St. David’s High School
Key Stage 3 Literacy
Home Learning Booklet
Year Nine
Why is home learning so important?
Home learning will benefit you in a number of ways:
 It will help you to develop a love of reading;
 It will make you feel more confident in your writing skills;
 It will help you to develop your proof-reading skills.
How much home learning will I have to do?
You will have three home learning tasks per fortnight:
 1 20 minute reading task (to be recorded in your reading log and signed by parents)
 1 Word of the Week task (to be completed in your Word of the Week table)
 1 Literacy skills task (to be taken from this booklet)
Your teacher will monitor these tasks when your exercise book is marked and will keep your
parents informed about how much home learning is being completed.
What is the purpose of this booklet?
This booklet should remain inside your homework diary so that your teachers can refer to it
when setting tasks. Your parents will be also able to view the booklet online!
Page | 1
Task Three

Rewrite the following sentences, putting apostrophes in the correct places
1.
My best friends brother is called Michael.
2.
I havent done my homework.
3.
Mr Connors lessons are the best.
4.
If they go to the shops theyll miss the start of the game.
5.
Rooneys goal on the weekend was epic.
6.
There werent any eggs left after Amy dropped the shopping bag.
7.
Im always late for school but its my dads fault.
8.
I would love to drive an Audi, like Mr Smiths.
9.
Julies car was always breaking down.
10.
My mums lasagne is the best.
Remember to use your
Pocket Poster booklet to
help you.
Page 07
Task Four

Rewrite the following passage, putting in the correct punctuation where it is
needed. See if you can spot the spelling mistakes too!
when we arrived at the funfair we found it was really busy lots of people bumped
into us including a large man who starting shouting get out of my way really rudely
some children started crying to go on the waltzers and their parents told them
off they were herded towards the hot dog stand we qued up too and saw that
the line snaked for what seemed like forever i was exited that at last i would
cure my hunger and get to taste the delicious hotdogs
Task Five

Can you explain how to use the following pieces of punctuation to a Year Six pupil?
Try to write one sentence which explains, simply, the rules for each piece of
punctuation:
1. Full stops
2. Capital Letters
Use your Pocket Poster
3. Commas
Book to help you but do
4. Apostrophes
not simply copy from it.
5. Speech Marks
6. Semi-colon
Page | 2
Task Six

Give a reason why each of the following words begins with a capital letter:
a) Thomas Hardy
d) Queen Elizabeth
g) Doctor Shwarma
j) H.M.S. Belfast
m) The Queen’s Hotel
p) Globe Theatre
b) The Daily Mirror
e) I
h) ‘Neighbours’
k) Manchester United
n) Islam
q) ‘The BFG’
c) Ford Fiesta
f) Tuesday
i) Russia
l) The White House
o) The Labour Party
r) Nescafé
Task Seven

Rewrite the following passage, putting in the correct punctuation where it is needed
and correcting any spelling errors!
the fighting was beginning almost immediately unseen batteries across the river took up the
chorus firing heavily one after the other a woman screamed everyone stood arrested by the
sudden stir of battle near us and yet invisible to us nothing was to be seen save flat
meadows cows feeding unconcernedly for the most part and silvery pollard windows
motionless in the warm sunlight
Task Eight

Rewrite the following passage, correcting all of the mistakes that have been made.
Once you have finished, highlight the changes that you have made for your teacher
by underlining them or using a highlighter.
my father was not what you would call an educatid man and I doubt if he had red twenty
books in his lifebut he was a marvelous story-teller he used to make up a bedtime story for
me every single nite, and the best ones were turned into cereals and went on for many nights
running
Page | 3
Task Nine

Rewrite this passage inserting 18 missing capital letters.
as i boarded the train to london i suddenly felt incredibly nervous. we were due to reach
gatwick airport at ten o clock and we would then fly to new york with british airways. uncle
mark and his girlfriend would meet us as we landed and take us to their new apartment in
manhattan. i couldn’t wait! it was almost christmas and i knew the sights would be
mesmerising.
Task Ten
Full stops are used to indicate the end of a sentence. They can also be used to show
initials and abbreviations.

