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Grammar, Punctuation
and Spelling made easy
What is the English grammar, punctuation and spelling test at the end of
Year 6?
Watch the video
Grammar: the basics
Watch the video
How can I help my child with grammar, punctuation and spelling?
Watch the video
How to video help with grammar
Ideas for learning about sentences, phrases and clauses at home
How to videos page
Fun ways to explore sentence types at home
How to videos page
Home learning books and kits
My Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling Kit
© Copyright Oxford University Press 2013
Containing three workbooks and a set of flashcards,
this kit provide lots of spelling and grammar practice, and a reward chart with stickers helps to
build your child's confidence. For children aged 6 and above.
Find out more >
Oxford Primary Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling Dictionary
The essential primary guide to
grammar, punctuation, and spelling. In full colour, it has easy-to-use rules and help, plus an
alphabetical list of the tricky, and everyday, words including those most commonly misspelt.
Find out more >
Top Tips
Charlotte Raby recommends some quick and easy ways for you to help your child with grammar,
punctuation and spelling...
Younger children (Age 5-7)>
Bring grammar to life
Use questions to find out what your child knows about grammar. Do they know what a noun is? If
not, show your child some objects. Explain that nouns are the names used for people, places and
things. You can do the same with verbs by acting out some actions such as 'jump', 'hop' and
'clap'. Watch Charlotte's film 'Grammar: the basics' to find out more about what these grammatical
terms mean.
Play 'i-spy'
Play 'i-spy', with the focus on looking for nouns (e.g. dad, bridge, tree, shop, apple). Tell your
child that you are going to ask questions about the noun they have chosen. For example, 'Is your
noun green?', 'Can your noun fit in my hand?' In this way you introduce grammatical terminology
in a fun way.
Do simple crosswords
Do simple crosswords with your child using a dictionary to help you. The dictionary tells you what
© Copyright Oxford University Press 2013
type of word you have looked up (verb, adverb, pronoun, noun etc.), and you can share this with
your child.If your child is unsure about how to spell a word, encourage them to sound the word
out and write the letter or group of letters (the grapheme) represents each sound (the phoneme).
Then they will realise that they know how to spell some, most or all of the word and you can help
with any tricky bits as needed.
Help with spelling
If your child is unsure about how to spell a word, encourage them to sound the word out and write
the letter or group of letters (the grapheme) represents each sound (the phoneme). Then they will
realise that they know how to spell some, most or all of the word and you can help with any tricky
bits as needed.
Play with punctuation
When you read, occasionally look at the punctuation and talk about what it is telling the reader to
do. Show your child how a question mark tells you to raise your voice at the end of the sentence
to indicate a question being asked. Explore how you can show the 'feeling' behind an
exclamation mark. Are the characters shouting, has something unexpected happened, has
something gone wrong?
Play silly games
Silly games really help children learn! Watch Charlotte's video'How can I help my child with
grammar, punctuation and spelling?' to see some quick and easy games in action
Older children (Age 8-11)>
Spot grammatical terms
Read some sentences and try to identify the verb, noun, adjective, etc. By becoming familiar with
these terms, your child will become more confident at using them.
'Could have' and 'would have'
Children often say 'could of' and 'would of' when they mean 'could have' and 'would have'. This is
because the contracted (short) forms 'could've' and 'would've' sound very similar to 'could of' and
'would of'. Show your child the words in their full forms: 'could have' and 'would have', and get
them to cross out the letters that are missing in the contracted form. In this way they will
understand why 'could of' and 'would of' are wrong and will hopefully stop using them!
Tackle tricky spellings
Children in Key Stage 2 at school should be able to spell many words but some may still cause
them problems. Look through your child's writing together and find the words that they often spell
© Copyright Oxford University Press 2013
incorrectly. Choose no more than three at a time. Ask your child which bit of the word they find
tricky to remember. In this way your child can focus on the small bit of the word they find difficult
rather than the whole word. It's less daunting. For example, children often spell 'many' incorrectly
because they hear 'e' in the middle of the word. So saying it in a different/silly way might help
them to remember it. If your child says 'man- y' then this could help them spell the word correctly.
