YEAR 1 Grammar Overview
Strand 1a: Constructing a simple sentence National Curriculum content How words can combine to make sentences. Introduction to capital letters, full stops … to demarcate sentences. Capital letters for names and for the personal pronoun. Sequencing sentences to form short narratives.
Pupils need to…
Tricky bits
•Understand that we write in units of meaning called sentences. •Understand that a sentence contains information about someone or something that ‘does’, ‘is’ or ‘has’ something. It may include where, when or how this happens. •Understand that when we write a sentence, we start with a capital letter and end with a full stop. •Recognise a full stop. •Orally rehearse sentences. •Punctuate either orally or with an action. •Ask and answer questions about the information included. •Talk about the sentences they have written and why they are sentences. •Write a sequence of sentences in fiction and information.
Before dealing with punctuation, pupils must have some understanding of what a sentence is. One of the most important steps in Y1 learning is for pupils to be able to orally compose a sentence and talk about sentences. To use the required terminology sentence, they need to develop some concept of what a sentence is and what information it contains. First of all, pupils need to understand that a sentence tells the reader about something that is happening or what something is like. Starting with a basic sentence consisting of just a subject and a verb (e.g. Jack fell), ask pupils ‘Who fell?’ or ‘What happened?/ What did Jack do?’ to get them used to the idea that a sentence is about someone or something who either does, has or is something. Notice the final punctuation and discuss it. Act out some of the sentences and have an action for the full stop.
Key terminology punctuation full stop word sentence letter capital letter See Appendix for SLOTS guidance
Strand 1b: Coordination and subordination National Curriculum content
Joining words and joining clauses using ‘and’. Introduction to capital letters, full stops … to demarcate sentences.
Pupils need to… •Understand that we can use and to add two words together in a sentence, when those two things are acting or being affected in the same way (e.g. Jack and Jill went up the hill. Both Jack and Jill are acting in the same way. Fred was tired and hungry). •Understand that we can join two sentences together using the word and. When this happens we only need one full stop at the end. •Understand that this word means we are adding information. •Understand that although these structures occur in a ‘stream’ in speech, it is important not to use too many clauses in one sentence. •Orally rehearse sentences. •Punctuate either orally or with an action.
Key terminology sentence capital letter punctuation full stop
Tricky bits
Talking about the meanings of because and when. Use these in oral sentences. Understanding the meaning of the conjunctions used. Understanding that, although these structures occur in a ‘stream’ in speech, it is important not to use too many clauses in one sentence. Encourage pupils to only join two (maximum three) sentences together with and before they add their full stop.
Going beyond: Some pupils may start to use because, when and but in their writing.
Strand 1c: Sentence types National Curriculum content Introduction to capital letters, full stops, question marks and exclamation marks to demarcate sentences. Capital letters for names and for the personal pronoun. letter capital letter punctuation full stop question mark exclamation mark
Pupils need to…
•Understand that there are different types of sentences, which have different end punctuation.
Key terminology
Tricky bits
Developing talk around questions, commands and exclamations. ‘Noticing’ the different punctuation marks used for questions and exclamations.
Regular plural noun suffixes -s or –es (for example, dog, dogs; wish, wishes), including the effects of these suffixes on the meaning of the noun How the prefix un- changes the meaning of verbs and adjectives (negation, for example, unkind, or undoing: untie the boat).
Tricky bits
Using the correct pronoun to replace a noun.
•Understand what the nouns in sentences are and how to form the plurals (link to spelling teaching). •Understand that nouns can be people, places or things. •Understand that adjectives can be added to a noun to add more detail. •Understand that opposites can be created by adding the prefix un- to adjectives.
Encourage the correct use of Standard English subject and object pronouns. For example, look at the sentence: ‘Me and Dan like them.’ This is incorrect because the object pronoun (me) is used in the subject position instead of the subject pronoun (I).
Going beyond: Introduce using adjectives orally and in writing to describe nouns in an SVC structure. •Jim was happy. •Tiger was soft and cuddly.
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Link to spelling work
National Curriculum content
Strand 2: Nouns and noun phrases Pupils need to…
Key terminology
singular plural
National Curriculum content No content specifically referring to adverbs / adverbials in Year 1.
Strand 3: Adverbials Tricky bits Understanding how, where, when in sentences. Understanding how to express position and time. Pupils do not need to know the term, but they should understand the meanings of many common prepositions (e.g. between, on top of, afterwards, through, across).
Strand 4: Verbs
Link to spelling work
National Curriculum content Suffixes that can be added to verbs where no change is needed in the spelling of root words (e.g. helping, helped, helper). How the prefix un- changes the meaning of verbs and adjectives (negation, for example, unkind, or undoing: untie the boat).
National Curriculum content
Pupils need to…
Tricky bits Understanding when to use present and past tenses, as part of suffix teaching. Creating oral sentences in the past and present. Recognising and using the past tense for stories.
•Understand that a sentence contains information about someone or something that ‘does’, ‘is’ or ‘has’ something. •Begin to understand the concept of present and past tense. Use this understanding orally.
Encouraging the correct use of subject–verb agreement. Understanding which part of the sentence is the verb. Lots of talk will be needed to establish this. Using the Toolkit hammer with an action will help pupils identify the patterns in a sentence. Using the suffix -ing requires pupils to understand the auxiliaries of the verb be. Using the suffix -ed, pupils will sometimes try to regularise irregular verbs. These need to be corrected and explained. Refer to verbs as ‘being’ and ‘having’, as well as ‘doing’ words.
Strand 5: Cohesion Tricky bits Preparing pupils for Year 2 by noticing when the past and present tenses are used in different text types. (Link with verb strand.) Making sure pupils understand that sequencing information will help their reader understand what they want to say in a story.
Sequencing sentences to form short narratives.
Noticing and developing their own range of words to help sequence stories (e.g. the next day, later, after). (Link with adverbial strand.) Making sure the correct pronouns are used to avoid too much repetition of nouns. (Link with noun/noun phrase strand.)
Going beyond: Developing a range of words to help sequence non-fiction texts (e.g. instructions, recounts). (Link with adverbial strand.)
Strand 6: Punctuation National Curriculum content Separation of words with spaces. Introduction to capital letters, full stops, question marks and exclamation marks to demarcate sentences. Capital letters for names and for the personal pronoun. letter capital letter punctuation full stop question mark exclamation mark
Tricky bits
Punctuation should always be taught in the context of writing for a particular purpose and audience. A full stop is used to mark the end of a sentence that expresses a statement. In a simple sentence, a statement consists of one clause and conta ins one verb or verb phrase.
Key terminology