SPELLING, PUNCTUATION AND
GRAMMAR IN YEAR 3
A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE YEAR 3 EXPECTATIONS IN ENGLISH
ENGLISH
• Spoken Language
• Reading (Word-reading, comprehension)
• Writing (Transcription, Composition and ‘Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar’)
NATIONAL CURRICULUM
“Pupils should be able to write down their ideas with a reasonable degree of
accuracy and with good sentence punctuation. Teachers should therefore be
consolidating pupils’ writing skills, their vocabulary, their grasp of sentence
structure and their knowledge of linguistic terminology”.
TIMETABLE
8:40
8:50
9:00
9:15
Class assembly
Monday
9:15
9:45
9:45
10:45
10:45
11.00
11.10-12.10
12:10-12.30
Numeracy
Guided reading
Assembly
13:45
15:25
Literacy
Phonics (KS1)
Topic
Guided reading
ICT
Literacy
Numeracy
with DP
French
With LM
Guided reading
Numeracy
Phonics (KS1)
SPAG
Phonics (KS1)
LUNCH
SPAG
Literacy
BREAK
Assembly
Music
Literacy
RE
With L Coca
Music Assembly
Numeracy
R4P
Thursday
REGISTRATION – Handwriting
Wednesday
13:30
13:45
R4P
SPAG
Phonics (KS1)
SPAG
Tuesday
12:30
13:30
Guided reading
SPAG
PE
with SPORTS COACH
2.20-3.25
Science
R4P
Guided reading
Assembly
Friday
Phonics (KS1)
Numeracy
Literacy
Topic
SPELLING
Pupils’ spelling of common words should be correct,
including common exception words and other words that
they have learnt. Pupils should spell words as accurately as
possible using their phonic knowledge and other knowledge
of spelling, such as morphology and etymology.
STATUTORY SPELLING LIST
• Words that are taught through spelling lessons, writing lessons and other
lessons across the curriculum
• Used as a measure of proficiency in spelling, in line with age-related
expectations
SPELLING
Pupils Should Be Taught To:
• Use further prefixes and suffixes and understand how to add them
• Spell further homophones (e.g. to, two, too)
• Spell words that are often misspelt (English Appendix 1)
• place the possessive apostrophe accurately in words with regular plurals [for example,
girls’, boys’] and in words with irregular plurals [for example, children’s]
• use the first two or three letters of a word to check its spelling in a dictionary
• write from memory simple sentences, dictated by the teacher, that include words and
punctuation taught so far.
PUNCTUATION
• using commas after fronted adverbials
• indicating possession by using the possessive apostrophe with plural nouns
• using and punctuating direct speech (using inverted commas, not ‘speech
marks’)
GRAMMAR
Pupils should be taught to develop their understanding of the following
concepts: extending the range of sentences with more than one clause by using
a wider
• range of conjunctions, including when, if, because, although
• choosing nouns or pronouns appropriately for clarity and cohesion and to
avoid repetition
• using conjunctions, adverbs and prepositions to express time and cause
• using fronted adverbials
FRONTED ADVERBIALS
Here is an example of a fronted adverbial:
TERMINOLOGY
• use and understand the grammatical terminology in English Appendix 2
accurately and appropriately when discussing their writing and reading.
Vocabulary,
grammar and
punctuation
Year 3: Detail of content to be introduced (statutory requirement)
Word
Formation of nouns using a range of prefixes [for example super–,
anti–, auto–]
Use of the forms a or an according to whether the next word begins
with a consonant or a vowel [for example, a rock, an open box]
Word families based on common words, showing how words are
related in form and meaning [for example, solve, solution, solver,
dissolve, insoluble]
Sentence
Expressing time, place and cause using conjunctions [for example,
when, before, after, while, so, because], adverbs [for example, then,
next, soon, therefore], or prepositions [for example, before, after,
during, in, because of]
Text
Introduction to paragraphs as a way to group related material
Headings and sub-headings to aid presentation
Use of the present perfect form of verbs instead of the simple past [for
example, He has gone out to play contrasted with He went out to play]
Punctuation
Introduction to inverted commas to punctuate direct speech
Terminology
for pupils
preposition, conjunction
word family, prefix
clause, subordinate clause
direct speech
consonant, consonant letter vowel, vowel letter
inverted commas (or ‘speech marks’)
QUESTIONS