Homophones
Make up silly sentences to remember homophones (words which sound the same but have
different spellings and meanings). For example, 'We'll need a new wheel' or 'I write with my right
hand'.
Keep the sentence going
Play the sentence game. The aim of the game is to make the longest sentence possible. Two or
more people take turns to say one word of a sentence. Whoever finishes the sentence is the
loser. This game is very funny and it helps children use conjunctions or connectives to keep the
sentence going, e.g. and, but, or, yet, so, then, after, therefore, finally.
Focus on apostrophes
Children often battle with apostrophes. Sort out the most common error first. Children often
mistake 'its' and 'it's'. Remember, 'it's' is the contracted version of 'it is' and it has the apostrophe
to show that the 'i' of 'is' is missing. This is the only time 'its' needs an apostrophe. Then make
these words into contractions: have not, will not, do not, does not, shall not and can not. Actually
cross out the letters that are being omitted and then write the new word: haven't, won't, don't,
doesn't, shan't and can't. Once these are clear then you can tackle apostrophes that show
something belongs to someone (possessive apostrophes).
Talk about writing
When you are reading together, look at how authors use different sentence types for effect, such
as simple sentences containing one clause (e.g. 'James picked up the spoon.'), short commands
(e.g. 'Give me the spoon, James!'), or more complex sentences such as compound sentences
('James picked up the spoon and he ran away excitedly.') and sentences that have a subordinate
clause (part of a sentence that doesn't make sense by itself, used to 'pop' in extra information
about characters and situations, e.g. 'With great excitement, James picked up the spoon.'). Talk
about different types of punctuation as well, such as question marks, exclamation marks,
commas etc. Can your child identify ellipses? See how these are used to ramp up tension or to
get the reader thinking.
Download the Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling Jargon Buster
Download the Top 10 Questions about the English Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling Test
© Copyright Oxford University Press 2013
Games to play with your child
Games are a great way to help children to learn and practise key skills at home. Here are some
quick games to try with your child...
Younger children (Age 5-7)>
Nouns
Show your child a tray of objects. Name them together and explain that all these words are
nouns. Nouns name a person, place or thing.
Ask your child to say their name. Explain that their name is a special noun called a proper noun.
People's names have a capital letter at the beginning to show that they are proper nouns.
Look for capital letters at the beginning of proper nouns, e.g. on a map for place names, or the
address on a letter for people's names, street and county names.
Plurals
When you have one of a noun then it is singular: one cat. When you have two or more of a noun it
is plural: two cats. Most plurals are made by adding -s or -es to the noun. But some are different:
child becomes children; foot becomes feet; person becomes people.
There are special nouns called collective nouns which describe a group of people or things, e.g.
a crowd of people. Look at an animal book and explore the collective nouns. Make a list of the
ones you find. Here are some you might like to tell your child: a murder of crows, a crash of
hippopotami, a leap of leopards, a lounge of lizards, a tower of giraffes.
Adjectives
An adjective adds information about a noun, e.g. a red hat, a tiny bird.
Play guessing games that encourage your child to describe an object. Ask them to choose one of
their toys and describe it to you. Make sure that you can't see the toy. Can you guess what it is
from the adjectives they have used? Now describe an object for your child to identify.
Top Tip: Repeat what your child has described back to them and then ask for an additional
adjective to help you work out what the object is like, e.g. 'What does it feel like?'
Adverbs
An adverb gives more information about a verb, e.g. shout loudly , play nicely .
Play 'Crazy Adverbs' – one person is given a verb and adverb to act out, e.g. 'dance gracefully',
© Copyright Oxford University Press 2013
'spin quickly'. The aim is for the actor to dance/spin in such a way that others can guess what the
adverb is. It might be worth modelling this game for your child by taking the first turn at being the
'actor'.
Opposites
Play 'Opposite World', a game where you use 'don't' to mean 'do'! For example, 'Don't give me a
kiss!' = 'Give me a kiss!' Say an 'opposite' sentence to your child and see whether they
understand it and can carry it out. Take it in turns, giving them the chance to make up some
sentences for you.
Expand the game to include antonyms (words that mean the opposite of each other). For
example, 'up' means 'down', 'small' means 'big', 'quiet' means 'loud' etc. Again, take it in turns to
say 'opposite' sentences to each other (e.g. Find me a small toy) and carry them out.
