard work?

The unit explores the prefix further through matching definitions to key words. With the alphabetical ordering of ‘sub’ words, highlight the importance of the fourth letter (and sometimes beyond.)

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When looking at the Word Wall there are lots of good opportunities for vocabulary development. Words such as sublime, subdued, subjective, subscribe, substantial, subsequent and subsidy should be discussed and put into context. Ask the class to act out a word such as ‘subdued’, look at an abstract painting to illustrate the word ‘subjective’, show something of great magnitude to demonstrate ‘substantial’, taste a delicious strawberry to demonstrate ‘sublime’ etc...

UNIT 4 un-

The prefix ‘un’ can be linked to the word ‘not’ (eg unhelpful, unhappy, unfriendly) or ‘a reversal’ (eg uncover, unattached, unzipped, unfold).

Through the unit, challenge the children to think whether the word sounds right, as there are alternative prefixes with a similar function. (eg unsteady sounds right, unpossible doesn’t, and uses the prefix ‘im’.) It is important for the children to sound the words out and work with partners.

One of the activities is to find the right word using ‘clues’. This could easily be linked to dictionary definitions. Discuss how definitions need to be concise, and use language very precisely to explain the meaning of a word. The children are given the opportunity to make up their own clues. This could be used as a simple homework activity, where children could be challenged to write short clues for one or two of their key words. They could subsequently be used as a short ‘game situation’ within school.

The Word Wall provides a good opportunity for children to act out some of the words. Can the class guess which words are being acted out? Can the children think of additional ‘un’ words that do not appear on the Word Wall?

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UNIT 5 mis- and dis-The prefixes are similar to ‘un’ in that they create an opposite. (eg heard misheard, tasteful distasteful, read misread, calculate miscalculate). We often link ‘mis’ or ‘dis’ to negative things, or doing something wrong (disapprove, disgusted, mistake). As with the ‘un’ unit, encourage children to say the words out loud, listen carefully and think about whether they sound right. (eg Is it mistreated or distreated?) Use the words in context to support the children in deciding upon which words sound correct, make some ‘deliberate mistakes’ (or distakes!) and see if the children can identify these!

Before the children generate their own ‘mis’ and ‘dis’ words, remind them that we are looking for words where mis or dis are used as a prefix, and that there may be many other words that begin with these letter patterns but are NOT using mis or dis as a prefix (eg mist, disc, miser, Disney, misery.) Use the Word Wall to focus on some of the less familiar words. Can the children explain what a mishap is? Can they put words such as misguided, discomfort or discontent into context?

UNIT 6 in-The National Curriculum states that ‘the prefix –in can mean both ‘not’ and ‘in / into.’ Discuss this with the children and share examples of both (eg inadequate, insufficient or interior, investigate.) The majority of words with the prefix ‘in-‘ reflect the meaning ‘not,’

Words with the prefix in- include many words with more complex spellings (and meanings.) It is important within this unit to fully discuss the vocabulary within the Word Wall, as children may be introduced to a number of ‘unfamiliar’ words. This is also a great opportunity to explore strategies for spelling more complex words (eg breaking words down into syllables, looking for ‘words within words’ or other ‘clues’ to help children remember complex words such as insufficient or inappropriate.) Actually break words up when you write them on the whiteboard (eg in / sen / sit / ive or in / acc / u / rate ).

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UNIT 7 ch (‘k’ sound)

The National Curriculum states that children should be taught ‘words with the /k/ sound, spelt ch. (Greek in origin.)’

Rather than ‘generating’ their own words, the introductory session looks at discriminating between words that have the ‘ch’ spelling but the ‘k’ sound, as opposed to words that have the ‘ch’ spelling and ‘ch’ sound. The children could be partnered for the opening task and take it in turns to read aloud. Some time should also be allowed to explore the meaning of more complex words (such as charisma or chasm.) Look at the link between the words charisma and character. Can the children give examples of charismatic people that they know? Point out that words with ‘ch’ that have the ‘k’ sound usually start with the ‘ch’, but there are some exceptions (eg school, anchor.) Can the children think of any other words where the ‘ch’ (‘k’ sound) comes in the middle of the word?

Proper nouns are included in the word bank. This unit provides a good opportunity to consolidate proper nouns. How many names can the children think of that begin with ‘ch’ ? The children could sort these by sound. eg the ‘k’ sound (Chloe and Christopher) the ‘sh’ sound (Charlotte and Cheryl), and the ‘ch’ sound (Charlie and Chester.)

UNIT 8 ch (‘sh’ sound)The National curriculum states that children should be taught words with the ‘sh’ sound spelt ch. (Mostly French in origin.)

The introductory session focuses on the ‘sh’ sound and the children are challenged to discriminate between ‘real’ words and ‘nonsense’ words. Again, it is a good opportunity for partner work and to encourage discussion surrounding ‘new’ words or words that the children are uncertain of. The activities consolidate the aim of putting the words into context and understanding their meaning. Words such as chevron, chaperone, champagne, chivalry and chateau are introduced, so discussion should address the meanings of these words (and linked to French origins where appropriate.) This could be something that children could discuss with a ‘response partner.’

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UNIT 9 ph (‘f’ sound)

The ‘f’ sound for the ‘ph’ spelling is Greek in origin (alphabet, graph).

Start the unit by drawing the children’s attention to these origins and discuss the meaning of any words where the children might be uncertain (eg phoney, phobia, phrase, physics.) Exaggerate the ‘f’ sound when sounding these words out. Look at how we form the ‘f’ sound with our mouths.

UNIT 10 sc (with silent ‘c’)

The introduction looks at discriminating ‘sc’ words with the ‘s’ sound and ‘silent c’ (eg scissors, muscle, scent) as opposed to the ‘sc’ sound (eg scan, scar, biscuit.) The children could once again work in partners to sound the words out. Encourage the children to exaggerate the sound of the ‘sc’ words with the ‘sc’ sound (such as scream or scribble!)

Sound out the ‘c’ for ‘sc’ words which actually have a silent c to emphasize the spelling (eg sc-issors or sc-ent.) Make up ‘silly sentences’ such as ‘The roses have a wonderful sc-ent’ or ‘The detective arrived at the sc-ene of the crime.’)

UNIT 11 Days of the Week Encourage the children to look at the similarities between the four languages as well as the differences (English, French, Spanish and Italian.) Look at the common ending for our days of the week (day) and discuss the particular spelling of Wednesday. Compare this with the sound of the word, where the ‘d’ is not stressed. Break the word down and say it as wed / nes / day. With Saturday, exaggerate the ‘ur’ sound to emphasise the ‘ur’ combination.