Write out these abbreviations in full.
a) Capt.
e) Sq.
i) Hon. Sec.
m) e.g.

a) B.C
e) M.P.
i) M.A.
b) Rd.
f) anon.
j) Feb.
n) m.p.h.
c) Hants.
g) adj.
k) V.I.P.
o) a.s.a.p.
d) abbrev.
h) adv.
l) s.a.e.
c) O.B.E.
g) U.S.A.
d) G.B.
h) S.W.
What do these letters stand for?
b) P.E
f) H.Q.
j) M.D.
Page | 4
Grappling with Grammar
Task Eleven
 In these short sentences which word is the action (the verb)?
a) Martin helped the old man.
b) A daisy grew in the garden.
c) Ben lost the race.
d) The cat ate the mouse.
e) Becky loved chocolate.
f) Jack reads every day.
Verb: a verb is a word for an
action; a doing word.
In the last task the verbs were all single-word verbs but sometimes a verb is made up of more
than one word to show a different time (tense) like past, present or future.

Copy each sentence and underline the verbs, as in example a.
a) Martin was helping the old man.
b) The cat had eaten the mouse.
c) A daisy was growing in the garden.
d) Lucy had lost the race.
e) Jack has read every day this week.
f) Becky used to love chocolate.
A verb can also be a state of being (part of the verb to be)
This has many forms such as:
(I) am
(you, we they) are
(he, she, it) is
(I, he, she) was

Find the verbs in these sentences:
a) I am hungry.
d) People were waiting.
b) The sky was grey.
e) Ducks are hilarious.
c) Sam is happy.
f) It was closed.
 Copy out this passage and underline the eleven verbs:
Macey wondered over to the window and pondered over the day’s events. Her mobile phone
rang and she peered at the caller’s name: Suzie. She pressed the red button and slumped
down on to her bed. She glanced at the phone once more and considered whether she should
phone her good friend back but instead she lay down and closed her eyes.
Page | 5
Task Twelve
Do you remember the verb to be from the previous homework?
It can take different forms:
Present Simple Tense
Past Simple Tense
I am
I was
you (s) are
you (s) were
he / she / it is
he / she / it was
we are
we were
you (pl) are
you (pl) were
they are
they were
Many people make mistakes of agreement and say things like: we was, they was, I is

Copy the following table and fill in the gaps.
Present
I run
Past
I ran
He stood
Future
I will run
They will scream
She steps
They taught
I will write
We whispered
She sings
 Look carefully at the table at the top of this page and choose the correct verb form in
these sentences:
1. The puppies was / were kept in a large kennel.
2. I is / am / are hoping to see my cousins very soon.
3. There is / are a long queue in the supermarket.
4. Mr and Mrs Potter is living / are living at No. 1 Weasley Way.
5. We was / were going to host a party for Charlie’s 16th birthday.
6. There was / were flies buzzing everywhere.
7. The girls were / was waiting for their parents to collect them.
8. Mum and dad was / were expecting me to call them at ten o’ clock.
9. The pupils was / were waiting patiently for the bell to ring.
10. I is/ am / are excited about my holiday to France.
Page | 6
Task Thirteen
An adverb is a word which tells us more about a verb (or sometimes about other
words). There are various kinds of adverb but in the following questions we shall deal
with adverbs of manner, time and place.
 In the following sentences which word tells us something about the verb by answering
the question “How?”
a) The giraffe wandered aimlessly.
c) Maximus fought bravely.
e) Fiercely he threw his javelin.
b) The river flowed slowly.
d) I want you to shout loudly.
f) Suddenly the stranger was gone.
The six words above are adverbs of manner. They answer the question “How?”
They are formed from adjectives by adding –ly.
 Change these adjectives into adverbs.
bright
beautiful
immediate
direct
awkward
warm
mean
generous
spiteful
angry
 When you change the following do not forget to change the –y into –i.
(happy = happily)
sunny
crazy
stony
cosy
frosty
pretty
grubby
rocky
weedy
glossy
3. These are adverbs of time or place – they answer the question When ..? or Where…? Sort
them into two lists of six.
yesterday
here
soon
often
weekly
in
over
out
there
late
near
next
Page | 7
Task Fourteen
A preposition is an important little word which shows the position of one noun or
pronoun in relation to another. Here are some words which can be used as
prepositions: to, at, before, after, since, on, off, from, over, around, by, along,
between, beneath, above, against, until, near, among, opposite, below, with,
without, of, across, through, beside, up, in.
1.










