Writing
Layered Targets for: Sentence structure: punctuation
Year Group: 1
End of Year Expectation: Use capital letters and full stops when punctuating sentences.
Ability Level
Target
Teaching Points
Examples
Teach children to recognise units of
meaning that can stand alone and make
sense, i.e. a sentence. Show how these
units of meaning are demarcated by capital
letters and full stops.
Once upon a time there was a boy called
Jack. He lived in a cottage in the woods. He
was rather a stupid boy.
Must ( or Step 1)
I can recognise a
sentence in my
reading, and say
where it starts and
ends.
Teach children that a sentence is a unit of
meaning. Encourage them to “think a
sentence, say a sentence, write a
sentence” establishing sense before writing
so that punctuation is automatic.
The harp sang loudly.
Should ( or Step 2)
I can use capital
letters and full stops
when writing a
sentence.
I can use commas to
separate items in a
list.
Teach children to separate items,
adjectives or actions in a sentence with a
comma for all but the last item.
Jack and his mother went to market to buy
bread, butter, bacon and eggs.
Could ( or Step 3)
1
Writing
Layered Targets for: Sentence structure: punctuation
Year Group: 2
End of Year Expectation: Use question marks, and use commas to separate items in a list.
Ability Level
Target
Teaching Points
Examples
I can use capital
letters and full stops
when writing a
sentence.
Teach children that a sentence is a unit of
meaning. Encourage them to “think a
sentence, say a sentence, write a sentence”
establishing sense before writing so that
punctuation is automatic.
The harp sang loudly.
I can use commas to
separate items in a
list.
Teach children to separate items, adjectives
or actions in a sentence with a comma for all
but the last item.
Jack and his mother went to market to buy
bread, butter, bacon and eggs.
I can use a comma
when I add detail to a
sentence with a
clause at the end.
Teach the children to extend sentences by
adding relevant detail at the end, placing a
comma first.
Jack ambled down the road, whistling as he
went.
Must ( or Step 1)
Should ( or Step 2)
Could ( or Step 3)
2
Writing
Layered Targets for: Sentence structure: punctuation
Year Group: 3
End of Year Expectation: Clarify meaning through commas.
Ability Level
Target
Teaching Points
Examples
I can use commas to
separate items in a
list.
Teach children to separate items, adjectives
or actions in a sentence with a comma for all
but the last item.
Jack and his mother went to market to buy
bread, butter, bacon and eggs.
I can use a comma
when I add detail to a
sentence with a
clause at the end.
Teach the children to extend sentences by
adding relevant detail at the end, placing a
comma first.
Jack ambled down the road, whistling as he
went.
I can use a comma
after starting a
sentence with an ‘ed’,
‘ing’ or ‘ly’ word.
Teach the children that whenever they use
an ‘ed’, ‘ing’, or ‘ly’ starter they must follow it
with a comma.
Smiling suspiciously, the man put his
hand into his pocket, rummaged about and
pulled out a handful of glossy, red beans.
Must ( or Step 1)
Should ( or Step 2)
Mooing gently, Daisy’s big brown eyes
looked at the strange man’s face.
Could ( or Step 3)
Dressed all in black, the man appeared
very strange to Jack.
3
Layered Targets for: Sentence structure: punctuation
Writing
Year Group: 4
End of Year Expectation: ….. Use commas to mark clauses
Ability Level
Target
Teaching Points
Examples
I can use a comma
when I add detail to a
sentence with a
clause at the end.
Teach the children to extend sentences by
adding relevant detail at the end, placing a
comma first.
Jack ambled down the road, whistling as he
went.
I can use a comma
after starting a
sentence with an ‘ed’,
‘ing’ or ‘ly’ word.
Teach the children that whenever they use
an ‘ed’, ‘ing’, or ‘ly’ starter they must follow it
with a comma.
Smiling suspiciously, the man put his hand
into his pocket, rummaged about and pulled
out a handful of glossy, red beans.
Must ( or Step 1)
Should ( or Step 2)
Mooing gently, Daisy’s big brown eyes
looked at the strange man’s face.
Dressed all in black, the man appeared
very strange to Jack.
Could ( or Step 3)
I can combine three
ideas and demarcate
the first two with
commas.
Teach the children to join simple sentences
together to make a ‘sentence of three’ by
replacing the subject with commas.
Jack clambered down the beanstalk. He
picked up his axe. He shouted, “Timber!”.
Jack clambered down the beanstalk, picked
up his axe and shouted, “Timber!”
4
Layered Targets for: Sentence structure: punctuation
Writing
Year Group: 5
End of Year Expectation: Punctuate a variety of sentences accurately.
Ability Level
Target
I can use a comma
after starting a
sentence with an ‘ed’,
‘ing’ or ‘ly’ word.
Teaching Points
Teach the children that whenever they use
an ‘ed’, ‘ing’, or ‘ly’ starter they must follow it
with a comma.
Examples
Smiling suspiciously, the man put his
hand into his pocket, rummaged about and
pulled out a handful of glossy, red beans.
Mooing gently, Daisy’s big brown eyes
looked at the strange man’s face.
Must ( or Step 1)
Dressed all in black, the man appeared
very strange to Jack.
Should ( or Step 2)
I can combine three
ideas and demarcate
the first two with
commas.
I can use commas to
demarcate clauses
accurately.
Teach the children to join simple sentences
together to make a ‘sentence of three’ by
replacing the subject with commas.
Jack clambered down the beanstalk. He
picked up his axe. He shouted, “Timber!”.
Jack clambered down the beanstalk, picked
up his axe and shouted, “Timber!”
Teach children, when dropping in a clause, to
place a comma before and after the clause.
Could ( or Step 3)
5
The giant, howling with rage, raced after
Jack.
Layered Targets for: Sentence structure: punctuation
Writing
Year Group: 6
End of Year Expectation: Use punctuation to clarify meaning in complex sentences
Where does the comma need to go to mark boundaries between [words, phrases or clauses]?
Ability Level
Target
Teaching Points
Teach the children to join simple sentences
together to make a ‘sentence of three’ by
replacing the subject with commas.
Examples
Jack clambered down the beanstalk. He
picked up his axe. He shouted, “Timber!”.
Must ( or Step 1)
I can combine three
ideas and demarcate
the first two with
commas.
Teach children, when dropping in a clause, to
place a comma before and after the clause.
Should ( or Step 2)
I can use commas to
demarcate clauses
accurately.
The giant, howling with rage, raced after
Jack.
I can use a semicolon to separate
two closely related
main clauses in a
sentence.
Teach children to use a semi-colon where
two closely related main clauses, which could
stand alone as simple sentences, could be
linked with a conjunction, but can be
understood without.
Jack was pleased with the beans; he was
sure they were magic.
(The missing conjunction here is
“because”).
Could ( or Step 3)
Jack clambered down the beanstalk, picked
up his axe and shouted, “Timber!”
6