1. Your child’s literacy entitlement 1

2. Key literacy elements 2

2.1 Full stops and capital letters (Half Term 1)

2.2 Apostrophes (Half Term 2)

2.3 Paragraphs (Half Term 3)

2.4 Plurals (Half Term 4)

2.5 Question marks and exclamation marks (Half Term 5)

2.6 Colons and Semi-Colons (Half Term 6)

3. Proof reading strategies 3

4. The Ecclesfield School approach to presenting work 4

5. Reading 5

5.1 Ecco’s Shared Shelf 5

5.2 10 Top tips for reading 6

5.3 Styles of reading 7

5.4 Active reading 7

5.5 Recommended reading 9

6. Writing 12

6.1 Useful definitions 12

6.2 Sentences 12

6.3 Punctuation 14

6.4 Apostrophes 15

6.5 Connectives 16

6.6 Planning your writing 17

6.7 High frequency words 18

6.8 Most commonly misspelt words 19

6.9 Singular and plural nouns 21

6.10 Homophones and homonyms 22

6.11 Using words in different contexts 23

7. Speaking and listening 24

8. Literacy Challenge 25

9. The library 26

1

Literacy is important because it is the gateway to all knowledge. For

this reason, we believe that your child’s development as a literate learner should

underpin everything that we do as a school.

We believe that all students of Ecclesfield School are entitled to lessons and

experiences that develop them as a literate individual and that the delivery of

such an education is a core duty for all staff.

The education we provide will strive to develop your child’s potential as literate

individuals, equipped with the abilities to:

Read with fluency for knowledge and understanding

Write coherently, and

Think and talk critically about ideas.

This booklet is to help you further support your child’s literacy skills during their time at Ecclesfield, with a particular emphasis on reading and writing. You can use this as a quick reference guide or your child can use it when working independently. For more detail, you can refer to the Student Guide to Literacy which is available to buy from the finance office. This is for your child to use in lessons. The book looks like this

Throughout this guide, you will see this logo

with a page number. This is where we have

made links to the Student Guide to Literacy. 30

2

Key Literacy Elements

All

Pupils should ensure that they can confidently use appropriate punctuation

and structure their work effectively.

11-13

30

57

35-45

36

39-40

3

Proofreading

Checking and re-checking work is a crucial part of the writing process.

Below are some top tips to help students proofread their work.

4

Presenting Work

We all know the importance of presenting yourself

and your work in the best possible way, and now

research shows that having a common approach to

presenting work removes a barrier to students’

learning and helps them get on with the important

stuff. In light of this, we have developed an ‘Ecclesfield School Approach to

Presentation’. This ensures that students know what the expectations are,

regardless of what subject they are studying. The presentation guidelines for

each subject include six whole-school expectations and one subject specific one.

5

Reading

Ecco’s Shared Shelf

This terms book:

Shared Shelf is an online book group! The English department will select a new book to read each half-term and announce it on Twitter and Instagram.

Visit the Library to collect this month’s book. Once you’ve read it, find our posts on Twitter and Instagram to share your thoughts on our book.

Find it hard to pick a new book to read? Look no further! The books we will be reading are award-winning. Plus, if you borrow books with Shared Shelf, you will be entered to win a prize draw for a Kindle!

On Al Chaudhury's twelfth birthday his

beloved Grandpa Byron gives him a letter

from Al's late father. In it Al receives a

mission: travel back to 1984 in a time machine

and save his father's life.

All without losing his pet hamster, Alan

Shearer...

6

10 Top Tips for Reading

1. Choose a quiet time to read.

Find a place away from distractions, where you won’t be disturbed or have interference from background noise such as the TV or other siblings.

2. Encourage your child.

Be positive even if they are finding it difficult, offer praise regularly.

3. Read a variety of material.

Fiction and nonfiction books, magazines and newspapers are all relevant.

4. Don’t rush!

Reading success comes with time, be patient.

5. Ensure reading material is pitched at the right level.

If a book is too easy or too difficult it will have a negative impact on the reader.

6. Read little and often.

Short, quality reading sessions are best; don’t continue to read until your child loses interest.