Use a suitable preposition from the list above to complete each of these sentences:
The cat sat…….…the door.
Jack walked………the hill………Jill.
Alice went…….…the looking glass.
Pride comes…….…a fall.
24 blackbirds were baked………a pie.
Tweedle Dum was similar………..Tweedle Dee.
You cannot see the film………a ticket.
The farmer’s wife chased………the cat.
Humpty Dumpty fell…….…a wall.
Sinbad sailed……….the sea.
2. Which preposition would be most suitable to use with each of the following words?
divide……
according…..
opposite……
afraid……
comment……
involved……
responsible……
blame……
exposed……
interfere……
rely……
prevented…….
ashamed……
apologise…….
REMEMBER:
 You should never end a sentence with a preposition.
 After a preposition ‘who’ is changed to ‘whom’.
e.g. ‘You are the person to whom I wrote’ is better English than ‘You are the person I
wrote to.’
‘She is someone in whom I can trust’ is better English than ‘She is a person I can trust
in.’
3.





Using the rules above, correct the following sentences:
My maths teacher is someone I have a lot of respect for.
Am I the person who your insults are aimed at?
I cannot see who the letter is addressed to.
They are neighbours who there have been many arguments between.
He is a popstar there have been many stories about.
Page | 8
Task Fifteen
Standard English: the form of the English language widely accepted as the correct
form.
4. Match up the Standard English version with the non-standard English one:
Gi’us a quid!
Yesterday we
went
May I have a
pound?
Kate and me’ve
been out
Kate and I have
been out
We were
We was
I never go to the
gym!
Yesterday we go
I don’t never go the
gym, me!
5. Copy the following chart into your exercise book and write the bubbles in the correct
columns:
Standard English
6.





Non-standard English
Match the non-standard bubbles with the rule that should run alongside them:
Use ‘me’, ‘I’, ‘we’ and ‘us’ correctly
Don’t repeat a meaning more than once in a sentence
Make sure your verb matches the subject
Keep it clear and formal
Make sure your verb is in the right sense
Page | 9
Section Three: Superb Sentence Structure
Task Sixteen
You are expected to use a variety of sentences in your writing: simple, complex and
compound. You can use connectives to join two simple sentences together, to create a
compound sentence.
1. Using the word so, try to match and join these sentences:




The bus was late.
Callum had a broken arm.
The cupboards were empty.
Max hated swimming.
He was given a home tutor.
He chose to play golf.
Joe decided to walk.
We went to a restaurant.
Remember that before you
use some connectives, you
will need to use a comma.
Make sure you punctuate
your sentences correctly!
2. Using and, but or or, join these pairs of sentences together, leaving out the words in
brackets if you wish:





