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Teach

• Introduce the example text – The Wreck of the Zanzibar by Michael Morpurgo (see PDF1) – to pupils.• Highlight and discuss some of the word classes (e.g. slipped, could, followed) and explain that they are all verbs.• Ask pupils to discuss how the words you have highlighted have been used in this context.

Practise

• Using the interactive programme, ask pupils to look at the words in bold and decide on their word class.

Apply

• Ask pupils to create a ‘Wanted!’ poster that describes a word class. Ask them to select either a pronoun, verb, adjective or noun. Imagine that one of these word classes has escaped.

– How would the pupil describe them? – What could they look like? – How are they used?

Example

Wanted: the verb!

Have you seen the verb? It is used to describe actions or ‘doing’ words, such as ‘walked’, ‘talked’ and ‘followed’. For example, ‘I walked anxiously across the busy road.’ In addition, a verb could also be used as a being word, e.g. ‘is’, ‘was’, ‘had’ etc. They sometimes help other verbs, e.g. ‘is going’ – but not always!

By the end of Year 6, pupils should be able to demonstrate their familiarity with a range of word classes (nouns, verbs, adjectives, conjunctions, pronouns [possessive and relative], adverbs/adverbials, prepositions, determiners and subject and object). Pupils should be able to use the terminology and understand how word classes are used in sentences. This lesson will focus on nouns, verbs, adjectives and pronouns to support pupils with revising key aspects of grammar.

Review

• Ask pupils what they understand by the term ‘word classes’. • Remind them that word classes make up parts of a sentence. Adjectives can be used to describe people,

places or things and they make our writing more interesting. Verbs can be ‘doing’ or ‘being’ words (e.g. ‘is’, ‘am’, ‘was’ etc.) and pronouns normally replace a noun. It is vital that pupils are aware that context is extremely important because words can mean different things depending on the context e.g. ‘The orange flowers’ (adjective) or ‘Alfie ate an orange’ (noun).

• Using the interactive programme, ask pupils to fill in the missing words and then discuss how the following word classes have been used in context.

red (adjective) exploded (verbs) his (pronoun/determiner) quickly (adverb)

• In the national curriculum, pupils need to learn the full range of determiners e.g. ‘a’, ‘an’, ‘the’, ‘this’, ‘that’, ‘its’, ‘our’, ‘their’, ‘my’, ‘his’, ‘her’, ‘some’, ‘no’, ‘every’, ‘one’, ‘three’, ‘four’, ‘five’.

Sentence for discussion

All of a sudden, he felt a thorny stab of pain as something sharp bit his finger.

• At this point, it is important to recognise that ‘his’ (in this context) can be both a possessive pronoun and a determiner. However, if the sentence was written like this: ‘My Ferrari is faster than his’, then ‘his’ would only be a pronoun because it is not specifying the noun (e.g. ‘his Ferrari’).

• Using the interactive programme, ask pupils to match the highlighted words to the correct word class.

Types of words (word classes)

Answers for pupil sheet

Activity 1: adjective – a describing word; pronoun – replaces a noun; verb – doing or being word; adverb/adverbial – describes how, when why etc; noun – person, place, object etc

Activity 2: Erdin (noun); excitedly (adverb); moving (adjective); his (pronoun); washed (verb)

Activity 3: Verb

Activity 4: Ensure there is the correct types of words in the pupils’ answers.

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Exclamations and exclamation marksPupils need to understand the difference between the exclamation mark, used for expressing a mood or surprise and the exclamation as a type of sentence. Pupils also need to recognise and write different types of sentences: statements, commands, questions and exclamations. This lesson will focus on the difference between the exclamation mark and the exclamation as a type of sentence.

Review

• Ask pupils to discuss what they think is the difference between an exclamation mark and an exclamation as a type of sentence.

• Remind them that the exclamation mark can be used for any sentence to express a mood, such as heightened emotion.

• The exclamation as a type of sentence starts with ‘what’ or ‘how’ and has a verb. • Using the interactive programme, ask pupils to match the sentences to the correct mood.

• Using the interactive programme, ask pupils to complete the table.

Teach

• Tell pupils that an exclamation sentence is written in a particular way (syntax). • Ask pupils to discuss and consider what words would be appropriate for the missing gaps. • Display and discuss the table above (interactive activity 5) and ask pupils to discuss their own exclamatory

sentences using this particular way of grouping the words.• Introduce the example text – Christophe’s Story by Nicki Cornwell (see PDF2) – to pupils.• Ask pupils to identify all the words, phrases or sentences that use the exclamation mark. • Then ask pupils to identify what type of sentences have been punctuated with the exclamation mark.

Pupil sheet

Activity 1:

Draw lines to match each word with its simple meaning. The first one has been done for you.

Type of word Meaning

adjective person, place, object, feeling or occasion/event

pronoun doing or being word

verb replaces a noun

adverb/adverbial describes how, when, why, where something has happened

noun a describing word

Activity 2:

Write the correct type of word (word class) in the box below. The first one has been done for you.

adjective verb adverb pronoun

noun

Erdin excitedly read his moving book while his sister washed the car.

Activity 3:

What type of word is the word walk in this sentence? Tick the correct answer.

Sara got dressed and went for her walk.

Tick one

Verb Pronoun Preposition Noun

Activity 4:

Write your own sentences using the types of words (word classes) below.

Underline and identify the type of word in each sentence.

Example:

Types of words: noun, verb The kangaroo [noun] jumped [verb].

noun, verb

verb, adjective

adverb, pronoun

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Pupil sheet

Activity 1:

Tick the sentence below that contains an exclamation as a type of sentence.

Tick one

How exciting! What a lovely day we had!

Oh! Wow! What fun!

Activity 2:

Label the sentence below using the words given to you.

verb pronoun adjective noun

What a lovely show that was!

Activity 3:

Tick the kind of punctuation mark needed to end each sentence. The first one has been done for you.

Sentence ? ! .

What time does school open today √

How marvellous this is

After class, please see me at breaktime

What a supportive brother you are

Activity 4:

Imagine that your classroom has been beautifully decorated over the summer holidays.

Write an exclamation sentence to describe how you felt and what you saw.

Remember to use ‘What’ or ‘How’ and to include a verb.

Practise

• Using the interactive programme, ask pupils to focus on the words that are highlighted in bold and to decide on the type of sentence.

Apply

• Ask pupils to imagine that they are judging a talent contest and they have to give positive and negative feedback using an exclamation sentence.

• Challenge pupils to write five positive comments and five negative comments in five minutes. • Ensure pupils check that they have written an exclamation as a sentence and not just used the

exclamation mark. Teachers may want to write the syntax for an exclamation on the board to remind pupils.

Example

What a talented singer you are! What an amazing voice you have! What a great dancer you are! How superb that performance was! What an awful performance that was! How disappointing that was! etc.

Answers for pupil sheet

Activity 1: What a lovely day we had!

Activity 2: What a lovely (adjective) show (noun) that (pronoun) was (verb)!

Activity 3: ?!.!

Activity 4: Accept any plausible answer. E.g. What a beautiful room this is! How amazing this is!

The exclamation mark can be used for any sentence to express a mood, e.g. ‘Get out of here!’ or ‘I am happy today!’ The exclamation as a type of sentence must start with ‘What’ or ‘How’ and contain a verb. If the sentence does not contain a verb then it is called an exclamative phrase, e.g. ‘How fun!’