CONTENTS
Plan Week 1
Plan Week 2
Plan Week 3
Plan Week 4
Plan Week 5
Plan Week 6
Sheet 1A
Sheet 1B
Sheets 1C-1 to 1C-4
Sheets 1D-1 to 1D-4
Sheet 1E
Sheet 2A-1
Sheet 2A-2
Sheet 2A-3
Sheet 2B-1
Sheet 2B-2
Sheet 3A
Sheet 3B
Sheet 3C
Sheet 4A-1
Sheet 4A-2
Sheet 5A-1
Sheet5A-2
Sheet 5A-3
p2
p3
p4
p5
p6
p7
p8
p9
p10 -13
p14 -17
p18
p19
p20
p21
p22
p23
p24
p25
p26
p27
p28
p29
p30
p31
Appendix
Sentence Laboratory games instructions p32
Sentence Doctor games instructions p32
All resources plus additional ones that need to be printed
in colour can be found at
www.ks2phonics.org.uk/SwSInformation
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).
SHEET 1A
Do you go absolutely bonkers when you are asked to
write a sentence?
Does your pencil seem to grow and grow until it
weighs a ton?
Are you barely able to think?
Never fear, help is here...use the following tips!
Success With Sentences
Page 8
SHEET 1B
What makes a sentence?
Do the five finger test!
Use a capital letter to start sentences.
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Include who or what in the sentence.
Use a verb to explain the action.
Use a full stop at the end of the sentence.
Read it to check it makes sense.
Success With Sentences
Page 9
SHEET 1C - 1
The wind whistled, making the trees sway gently. Their
branches reached for the sky like the hands of a witch.
The trees stood, shivering, trying to get over the loss of
their leaves. A solemn figure plodded along. It was as if
nature was whispering, trying to grab attention.
He walked inside, clasping his hands together, tightly. He
could smell burning, coming from nearby. Fearfully, he
stepped forward. As he did so, the mouldy floorboards
creaked. He heard whispers. His hands were still clasped
together and he felt a bead of sweat trickle down his neck.
He closed his eyes, hoping that it would soon end.
After a long day of hiking, I decided to go to bed, so I
changed into my nightclothes and lay in my sleeping bag. It
was the first time I had been camping on my own. However
hard I tried, I couldn’t get to sleep. It was so cold.
Eventually, I decided to go and get wood, so that I could
make a fire.
Holding tightly onto my torch, I slowly got out of my tent
and began walking. I shone my torch ahead of me, and in
the beam of light, I saw the shadow of something large.
Lizards live in holes, in the deserts of Australia. They are
cold blooded and need the sun to heat their bodies. They
are very large with unusual red markings on their heads.
They have long tails which are a deep green colour. They
have longer tongues than any other species of lizard. They
snack on flies and bugs or any other small insect.
Success With Sentences
PAGE 10
SHEET 1C - 2
Inspector Lena sat in her office. She wore a long, green
trench coat and a belt to keep her magnifying glass, notepad
and her phone on. On her desk she had her computer, pens,
pencils and a faded black and white photograph. As she sat
staring at the photograph, her phone rang.
One dark, misty night, Sam sat alone in the park like he did
every Saturday. He called it his thinking time. It started to
get cold, so Sam decided to set off home.
On his way, he noticed a large, grey cat that only had three
legs. It looked hungry. Sam carried on walking and the cat
started to follow him.
The whispers of children and the scratching of pencils could
be heard. Voices were floating from each classroom like tiny
ghosts. The smell of school dinners drifted along the
corridor. The bell rang, loud and shrill. Children started to
pour out of their classrooms. The corridor was alive. I was no
longer alone.
Stepping out of the car Destiny thought to herself, this is
going to be the best camping trip ever.
Destiny was in the girl guides and had been looking forward
to roasting marsh mallows, singing songs around the camp fire
and messing about with her friends.
She crawled into her tent, trying not to spill her hot
chocolate. Snuggling into her sleeping bag, she soon drifted
off to sleep.
The cold night air surrounded the row of tents. It was pitch
black. Destiny awoke very startled. She had heard a
desperate cry for help.
Success With Sentences
PAGE 11
SHEET 1C - 3
A recipe for a disastrous sleep over.
Ingredients
Giggly girls
One very hungry cat
Loud music
An angry mum
Chocolate
6 bags of popcorn
1 funny teacher
Full bottle of water
Method
Take a bunch of giggly girls and sprinkle them around the
room.
Pour in the 6 bags of popcorn and loud music and stir.
Leave for 5 minutes at 25 degrees Celsius before adding
the funny teacher.
Next throw in the water and whisk thoroughly.
Mix in the chocolate and add the hungry cat.
Garnish liberally with one angry mum.