They went to the cinema.
The boys found the restaurant.
Max bought a cap.
Emily caught the train.
Would you like tea?
(They) bought some sweets.
It was closed.
It was far too small.
(She) travelled to Chester.
Would you prefer coffee?
3. Join these groups of three sentences together in the most suitable order. Use any of
the following connectives to do so: and, but, or so, because, although.
a) I broke her pen.
I bought her a new one.
I was playing with it.
d) He cycled five miles a day.
John trained very hard.
He was not chosen for the team.
b) The weather was glorious.
We went to the seaside.
We wanted to buy an icecream.
e) The shop was closed.
We ran to the next one.
We needed some milk.
c) The plane was late.
The man flew in from America.
He missed the meeting.
f) The teacher set a homework task.
Chloe forgot to do it.
She was given a detention.
Page | 10
Remember:
Some sentences might need you to
place ‘when’ at the beginning and
some might need you to place it in
the middle. Do not forget your
commas.
Task Seventeen
1) Now try joining your sentences using a more varied range of connectives. Use ‘when’
to join these pairs of sentences, bearing in mind that they are not in the correct
order:
I finish a book.
I am always exhausted.
There is time to walk the dog.
The school year ended.
The hero died.
The bell rang.
I get home at four thirty.
We stay at Grandma’s house.
We lost interest.
I have to start a new one.
2) Now use while, before, after or whereas to join these pairs of sentences. You are
free to change some of the words but you must make use of commas in order that
your sentences make sense:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
I was walking up the hill.
Jasper did some shopping.
Abbie is going to Spain.
You are going to bed.
I will go for a walk.
Animals have four legs.
It started to rain.
Jasper went to the cinema.
We will be in Turkey.
Would you like a hot drink?
I will eat my tea.
Man has two legs.
Task Eighteen
Write down your mobile phone number, changing any zeros to your choice of number between
1 and 9. You can make up a number if you do not have a mobile phone.
1. Choose one of the following titles:
The Theft
The Gift
The Mistake
The Accident
2. Select one of the following genres:
Comedy
Romance
Fantasy
Horror
3. Write a paragraph for your selected title and genre, making sure that the number of
words in your sentences follows the pattern of your telephone number. If your
telephone number is 57962465745, then your first sentence must contain five words,
the second must contain seven words and so on. This will help you to focus on sentence
structure and it will show you how varying your sentence structure can make your
writing more interesting.
Page | 11
Task Nineteen
Try to mix your sentences up a little. This will make your writing more interesting.
Look at the following sentence:
The girl walked down the street. She was smiling.
There is nothing wrong with these sentences but if all of your sentences were simple sentences,
your writing might be boring.
Write two simple sentences of your own. If you prefer, you can just change the details in the
example.
Now add a connective (but, and …) to join the two simple sentences together, creating a
compound sentence.
The girl walked down the street and she was smiling.
Combine the sentences and start with a verb.
Smiling, the girl walked down the street.
Add adverbs (which describe or add to a verb) to your sentences and then try starting with one:
Proudly smiling, the girl walked down the street.
Task Twenty
The boy kicked the ball really hard.
Verb (a doing or
action word)
Subject (the
person or thing
doing the verb)
Object (the person or
thing having the verb
done to them)
Copy the following sentence into your book, using three different colours to label the verbs,
subjects and objects.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Colin gave Suzie a sweet.
Paul’s cat dug a hole in the garden.
My mum baked a lovely cake for my birthday.
Amy watched the tennis all day.
I failed to complete my maths homework again.
Every summer we go on holiday to Spain.
My nana cried when she received a phone call from her brother.
It was raining but he wanted to play football on the field.
Page | 12
Spelling
Task Twenty One
To change a singular to a plural, you usually add an –s: dog becomes dogs, cat becomes cats.
There are a few exceptions. If a noun ends in –s, -sh, -ch, -x, then you add –es: fish becomes fishes.
1. Having read the rules above, change the following singular nouns to plural:
pet
church
fox
flash
bus
rush
box
chair
bench
boss
If a word ends in –y with a consonant before it, change the –y into –ies.
If a word ends in –y with a vowel before it, add an –s to make it plural.
2. With that rule in mind, change the following singular nouns into plurals:
fly
city
play
boy
baby
spy
Saturday
dummy
guy
hobby
For words ending in –f or –fe sometimes we just add –s.
But sometimes we change the –f to –v (use your dictionary to help you.)
For words ending in –ff, you just add –s.
3. Using your dictionary, change these singular nouns to plural.
Leaf
dwarf
roof
cliff
Hoof
wolf
muff
life
knife
shelf
For words ending in a vowel plus –o we usually add –s; for other words ending in –o, we add –es.
4. These words follow the rule above so try to turn them into plurals:
domino
tomato
potato
hero
echo
cuckoo
stereo
folio
These sentences are exceptions to the rules. Try to remember them:
Piano – pianos
volcano – volcanos (or volcanoes)
Mother-in-law – mothers-in-law
radio - radios
Passer-by – passers-by
solo - solos
Runner-up – runners-up
louse - lice
Flamingo – flamingos
mouse - mice
Rodeo – rodeos
tooth - teeth
Cello – cellos
Cactus – cacti
Sheep – sheep
Page | 13
Task Twenty Two
This rule only applies in words where the letters make an ‘ee’ sound.
1. Sort these words into two lists: those that make the ‘ee’ sound and those that do not.
Wield
chief
leisure
deceive
weight
Reign
height
believe
perceive
reign
2. Now sort the nine words in your first list: those with ‘ie’ and those with ‘ei’.
Has the rule worked?
3. Now complete the following words with ‘ie’ or ‘ei’.
Bel-f
rel-ve
v-n
h-ress
Pr-st
conc-t
fr-nd
n-ther
Rec-ve
-ght
shr-k
c-ling
f-nd
-ther
s-ge
w-ld
gr-f
hyg-ne
d-sel
fr-ght
n-ghbour
d-gn
sl-gh
Please note that there are some exceptions including seize, protein and names like Neil and Sheila.
Words containing ‘ie’ as two syllables do not follow the rule: society, aliens, science, audience,
convenience, client.
4. The following paragraph contains ten spelling mistakes, all to do with ‘ei’ or ‘ie.’ Find them
and write out the corrected paragraph.
Shiela was only eighteen when she became a hygeinic advisor at the local dentist. Her freinds were
all thrilled to peices when she told them about her acheivement. Her parents could not beleive that
she had acheived such success; niether could her nieghbour. Sheila was releived.
Task Twenty Three
Prefixes are letters added to the beginning of words, frequently changing the meaning to the
opposite:
healthy – unhealthy
understand – misunderstand
logical – illogical
believe – disbelieve
convenient – inconvenient
perfect – imperfect
responsible – irresponsible
Page | 14
How do you decide which prefix to use?
un- is the most common prefix and it is mostly used with an adjective.
happy – unhappy
helpful – unhelpful
The prefix is also used with a few verbs.
do – undo
dress – undress
dis- is a prefix mostly used with nouns and verbs.
able – disable/disability
appear – disappear/disappearance
mis- does the same job as dis- but it tends to mean badly.
treat – mistreat
understand – misunderstand
in- is a frequent alternative to un- but there are several rules to learn about in-.
in- becomes im- when used in front of words beginning with b, m or p.
immature
impractical
immoveable
in- becomes il- when used in front of l.
illogical
illiterate
in- becomes ir- when used in front of an r.
irregular
irreparable
irrational
1. Add the correct prefix to each of the words below to make its opposite. Use the rules
above (and a dictionary if necessary) to help you.
legible
regular
relevant
legal
resistible
possible
personal
material
moveable
passable
correct
decent
direct
secure
accurate
certain
fortunate
conscious
willing
tie
2. Add the correct negative prefix to the following words. Use a dictionary to help you as
some do not necessarily follow the rules.
mount
pleased
address
loyal
respect
satisfied
inform
similar
unite
regard
taken
approve
comfort
known
interested
connect
wrap
trust
lodge
honest
Page | 15
a.
b.
c.
d.
3. The following sentences contain some incorrect prefixes. Rewrite the sentences,
making the relevant corrections.
The police were distaken in thinking that the car was unmovable.
The drivers were disinformed when they were told the road was unpassable.
The tickets holders were inconscious that the football ticket was unvalid.
The fan’s unmature behaviour was disbelievable.
4. Try to add negative prefixes to these words without using a dictionary. They are all
mixed up!
employed
pure
moral
understood
sensitive
convenient
expected
patient
obey
wanted
visible
probable
regard
believe
dependent
Task Twenty-Four
Some verbs and nouns can be turned into adjectives by adding –able or –ible.
There is no rule about which to use so you will need to use a dictionary to find the relevant
ending and you will then need to learn it.
-able is more common an ending than –ible.
1. Turn these verbs and nouns into adjectives by adding the ending –able.
honour
reason
suit
depend
objection
understand
fashion
laugh
perish