UNIT 12 Months of the Year

Discuss the history of calendars with the class. The old Roman calendar represented a year that was 304 days divided into 10 months. Ask the children what issues might arise if we had a 304 day year today. Look at the names of the months and highlight the connection with the old ten-month calendar. Use the French language to illustrate this further. eg September – sept is ‘seven’. This used to be the seventh month. December and November were the tenth

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and ninth months respectively. Look at the similarity for the French words for ‘nine’ and ‘ten’. October was the eighth month. The prefix ‘oct’ means eight (octopus, octagon.)

The unit could be supported with some poetry on the calendar year. This would consolidate the sequence of the months and challenge the children to think about the key features for each month (and key dates throughout the year.)

The poem ‘All Year Round’ provides a very straightforward structure for a poem based on months of the year. This is included in the term’s resources. Children would benefit from discussing the year and thinking about the weather conditions, festivals and feelings that they personally associate with each month.

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Spring Term

UNIT 1 -lyThe National Curriculum states that children should learn that ‘the suffix –ly is added to an adjective to form an adverb’, and that ‘the suffix –ly starts with a consonant letter, so it is added straight on to most root words.’

Look at how adjectives can change to adverbs through adding ‘ly’ (eg sad becomes sadly, warm becomes warmly.) Remind children that adjectives are ‘describing’ words (eg the strong horse, the colourful peacock, the black cat.) Think about which adjectives can be changed to become adverbs through adding ‘ly’. How does this change the meaning of the word?

Discuss the fact that adverbs can help to ‘up-level’ a sentence because they can make sentences more interesting and descriptive. Play a ‘verb/adverb animal’ game, where children name an animal (noun) and then create a sentence about the animal using a descriptive verb in combination with an appropriate adverb.

(eg Hedgehog- The hedgehog shuffled quietly across the lawn.

When the children complete their own sentences using their ‘word wall’ words, remind them of the importance of choosing their words carefully, up-levelling their sentences to make them more interesting.

Adverb Opposites is another possible game- Suggest an adverb and then your partner has to find the adverb ‘opposite’

eg quickly / slowly, noisily / silently, gently /roughly.

Reflect upon the fact that adverbs often end in ‘ly.’

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UNIT 2 -le to ly

The National Curriculum states that children should be taught ‘if the root word ends with –le, the –le is changed to –ly.’

There is a good opportunity within this unit to widen vocabulary through considering words such as ‘humbly,’ ‘audibly’, ‘amiably’ or ‘amicably’ (which appear on the word wall.

UNIT 3 -ily

The National Curriculum states that ‘if the root word ends in –y with a consonant letter before it, the –y is changed to ‘i’, but only if the root word has more than one syllable,’

Discuss the rule that when an adjective ends in ‘y’ the adverb usually changes to an ‘ily’ ending. (eg happy – happily, angry – angrily). Challenge the children to generate ‘ily’ words with a partner.

You could play an adverb role play game. Give the children an ‘activity’ (eg mowing the lawn, washing the dishes) and ask them to act it out using an ‘ily’ adverb (eg noisily, lazily, angrily, happily.) Can you guess the ‘ily’ adverb from the children’s acting?

Discuss the words in context. What might we do ‘angrily’ or ‘tidily’ or noisily’?

The three words truly, duly and wholly are identified as exceptions to the ‘ly’ rule (covered in Unit 1). The root words end in ‘e’ (true, due, whole) but lose the ‘e’ before adding ‘ly’ (unlike other words ending in ‘e’ such as false, sore, loose, nice, which simply add the ‘ly.’

Discuss the words truly, duly and wholly and put these words into context.

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UNIT 4 -fully

Continue to reinforce the use of ‘adverbs’ within literacy sessions. Discuss how words ending in ‘ful’ (adjectives) can become adverbs through the use of ‘fully.’ Draw attention to the fact that ‘ful’ words only have one ‘l’ whereas ‘fully’ words always use two ‘l’s!

Look at the ‘root’words (eg root for peaceful and peacefully is ‘peace.’) Talk about root words, adjectives and adverbs, and use the words in context to compare their meanings (eg generate a sentence using peaceful and a sentence using peacefully. How do these sentences differ?)

There are great opportunities to consolidate the vocabulary through drama. Children could be given a command (eg fly a kite, stroke a cat, walk the dog, wash the dishes) and then given an adverb ending in ‘fully’) They would then act out forcefully walking a dog or joyfully washing the dishes, gracefully flying a kite or carefully stroking a cat etc...

UNIT 5 -ally

The National Curriculum states that ‘if the root word ends in –ic, -ally is added rather than just –ly, except with the word publicly.’ (eg basically, frantically, dramatically.)

The Word Bank introduces a range of complex words that will require discussion, definition and context. (acoustically, mechanically, academically, optimistically.)

It is a good opportunity to consolidate the strategy of breaking words into smaller chunks or syllables. a-ca-dem-ic-ally / path-et-ic-ally. This will also consolidate the pattern of the root word ending in ‘ic.’ One game might be to put a word up in sections that are not in the right order. (eg an/ cally/ mech / ic ) The children then re-arrange the sections to identify the word. A few of these and they will quickly identify the pattern of the ‘ic-ally’ endings.

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UNIT 6, 7 and 8 nn-ing, pp-ing and tt-ing

The National Curriculum states that children should ‘add suffixes beginning with vowel letters to words of more than one syllable.’ The rules and guidance notes state that ‘if the last syllable of a word is stressed and ends with one consonant letter which has just one vowel letter before it, the consonant letter is doubled before any ending beginning with a vowel letter is added. The consonant letter is not doubled if the syllable is unstressed.’

The exemplars focus on words ending er/ ed / en/ ing. (eg forgotten /forgetting, beginner / beginning, limited / limiting etc.)

As a starting point it is important that children know their vowels and understand the term consonant. There is plenty of scope for teaching about root words and looking at various suffixes as common endings.

The children should then use their phonic knowledge to ‘dot and dash’ simple words (ending in ‘n’ ‘p’ or ‘t’ depending upon the unit.) The common factor for all of the words identified in these exercises is that they are verbs. Teachers should remind the children that verbs are ‘doing’ words. These units provide good opportunities for acting words out or introducing simple drama games.

Children might identify the common factor for each of the word lists as ‘the final letter being the same.’ This is, of course another perfectly acceptable answer to the question about what the words have in common.

Look at the pattern of word endings for verbs ending in ‘n’ ‘p’ or ‘t’. Where there is a consonant and then a vowel before the letter, then the consonant doubles before adding ‘ing’. (eg run, running, win, winning, span, spanning.) Where there is another consonant before the letter then the letter remains single. (eg turn, turning, earn, earning, yawn, yawning.) Where there is a double vowel before the letter then the letter also remains single. (eg lean, leaning, moan, moaning, )

Remind the children of these ‘rules’ throughout the units on nn-ing, pp-ing, and tt-ing. By the time they have completed these three units they should be able to apply the rule to other endings, (eg gg-ing, ss-ing, mm-ing.)

