Dear Teacher,
At least one child in your class is taking part in the Success With Sentences intervention.
You will need to be involved in delivering this intervention. Don’t worry it is very
straightforward and could even take away some of your weekly literacy planning and
preparation.
What you need to do
 Teach one 15-20 minute whole class session per week
 Fits well at the start of a literacy session
 All sessions involve playing online games on IWB – children join in on whiteboards
 This session must happen between the two TA sessions
 Week 6 (final week) is a bit different – see plans.
Whenever possible remind children taking part in the intervention to apply what they have
learned in all writing that they do.
All games are found at: www.ks2phonics.org.uk/SwSGames.htm
Week 1 – Sentence Laboratory Game – 2 Word Option
Week 2 – Sentence Doctor Game – Vexing Verbs option
Week 3 – Sentence Laboratory Game – 3 Word Option
Week 4 – Sentence Doctor Game – Confounding Conjunctions Option
Week 5 – Dropping In Game
Week 6 – Independent writing for 15 minutes (optional for whole class – see
plans)
Attached you will find:


Weekly plans for the intervention – so you can see what the TA is up to
Detailed instructions for playing Sentence Laboratory and Sentence Doctor –
although hopefully the games are fairly self explanatory.
Thank you for your help
If you need any more information please go to
www.ks2phonics.org.uk/SwSInformation.htm
Success with Sentences – Main Objectives
AF5 to vary sentences for clarity, purpose and effect.
AF6 – To write with technical accuracy of syntax and punctuation in phrases, clauses and sentences.
Pre-intervention assessment – unaided writing and attitudinal survey.
(2 mins) Practise reading the passage out loud
pausing at each full stop. Explain the fact that full
stops work a bit like stop signs on the road.
Without them readers find it very difficult to make
sense of what they are reading.
(5 mins) Play Sentence Laboratory game – one
word version. See Sentence Laboratory
instruction sheet. Play on the computer of use
Stimuli Cards Show the Talk it – Write it – Check
it flashcards.
(5 mins) Ask the children to try reading
the passage but tell them they can’t
breathe until they come to a full stop.
Discuss: What happens when you try to
read the whole thing without breathing?
Why are full stops important.
PAGE 2
Choose the same passage that was used
on Day 1 but with all the capital letters
and full stops removed (Sheets 1D-1 to
1D–4)
(5 mins) Give children Sheet 1E (Pairs
of sentences with no punctuation). Ask
children to mark in where the capital
letters and full stops should go.
(5 mins) Play Sentence Laboratory
game – two word game. See Sentence
Laboratory instruction sheet
Use Talk it – Write it – Check it
flashcards to jog memories.
Success With Sentences
Week 1 – To demarcate sentences accurately using full stops and capital letters.
Day 1 – TA– Small group
Day 2 – Teacher – Whole class - 15 minute starter.
(5 mins) Discuss: What is a sentence? Read
through and discuss Sheet 1A then look through
Play Sentence Laboratory game – two word
Sheet 1B – 5 finger test for writing good sentences. version.
http://www.ks2phonics.org.uk/SentenceLab.html
(3 mins) Choose a short correctly punctuated
See Sentence Laboratory instruction sheet.
passage to work from (Sheets 1C-1 to 1C-4).
There are an assortment of text types. The passages
were written by Y6 children. Give each child a
copy. Ask the children to colour capital letters in
green & full stops in red.
PAGE 3
(7 mins) Play Sentence Doctor game - Use
computer game
http://www.ks2phonics.org.uk/SentenceDoctor.html
or use cards from Sheets 2B -1 & 2B - 2
See Sentence Doctor instruction sheet.
Day 3 – TA – Small group
Have PAST, PRESENT and
FUTURE Flashcards ready. Make
sure the children understand what these
terms mean. Hold up one of these
cards. Ask a child to mime a simple task
or activity (e.g. brushing teeth,
skipping, playing football. Ask the
other children to say in a sentence what
the child is doing using the correct tense
(as shown on the flashcard). Children
write in a sentence on a white board.
Hold up a different flashcard. What
would the sentence be now?
Repeat with a range of mimes.