Success With Sentences
PAGE 12
SHEET 1C - 4
A recipe for a disastrous football match
Ingredients
A teaspoon of football players
A well seasoned referee
A mud covered football
A tablespoon of rain
A dash of angry spectators
Method
Firstly take the teaspoon of football players and scatter
them over the pitch.
Meanwhile, the well seasoned referee should be checking
his watch.
Take the mud covered football and place in on the centre
spot.
Once the well seasoned referee has blown his whistle
make sure the angry spectators start shouting.
Next, take a tablespoon of rain and place it overhead until
umbrellas come out.
Then throw in a broken leg and a sending off.
When the well seasoned referee blows his final whistle,
make sure there is a polite round of applause, followed by
an after match punch up.
Success With Sentences
PAGE 13
SHEET 1D - 1
the wind whistled, making the trees sway gently their
branches reached for the sky like the hands of a witch the
trees stood, shivering, trying to get over the loss of their
leaves a solemn figure plodded along it was as if nature was
whispering, trying to grab attention
he walked inside, clasping his hands together, tightly he
could smell burning, coming from nearby fearfully, he
stepped forward as he did so, the mouldy floorboards
creaked he heard whispers his hands were still clasped
together and he felt a bead of sweat trickle down his neck
he closed his eyes, hoping that it would soon end
after a long day of hiking, I decided to go to bed, so I
changed into my nightclothes and lay in my sleeping bag it
was the first time I had been camping on my own however
hard I tried, I couldn’t get to sleep it was so cold
eventually, I decided to go and get wood, so that I could
make a fire
holding tightly onto my torch, I slowly got out of my tent
and began walking i shone my torch ahead of me, and in the
beam of light, I saw the shadow of something large
lizards live in holes, in the deserts of Australia they are
cold blooded and need the sun to heat their bodies they
are very large with unusual red markings on their heads
they have long tails which are a deep green colour they
have longer tongues than any other species of lizard they
snack on flies and bugs or any other small insect
Success With Sentences
PAGE 14
SHEET 1D - 2
inspector Lena sat in her office she wore a long, green trench
coat and a belt to keep her magnifying glass, notepad and her
phone on on her desk she had her computer, pens, pencils and
a faded black and white photograph as she sat staring at the
photograph, her phone rang
one dark, misty night, Sam sat alone in the park like he did
every Saturday he called it his thinking time it started to get
cold, so Sam decided to set off home
on his way, he noticed a large, grey cat that only had three
legs it looked hungry Sam carried on walking and the cat
started to follow him
the whispers of children and the scratching of pencils could
be heard voices were floating from each classroom like tiny
ghosts the smell of school dinners drifted along the corridor
the bell rang, loud and shrill children started to pour out of
their classrooms the corridor was alive i was no longer alone
stepping out of the car Destiny thought to herself, this is
going to be the best camping trip ever
destiny was in the girl guides and had been looking forward to
roasting marsh mallows, singing songs around the camp fire
and messing about with her friends
she crawled into her tent, trying not to spill her hot
chocolate snuggling into her sleeping bag, she soon drifted
off to sleep
the cold night air surrounded the row of tents it was pitch
black destiny awoke very startled she had heard a desperate
cry for help
Success With Sentences
PAGE 15
SHEET 1D - 3
A recipe for a disastrous sleep over
Ingredients
Giggly girls
One very hungry cat
Loud music
An angry mum
Chocolate
6 bags of popcorn
1 funny teacher
Full bottle of water
Method
take a bunch of giggly girls and sprinkle them around the
room
pour in the 6 bags of popcorn and loud music and stir.
Leave for 5 minutes at 25 degrees Celsius before adding
the funny teacher
next throw in the water and whisk thoroughly
mix in the chocolate and add the hungry cat
garnish liberally with one angry mum
Success With Sentences
PAGE 16
SHEET 1D - 4
A recipe for a disastrous football match
Ingredients
A teaspoon of football players
A well seasoned referee
A mud covered football
A tablespoon of rain
A dash of angry spectators
Method
firstly take the teaspoon of football players and scatter
them over the pitch
meanwhile, the well seasoned referee should be checking
his watch
take the mud covered football and place in on the centre
spot
once the well seasoned referee has blown his whistle
make sure the angry spectators start shouting
next, take a tablespoon of rain and place it overhead until
umbrellas come out
hen throw in a broken leg and a sending off
hen the well seasoned referee blows his final whistle,
make sure there is a polite round of applause, followed by
an after match punch up
Success With Sentences
PAGE 17
SHEET 1E
cats are very good at sleeping they can sleep for eighteen hours
each day
brighton is a great place to visit you will find great shops, great
food and a lovely beach
it was a cold and frosty day bob left early to go to school
put the ingredients in the bowl mix together with a wooden spoon
slurp up our scrumptious spaghetti the sauce is fantastic
the ball was crossed in perfectly from the wing the striker
simply nudged it into the goal
the aztecs sacrificed human beings they thought that these
sacrifices made the sun rise each day
some people think school uniform is a great idea other people
would love to wear normal clothes
the lamp will only light up when the circuit is complete it will go
out if the circuit is broken
the hideous monster oozed hatred he slowly stretched his huge
claw towards them
this is ridiculous i can’t believe my eyes
a giant snail eats by scraping its rough tongue over food they
especially love to eat cucumber
the space ship lurched horribly she was starting to feel sick
Success With Sentences
PAGE 18
SHEET 2A - 1
He is miserable.