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UNIT 9 ou

The National Curriculum states that children should be taught the /^/ sound spelt ‘ou’. It is also important that children recognise the ‘ou’ spelling with the harder cloud / loud / proud sound.

Discuss the sounds of words with the ‘ou’ letter pattern. Discriminate between those with the ‘ow’ sound (eg loud, mouth, pouch, joust) and those with other sounds (eg soft ‘u’ as in touch, rough, enough.) Make it clear that this unit focuses on the ‘ow’ sound (that you might make if somebody treads on your toe!) Practise the sound before tackling the picture quiz or activities.

Make sure that you go through the answers to the picture quiz using the Powerpoint ‘ou’ sounds (Spring Term resources.)

UNIT 10 The /^/ sound – spelt ‘ou’

Having worked on the ‘ow’ sound for ‘ou’ words, now focus on the /^/ sound for ‘ou’ words. Practise the sound before tackling the activities.

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Summer Term

UNITS 1 and 2 HomophonesHomophones are words that sound the same but are spelt differently. (eg bear/bare, cheep/cheap, aloud/allowed.) The children start the unit with an exercise in their books on ‘Homophone Pairs.’ Pictures give clues to the homophone pairs and the children have to see how many they can work out (and spell correctly) in ten minutes. They might work alongside a partner for this exercise. Some of the pairs are quite straightforward but others require a little deeper thought! The Homophone Pair Puzzle Powerpoint should then be shown to the children. The children should ‘self-mark’, correcting any spellings where necessary and writing in any of the words that they might have ‘missed’ during the exercise. This exercise, along with the unit word bank, informs the key spellings for the week and is built upon in Unit 2. The class could be challenged to make an on-going ‘homophone collection’ of words (that evolves as the work progresses over the course of the two weeks.

UNIT 3 The Apostrophe &

UNIT 4 Omissions & Contractions

The National Curriculum states that children should learn about possessive apostrophes with plural words as part of the Year 3 & 4 study. The scheme consolidates omissions and contractions in Year 3 and then moves on to possessive apostrophes in Year 4.

When working on apostrophes it is important that the children are aware that contractions are made by omitting letters and replacing them with an apostrophe. Reinforce the correct vocabulary and draw the children’s attention to the terms omission and contraction.

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UNIT 5 there / their /they’re

This is a short unit that quite simply consolidates the correct use of these three commonly mis-used homophones. The unit also consolidates the work on omissions and contractions. The children do not have a Word Wall or end of week dictations for this unit, although there are good opportunities to enrich the unit through home learning. The children should be encouraged to collect headlines from newspaper / magazine articles (which include any of the three words, their, there or they’re.) These could be enlarged on a photocopier and made into a class display. The children could be challenged to think up some simple storylines based on the headlines (possibly working with partners or within a small group.)

UNITS 6 and 7 bb-ing and gg-ing These units build upon the three units nn-ing, pp-ing and tt-ing from the spring term.

Look at the pattern of word endings for verbs ending in ‘b’ and ‘g’. Where there is a consonant and then vowel before the ‘b’ or ‘g’ then the ‘b’ or ‘g’ becomes a double consonant before adding ‘ing’. (eg bob, bobbing, sag, sagging, fib, fibbing.) Where there is a consonant before the ‘b’ or ‘g’ then the ‘b’ or ‘g’ remains single. (eg comb, combing, hang, hanging, curb, curbing.) Remind the children of these ‘rules’ throughout the units on bb-ing, and gg-ing.By the time they have completed these units they should be able to apply the rule to other endings, (eg ff-ing, ss-ing, mm-ing.)

UNIT 8 e-ing

The unit looks at how verbs ending in ‘e’ will lose the ‘e’ when adding ‘ing.’ (eg take – taking, move, moving, give – giving.) The activities are straightforward and reinforce this rule. (The first activity uses the context of fairy stories as a theme.) The picture activity may have alternative answers. (eg the girl waving is also smiling) either answer would be acceptable, although it could be suggested that waving is possibly a better answer as there is a previous image that clearly depicts ‘smiling.’ The bread image could, for example, be carving or slicing, both words fit the rule!

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UNIT 9 Doubling up when Stressed

The unit simply draws together the learning from the previous two units and the related units from the spring term. It also looks at the past tense suffix of ‘ed.’ Teachers may wish to consolidate work on root words and various suffix endings if they feel that this is necessary. (eg smile/smiled/smiling walk/walked/walking/ etc...) Extended grammar work could easily support this unit.

UNITS 10, 11 and 12 Key WordsThese three units focus on the Year 3 and 4 Key Words lists. They include word puzzles & crosswords. *See introductory notes on Key Words to support the implementation of these three units.

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ANSWERS

Blue BookUNIT 1 ex-

1. Tom was worried because he had a maths exam on Tuesday.2. Kate tried to explain why she was away on Wednesday.3. Leo was lost in the shop and couldn’t find the exit.4. Mr Jones explained how to use the glue guns safely.

UNIT 2 re-

Root word Prefix + Root Past tense of root word

Tell Retell toldOpen Reopen openedPay Repay Repayed

Heat Reheat ReheatedPrint Reprint ReprintedGain Regain RegainedPlace Replace Replaced

Create Recreate recreated

1. Rashida was given a refund from Marks and Spencers because there was a big hole in her jumper.

2. Tins, bottles and newspapers are all useful things to recycle.

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UNIT 3 sub-

subway A bit like a ship, but it can go under the water.

submarine You study many of these in school

substitute To take away in maths.

suburb To give in.

subtract An underground passage.

subjects A replacement player in a

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sport such as footballsubmit A place to live just outside

the city

Alphabetical Order

subjectsubmitsubway

UNIT 4 un-

Unkind √ unplant undo √Unlock √ unfair √ unheatUntrick unload √ unlike √Unsay unpick √ untime

Unlucky √ unprove unplug √Untrue √ unsafe √ unzip √

Clue 1. This is dangerous! unsafe

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Clue 2. Breaking a mirror is supposed to be this. unlucky

Clue 3. If your brother or sister gets twice as many Christmas presents. unfair

Clue 4. Use a key to do this! Unlock

UNIT 5 mis- & dis-

Right or Wrong? The correct word is highlighted in red.

disprint misprint

disappear misappear

discomfort miscomfort

disfire misfire

disabled misabled

UNIT 6 in-

Trying to paint the ceiling with a tiny brush Insane

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Four add four equals nine! inappropriate

Being really lazy and doing nothing! inconsiderate

Making lots of noise when the babySleeps

inefficient

Absolutely crazy! IncorrectShouting out in the middle of a maths lesson Inactive

1. The teacher told Ben that his answer was incorrect.

2. The cat was fat because it was inactive.

3. There were insufficient pencils for all of the class.

4. John kept dropping the ball due to his inability to concentrate.

UNIT 7 ‘ch’ (‘k’ sound)

chemical √ chair chainChristopher √ chorus √ Chloe √

character √ champion chemist √charisma √ chemistry √ chaos √

chalk Christmas √ chocolatechameleon √ chance Charlie

1. The chameleon was Christopher’s favourite pet.

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2. St Mary’s choir sang at the Royal Albert Hall.3. Mr and Mrs Twit are characters created by Roald Dahl.

