English K–6 Support Materials for Students with Special Education Needs
Form 4: Grammar at the word level checklist
Name:
Age:
Date:
Overview
Age of
acquisition
Grammatical feature
Example(s)
3 years
Present progressive [ing]
running
3 years
Prepositions – in/on
in box/on table
3 years
Regular plural [s]
cats
3½ years
Irregular past tense
swam
3 ½ years
Possessive [s]
Mum’s shoes
3½ years
Articles [a, the]
A book/The car
3½ years
Regular past tense [ed]
walked
3½ years
Third person singular [s]
He swims
3½ years
Copula verbs [is/are]
It is happy
4 years
Auxiliary verbs [is/are and (verb)-ing]
She is going
4 years
Superlatives
biggest
5 years
Comparatives
smaller, taller
6 years
Noun derivations
painter, cyclist
7 years
Adverbs
easily, gently
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Tick if there is
evidence of the
grammatical feature
Form 4: Grammar at the word level checklist
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English K–6 Support Materials for Students with Special Education Needs
In-depth word level analysis
Nouns reflect vocabulary development. Students may have specific difficulty recalling words rapidly or
lack flexibility in the types of nouns used.
List the nouns used by the student. Note:
• any difficulty finding words (this may indicate difficulty with recall)
• the accuracy and appropriate use of words and plural forms
• the variety of nouns used
Can the student use a variety of nouns and recall these easily?
Yes
No
Can the student use the plural form of nouns?
Yes
No
Record the non-specific words used by the student, eg something, thingy, it or that one
Consider the frequency (circle):
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Low
Moderate
High
Form 4: Grammar at the word level checklist
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English K–6 Support Materials for Students with Special Education Needs
Adjectives: use of descriptive language reflects concept development eg colour, size, shape.
List the adjectives used by the student
Order of acquisition (Wigg & Semmel 1984)
Attribute
Adjective examples
Size
big, little, small
Colour
red, blue, green
Colour and size
big red/small blue
Shape
round, square
Length
long, short
Temperature
hot, cold
Height
tall, short
Width
wide, narrow, thin
Age
new, old, young
Taste
sweet, sour
Odour
sweet, nice, awful, foul, yuk
Attractiveness
pretty, ugly, beautiful, nice
Time
first, last, early, late
Speed
fast, slow
Texture
hard, soft, smooth, rough
Affect
happy, sad, angry, fearful
Distance
near, far, distant
Are adjectives evident and sufficient?
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Used by the student?
Yes
No
Yes
No
Form 4: Grammar at the word level checklist
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English K–6 Support Materials for Students with Special Education Needs
Verbs (main verbs) tell what is happening or what is. Each clause must have a verb.
Classify and list the types of main verbs used by the student.
Action
eg take, live, slip,
look, get, run
Relating
eg be, have,
look, include
Sensing
(feeling and thinking)
eg think, believe, forget,
wish, want, know
Saying
eg said, shouted, yelled,
whisper, asked, cried
Verb tense
Circle the tenses used accurately by the student.
Tense
Present
examples
Past
examples
Future
examples
Simple
I work
I worked
I will work
Continuous
I am working
I was working
I will be working
Perfect
I have worked
I had worked
I will have worked
Perfect
continuous
I have been working
I had been working
I will have been
working
Third person
singular[s]
He works
Does the student use verb tense accurately and consistently?
Yes
No
Does the student use irregular past tense verbs eg swam, rode, spoke
Yes
No
Helper verbs (auxiliary) are often vulnerable as they are less stressed parts of speech.
Circle the helper verbs that are used by the student.
am
are
can
could
is
may
might
will
have
Others
Does the student use helper (auxiliary) verbs accurately and consistently?
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Yes
No
Form 4: Grammar at the word level checklist
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English K–6 Support Materials for Students with Special Education Needs
Conjunctions: used to indicate a connection in a sentence or between sentences.
Order of
acquisition
1
2
3
4
5
Type
Examples
Early developing
Late developing
Adding
information
and, then, too
addition, along, also, as well, in with
Condition
but, or
although, anyway, however, if, otherwise,
unless, when
Cause and effect
because, so, then
as a result, consequently, therefore
Time
after, before, first, last,
later, next, soon, then
as, finally, for a start, in conclusion, then,
to begin, until, while
Condition
for example, for instance, I mean, in fact,
in other words, or rather, that is,
to be more precise, to put it another way
Additional conjunctions used:
Personal pronouns: used to give language cohesion.
Circle the pronouns used by the student
Singular
Plural
Subject
Object
Subject
Object
1st person
I
me
we
us
2nd person
you
you
you
you
3rd person
he
she
it
him
her
it
they
them
Does the student use pronouns accurately to refer to number and gender?
Yes
No
Possessive pronouns
Circle the pronouns used by the student
1st person
mine
our
2nd person
yours
yours
3rd person
his/hers
theirs
Does the student use possessive pronouns accurately?
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Yes
No
Form 4: Grammar at the word level checklist
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English K–6 Support Materials for Students with Special Education Needs
Prepositions: used in adjectival and adverbial phrases to provide extra information.
The following prepositions are used in adverbial phrases to provide more information about where,
when and how things occur.
Circle the prepositions used by the student
about
above
across
after
ahead
all over
along
among
around
at
away
away from
before
behind
below
beneath
beside
between
by
close by
close to
down
during
for
from
in
in front of
inside
into
like
near
near to
next to
of
off
on
on top of
out
out of
past
through
to
towards
under
until
up
with
within
Additional prepositions used:
Examples of prepositions in order of acquisition
Age of acquisition
Prepositions
2 years
in, off
2 ½ years
on, under, out, away
3 years
towards, up
3 ½ years
in front, next to, around
4 years
beside
4 ½ years
down
5 years
ahead, behind
Reference: Owens, R (1991)
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Form 4: Grammar at the word level checklist
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