1. I can spell most of the “common exception words” in the national curriculum correctly.

2. I spell most words in my own writing correctly.

3. My sentences are grammatically correct and my tense usage is secure.

4. I can link my writing together using ordering words/phrases and pronouns.

5. I can effectively choose when to use different sentence types in my writing.

6. I write confidently for a range of purposes and different audiences - choosing the correct features to include.

7. I use all of the punctuation that I have been taught in Key Stage 2 mostly correctly.

8. I join my handwriting neatly.

Writing Targets:How to help at home

1. I can spell most of the “common exception words” in the national curriculum correctly.

Ex: Spelling strategies Ex: Spelling strategies

Ex: Spelling sentences Ex: Funny, short stories!

Encourage your child to practise spelling the

common exception words for years 3/4 and 5/6 to

support their writing.

Use a range of strategies to discover which is best for

them! You can also play games such as hangman together using common

exception words!

Years 3/4 Common Exception Words

Years 5/6 Common Exception Words

2. I spell most words in my own writing correctly.

1. Your child should develop the habit of using a dictionary, word mat or online resource (such as an online dictionary) to check the spellings of ambitious or difficult words.

2. Remind your child to regularly check through their writing for spelling errors (sometimes it is best for them to focus on getting their ideas down first and then check for spellings!). They need to develop a feel for whether a word looks right.

3. Work with your child on spelling strategies, e.g. • Use over-pronunciation: for Wednesday, encourage children to say Wed-nes-day as they write. There are

lots of words which feature sounds that aren’t always pronounced clearly (such as words ending in -ed) and over-emphasising these while spelling them out can help fix the spelling in your child’s memory.

• Ask your child to write down the words that they need to remember how to spell. The physical act of writing the words by hand helps to anchor the spelling in children’s memories.

• Focus your child’s attention on the tricky bits in a word by asking them to highlight them. For example, show them that said has ‘ai’ in the middle and ask them to write the word, and then highlight or underline this part to help them remember.

4. Encourage your child to play spelling games, e.g.• Hangman• Word Worm https://cdn.oxfordowl.co.uk/2016/03/04/14/54/32/679/19038_content/index.html• Spelling Bee https://www.gamestolearnenglish.com/spelling-bee/• Or many more at https://www.topmarks.co.uk/english-games/7-11-years/spelling-and-grammar

3. My sentences are grammatically correct and my tense usage is secure.

You can help your child by reading through their

work with them and checking for slippages in tense and grammatical issues. The main three

tenses your child will be writing in are past (he was, they went, etc.),

present (he is, they are going, etc.) and future (he will be, they will go,

etc.). These can be broken down further as

seen in this image.Work through the ‘Verb

Tenses’ and ‘Grammatical Mistakes’ worksheets to practise

this skill.

4. I can link my writing together using ordering words/phrases and pronouns.

You can help your child by reading through their work and acknowledge areas where the ‘cohesion’ or ‘flow’ is lost.

Pronouns:A word that is used instead of a

noun/noun phrase. Your child should use these to avoid

repeating themselves and to make sure it is clear who they are talking about.

Common mistakes:• Jason and Harry went to the park; he

fell of the swings. (It is unclear who the he is referring to)

• Zaynab woke up at 7am. Zaynabjumped out of bed and Zaynab had breakfast. (The proper noun should be replaced by a suitable pronoun: she; if you are referring to an object/place/thing then you should use it).Complete the ‘Pronouns’ PowerPoint.

Ordering Words/Phrases:Words or phrases (a group of words that form part of a sentence without a verb) help the cohesion and ‘sense’ of

writing.Your child should use these to help the reader

understand what they are trying to say and to improve the flow of their writing.

Conjunctions (linking words) and phrases can be used:• Time Conjunctions (sometimes called time

connectives) such as before, after, then, etc. (these can be used at the beginning of a sentence with a comma or to link two parts of a sentence).

• Conjunctions: opposition, reinforcing, explaining/listing, cause and effect – see the next slide for examples of these.

Complete the ‘Time Conjunctions Worksheet & Test’ and the ‘Phrases’ PowerPoint.

4. I can link my writing

together using ordering

words/phrases and pronouns.

Use these as a guide when writing. They can be used in a range of writing types. For example,

‘Cause and Effect’ is

used best in science

experiments.

5. I can effectively choose when to use different sentence types in my writing.

Your child should use a range of sentence types within their writing; these sentences should be used for effect. They are:

SimpleAlso called an independent clause; contains a verb and a subject and expresses a

complete thought.e.g. Tina played football. The dog barked. Henry was late. Mia was on time.

Compound Contains two independent clauses that are linked by a coordinating conjunction.

e.g. Tina played football and The dog barked. Henry was late but Mia was on time.

ComplexCombines an independent clause with at least one dependent clause (a clause that does

not make sense on its own). These clauses will be linked with a subordinating conjunction.e.g. Because Tina played football loudly, the dog barked.