UNIT 8 ‘ch’ (the ‘sh’ sound)

chef √ Chiggle N Chalet √choup N Chevron √ Chouch Nchilk N Cheeple N Chute √

chirth N Chivalry √ Choak Ncharades √ champagne √ Charlotte √chabuu N Cheeby N chandelier √

Draw a line to match each word with the correct definition and picture.

chalet The head cook in a restaurant

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chevron A water slide

chef A wooden house. (a holiday home.)

chandelier A badge or flag with one or more ‘v’ shaped stripes

chute An ornamental hanging light. Sometimes made of

crystal.

UNIT 9 ‘ph’ (the ‘f’ sound)

trophy 1 graphphoto 2 phantom

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sphere 3 phonephone 4 photo

phantom 5 spheregraph 6 trophy

1. A football is the shape of a sphere.

2. The quiz team were triumphant.

3. Beth could say her whole alphabet.

4. The wedding photographer asked everybody to smile and say ‘cheese.’

phantom a fear

physical a group of words

phonics a long-tailed bird

phoney a ghost

phobia relating to the body

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pheasant a way of teaching you to sound things out

phrase false

The zookeeper got Ellie the elephant to pose for the photograph.

UNIT 10 ‘sc’ (silent ‘c’)

1. Pippa’s perfume had a most unusual scent.

2. Nina’s favourite subjects were science and maths.

3. Peter painted some of the scenery for the school play.

scarf scene √ Scent √scenery √ scrap Scratch

scar scissors √ Scoffscab school Screen

scone scenic √ scientific √oscar muscle √ Biscuit

1. Jessica enjoyed the beautiful scenery in Scotland.2. Professor Pumpkin was a brilliant scientist.3. The sniffer dog followed the scent and caught the burglar red handed.

UNIT 11 Days of the Week

English French Spanish Italian

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Monday Mercredi Sabado Giovedi

Tuesday Samedi Viernes Lunedi

Wednesday

Lundi Martes Sabato

Thursday Dimanche Miercoles Martedi

Friday Jeudi Lunes Mercoledi

Saturday Mardi Domingo DomenicaSunday Vendredi Jeuves VenerdiUNIT 12 Months of the Year

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November December March/April June/July/AugustI think this is November because it looks like Guy Fawkes night (which is on 5th November.)

Christmas tree is the biggest clue!

The beginning of spring.

Summer.Unless somebody is clever and thinks the beach is in Australia! Then they might say November/December/ January.

October Any month from November to February would be a reasonable answer.

August/ September/ October

May

Halloween. 31st October.

Winter Autumn May pole dancing.

1 January2 February3 March

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4 April5 May6 June7 July8 August9 September

10 October11 November12 December

Red BookUNIT 1 ex-

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1. Harry said that he had seen a spaceship last Thursday and that aliens really do exist.

2. Mr Willison explained that Jupiter had four main moons, along with several other smaller moons.

3. Saturn and Uranus are two good examples of planets that are basically made out of gas!

4. There were several excuses for the failure of Apollo 13.

UNIT 2 re-

Root word Do it again...tell retell

open reopenpay repayheat reheat

fit refit

1. Imran wanted to return to Spain for his holiday.

2. Mum was going to reheat the chicken and make a curry.

UNIT 3 sub-

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subway To go under the water

submerge To cave in or collapse

substitute To take away in maths

suburb To give in

subtract An underground passage

subside A replacement player in a sport such as football

submit A place to live just outside the city

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submergesubside

substitute

UNIT 4 un-

unbutton √ unknown √ unprovingunperfect uncover √ unfair √unbeaten √ unloaded √ unportantunpolite unpure uneasy √unlucky √ unhealthy √ unhot

unbelievable √ uncertain √ unspeedy

Clue 1. Not defeated all season! unbeaten

Clue 2. Not familiar to me. Never seen him before!

unfamiliar or unknown.

Clue 3. An amazing fact! unbelievable

Clue 4. I’m not really sure about this! uncertain or unsure

UNIT 5 mis- & dis-

Root word Prefix + Rootread Misreadfire Misfire

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comfort Discomfortfield Misfield

belief Disbelieftreat Mistreat

1. Rooney missed the penalty because he miskicked or miscontrolled the ball.

2. It was a big mistake to put so much pepper on his chips.

3. Pickles the dog was in disgrace because he chewed up the new rug.

UNIT 6 in-

A lazy cat that sleeps all day! InactiveFour add four equals nine! incorrect

Eating all of the cake yourself and not giving a single slice to anybody else!

inconsiderate

Not enough clay for the whole class to make a model.

insufficient

Absolutely mad! InsaneUnable to balance a bucket of water

on your head!incapable

1. Toby’s answer was unfortunately incorrect.

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2. After losing the cup final, Jenny was inconsolable.

3. There were an insufficient number of tennis rackets so the lesson had to be cancelled.

4. The train ticket was invalid during the peak hours.

UNIT 7 ‘ch’ – (the ‘k’ sound)

chemical √ Chair chestnutChristopher √ Chorus √ Chloe √

character √ Champion chemist √charisma √ Chemistry √ chaos √

Chalk Christmas √ chocolatechameleon √ Chasm √ Charlie

1. Chloe received a new chemistry set for Christmas.2. St Saviour’s choir couldn’t remember the words to the chorus.3. An accident in the town centre caused chaos on Saturday

afternoon.