7. Never use reading as a punishment.

Reading should be for pleasure, use as a reward.

8. Check for comprehension.

Chat about the characters in the book or what your child thinks will happen next to ensure they have understand what they have read.

9. Model reading.

Read a paragraph or chapter each, read with emphasis to bring the story to life.

10. Have fun!

Reading is a great tool to engage with your child on a one to one basis, make it enjoyable!

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7

Styles of reading

There are three styles of reading which we use in different situations:

Scanning: for a specific focus

The technique you use when you're looking up a name in the phone book: you move your

eye quickly over the page to find particular words or phrases that are relevant to the task you're doing.

It's useful to scan parts of texts to see if they're going to be useful to you:

the introduction or preface of a book the first or last paragraphs of chapters the concluding chapter of a book.

Skimming: for getting the gist of something

The technique you use when you're going through a newspaper or magazine: you read quickly to get the main points, and skip over the detail. It's useful to skim:

to preview a passage before you read it in detail to refresh your understand of a passage after you've read it in detail.

Use skimming when you're trying to decide if a book in the library or bookshop is right for you.

Detailed reading: for extracting information accurately

Where you read every word, and work to learn from the text.

In this careful reading, you may find it helpful to skim first, to get a general idea, but then

go back to read in detail. Use a dictionary to make sure you understand all the words used.

Active reading

It's a waste of your time to just passively read. Always make notes to keep up your concentration and understanding.

Here are four tips for active reading.

Underlining and highlighting

Pick out what you think are the most important parts of what you are reading, such as key words. If you are a visual learner, you'll find it helpful to use different colours to highlight different aspects of what you're reading.

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8

Questions

Before you start reading something like an article, a chapter or a whole book, prepare for your reading by noting down questions you want the text to answer. While you're reading, note down questions which the author raises.

Summaries

Pause after you've read a section of text. Then:

1. put what you've read into your own words; 2. skim through the text and check how accurate your summary is and fill in any gaps.

Try the SQ3R technique. SQ3R stands for Survey, Question, Read, Recall and Review.

1. Survey

Gather the information you need to focus on the work and set goals:

Read the title to help prepare for the subject Read the introduction or summary to see what the author thinks are the key points Notice the boldface headings to see what the structure is Notice any maps, graphs or charts. They are there for a purpose Notice the reading aids, italics, bold face, questions at the end of the chapter. They

are all there to help you understand and remember.

2. Question

Help your mind to engage and concentrate. Your mind is engaged in learning when it is actively looking for answers to questions.

Try turning the boldface headings into questions you think the section should answer.

3. Read

Read the first section with your questions in mind. Look for the answers, and make up new questions if necessary.

4. Recall

After each section, stop and think back to your questions. See if you can answer them from memory. If not, take a look back at the text. Do this as often as you need to.

5. Review

Once you have finished the whole chapter, go back over all the questions from all the headings. See you if can still answer them. If not, look back and refresh your memory.

9

Recommended Reading

English:

Adventure/Crime/Thriller Anthony Horowitz Alex Rider Series

C Higgins The Young Bond Series

Andy McNab Meltdown

Cornelia Funke The Thief Lord

Charlie Higson The Enemy Series

Michael Morpurgo Private Peaceful

Sarah Naughton The Hanged Man Rises

Derek Landy Skulduggery Series

Fantasy/horror J R R Tolkien The Hobbit

JK Rowling Harry Potter Series

Patrick Ness A Monster Calls

Cornelia Funke The Ink Heart Trilogy

L Reid Banks The Indian in the

Cupboard

E Ibbotson Monster Mission

Eoin Colfer Artemis Fowl

C S Lewis Narnia Series

Lemony Snicket A Series of Unfortunate

Events

Biography/Autobiography Anne Frank The Diary of Anne Frank

Roald Dahl Boy

Michaela Morgan Walter Tull’s

Scrapbook

Alan Burnett Scottish Tales of Adventure

World War 1

Science Fiction Lucy Hawking and Stephen Hawking

George’s Secret Key to the Universe

James Dashner Maze Runner

Julia Golding Young Knights of the

Round Table

Simon Mayo Itch

Emma Clayton The Roar

MacKenzie Crook The Lost Journals of

Benjamin Tooth

Different Cultures Eva Ibbotson Journey to the River Sea

S Rushdie Haroun and the Sea of Stories

Deborah Ellis Parvana’s Journey

Bali Rai Dream On

General Malorie Blackman Noughts and Crosses

Anne Fine Madame Doubtfire

R J Palacio Wonder

Bali Rai The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Liz Pichon Tom Gates – Everything’s