prefer
2. Change these verbs and nouns into adjectives by adding the ending –ible.
Flex
resist
digest
horr(or)
contempt
3. Change these words, dropping the final –e before adding –able.
Value
love
move
Use
excite
cure
advise
believe
4. Change these words, dropping the final –e before adding –ible.
Response
reverse
defense
force
sense
5. Some words ending in –y need to have the –y changed to –i before adding –able.
Justify
rely
vary
identify
verify
Page | 16
Task Twenty Five
Their = belonging to them
There = in that place
They’re = short for ‘they
are’
1.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Insert the correct words into the following sentences:
……….... are some new exercise books over …………..
............ P. E kits were too large for ............. school bags.
............ aiming to beat ............... opponents.
............ apartment is on the Benidorm coastline where ............... are lots of hotels.
............ looking for ............... dog over ................. in the park.
Two = 2
Too = in excess/also
To = in that direction (used
with a verb
2.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Insert the correct words into the following sentences:
........ much junk food will make you ........ fat.
........ of us were invited to the football match but there were ......... few seats in the car.
........ women attended the exercise class but they were ........ tired to finish it.
The bus to Chester arrived at .......... thirty, .......... late for the boys to catch their connection.
............ horses reached the finish line, the others went ......... the first hurdle!
were = past tense of are
we’re = shortened for of we
are
where = a ‘place’ word
3.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Insert the correct words into the following sentences:
............ you happy with ............. the bathroom was placed in the new house?
............ you aiming to throw the rugby ball .......... it actually landed?
The car is not ............. you said you parked it so ............. is it?
.............. going abroad in August but ............. hoping to be back in time for school.
.............. you expecting them or ............. you surprised?
4. Rewrite the following passage, correcting all obvious errors and underlining each correction
you make.
We where driving to the Liverpool game, just the too of us, we’re their where too games we
wanted two watch. We wanted too watch Balotelli and Sturridge in particular because there
amazing players. We where not going to be able to watch to matches in one day so we decided
Page | 17
two stay at a nearby hotel overnight.
Task Twenty Six
1. The common ending –er is often added to adjectives to create a comparative of adjectives. It
means ‘more of something. Test it on the following word:
cloudy
great
shiny
fit
low
bright
friendly
light
sad
short
heavy
wise
black
green
wet
hot
Are there any exceptions? If so, underline or highlight them.
2. –er is a common ending for verbs (action words) such as wander, master.
Try to solve the following:
a. To break glass is to s_ _ _ _er.
b. When I think about something, I c_ _ _ _ _er it.
c. To speak quietly is to m _ _ _ er.
d. A farmer will g_ _ _ er his hen’s eggs.
e. To experience pain is to s_ _ _er.
f. To float above the ground is to h_ _er.
Task Twenty Seven
1.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
Complete the following sentences, choosing the correct spelling to fill the blank:
To stun or amaze is to flaberghast/flabbergast/flaberghast/flabberghast;
If you do something by mistake, you do it accidentally/accidentely/accidentily/accidently;
To live is to be in existence/existence/existence/excistance;
I wanted the job done instantly, immediately/immediately/immediately/immediately;
To estimate or to judge is to gaige/gauge/gage/gague;
To continue or to advance is to procede/proceed/preceed/proceed;
If you are two-faced or have double standards, you are guilty of
hypocrisy/hypocrisy/hypocricy;
h. A clever person may also be referred to as a genious/geniuss/genius;
i. To annoy or irritate is to hastle/hassle/hassel/hasle;
j. To be specific or exact is to be definite/definite/definite/definite;
k. When the woman dropped the vase, she was embarrassed/embarrassed/embarrassed.
Task Twenty Eight
1.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
Complete the following sentences, choosing the correct spelling to fill the blank:
The doctor wished to advice/advise the patient about his lifestyle;
The customer brought/bought three cakes and some eggs;
The teacher aloud/allowed the student to go to the toilet;
The driver experienced problems when breaking/braking;
The student didn’t want the problem to effect/affect her studies;
The boy felt he didn’t have alot/a lot of choice.
Page | 18