Topic Focus Options
KS2&3
The Topic Focus menu offers a range of 1 day options designed to address elements of Reading, Writing, Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar. Each option takes learners through an exciting
and engaging series of activities to improve their skills. They embark on a range of written and kinaesthetic activities to improve their attainment, as well as participating in short, motivational
exercises to embed their understanding. All courses can be adapted, if necessary, to prepare students for the KS2 National Curriculum English Test or improve upon their performance in
the test, if already taken.
All courses can be adapted as appropriate for students in Years 8 and 9 who may also need extra support.
Option A - Grammar
Option E - Writing
Option G - Sovereign Survival
(5 day course, with 3 and 4 day variations)
• Word classes. Identifying and using key terminology including
common, proper, abstract and concrete nouns, adjectives,
conjunctions, verbs, adverbs, interjections, pronouns.
Option B - Punctuation
• Full stops and capital letters – sentence demarcation.
• Commas use and how comma placement can change meaning.
• Paragraphing and proofreading.
• Apostrophes of possession and abbreviation.
• Identifying ambiguity when using punctuation.
• Using colons and semi-colons.
Option C - Reading skills for lower ability students
• Planning techniques.
• Using a range of impressive vocabulary and sentence structures.
• Applying language features (adjectives, adverbs, similes, metaphors)
• Reflecting, reviewing and correcting writing.
• Creative thinking.
Option F - Reading skills for lower ability students
(NB – this is a 3 day option)
A highly motivational course which promotes individual, paired and group
­participation. A reading based course, addressing comprehension and writing
skills, grammar, punctuation and language analysis. Students build their own
kingdom, using a map, stickers and reward coins to strategically create an
effective defence against invaders.
•Reading for information retrieval, inference and recognition of
audience and purpose.
•Formal and informal vocabulary.
• Creating characters and setting the scene.
• A review of written formats: letter writing, essays, articles and speech.
• Confidence when reading aloud.
•Analysis of language features and adapting these features into the
students’ own written work.
• Context clues for meaning.
• Finding information in a text – retrieval and inference.
• Short drama and scenario exercises.
•Punctuation for effect, ambitious vocabulary and set literary
challenges throughout the course.
•Grammar enhancement and a task led crossover from awareness to
use in writing.
• Exploring extracts.
• Answering and devising questions.
• Information retrieval, inference and paraphrasing.
• Plot prediction from context.
• Paragraphing enhancing meaning.
• Synonyms and antonyms.
•Expanding writing skills, topic sentences, compound and complex
sentences and discourse markers, summary skills.
• Making narrative predictions.
• Locating and using evidence.
•Statements and commands.
• Evaluation and presenting an opinion.
• Inference for meaning.
• Using and identifying figurative language.
• Identifying and using figurative language.
•“Turbo charging” sentence structure with scaffolded examples and
opportunities for learners to create their own expanded sentence
forms.
Option D - Retrieval and Inference
•A strategic, motivational and reward based approach to Literacy.
•Self and peer assessment throughout the course.
• Finding information in a text.
• Identifying key details in fiction and non-fiction.
• Skimming and scanning techniques.
• How to use evidence from a text.
•Inferring meaning.
West Oak House, Westwood Way, Westwood Business Park, Coventry CV4 8LB T: +44 (0) 24 7642 0310 E: [email protected] W: www.pet-xi.co.uk
Spelling
We offer a wide selection of short spelling boosters that focus on specific spelling rules. Schools may select a small number, if required, to supplement an option choice. (Not applicable for Option G)
NB selecting spelling boosters will reduce the amount of time available for the delivery of the option choice materials. The time needed for each spelling booster varies from 5-10 minutes. It is not appropriate to use the spelling boosters to make up an entire 1-day course
Spelling booster options:
Common endings
Prefixes
Homophones
able, ible
ate, ite
el, al, le
ence, ance
ical, icle, acle
ough, ought, aught
ous, ious, eous
tion, ssion, cian, sion
suffixes – adding ful
suffixes – doubling letters
suffixes – changing y to i
suffixes – e endings
it’s or its
of or off
their, there or they’re
to, two or too
Plurals
adding s or es to pluralise
pluralising words ending in f, ff or fe
irregular plurals
pluralising words ending in y
Prefixes and suffixes
Common letter patterns
hard and soft sounds – c and g
ge or dge
ou patterns and sounds
using ph
using q
w letter patterns
ch or k
ch or sh
ch or tch
ei or ie
West Oak House, Westwood Way, Westwood Business Park, Coventry CV4 8LB T: +44 (0) 24 7642 0310 E: [email protected] W: www.pet-xi.co.uk