Amazing (sort of)

M Cabot The Princess Diaries

J Wilson Vicky Angel

C King Stig of the Dump

David Almond Skellig

David Almond My Name is Mina

Frank Cottrell Boyce The Unforgotten

Coat

Marcia Williams Lizzy Bennet’s Diary

Ted Hughes The Iron Man

Pete Johnson My Parents are out of

control

Holly Smale Geek Girl

Neil Gaiman Coraline

Poetry Grace Nichols Cosmic Disco

Gabby Morgan Poems from the

First World War

Carol Ann Duffy 101 Poems for Children

John Agard The Young Inferno

Non-fiction Anna Claybourne 100 Most Dangerous

Things on the Planet

Ari Berk The Life and Times of William

Shakespeare

Guiness World Records

Tracie Young and Katie Hewett Cool

Maths 50 Fantastic Facts for Kids of All

Ages

10

Science:

Mary Roach Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

Robert L Wolke What Einstein Told His Cook (and there are others in the series)

John Emsley The Shocking History of Phosphorous

Lawrence M Krauss The Physics of Star Trek

James Kakalios The Physics of Superheroes

Nick Cook The Hunt for Zero Point New Scientist Does Anything Eat Wasps?

(along with the others in the series) Paul Davies How to Build a Time Machine Ben Miller It’s Not Rocket Science Ben Goldacre Bad Science Ben Goldacre Bad Pharma Dr Chris Smith The Naked Scientist series Horrible Science series Brian Cox (any of his books) The Rough Guide to Unexplained

Phenomena Aldous Huxley Brave New World Paul Parsons The Science of Doctor Who The Selfish Gene The Magic of Reality: How We Know

What's Really True. Jerry Coyne Why Evolution is True" Bill Bryson A Short History of Nearly

Everything and the abridged children's version A Really Short History of Nearly Everything.

Levitt and Dubner Freakonomics.

Art: Phaidon Editors The Art Book for Children Quentin Blake Tell Me a Picture Dorling Kindersley Children's Book of Art Angela Wenzel 13 Artists Children Should

Know Fiona Watt Art Skills (Art Ideas) (Usborne

Art Ideas) Mark Linley How To Draw Anything

PSHE:

www.sheffield .gov.uk/roadsafety www.changingfaces.org.uk

cri.org.uk/corner_sheffield

www.ncb.org.uk smokefree.nhs.uk www.sexualhealthsheffield.nhs.uk www.sypte.co.uk www.time-to-change.org.uk www.sayouthtrust.org.uk

www.talktofrank.com Articles on the MLE (Student area) Books e.g. Refugee Boy, Face or Stone

Cold

Design & Technology:

Linda Collister Great British Bake Off: Learn to Bake: 80 Easy Recipes for All the FamilyChildren’s Ultimate Cookbook

Michael Bierut and Pamela Pease Graphic Design: For Kids (Design Dossier)

The Good Food Magazine

Maths:

Kjartan Poskitt and Philip Reeve Savage Shapes - Murderous Maths Kjartan Poskitt and Philip Reeve The Key

to the Universe - Murderous Maths Kjartan Poskitt and Philip Reeve Easy

Questions, Evil Answers - Murderous Maths

Kjartan Poskitt and Philip Reeve Professor Fiendish’s Book of Brain Benders - Murderous Maths

Kjartan Poskitt and Philip Reeve The Perfect Sausage and Other Fundamental Formulas - Murderous Maths

Kjartan Poskitt and Philip Reeve Awesome Arithmetricks: How to + - X, Murderous Maths

Kjartan Poskitt and Philip Reeve The Murderous Maths of Everything- Murderous Maths

Languages:

Sir Arthur Co Doyle - Dual Language Books such as French Stories by Wallace Fowlie and Sherlock Holmes

www.little-linguist.co.uk – This website is an online specialist for children’s foreign language books. It includes lots of well-known fiction books in a range of

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languages such as Harry Potter and Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

ICT:

Pimoroni Super Scratch Programming Adventure

J S Harbour Video Game Programming for kids

P Cooke and S Manning Why doesn’t my floppy disk flop

V Roddel Internet Safety (Young Readers Guide)

S Cindich A smart girl’s guide to the internet

S Burgstahler New kids on the net- Internet activities for young learners

RE:

Alice Seabold The Lovely Bones Mitch Albom The Five People You Meet in

Heaven Ellie Wiesel Night The Atheist's Handbook Jurassic Park

PE:

Sports news in local/ national newspapers

Alan Gibbons Twin Strikers Tom Palmer Killer Pass Trevor Colgan The Stretford Enders

Geography:

Anita Ganeri and Mike Phillips Horrible Geography of the Worldy

Jane Bingham et al Encyclopedia of World Geography

Anita Ganeri and Mike Phillips Bloomin' Rainforests (Horrible Geography)

National Geographic Katie Daynes See Inside Planet Earth National Geographic Kids Magazine

National Geographic Kids Quiz Whiz: 1,000 Super Fun, Mind-Bending, Totally Awesome Trivia Questions

Jim Doyle Where on Earth?: Geography without the Boring Bits

Christiane Dorion How the World Works: A Hands-on Guide to Our Amazing Planet

Music:

Biographies and autobiographies such as

John Lennon, Julie Andrews, Katherine

Jenkins, The Beatles, Muse, One Direction,

Jessie J

Greil Marcus The History of Rock ‘n’ Roll in

10 Songs

Mike Hurst Every Song Tells a Story: A

Brief History of Popular Music

Gill Hornby Who Was Mozart?

Jerry Silverman Slave Songs – Traditional

Black Music

Drama: Toeckey Jones In Search of Dragon

Mountain John Godber Teechers Clifford Oliver Kicking Out Manjinder Virk Glow Any of the plays by Roy Williams or

Benjamin Zephaniah Any scenes from or adaptations of

Shakespeare plays

History:

Horrible Histories John O'Farrell An Utterly Impartial History

of Britain: (or 2000 Years Of Upper Class Idiots In Charge)

Michael Morpurgo Private Peaceful Michael Morpurgo War Horse Laurie Halse Chains Kathy Kacer The Underground Reporters Ann Jungman Betrayal Morris Gleitzman Once Teresa Breslin Prisoner of the Inquisition Jason Wallace Out of the Shadows Anne Fine Road of Bones Ruta Sepetys Between Shades of

Grey, (Fate of Lithuanians exiled to Siberia under soviet occupation)

Sally Nicholls All Fall Down Victor Watson Paradise Barn Anne Frank’s Diary.

12

Writing

Useful Definitions

Vowels a e i o u

Verbs (doing words) run jump

Adjectives (describing words) lovely ugly

Nouns (names of things and people)

dog cat table chair nurse man

Adverbs (describes verbs) ran quickly walked carefully

Pronouns (instead of names) he she it they

Preposition (show place) in by under next to

Conjunctions (joining words) and but because

Opposites black/white wet/dry on/off

Abbreviations P.O. = Post Office Rd. = Road

Speech Marks “Hello Mum,” he called.

Question Mark “How are you?”

Exclamation Mark “What a mess!”

Apostrophe Contracting apostrophe: I cannot = I can’t Possession apostrophe: John’s coat (belongs to John) Examples of contracting: It’s = it is What’s inside? = What is inside?

What is a Sentence? 1. A sentence begins with a capital letter. 2. A sentence ends with a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark. 3. A sentence makes sense. Types of Sentences

1. A statement is a sentence which gives information, e.g.: He is eleven years old.

2. A command is a sentence which gives commands or instruction, e.g.: Go home.

3. An exclamation is a sentence which shows emotion or surprise, e.g.: Help me!

4. A question is a sentence which asks for information, e.g.: What is your name?

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Simple Sentences A simple sentence consists of a single main clause. A clause is a part of a sentence that contains a subject and a verb. For example:

The ballerina danced all night. Annie watched the television.