Success With Sentences
Week 2 – To use verb tense and verb forms consistently and with accuracy (make sentences make sense.)
Day 1 – TA – Small group
Day 2 – Whole class
(8 mins) Spread out equivalent sentence cards
Play Sentence Doctor
(Sheet 2A -1, 2 &3) – face up. Model finding 3
http://www.ks2phonics.org.uk/SentenceDoctor.html
sentences that go together. (e.g. He is miserable.
Click on the Vexing Verbs option.
She is miserable. They are miserable.
See Sentence Doctor instruction sheet
Discuss: What is the same about these sentences?
What is different?
Children take it in turns to find sets of sentences.
Ask each child to read their sentence out.
Encourage the others to discuss whether each
sentence makes sense or not. Explain the fact that
connectives have to make sense. Use focussed
questioning to help children spot when their
sentences don’t make sense.
Repeat with new cards.
Give children Sheet 3B (A short
paragraph containing simple sentences
and complex sentences).
Give children different coloured
highlighters or pencil crayons.
Highlight:
Capital letters = green
Full stops = red
Conjunctions = yellow
Count complex sentences
Count simple sentences
Give marks for each correctly coloured
full stop, capital letter and each
correctly counted sentence (See answer
sheet – Sheet 3C) – Add up total scores.
If there is spare time, play Sentence
Laboratory.
PAGE 4
Day 3 – TA small group
Explain that a complex sentence is one
where two or more ideas are linked by
one of the connectives on the cards we
used on Day 1. It may be helpful to
show the connective cards (Sheet 3A)
to the children again.
Success With Sentences
Week 3 – Use some complex sentences within writing.
Day 1 – TA – Small group – Introduce 3 word
Day 2 – Whole class.
game of Sentence Laboratory by following these
Play Sentence Laboratory
instructions. Also see Sentence Laboratory game http://www.ks2phonics.org.uk/SentenceLab.html
– Click on 3 word game.
instructions
Take 2 Stimuli cards. Model writing 2 simple
See Sentence Laboratory game instructions
sentences as in Week 1 then take a conjunction card
(Sheet 3A) and go on to model using that
conjunction to join the two clauses.
Put the pile of stimulus cards face down on the
table and also put the pile of conjunction cards face
down on the table. Take 2 stimulus cards and one
connective card and turn them over. Ask all the
children to try writing a sentence combining the
ideas on the stimulus card and using the connective
on whiteboards.
Remind them to Talk it – Write it – Check it.
PAGE 5
Week 4 – Use some complex sentences within writing.
Day 1 – TA – Small group
Day 2 – Whole class
Day 3 – TA small group
Play Sentence Doctor Use computer version
Play Sentence Doctor
Look at an interesting picture
http://www.ks2phonics.org.uk/SentenceDoctor.html http://www.ks2phonics.org.uk/SentenceDoctor.html http://www.ks2phonics.org.uk/InterestingPictures.doc
and choose Confounding Conjunctions option
Choose Confounding Conjunctions option.
or use cards on Sheet 4A -1 and 4A – 2
See Sentence Doctor game instructions
Talk about what you can see. Ask the
See Sentence Doctor game instructions
children to write – at least 3 or 4
sentences about the picture.
Remind children to: Talk it – Write it –
Check it. Ask them to tell you what
features their sentences will need:
 Capital letters
 Full stops
 Conjunctions
 Make sense
Children highlight their writing in
different colours as they did last week.
Capital letters = green
Full stops = red
Conjunctions = yellow
Encourage the children to correct any
mistakes they made.
Success With Sentences
Remind children that the sentences need
to follow straight on after one another ie
don’t start a new line for a new
sentence.
Children say their sentences again with dropped in
clauses.
Day 2 – Teacher whole class
Day 3 TA – small group
Play Dropping in
http://www.ks2phonics.org.uk/DroppingIn.html
Model writing a sentence with an
with the whole class. Ask children to work in pairs. embedded clause. E.g. The robot, with
flashing green eyes, moved jerkily
Look at a character
towards them.
Write a simple sentence
Children choose character cards and
Think of other things to say about the character
write sentences with embedded clauses
Drop extra information into the sentence.