UNIT 8 ‘ch’ – (the ‘sh’ sound)

Chef √ chiggle N chalet √choup N chevron √ chouch NChilk N cheeple N chute √

chateau √ chivalry √ choak Ncharades √ champagne √ chardines Nchabuu N chaperone √ chandelier √

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chalet The head cook in a restaurant

chateau A water slide

chef A wooden house, often used as a holiday home in countries such as France or

Switzerlandchandelier A badge or flag with one or more ‘v’ shaped

stripes

chevron An ornamental hanging light. Sometimes made of crystal

champagne A French country house, often very posh like a manor house

chute A sparkling drink. Often opened at celebrations, such as weddings

UNIT 9 ‘ph’ – (the ‘f’ sound)

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Trophy 1 nephewPhrase 2 photogenic

Sapphire 3 photographPhotogenic 4 phrase

Nephew 5 sapphirePhotograph 6 trophy

1. A football is the shape of a sphere.

2. The quiz team were triumphant.

3. Beth could say her whole alphabet .

4. The wedding photographer asked everybody to smile and say ‘cheese.’

phantom a fear

pharmacy a group of words

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Phillipines a long-tailed bird

phoney a chemist

phobia relating to the body

Pharaoh a way of teaching you to sound things out

phrase falsephonics a group of islands in Asia

pheasant an Egyptian rulerphysical a ghost

The feeble Pharaoh Tootanscream has phobias for fish, ferrets and fur.

UNIT 10 ‘sc’ – (silent ‘c’)

1. The weightlifter was extremely strong and had well defined muscles.

2. George knew several fascinating facts about dinosaurs.

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3. Dad took the scenic route and walked back alongside the river.

Scarf Scene √ scented √scenery √ Scrap scratchscared Scissors √ scoff

scientist √ School scintillating √scone Scenic √ scientific √oscar Muscle √ biscuit

fascinating √ Escaped discipline √

Sentence Corrections

1. Sally took a tough science test last Tuesday.2. There were fabulous mountains, clear blue lakes and a beautiful forest

surrounding the Italian camp sight.3. Little Bertie made a right mess with the scissors , paper and glue.

UNIT 11 Days of the Week

English French Spanish ItalianMonday Mercredi Sabado Giovedi

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Tuesday Samedi Viernes Lunedi

Wednesday

Lundi Martes Sabato

Thursday Dimanche Miercoles Martedi

Friday Jeudi Lunes Mercoledi

Saturday Mardi Domingo DomenicaSunday Vendredi Jeuves Venerdi

UNIT 12 Months of the Year

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November December March/April June/July/AugustI think this is November because it looks like Guy Fawkes night (which is on 5th November.)

Christmas tree is the biggest clue!

The beginning of spring.

Summer.Unless somebody is clever and thinks the beach is in Australia! Then they might say November/December/ January.

October Any month from November to February would be a reasonable answer.

August/ September/ October

May

Halloween. 31st October.

Winter Autumn May pole dancing.

1 January2 February3 March

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4 April5 May6 June7 July8 August9 September

10 October11 November12 December

Green BookUNIT 1 -ly

sad Sadly

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quick Quicklyslow Slowlyglad Gladly

clever Cleverlyeager Eagerlyweak Weaklywarm Warmlysmart Smartlyrude Rudelybrief Briefly

1. The cat quickly ran inside when it heard the dog bark.2. Mrs Brown politely opened the door for her two guests.3. A great big bear suddenly appeared from out of the heavy fog.4. A beautiful red admiral settled on the branch and fluttered briefly

before flying away.

UNIT 2 -le to lyRoot Word (adjective) ‘le’

ending?Adverb (add suffix)

Humble Yes HumblySoft No Softly

Subtle Yes SubtlyGenerous No Generously

Responsible Yes ResponsiblyAble Yes Ably

Spiteful No SpitefullyStrong No Strongly

Capable Yes CapablyFeeble Yes FeeblyWise No Wisely

Terrible Yes Terribly

1. Alice stroked the cat gently as she sat on the sofa.2. Mr Wobble was terribly clumsy and couldn’t stop falling over.3. Danny, Sarah and Tom were probably the fastest swimmers in their

class.

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4. The trains were regrettably cancelled due to leaves on the track.

UNIT 3 -ily

happy Happilymerry Merrilytidy Tidily

angry Angrilylazy Lazily

noisy Noisilybusy Busilyeasy Easily

heavy Heavilydreamy Dreamilysleepy Sleepilyweary Wearily

1. The children danced merrily around the may-pole and twisted all of the ribbons.

2. The cat lazily sat in the garden, under the shade of a large bush.

3. The class tidily packed away the paints at the end of the art lesson.

1. Henry happily or noisily packed away his train set when it was time for tea.

2. The three girls played happily or noisily in the garden.

3. Sleepy smiled sleepily and Grumpy glared grumpily.

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4. The kitten hastily ran into the kitchen when it heard the dog barking ferociously.

The answer to ‘1’ could actually be ANY of the five words, but noisily or happily are the best choices if the child looks at the ‘obvious’ answers to question 3!

duly, truly, wholly

1. Picasso’s painting was truly amazing.

2. Robbie was duly warned about his misbehaviour after teasing his younger brother.

3. The team were wholly European in their line up.

4. Buster was duly reprimanded after stealing the little boy’s sausage roll.

5. It was a truly fantastic day at the Summer Fair.

*Alternatives might make sense but these are the most likely/appropriate options.

UNIT 4 -fully

ROOT WORD ADJECTIVE ADVERBPeace peaceful peacefully

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Care careful carefullyBeauty beautiful beautifullyHarm harmful harmfully

Wonder wonderful wonderfullyPain painful painfully

Grace graceful gracefullyJoy joyful joyfully

Faith faithful faithfullyThought thoughtful thoughtfully

A number of alternatives are possible for the sentence exercise. Here are a few of the most likely answers...

1. The ballet dancers moved gracefully or beautifully across the stage.

2. Hopefully the weather will be fine for our day on the beach.

3. The flowers were beautifully or wonderfully arranged for the wedding ceremony.

4. Tommy carefully painted the scenery for his model railway.

5. Spot followed the command beautifully or faithfully and fetched the stick immediately.

UNIT 5 -ally

Root Word (adjective) ‘ic’ Adverb (add suffix)

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ending?Tragic Yes tragicallyWarm No warmlyFrantic Yes frantically

Optimistic Yes optimisticallyCalm No Calmly

Poetic Yes poeticallyFond No Fondly

Enthusiastic Yes enthusiasticallyAwful No Awfully

Patient No patientlyDramatic Yes dramaticallyEndless No endlessly

1. Smudge was frantically trying to catch her own tail.2. The French centre forward dived theatrically in the penalty area.3. Ed, Fred and Ned danced around dramatically on the stage.4. Romeo romantically handed Juliet a big bunch of roses.

UNIT 6 nn-ingWhat have all the words got in common? These two factors can be discussed:

They all end in ‘n’.