You were so funny.
They are miserable.
He was so funny.
I am miserable.
We were so funny.
I will go shopping.
You will read a good book.
I am going shopping.
You read a good book.
I went shopping.
You are reading a good book.
I do the washing up.
They do the washing up.
Dad does the washing up.
They broke the record.
Success With Sentences
PAGE 19
SHEET 2A - 2
They are breaking the record.
You did that.
They will break the record.
He did that.
I had a headache.
They did that.
Peggy has a headache.
He creeps in.
We have headaches.
He crept in.
She is going to tell me off.
He will creep in.
She tells me off.
Jo eats an apple.
She told me off.
The team eat apples.
Success With Sentences
PAGE 20
SHEET 2A - 3
I eat an apple.
Dance with them.
The fire blazed.
Dance with us.
The fire is blazing.
I will be happy.
The fire will be blazing.
I am happy.
Birds fly across the sky.
I was happy.
Birds flew across the sky.
That ruler snapped.
Birds will fly across the sky.
That ruler is snapping.
Dance with me.
That ruler will snap.
Success With Sentences
PAGE 21
SHEET 2B - 1
The dog dribble
all the time.
We plays with
the skipping
rope.
They were laugh
at you.
He holded her
hand.
She could not
stop giggle.
They fighted all
night.
Success With Sentences
PAGE 22
SHEET 2B - 2
The cat eated it
all up.
I went for a
driving in my car.
You wasn’t doing
it.
It weren’t me.
I done that
painting.
She done her
homework.
Success With Sentences
PAGE 23
SHEET 3A
when
while
before
after
until
because
that
since
if
although
Success With Sentences
PAGE 24
SHEET 3B
He walked across the park. The shadows were
getting deeper and darker as the sun slipped
down. While he walked, he looked nervously
over his shoulder. Something wasn’t quite right.
He wished he had gone the long way around.
The park made him nervous because of all the
sinister tales his sister had told him. He pulled
his coat tighter around himself before breaking
into a run. He knew he was being silly. The gate
was in sight now. He would be fine if he could
just get to that gate. It was too late. He
heard the screeching sound before he could see
what was happening.
Capital
letters
Full stops
Connectives
Simple
sentences
Total score =
Success With Sentences
PAGE 25
Complex
sentences
SHEET 3C
He walked across the park. The shadows were
getting deeper and darker as the sun slipped
down. While he walked, he looked nervously
over his shoulder. Something wasn’t quite right.
He wished he had gone the long way around.
The park made him nervous because of all the
sinister tales his sister had told him. He pulled
his coat tighter around himself before breaking
into a run. He knew he was being silly. The gate
was in sight now. He would be fine if he could
just get to that gate. It was too late. He
heard the screeching sound before he could see
what was happening.
Capital
letters
Full stops
Connectives
Simple
sentences
Complex
sentences
12
12
6
6
6
Total possible score = 42
Success With Sentences
PAGE 26
SHEET 4A - 1
She hadn't eaten
since breakfast
because she was
hungry.
I could see until
I turned the
light on.
I can run when
my arm got
better.
Dad gets annoyed
before I leave my
toys out.
They both wanted
the same card
because they fell out.
I feel much safer
when I learned to
swim.
Success With Sentences
PAGE 27
SHEET 4A - 2
They had breakfast
before they had
lunch.
The sea was rough
because the boat
set out to sea.
I went to school
when I ate
breakfast.
I have long hair
because the sun
is shining.
I will laugh since
you tickle me.
I will stay before
you feel better.
Success With Sentences
PAGE 28
Success With Sentences
PAGE 29
SHEET 5A - 1
Success With Sentences
PAGE 30
SHEET 5A - 2
Success With Sentences
PAGE 31
SHEET 5A - 3
Appendix
Game Instructions
SENTENCE LABORATORY
game instructions
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
Success With Sentences
Page 33
SENTENCE DOCTOR
game instructions
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.
Success With Sentences
Page 34