– remembering to mark the embedded
clause with commas at either end.
Share sentences with the rest of the class.
PAGE 6
Week 5 – To embed clauses within sentences.
Day 1 – TA – Small group
Look at a selection of Character Cards (Sheet 5A-1,
Sheet 5A-2, Sheet 5A-3). Children choose a card
and discuss things that those characters may do.
Model saying a sentence (e.g. The witch cast a
spell. The brown dog brought the stick back. The
cat purred happily in front of the fire.) Then model
dropping in an embedded clause about the character
(orally) (e.g. The witch, with the clammy green
skin, cast a spell. The brown dog, with the floppy
ears, brought the stick back. The cat, who had
green eyes, purred happily in front of the fire.)
Success With Sentences
Model writing a sentence down and explain that
you make the embedded clause clear to the reader
by putting commas around it.
E.g. Work illustrated – link with
secondary school.
Work printed up ‘professionally’
Publish in book
Display around school
Record as a voice over on an animation
or film.
Put into powerpoint presentation
PAGE 7
Children write independently for 15 minutes – Use
as final assessment for intervention.
Celebration
Publish on website/VLE.
Recap on everything they have learned.
How are you going to use this in class
from now on
Maybe create book of I can statements
with examples.
Success With Sentences
Week 6 – Revision, applying what has been learned, assessment.
Day 1 – Teacher session – Whole class
Day 2 – Work with TA
Children do colour coding of their piece of writing.
Alternatively this session could be a TA session just Improve any areas that need improving.
with the group.
The class teacher could run a whole class session to
Remind children of everything that we have
give the rest of the class a chance to colour code
learned.
and improve their writing.
FS, CL, conjunctions, embedded clauses.
Set a context for independent writing (picture,
sound effect, object, school trip).
Sentence laboratory
This game encourages children to write in full sentences and remember to use capital
letters and full stops. It encourages them to go through these steps:
TALK IT WRITE IT
CHECK IT
It can be played with a small group or a whole class. There is a computer version of
the game but it can easily be played without a computer.
With a computer
Go to http://www.ks2phonics.org.uk/SwSGames.htm
Click on Sentence Laboratory.
Choose to play with:
1 word – practise basic sentence formation
2 words – use two contrasting words to challenge the children’s creativity
3 words – two nouns and a connective to practise the use of connectives
How to play
1. Click to get a word (or words)
2. In pairs or independently children compose a sentence including the word (or
words) on the screen.
3. It is important that the children try to say the sentence before they try to write
it down.
4. Click play to start the timer.
5. The children have write the sentence down before the test tube overflows.
6. Children swap whiteboards and give each other marks out of 4. One mark for
each of these things:
 Does it include the word(s)?
 Does it make sense?
 Has it got a capital letter?
 Has is got a full stop?
Without a computer
The game is played in exactly the same way but the initial stimulus/stimuli could be
word cards, picture cards, photos, sound effects, objects or even smells.
For smells try:
 Basil leaves
 Vanilla essence
 Coffee
 Lavender
Sentence Doctor
This game helps children become more effective at proof reading their work. It helps
to explore some of the different ways in which sentences have to make sense.
It can be played with a small group or a whole class. There is a computer version of
the game but it can easily be played without a computer.
With a computer
Go to http://www.ks2phonics.org.uk/SwSGames.htm
Click on Sentence Doctor
There are a range of different sentence problems that you can choose to concentrate
on. For this intervention you will use
Vexing verbs – mixed up tenses and lack of subject verb agreement.
Confounding connectives – connectives that have been used incorrectly.
How to play
7. Click to get a ‘patient’ – a sentence that has something wrong with it.
8. In pairs or independently children discuss what is wrong with the sentence.
9. Children write down on a whiteboard what a correct version of this sentence
would be.
10. Click ‘diagnosis’ to get a correct version of the sentence and an explanation of
what was wrong with the first sentence.
N.B. There may be other correct versions of the sentence that are just as valid as the
one that appears.
Without a computer
The game is played in exactly the same way but using cards with problem sentences.
If you know that your children struggle with a particular issue you could write your
own cards to tackle their particular needs.