They are all ‘verbs’

win winning turn turningplan planning run runningstun stunning moan moaninggain gaining grin grinning

begin beginning burn burningclean cleaning twin twinning

drown drowning warn warningscan scanning span spanning

groan groaning con conningjoin joining spin spinning

1. It was raining heavily but Joe was spinning around and splashing in the puddles.

2. There was a stunning chapter at the beginning of the book.

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UNIT 7 pp-ing

shop shopping clamp clampingStop stopping rap rappingClap clapping thump thumpingSlip slipping step stepping

Burp burping chip chippingSkip skipping stomp stompingDip dipping wrap wrapping

Drop dropping dump dumpingTip tipping flap flapping

Flop flopping scrap scrapping

1. Tiger Woods chipped the ball onto the green and stepped back to admire his shot.

2. Sally, Harry and Pip skipped along the path with their fish and chips wrapped neatly in newspaper.

UNIT 8 tt-ing

put putting hurt hurtingget getting bet betting

start starting sit sittingfit fitting part parting

pot potting pat pattinglet letting hint hinting

hunt hunting rot rottingsquirt squirting fight fightingspot spotting plant plantingrest resting splat splatting

1. James was setting the table and putting out the right amount of knives, forks and spoons.

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2. After spotting a heron beside the pond, Hattie sprinted into the house to find her new camera.

UNIT 9 ou*refer to answers for ‘ou’ Powerpoint presentation. (Year 3 Spring Term Resources.)

UNIT 10 ou (the ‘u’ sound)Draw lines to match each of the following ‘ou’ words with the right clue!

couple Very strong

double Great bravery

rough One of the senses

tough A small child, kitten or puppy

country Twice as much

courage A difficult situation

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Touch Opposite to smoothYoung Two of something

encourage A nation, such as India, China, England or Scotland

Trouble Praise or cheer for somebody

*Might need to discuss difference between ‘couple’ and ‘double.’

1. . Uncle Fred was so tall that he actually touched the ceiling.

2. Clawface was the toughest cat in the litter.

3. United doubled their lead with an excellent goal.

4. The art teacher was very encouraging.

5. Timmy was too young to go on the rollercoaster.

6. The couple got married at Sandridge Parish Church

Yellow BookUNIT 1 -ly

quick Quicklybrave Bravely

patient Patientlyconfident Confidently

clever Cleverlyswift Swiftly

gentle Gentlyfond Fondly

sweet Sweetlyfoolish Foolishlycomical Comically

1. The lion licked her cubs tenderly and kept a careful watch for predators.

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2. Having carefully negotiated the bend, Lewis Hamilton quickly accelerated into the lead.

3. Sherlock Holmes inspected the evidence thoroughly before forming his conclusions.

4. Patiently waiting for his first catch, Frankie was confident that he could win this year’s competition.

UNIT 2 -le to -ly

Root Word (adjective) ‘le’ ending

?

Adverb (add suffix)

swift No swiftlyfeeble Yes feebly

adorable Yes adorablyinnocent No innocentlyprobable Yes probably

acceptable Yes acceptablydreadful No dreadfully

fierce No fiercelyregrettable Yes regrettably

sociable Yes Sociablyperfect No Perfectly

questionable Yes Questionably

1. Ruth gently opened the package to reveal a precious glass figure.2. It was arguably the largest fish that Dennis had ever caught.

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3. Regrettably, Jane couldn’t make the meeting with Emily because there wasn’t enough notice.

4. There are simply not enough seats to cater for the demand.

UNIT 3 -ily happy Happilymerry Merrilytidy Tidily

angry Angrilylazy Lazily

noisy Noisilybusy Busilyeasy Easily

heavy Heavilydreamy Dreamilysleepy Sleepilyweary Wearilyhasty Hastily

necessary Necessarily

1. The children danced merrily around the may-pole whilst their teacher happily poured beakers of orange juice.

2. The Siamese cat lazily sat in the neighbour’s garden, whilst their pet dog angrily retreated to its kennel.

3. Most of the class tidily packed away the paints, but David lazily passed his palette to Paula!

1. George blinked and pinched himself momentarily or dreamily as a large snake slithered across the carpet?

2. The hikers wearily returned to the youth hostel after walking ten kilometres in torrential rain.

3. Granny yawned lazily whilst dreamily or momentarily recalling her holiday in Greece.

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4. Mrs Smith arranged her ornaments tidily and polished the furniture.

truly, duly, wholly

1. Picasso’s painting was truly amazing. 2. Robbie was duly warned about his misbehaviour after teasing his

younger brother.3. The team were wholly European in their line up.4. Buster was duly reprimanded after stealing the little boy’s

sausage roll.5. It was a truly fantastic day at the Summer Fair.

*Alternatives might make sense but these are the most likely/appropriate options.

UNIT 4 -fully ROOT WORD ADJECTIVE ADVERB

peace Peaceful peacefullycare Careful carefully

beauty Beautiful beautifullyharm Harmful harmfully

wonder Wonderful wonderfullypain Painful painfullygrace Graceful gracefully

joy Joyful joyfullyfaith Faithful faithfully

thought Thoughtful thoughtfullythank Thankful thankfullyplay Playful playfully

doubt Doubtful doubtfullysuccess Successful successfully

There may be a number of alternatives for the sentence exercise, here are the most likely options...

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1. Kennedy Space Centre successfully launched their Mars Explorer rocket.

2. The Russian chess champion carefully or thoughtfully planned his next move.

3. St Mary’s School Choir sang beautifully at the Albert Hall concert.

4. Wayne Rooney carefully or skilfully dribbled the ball around the two defenders and shot towards the goal.

5. The protest passed peacefully and the police did not make any arrests over the course of the day.

6. Hopefully the spelling test will not be too difficult.

UNIT 5 -ally Root Word (adjective) ‘ic’

ending?Adverb (add suffix)

tragic Yes tragicallywarm No warmly

acoustic Yes acousticallyatmospheric Yes atmosphericallythoughtful No thoughtfullyenergetic Yes energetically

tame No Tamelysystematic Yes systematicallymeticulous No meticulously

silent No Silentlydrastic Yes drasticallyerratic Yes erratically

1. The teachers organised their registers alphabetically.2. Dad optimistically predicted sunny weather in the middle of October.3. Bailey, Erin’s pet hamster, energetically whizzed around his wheel.

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4. Inspector Clueless ensured that the evidence was forensically examined.

UNIT 6 nn-ing plan planning Groan groaningstun stunning Train trainingthin thinning Moan moaning

churn churning Begin beginningoutrun outrunning Explain explainingyawn yawning twin twinning

drown drowning underpin underpinningfan fanning grin grinning

learn learning remain remainingmourn mourning span spanning

1. Jessie, Jake and Jessica enjoyed planning their moving monsters for design technology.

2. Rachel Roberts was running in the hundred metres final.

UNIT 7 pp-ing

scrap scrapping thump thumpingstomp stomping wrap wrappingclamp clamping drip drippingslurp slurping strip strippingburp burping kidnap kidnapping

worship worshipping equip equippinggossip gossiping recap recappingcrimp crimping dump dumpingdroop drooping clip clippingflop flopping swap swapping

1. Bert, Ben and Billy were told off for slurping their soup at the dinner table.

2. Mrs Shaw and Mr Banks were gossiping about the three youths who were caught scrumping apples from Farmer Smith’s orchard.