Try using opposite adverbs, e.g. clap your hands 'softly' (meaning clap loudly!), jump about
'slowly' etc.
Make up some silly sentences using opposites, e.g. I love to eat worms! See who can make the
funniest sentence.
Questions and commands
Show your child how a question is formed using question words such as how, where, when, what
and why. Make up some questions together. You could try to find the answers too.
Together, practise asking questions using can, will, could and would, e.g. 'Can you help me with
the lunch?', 'Will you bring me a cup?' etc.
Now show your child how to turn the questions into commands . For example, 'Can you help me
with the lunch?' becomes 'Help me with the lunch!' Point out the difference in punctuation at the
end of a question and a command. Can your child change a question into a command? They can
imagine they are a captain telling you what to do!
Odd one out
Play 'Odd one out' – write a list of words with one word that is the odd one out e.g. the words are
all verbs except one. Can your child find the odd one out? Can they say what types of words are
in the list? Can they tell you what type of word the odd one out is? If your child finds it too difficult,
give them a clue.
For example: shout, sing, horse, flick, beg (all verbs except horse which is a noun); cute, small,
delicate, bendy, sky, (all adjectives except sky which is a noun); teacher, mouse, ladder,
Scotland, desk (all common nouns except Scotland which is a proper noun); quickly, silently,
cautiously, dance, fast (all adverbs except dance which is a verb).
© Copyright Oxford University Press 2013
This game is also appropriate for children ages 8+.
Older children (Age 8-11)>
Bring grammar to life
Use questions to find out what your child knows about grammar. Do they know what a noun is? If
not, show your child some objects. Explain that nouns are the names used for people, places and
things. You can do the same with verbs by acting out some actions such as 'jump', 'hop' and
'clap'. Watch Charlotte's film 'Grammar: the basics' to find out more about what these grammatical
terms mean.
Play 'i-spy'
Play 'i-spy', with the focus on looking for nouns (e.g. dad, bridge, tree, shop, apple). Tell your
child that you are going to ask questions about the noun they have chosen. For example, 'Is your
noun green?', 'Can your noun fit in my hand?' In this way you introduce grammatical terminology
in a fun way.
Do simple crosswords
Do simple crosswords with your child using a dictionary to help you. The dictionary tells you what
type of word you have looked up (verb, adverb, pronoun, noun etc.), and you can share this with
your child.If your child is unsure about how to spell a word, encourage them to sound the word
out and write the letter or group of letters (the grapheme) represents each sound (the phoneme).
Then they will realise that they know how to spell some, most or all of the word and you can help
with any tricky bits as needed.
Help with spelling
If your child is unsure about how to spell a word, encourage them to sound the word out and write
the letter or group of letters (the grapheme) represents each sound (the phoneme). Then they will
realise that they know how to spell some, most or all of the word and you can help with any tricky
bits as needed.
Play with punctuation
When you read, occasionally look at the punctuation and talk about what it is telling the reader to
do. Show your child how a question mark tells you to raise your voice at the end of the sentence
to indicate a question being asked. Explore how you can show the 'feeling' behind an
exclamation mark. Are the characters shouting, has something unexpected happened, has
something gone wrong?
Play silly games
© Copyright Oxford University Press 2013
Silly games really help children learn! Watch Charlotte's video'How can I help my child with
grammar, punctuation and spelling?' to see some quick and easy games in action
About Charlotte Raby
Charlotte Raby has been a teacher for over 16 years. She is now a teacher trainer and works
with schools to help them improve the teaching of all aspects of English, including grammar.
In her films, Charlotte talks you through the basics of grammar so that you can feel confident
helping your child with their homework, and suggests ideas for activities and games you can play
with your child to support their learning. Charlotte also gives you all the information you need
about the English grammar, punctuation and spelling test for children in Year 6. A grammar,
punctuation and spelling test for children in Year 2 is in development for Summer 2016 so watch
this space for further information as this develops. You can watch each film all the way through
or, once the film has started, you can click on the links to the left of the film to skip to the part that
is most relevant to you.
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Key Issues:
Phonics made easy
Grammar, Punctuation
and Spelling made easy
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