Compound Sentences A compound sentence consists of two main clauses joined together by a word like and, but, or.

A main clause is one that makes sense on its own. For example:

Joe likes chocolate drops and he likes toffee.

Peter was late but Chris waited.

I can walk home or I can catch the bus.

Complex Sentences A complex sentence consists of a main clause and a subordinate clause. Within a complex sentence, one clause will make complete sense on its own, and is called the main clause.

The other clause will not make complete sense if separated from the main clause and read on its own. This clause is called the subordinate clause.

A subordinate clause gives additional information about the main clause. It begins with a conjunction like when, because, if or although.

For example:

Beverley went for a walk, although it was raining. MAIN CLAUSE SUBORDINATE CLAUSE - makes sense on its own - does not make sense on its own Sometimes the subordinate clause can be put at the beginning or in the middle of the sentence and the sentence will still make sense.

For example: Although it was raining, Beverley went for a walk. Beverley, although it was raining, went for a walk.

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Punctuation Marks

Punctuation Looks like:

When to use it:

Comma , To separate items on a list, e.g. My friends are Sarah, Tariq, Kane, Renee. They are also used to show the reader when to pause. Commas usually separate a phrase that gives more information from the main clause, e.g. Laughing loudly, Louise jumped on the trampoline. They also mark when a person is being addressed, e.g. Chris, don’t do it!

Full stop . Used at the end of a sentence. The following sentence should begin with a capital letter.

Brackets () Go around extra information.

Hyphen - Used to join words and separate syllables of a single word.

Exclamation mark

! Shows surprise at the end of a sentence.

Question mark

? Goes at the end of a sentence that contains a question.

Colon

: Goes at the start of a list and separates clauses, e.g. My favourite games are:

Semi-colon

; Can be used instead of a full stop between two sentences that are closely connected. They balance two similar ideas. For example, I’d like to go to the botanical gardens; they say the plants are beautiful.

Ellipsis

... Shows interruption or a trailing off.

Speech marks

“ “ Goes around speech or a quotation. When the speaker appears before the speech, a comma must be placed before the speech marks. When the speaker appears after the speech, the spoken words are followed by a comma, not a full stop. If the spoken words are a question or an exclamation, we use a question mark or an exclamation mark, whether the speaker comes before or after the speech.

Apostrophe

‘ Shows where a letter is missed out e.g. ‘I am’ becomes ‘I’m’ or to mark possession e.g. ‘the child’s book’ or ‘James’ book’.

Paragraphs

When do you start a new paragraph?

Change of PLACE

Change of TOPIC

TiP ToP Change of

TIME

30-42

Change of PERSON

15

Apostrophes

An apostrophe is used for one of two reasons: Reason one: If a letter is missing. Reason two: To show belonging/possession.

Reason One – If a letter is missing An example of an apostrophe to show a letter is missing:

Do not run! Turns into Don’t run! The apostrophe shows the letter ‘o’ is missing. Reason Two – to show belonging/possession An example of an apostrophe to show belonging:

Bill’s shoes. The apostrophe shows that the shoes belong to Bill.

If you are not sure whether to put an apostrophe in, ask yourself the question “who owns the shoes?” The answer is “Bill”. The apostrophe goes directly after your answer.

If more than one person owns something, the apostrophe goes in a slightly different place.

The boy’s shoes – this means one boy owns a pair of shoes.

The boys’ shoes – this means lots of boys own shoes. You can always work out where to put an apostrophe goes by asking yourself the question “who owns the..?” The apostrophe will go straight after your answer. NOT ALL WORDS THAT END IN ‘S’ NEED AN APOSTROPHE!! IF IN DOUBT DON’T PUT ONE IN! One last thing...

Possessive its NEVER needs an apostrophe: Tip the car onto its side.

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16

Connectives

Words and phrases to join sentences more effectively.