57

UNIT 8 pp-ing

feast feasting knit knittingtest testing forget forgettingstrut strutting dust dusting

squint squinting bet bettinginvent inventing splat splatting

trot trotting squat squattingsplit splitting hurt hurting

squirt squirting fight fightingplot plotting input inputting

export exporting permit permitting

Which word doesn’t follow the helpful hint ‘rule?’ squatting

1. Molly had a splitting headache and didn’t want to go to school.2. England’s awful batting, bowling and fielding led to a heavy defeat

against the Australians.

UNIT 9 ou *refer to answers for ‘ou’ Powerpoint presentation. (Year 3 Spring Term Resources.)

UNIT 10 ou (the ‘u’ sound)The ‘opposites’ for these words are all ‘ou’ words with the ‘u’ sound. See how many you can find. The first one has been done for you

smooth Roughold Young

older Youngeroldest Youngesthalve Doubleweak Tough

weakest Toughestcowardice Couragediscourage Encourageinsufficient Enough

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1. It was the toughest steak that Emily had ever attempted to eat!

2. Dr Who was courageous when face to face with the dreaded daleks!

3. Egypt, Ghana and Kenya are all countries in Africa.

4. Farmer Smith’s plums flourished in the sunny weather.

5. Never suck your thumb after you have touched a poisonous plant!

6. Granny discouraged the boys from sledging down the hill on a broken, splintery board.

Pink BookUNITS 1 & 2 Homophones

*See the Homophones Pairs Puzzles Powerpoints in the Summer Term resources and go through these with the class.

UNIT 3 The Apostrophe1. “ Don’t cross the road without using the Green Cross Code,” said mum.2. “I can’t find my maths book,” shouted Paolo.3. There aren’t or weren’t enough sweets for all of the class.4. Rebecca couldn’t or didn’t find the charger for her i-pad.

Contracted form Omitted letter/sI will I’ll wi

59

we will we’ll wiI am I’m ahe is he’s i

we have we’ve hayou have you’ve hayou are you’re a

1. “I’ve got an orange ice lolly,” said Sally.2. “Is your dog a Labrador?” asked Kelly.

UNIT 4 Omissions and Contractions

Original Sentence Sentence using a contraction.Please do not walk on the grass. Please don’t walk on the grass.You cannot vote until you are eighteen years old.

You can’t vote until you’re eighteen years old.

We have been on a bike ride this afternoon.

We’ve been on a bike ride this afternoon.

You will certainly enjoy the Christmas performance.

You’ll certainly enjoy the Christmas performance.

Two of the little pigs have not built wolf-proof houses.

Two of the little pigs haven’t built wolf-proof houses.

Shrek does not believe he will win this year’s beauty contest.

Shrek doesn’t believe he’ll win this year’s beauty contest.

1. I haven’t got the foggiest idea.

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2. Don’t jump in feet first. 3. You’re barking up the wrong tree.4. It’s raining cats and dogs.5. A leopard can’t change its spots.6. It’s all Greek to me.7. Don’t bite off more than you can chew.8. Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.9. It’s a small world.10. You shouldn’t / mustn’t judge a book by its cover.

UNIT 5 there, their, they’re1. The two little girls lost their balloons when the wind blew them out of

their hands.2. “They can’t be sparrows they’re far too big,” said Billy the birdwatcher.3. Everton won’t win the league because they’re not good enough!4. James and Holly were there when Andy Murray won the Wimbledon final.

UNIT 6 bb-ing

rob √ sab X sob √club √ stab √ pib Xdrob X stub √ clab Xcrab √ slib X dub √blab √ crob X swab √web √ rub √ dreb X

bob bobbing climb climbingsob sobbing club clubbingstab stabbing rub rubbingrib ribbing fib fibbing

grab grabbing blub blubbingcomb combing rob robbing

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1. The two explorers were fibbing about Mount Everest because they hadn’t really climbed the mountain.

2. Robbie enjoyed the chance to do a brass rubbing at St Albans Abbey.

UNIT 7 gg-ingWhat have all the words got in common?

They all end in ‘g’ OR they are all verbs.

When there is a single dot under a vowel, colour the dot red.

beg hang sag bug ring sing

nag dig bang long hug drag

log ping peg rig tag brag

chug bring swing tug blog sting

dig digging ping pingingsting stinging drag draggingbang banging clang clangingsag sagging drug drugging

brag bragging rig riggingpong ponging tug tuggingsnag snagging bring bringingblog blogging spring springingegg egging chug chuggingswig swigging leg legging

3. Ron, Don and John were singing their favourite songs whilst digging the allotment.

4. Two monkeys were hanging upside down whilst another one was swinging from tree to tree.

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UNIT 8 e-ing There could be several ‘alternatives’. Here are the most ‘likely’ answers

(not necessarily the most imaginative though!)

1. Cinderella and the prince were dancing gracefully until the clock struck twelve!

2. The three little pigs were busy making their houses out of straw, sticks and bricks.

3. Snow White collapsed after biting the red apple.4. Red Riding Hood remarked on the size of her teeth when granny started

staring / smiling at her.

Make sure that children use e-ing rule and don’t just put in words such as eating the red apple without thinking!

Like liking tip tippingHit hitting give giving

Move moving pass passingHave having live livingStop stopping shine shiningMiss missing love lovingCatch catching keep keepingLeave leaving cope copingWish wishing bake bakingShake shaking lick licking

1. Ellie ,Ed and Erin were making a model aeroplane in their design technology lesson.

2. Molly’s mum was baking a cake for her birthday.

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ride riding shine shining smile smiling dive diving

bite biting bake baking hide hiding wave waving

give giving sneeze sneezing slice slicingcarve carving

smoke smoking

UNIT 9 Doubling when Stressed

Root Word Stressed ? Word with ‘ing’ suffixtravel Yes travelling

scamper No scamperingcover No coveringoffer No offeringbegin Yes beginning

scatter No scatteringupset Yes upsettingregret Yes regrettinggallop No galloping

whisper No whisperingorder No ordering

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1. Bill was about to hammer nails into the hutch.Bill hammered nails into the hutch.

