Writing

Writing

The last phase of primary school, upper key stage two, brings together all of the spelling, punctuation and grammar learning the children have completed through their years in primary school. The children apply their knowledge to different genres of writing which are inspired by age-appropriate, quality texts.

The key focuses and new learning are as follows:

Spelling

  • use further prefixes and suffixes and understand the guidance for adding them
  • spell some words with ‘silent’ letters [for example, knight, psalm, solemn]
  • continue to distinguish between homophones and other words which are often confused
  • use knowledge of morphology and etymology in spelling and understand that the spelling of some words needs to be learnt specifically, as listed in English appendix 1
  • Spell words with endings which sound like /??s/ spelt –cious or –tious
  • Spell words with endings which sound like /??l/
  • Spell words ending in –ant, –ance/–ancy, –ent, –ence/–ency
  • Spell words ending in –able and –ible, words ending in –ably and –ibly
  • Add suffixes beginning with vowel letters to words ending in –fer
  • Learn to use the hyphen
  • Spell words with the /i:/ sound spelt ei after c
  • Spell words containing the letter-string ough
  • Spell words with ‘silent’ letters (i.e. letters whose presence cannot be predicted from the pronunciation of the word)
  • Spell homophones and other words that are often confused
  • Spell words from the word list – years 5 and 6
  • use dictionaries to check the spelling and meaning of words
  • use the first 3 or 4 letters of a word to check spelling, meaning or both of these in a dictionary
  • use a thesaurus

 

Handwriting and Presentation

  • write legibly, fluently and with increasing speed by choosing which shape of a letter to use when given choices and deciding whether or not to join specific letters
  • write legibly, fluently and with increasing speed by choosing the writing implement that is best suited for a task

 

Writing - Composition

  • plan their writing by identifying the audience for and purpose of the writing, selecting the appropriate form and using other similar writing as models for their own
  • plan their writing by noting and developing initial ideas, drawing on reading and research where necessary
  • plan their writing by in writing narratives, considering how authors have developed characters and settings in what pupils have read, listened to or seen performed
  • draft and write by selecting appropriate grammar and vocabulary, understanding how such choices can change and enhance meaning
  • draft and write by in narratives, describing settings, characters and atmosphere and integrating dialogue to convey character and advance the action
  • draft and write by précising longer passages
  • draft and write by using a wide range of devices to build cohesion within and across paragraphs
  • draft and write by using further organisational and presentational devices to structure text and to guide the reader [for example, headings, bullet points, underlining]
  • evaluate and edit by assessing the effectiveness of their own and others’ writing
  • evaluate and edit by proposing changes to vocabulary, grammar and punctuation to enhance effects and clarify meaning
  • evaluate and edit by ensuring the consistent and correct use of tense throughout a piece of writing
  • evaluate and edit by ensuring correct subject and verb agreement when using singular and plural, distinguishing between the language of speech and writing and choosing the appropriate register
  • proofread for spelling and punctuation errors
  • perform their own compositions, using appropriate intonation, volume, and movement so that meaning is clear

 

Year 5 Vocabulary, Grammar and Punctuation

  • Converting nouns or adjectives into verbs using suffixes [for example, –ate; –ise; –ify]
  • Verb prefixes [for example, dis–, de–, mis–, over– and re–]
  • Relative clauses beginning with who, which, where, when, whose, that, or an omitted relative pronoun
  • Indicating degrees of possibility using adverbs [for example, perhaps, surely]
  • Indicating degrees of possibility using modal verbs [for example, might, should, will, must]
  • Devices to build cohesion within a paragraph [for example, then, after that, this, firstly]
  • Link ideas across paragraphs using adverbials of time [for example, later], place [for example, nearby] and number [for example, secondly] or tense choices [for example, he had seen her before]
  • Brackets, dashes or commas to indicate parenthesis
  • Use of commas to clarify meaning or avoid ambiguity

Terminology for pupils:

  • modal verb
  • relative pronoun
  • relative clause
  • parenthesis
  • bracket
  • dash
  • cohesion
  • ambiguity