Sequence (when writing about a

process in stages)

Contrast (when you show the difference

between one thing and another)

Cause and Effect (when you show that something

has happened as a result of something else)

initially finally firstly once then secondly so far next lastly following

after(wards) subsequently meanwhile eventually in the end since previously later to begin with prior to

but whereas however otherwise nevertheless although alternatively apart from yet to balance this though

despite this albeit on the other hand disproving on the contrary it is doubtful the opposite instead all the same

consequently since thus until hence whenever because as long as as effectively

therefore of course accordingly depending upon eventually necessarily it may happen (that) in the course of things

Addition (when you add another

point)

Comparison (when you show similarities

between one thing and another)

Summary (when you

outline what you have covered)

Conclusion (when you end

your writing and show what

you have found)

and and then also what is more furthermore moreover

in addition as well as too to complement again the following

comparatively an equivalent compared with in the same way in comparison with contrast to balance this

In brief / in short to conclude On the whole in conclusion In all / overall after all

To sum up finally In a nutshell in the end In conclusion ultimately

likewise by way of

similarly Equally

Illustration (when you give an example of a point)

Persuasion (when you try to change

someone’s opinion)

Emphasis (when you make a strong point)

to show that to take the case of as that is to say as revealed by in other words

of course surely naturally certainly obviously (un)fortunately

clearly no wonder evidently undoubtedly

above all more important in particular indeed

notable in fact specifically especially

such as for example

Thus for instance

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Planning Your Writing

Remember P.E.E P = Make your POINT clearly. E = Give an EXAMPLE or EVIDENCE (e.g. a quotation) from the text to

support your point. ‘For example…’ ‘For instance…’ ‘The writer states…’

E = EXPAND your point and EXPLAIN how your quotation proves your point. Spelling Strategies Mnemonics Never Big Eat Elephants Cakes Can Eat Always Salmon Understand Sandwiches Small And Elephants Remain

Spell Speaking Wed nes day Bus in ness Cup board

Young Look for a: Word Within A Word e.g.

Sep a rat e Think up imaginative ways to remember tricky spellings e.g. NeCeSSary = a Collar and two Sleeves Learn your spellings in five stages: 1. Write down the correct spelling of the word 2. Look at the word and say it aloud 3. Cover the word 4. Write the word down again 5. Check that you have spelt the word correctly.

Write – Look – Cover - Write - Check

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High Frequency Words

High frequency words are those words which appear in written texts the most often. Often,

they have little meaning on their own, but they contribute to the overall meaning of a

sentence. Some of the words can be sounded out, not all of them can be (they’re not

phonologically regular) which can make them harder to read.

It’s important that all children can read and spell these words. If they learn just 13, they’ll

be able to read 25% of just about any text (it wouldn’t make much sense but it would be a

start!). Learning all these words and being able to recognise them quickly will really help

your child with his/ her reading.

100 High Frequency Words

19

Commonly Misspelt Words

Correct spelling Spelling advice Can you think of your own ways to

remember?

accommodate, accommodation two cs, two ms E.g. Cosy Cottages and Massive Mansions