2. The group wanted to travel to India.The group travelled to India.

3. John would regret his actions.John regretted his actions.

UNIT 10 Key Words 1Key Word opposites

easy difficultlate earlyforget rememberbackward forwardmen women

UNIT 11 Key Words 2

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N CEIREPX

E HP

L

I

U

PE

C

T

R

AXP S

XA

VI

AO

MI

E

C

T

A

RS

H

RER

P

N EA

R

H

R

R E

E

RE

O

S

E

AE

II

E

A O

U G

UGH

R

NEP

UNIT 12 Key Words 3

Maths English Science

Purple BookUNITS 1 & 2 Homophones*See the Homophones Pairs Puzzles Powerpoints in the Summer Term resources and go through these with the class.

UNIT 3 The Apostrophe

1.It isn’t or wasn’t the best umbrella in the world because it can’t, didn’t or couldn’t keep out the rain.

2. You mustn’t or shouldn’t feed the cat dad’s smoked salmon!3. “ We’re going to Snowdonia for our school journey,” beamed Jessica,4. There aren’t any vowels in the words sky or fry.

Contracted form Omitted letter/s

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UNS

ART NM

AIC

U T EB

SY

UIDEL

eight

quarter

circle

length

library

grammar

sentence

describe

medicine

heart

earth

experiment

do not don’t owe will we’ll withere is there’s i

they have they’ve hawas not wasn’t o

you have you’ve hayou are you’re a

1.“We’re going to the cinema to see your favourite film,” said David.

2. “There’s a circus coming to town, I think you’ll love it,” enthused Daisy.

a) salt ‘n’ vinegar a and d (salt and vinegar.)b) Toys ‘R’ Us a and e (Toys are us!)c) tell ‘em the answer th (tell them the answer)d) Yes ma’am d (Madam)

UNIT 4 Omissions and Contractions

Original Sentence Sentence using a contraction.Please do not walk on the grass. Please don’t walk on the grass.You should not swim in dangerous waters.

You shouldn’t swim in dangerous waters.

We will aim to catch the first train after ten o’clock.

We’ll aim to catch the first train after ten o’clock.

We must not argue with the referee. We mustn’t argue with the referee.The curtains were not the right colour for the living room.

The curtains weren’t the right colour for the living room.

Shrek does not believe he will win this year’s beauty contest.

Shrek doesn’t believe he’ll win this year’s beauty contest.

1. It’s all water under the bridge.2. Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket. 3. Rome wasn’t built in a day.4. You can’t have the best of both worlds.

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5. Don’t cry over spilt milk.6. There’s method in his madness.7. There isn’t enough room to swing a cat.8. Don’t let the cat out of the bag.9. He just can’t cut the mustard.10.You shouldn’t / mustn’t judge a book by its cover.

UNIT 5 there, their, they’re

1. The two little girls lost their balloons when the wind blew them out of their hands.

2. “They can’t be sparrows they’re far too big,” said Billy the birdwatcher.

3. Everton won’t win the league because they’re not good enough!

4. James and Holly were there when Andy Murray won the Wimbledon final.

UNIT 6 bb-ingWhat have all the words got in common?

They all end in ‘b’, OR they’re all verbs.

When there is a single dot under a vowel, colour the dot red.

rub club sub snub stub rob

bob grab numb stab scrub curb

bomb thumb crib absorb plumb jab

mob disturb slab comb throb climb

rob robbing comb combing

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stub stubbing snub snubbinggrab grabbing thumb thumbingclimb climbing throb throbbingslab slabbing bomb bombing

scrub scrubbing stab stabbingnumb numbing rub rubbingabsorb absorbing plumb plumbing

curb curbing club clubbingblab blabbing blub blubbing

1. Ron’s thumb was throbbing after his accident with the hammer.

2. Aladdin kept rubbing his magic lamp but it just wouldn’t work.

UNIT 7 gg-ingWhat have all the words got in common?

They all end in ‘g’ OR they are all verbs.

flag hang swig shrug bring sting

clog flog bang long hug drag

gag ping cling mug plug brag

chug swing zigzag blog leapfrog

rig rigging swing swingingsting stinging brag bragging

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cling clinging clang clangingswig swigging shrug shrugging

string stringing zigzag zigzaggingflog flogging drug drugging

leapfrog leapfrogging overhang overhangingblog blogging spring springing

unplug unplugging chug chugginglong longing twang twanging

1. Sandy wouldn’t stop bragging after winning the hundred metres race.

2. Daniel, Daisy and Dawn were dragging their sledge through the heavy snow.

UNIT 8 e-ing

There could be several ‘alternatives’. Here are the most ‘likely’ answers (not necessarily the most imaginative though!)

1. The three bears came back from their walk to find Goldilocks snoring loudly in Baby Bear’s bed!

2. Snow White found gave Sneezy a handkerchief for his sneezing, and told Grumpy to stop teasing/chasing Dopey!

3. The two ugly sisters were arguing with each other about the glass slipper.

4. Jack was racing towards the beanstalk with the giant in close pursuit!

like liking tip tipping

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strike striking place placingscream screaming splash splashing

increase increasing slip slippingface facing shine shining

dismiss dismissing stress stressingwatch watching breathe breathingleave leaving create creatingargue arguing lie lying

wheeze wheezing squeeze squeezing

Note the exception to the ‘rule’ with ‘lying.’

1. The three athletes were breathing heavily towards the end of the race.

2. The sun was shining brightly as Manchester City kicked off in last year’s cup final.

ride riding smile smiling dive diving bite biting

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save saving cycle cycling ride riding

slice slicing carve carving

squeeze squeezing

skate skating sneeze sneezing weave weaving smoke smoking

UNIT 9 Doubling up when StressedRoot Word Stressed ? Word with ‘ing’ suffix

travel Yes travellingscatter No scatteringglisten No glisteningharden No hardeningbegin Yes beginningforbid Yes Forbiddingupset Yes Upsettingexcel Yes Excellinggallop No Gallopingmarvel Yes Marvellingtower No Towering

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repel Yes Repellingembed Yes Embedding

1. They would find out whether magnets might attract or repel.They found out whether magnets attracted or repelled.

2. The guests would travel to the church and scatter confetti.The guests travelled to the church and scattered confetti.

3. The school could excel at sports and marvel at the achievement of the children.The school excelled at sports and marvelled at the achievement of the children.

UNIT 10 Key Words 1

Key Word opposites

dropped caughtweakness strengthanswer questiondecrease increasesame different

UNIT 11 Key Words 2

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E HP

I

U

PE

CR

PX

P SX

AVI

AMI C

T

RS

RER

P

N EA

H

R

R EO

S

AE

II

A OUG

R

P

EE TA

UNIT 12 Key Words 3

girl guide dogsweet heart achepaper weight liftingcentre forward thinkingplanet earth shatteringcoast guard dog

car accident pronebank interest ratefunny business plan

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LUOE

NS

RAR

E

T

U G HN

NMAICE

U T EB

SY

UIDEL