When the cake is golden, remove it from the oven.

To practise these, complete ‘Subordinate Clauses Activity Sheets’, ‘Sentence Lengths for Effect’ and ‘Using Different Types of Conjunctions’.

Coordinating Conjunctions

6. I write confidently for a range of purposes and different audiences - choosing the correct features to include.

Nonfiction or Fiction:Different styles of writing will be used for nonfiction (based on real people, situations and events) such as recipes,reports, newspapers, recounts etc. and for fiction (an imaginary plot, characters and settings) such as stories, plays,poems, film scripts etc.

Formality and Audience:Different types of writing require either formal language (used for more official and serious purposes; the correctgrammar should always be used) or informal language (a more relaxed, casual and chatty style can be used; slang wordsand abbreviations are more acceptable). Formality levels are often dependent on the audience, e.g. you would need towrite more formally if you are writing a newspaper or letter to a business than you would writing a diary or a message to afriend. For extra help, complete ‘Formality Worksheet’.

Genre:Much like films, writing can be separated into distinct genres which often have different audiences and purposes.Fictional genres include: fantasy, science-fiction, horror/thriller, romance, mystery, action/adventure, comedic, etc.Nonfiction genres include: memoirs/biographies, newspapers, plays, musicals, etc.

To support your child with writing for different genres, encourage them to read a wide range of texts and ask what theynotice about each of these: What language is used? What is the structure? What characters are in it? How does thewriting make you feel and why? Who would read this and why?

You can find additional support at https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zr77hyc

7. I use all of the punctuation that I have been taught in Key Stage 2 mostly correctly.

By the end of year 6, your child has been introduced to a wide range of punctuation and should be using these within and across their writing mostly correctly. Encourage your child to use these within their writing by reading their work and checking they have used them appropriately; suggest opportunities to use a wider

range of punctuation if necessary. If they struggle with punctuation then encourage them to complete target work to better develop their understanding!

The range of punctuation taught includes:• Full stops ( . ) to punctuate the end of a sentence that is not a question or exclamation; question marks

( ? ) to punctuate questions; exclamation marks ( ! ) to punctuation exclamatory sentences.• Commas ( , ) for lists of three or more items (e.g. They bought apples, oranges and bananas.)• Commas to punctuate fronted adverbials (sentences where the adverbial phrase is at the front) e.g. As

the rain poured, the festival came to an end.• Bullet points to list information (particularly used in reports and when listing ingredients, whereas

instructions would require numbers.)• Apostrophes ( ‘ ) for:o Contractions (shortening two words into one) e.g. do not = don’t, would have = would’ve, it is = it’s, etc.o Possession (belonging to someone) e.g. Miss Patel’s, John’s, the school’s, the table’s, etc. (Remember –

never use an apostrophe to show possession with the pronoun ‘it’)o Plural possession (belonging to more than one person/thing) e.g. the girls’, the many teams’, the birds’

7. I use all of the punctuation that I have been taught in Key Stage 2 mostly correctly.

• Use of the semicolon ( ; ), colon ( : ) and dash ( - ) to mark the boundary between independent clauses.o Use a semicolon if the clauses link, e.g. It’s raining; I’m fed up.o Use a colon if the second clause explains the first, e.g. The boy has many positive traits: he’s kind, funny

and smart.o Use the dash for dramatic effect or for emphasis, e.g. The room was cold – too cold or He is afraid of

two things – spiders and bats!• Use a colon to introduce a list and semicolons within long lists to avoid ambiguity or confusion. e.g. You

must bring your equipment: waterproof trousers to avoid getting wet in rain, the lake and the kayak; a packed luck including a drink, sandwich and snack; etc.

• Use a hyphen (looks like a dash but is used between words without a space: e.g. man-eating shark) to join two adjectives which come before a noun and communicates one idea, e.g. the ice-cold night (you do not need to use a hyphen if the adjectives come after the noun); use a hyphen to add prefixes, e.g. de-ice, ex-mayor, etc.

• To use brackets ( ), commas and dashes for parenthesis (used to insert extra information – the sentence should still make sense if you remove the parenthesis) e.g. The two friends - Helen and John - went to the park; You can find extra information in the textbook (page 240); Mount Everest, in the Himalayas, is the highest mountain in the world.

• Speech marks/quotation marks (“ ”) to indicate direct speech – make sure you use the correct internal/external punctuation for speech too! e.g. “Hello,” the man said; The man said, “hello.”; “Hello,” the man said, “how’re you?”

8. I join my handwriting neatly.

Your child should be able to write legibly in joined handwriting. Encourage your child to join their

handwriting where possible in each piece of

written work.

Support them in forming their letters correctly

and offer them opportunities to develop their own style of neat

handwriting! They do not have to join every letter

but should join where appropriate to do so.

If your child struggles with joined handwriting, they can copy out joined sentences to practise, e.g.