achieve i before e

across one c

aggressive, aggression two gs

apparently -ent not -ant

appearance ends with -ance

argument no e after the u

assassination two double s’s

basically ends with -ally

beginning double n before the -ing

believe i before e

bizarre one z, double -r

business begins with busi-

calendar -ar not -er

Caribbean one r, two bs

cemetery ends with -ery

chauffeur ends with -eur

colleague -ea- in the middle

coming one m

committee double m, double t, double e

completely ends with -ely

conscious -sc- in the middle

curiosity -os- in the middle

definitely -ite- not –ate-

dilemma -mm- not -mn-

disappear one s, two ps

disappoint one s, two ps

ecstasy ends with –sy

embarrass two rs, two s’s

environment n before the m

existence ends with -ence

Fahrenheit begins with Fahr-

familiar ends with -iar

finally two ls

fluorescent begins with fluor-

foreign e before i

foreseeable begins with fore-

forty begins with for-

forward begins with for-

friend i before e

further begins with fur-

gist begins with g-

glamorous -mor- in the middle

government n before the m

guard begins with gua-

happened ends with -ened

harass, harassment one r, two s’s

honorary -nor- in the middle

humorous -mor- in the middle

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idiosyncrasy ends with -asy

immediately ends with -ely

incidentally ends with -ally

independent ends with -ent

interrupt two rs

irresistible ends with -ible

knowledge remember the d

liaise, liaison remember the second i: liais-

lollipop i in the middle

millennium, millennia double l, double n

Neanderthal ends with -thal

necessary one c, two s’s

noticeable remember the middle e

occasion two cs, one s

occurred, occurring two cs, two rs

occurrence two cs, two rs, -ence not -

ance

pavilion one l

persistent ends with -ent

pharaoh ends with -aoh

piece i before e

politician ends with -cian

Portuguese ends with –guese

possession two s’s in the middle and two at the end

preferred, preferring two rs

propaganda begins with propa-

publicly ends with –cly

really two ls

receive e before i

referred, referring two rs

religious ends with -gious

remember -mem- in the middle

resistance ends with -ance

sense ends with -se

separate -par- in the middle

siege i before e

successful two cs, two s’s

supersede ends with -sede

surprise begins with sur-

tattoo two ts, two os

tendency ends with -ency

therefore ends with -fore

threshold one h in the middle

tomorrow one m, two rs

tongue begins with ton-, ends with -

gue

truly no e

unforeseen remember the e after the r

unfortunately ends with -ely

until one l at the end

weird e before i

wherever one e in the middle

which begins with wh-

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Spelling Singular and Plural Nouns

Singular and plural nouns

A singular noun refers to a single thing or person and a plural noun refers to more than one thing or person.

One dog two dogs One book a few books

Making plural nouns

In most cases, you can make a plural noun by adding ‘s’ onto the end of a singular noun. So:

Dog becomes dogs Book becomes books

However, there are some exceptions to this rule. Here are a few patterns:

IF THE WORD ENDS IN:

DO THIS: AND ADD: FOR EXAMPLE:

ch s sh x z

Nothing es church….churches dish….dishes box….boxes

f fe

Change the f or fe for v

es calf….calves wolf….wolves wife….wives knife….knives Note: there are exceptions belief….beliefs roof….roofs proof….proofs

Consonant + y

Change the y to i

es baby….babies country….countries lady….ladies

Note: There are exceptions to these patterns so it is always wise to check in the dictionary if you are at all unsure. Nouns which take a new form in the plural Some nouns have a completely different plural form. One child….many children One person….many people One mouse….many mice

-es

-les

-s

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22

Homophones and Homonyms Homophones Homophones are words which sound the same. They have different spellings and different meanings. For example: The sun set over the ocean The son gave his father a card Other examples of homophones are: witch which stare stair hair hare hour our meddle medal deer dear You can use a dictionary to find out the correct spellings and the correct meanings. Homonyms Homonyms are words which sound the same and are spelt the same, but have different meanings. For example: The conductor will bow to the audience The captain stood on the bow of the boat Other examples of homonyms are: iron (ironing) iron (metal) jumper (clothes) jumper (person who jumps) present (gift) present (here, now) will (resolve) will (legacy) Again, your dictionary will tell you the different meanings of any word that might have more than one definition.

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Using words in different contexts / subjects

Word General Definition Mathematical Definition

average Estimate a general standard Used synonymously with arithmetic; for a set of discrete data this is the sum of quantities divided by the number of quantities.

difference Being dissimilar, non-identical The result of a subtraction.

even Level or smooth A positive integer that is divisible by two.

expression Intonation of voice or aspect of face indicating emotion.

A mathematical form expressed symbolically.

face Front of head from forehead to chin.

One of the flat surfaces of a solid shape.

mean Small-minded; malicious, ill-tempered.

The arithmetic mean of a set of discrete data is the sum of quantities divided by the number of quantities.

negative Image on developed film. A number less than zero

Word General Definition Mathematical Definition

odd Extraordinary, strange, remarkable

A positive integer that has a remainder of 1 when divided by 2.

power Mechanical or electrical energy as opposed to manual labour.

This is a way of indicating how a number (or symbol) must be operated on by using another number written as a superscript to the first.

prime Chief or most important A whole number greater than 1 that has exactly two factors, itself and 1.

product A thing or substance produced by a natural process or manufacture.

