atmosphere
atmospheric
character
connotation
conveys
creative
definitely
effective
emotive
emphasis
example
exciting
humorous
imaginative
interesting
language
opinion
persuasive
necessary
rhythm
rhyme
scene
separate
success
syllable
technique
theme
Emphasis
above all
in particular
notably
specifically
more importantly
Comparison
equally
similarly
in comparison
likewise
to contrast
alternatively
despite this
Conclusion
to conclude
in conclusion
finally
Time
initially
then
next
afterwards
finally
subsequently
eventually
previously
Contrast/Balance
however
nevertheless
alternatively
despite this
on the contrary
yet
whereas
Illustration
for example
for instance
in other words
to show that
such as
an instance
as revealed by
Addition
and
also
in addition
further
furthermore
as well as
and then
Summary
in brief
on the whole
summarising
overall
to sum up
to recapitulate
evidently
Opinion/Interpreting
it would seem
it appears
obviously
possibly
it seems likely
presumably
one might consider
Persuasion
of course
clearly
evidently
surely
certainly
decidedly
indeed
undoubtedly
Restriction
only if
unless
except (for)
Punctuation
Openings
Connectives
Vocabulary
English Key
Words
Vary your sentence openers
Use a verb – an ‘ing’ clause
‘Waiting for the others,
Megan stared up at the sky.’
or ‘Evaluating the process,
we found that…’
Use an adverb – an ‘ed’ or a
‘ly’ clause
‘Surprised by the bang, Sam
halted.’ or ‘Unexpectedly,
our group discovered…’
Use the correct punctuation
Full stop
.
These are used at the end of every sentence.
Comma
,
Commas are used 1) to separate the items in a list 2) to mark the
boundaries between main and subordinate clauses.
Speech Marks/Quotation Marks “ ”
These surround words actually spoken or exact quotations from
a text.
Exclamation Mark
!
Use a simile
‘Like a fish, she dived in.’
Used to emphasise something. Don’t use more than one.
Use a noun or adjective
‘Cobwebs spanned the
corridor.’ or ‘Results showed
that our experiments…’
Used at the end of a sentence that is a question.
Use a feeling
‘Lonely, he skulked home.’ or
‘Disappointed, we resolved
to…’
Question Mark
Apostrophe
’
Apostrophes are used 1) to show possession (the cat’s tail) or 2)
to mark omitted letters (can’t, don’t, won’t).
Brackets
()
These are used to indicate extra information within a sentence.
Semi-colon
Use a preposition
‘In 1940s Germany…’ or
‘During our experiment…’
?
;
Semi-colons are used to join two related sentences together or
to separate items in a longer, more wordy list.
Colon
:
Used to introduce something, perhaps a
list or quotation.
To improve your writing you must ensure:
Spelling Strategies
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Break it into sounds (d-i-a-r-y)
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What you are writing is appropriate for PALL (Purpose Audience Language Layout).
Sentences always start with a capital letter.
Sentences always end with a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark.
Vocabulary is varied – choose interesting words – use a thesaurus.
People, places and titles have capital letters e.g. Catherine, York, Kit-Kat.
A variety of sentences are used – simple, compound and complex.
Simple – The ship sailed away.
Compound – The ship sailed away and the blue sea sparkled in the sun.
Complex – Sailing into the distance, the ship disappeared on the horizon.
Writing is organised into paragraphs – start with a topic sentence and use the 3 ‘T’s rule.
You should start a new paragraph when there is a shift of topic, viewpoint or time.
Time – Finally, we all gathered together to sing around the camp fire.
Topic – Another factor to consider before travelling is...
Talk – “I’m not sure you should be doing that.”
“Why not?” asked the pupil.
Details are included by using adjectives, fact and opinions.
Spelling is accurate – use a dictionary.
A variety of punctuation has been used (. , ! ? ‘ “” ; : …).
To proof read your work aloud to ensure it makes sense.
Break it into syllables (re-mem-ber)
Break it into affixes or chunks (dis-satisfy)
Use a mnemonic (necessary – one collar, two sleeves)
Refer to a word in the same family (muscle – muscular)
Say it as it sounds (Wed-nes-day)
Think about similar letter patterns (bright, light, night)
Marking Codes
Common Spelling Mistakes
Sp – spelling
achievement
beautiful
because
beginning
Pu – punctuation is incorrect and needs checking
committed
commitment
convenient
definitely
Exp – expression of idea could be clearer/needs re-phrasing
environment
excellent
government
grammar
grateful
its/it’s
lose/loose
know/no
necessary
of/off
opinion
really
separate
technique
their/there/they’re
to/too/two
until
weather/whether
were/where/wear
which/witch
Cp – capital letter needed
SS – sentence structure needs altering or variation
// -- new paragraph
pp – poor presentation
u – underline