The result of multiplying one number by another.

root Part of a plant below the earth’s surface, which attaches it to the earth and carries nourishment from the soil to the plant.

A value, which satisfies the equation which has been formed by putting an expression, containing one variable, equal to zero.

sign Write one’s name as a signature. A symbol used to denote an operation. In the case of directed numbers, indicates the direction in which the number is located from the origin.

term Period of weeks during which there is teaching in school, alternating with holiday.

A quantity added or subtracted from others in an arithmetic or algebraic expression.

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Speaking and Listening – Speak like a Champion Use the talk stems below to help structure your speech:

Agreeing I agree with X because… X’s point about Z is important because… Despite disagreeing about Z, I agree with X because… I believe that I am right because…

Disagreeing I see it differently because… The evidence that I have seen suggests… I agree with your point about Z, but we must also consider… Could it not be seen that…

Building on X mentioned that… Adding to what X said… Yes – and furthermore… If we change X’s position a little, we can see that…

Summarising Overall, my main argument is… More than anything else, I believe… Ultimately, what you are saying is… Based on the evidence, we can assume…

Questioning Could you explain what you mean in more detail? Alternatively, could it be seen as…? Can you explain why…? Is it your position that…?

Use these discourse markers to structure your speech in class and mentor time:

Sequencing Illustrating

First, second, third

Next, then, after that Subsequently

Meanwhile

Finally

For example

Such as In the case of

As evidenced by

Illustrated by

Adding Cause and effect

Also

Furthermore Additionally

As well as Moreover

Because

Therefore Thus

Consequently Hence

Contrasting Qualifying

Whereas

Instead of Alternatively

On the other hand Conversely

However

Although Unless

Except Apart from

Comparing Emphasising

Similarly As with

Likewise

Equally In the same way

Above all In particular

Especially

Notably Significantly

Remember, successful speakers: Listen

Make eye contact

Speak with confidence

25

Each term, students can take part in the Y7 Literacy Challenge. They can complete the challenge and submit their entry to their English teacher or the box in the library. Project 1 – Time Traveller Write a letter to a famous person from the past telling them why you are interested in them, informing them of what it’s like to live in 2017 and asking any important questions. You should use no more than 500 words. What are we looking for this term?

Commas and brackets.

Deadline – 3rd November 2017. Entries should be handed in to the library.

Project 2 – Become and journalist

Write a newspaper article about the Ghost of Lady Mabel.

Use your journalistic talents to dig for interesting information, your article could include historical facts, quotes from your teachers or the general public and maybe even a picture. Deadline – 12th December 2017. Entries should be handed in to the library.

Project 3 – Happy Ever After

Get your imagination flowing and create you own ending to a short story. You will be given the first paragraph of a story but the rest is up to you!

What are the main things we’re looking for this half term?

Correct spellings. Deadline – 5th May 2018. Entries should be handed in to the library.

Project 4 – La La La…

Have you ever wanted to be the next Rita Ora or Ed Sheeran? Turn your talent to writing song lyrics, it can be about anything you like in any style you like!

What are the main things we’re looking for this half term?

Colons and semi-colons

Deadline – 8th June 2018. Entries should be handed in to the library.

Year 7 Literacy Challenge

Enter each Literacy Challenge, earn House Points and be in with the chance to win some brilliant prizes!

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Discover your school library!

The library boasts an extensive range of reading materials from newspapers, magazines and the very latest teenage fiction through to quick reads, graphic novels and a choice of popular Manga titles! Everyone is automatically enrolled in the library- so there is no need to fill in an application form! Two books can be borrowed for up to two weeks before they are returned or renewed.

Year 7 and 8 students participate in the Accelerated Reader reading scheme, this is a popular and effective software programme, designed to get students reading at their full potential whilst checking comprehension. There are thousands of books linked to the scheme that are available in a variety of genres and suitable for all abilities and interests. You can access your child’s Renaissance Home Connect reading account by logging on any internet enabled device by following the link: https://Ukhosted61.renlearn.co.uk/2114430/HomeConnect

Please speak to your son or daughter about what they are reading and

enquire about their quiz results!

Remember to follow us on Twitter @Eccoenglish for updates and

information.