SPaG

Useful Grammar Websites

EYFS: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/znqtbdm

Key Stage 1: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zgkw2hv

Key Stage 2: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zv48q6f

EYFS - Year 6: https://www.theschoolrun.com/english/grammar

Grammar glossary: https://www.theschoolrun.com/primary-grammar-glossary-for-parents

Grammar Monster is a comprehensive site covering all things grammar, spelling and punctuation:

https://www.grammar-monster.com/

British Council offers grammar definitions, tips and games for all learners:

https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/grammar-practice

These pages offer clips and information pages to support all areas of English and other curriculum subjects for use by children and parents. They are all free to access.

Any support you can provide for your child at home will really help them master spelling and expand their vocabulary; reading regularly (fiction and non-fiction) with your child will help them make measurable improvement in spelling, as well as expanding their personal vocabulary bank. 30 spelling activities can be found in your child's home-school spelling book; these are being used independently by children to help them learn challenging new curriculum word-lists and some personalised lists. Learning to spell more challenging words is only useful if the meaning is also known, so any discussion you can have with your child about this would reinforce their learning and mastery of language. Asking your child for words of a similar meaning (synonym) or opposite meaning (antonym) can really aid their comprehension and confidence when using new vocabulary; both orally and in their writing. New curriculum statutory year group lists and spelling rules taught each year in school are attached. NNS refers to the NoNonsense spelling program introduced from September 2017 in years 2-6. Within NNS, in addition to learning rules, emphasis is placed on phonemes (the sound) and graphemes (the letter/letters that represent the sound) and children are encouraged to select the correct spelling of phonemes from grapheme options available to them. Spelling Frame has now been purchased for all children Year 1-6 and individual logins have been shared with each child by their class teacher. 

Well done Jack W in Year 4 who is our first pupil to earn his spelling achievement whilst working at home during lockdown 1. Well done to Tess in Year 5 and Allana in Year 6 who have learnt all their 100 year-group words - or even their 120 words! - during lockdown 2. Spelling achievement certificates can continue to be awarded to children who learn their word-lists whilst learning at home. If blue home-spelling books of children who have been tested at home are handed in to class teachers, their achievements can then also be celebrated in school assemblies. If any children would like to write their own short 'fill in the gap' spelling dictations to help test other children in their year-group (or in another year group), it could be fun for them to see their ideas used in a classroom setting once lessons resume. Dictations would need to test words in their groups of 10 spellings each and in any context the children choose.

Well done to Alex, Zoe, Katie, Harry (in Year 6) and Frosso (in year 5) who have all learnt their 100 year-group spellings and also waited patiently over lockdown to receive their certificates.

Well done to Ella, Ayaan and Izzie in Year 6 who have learnt all their year-group words. Congratulations!

Free spelling games

Playing games helps children retain knowledge through repetition and revisiting words and rules. Specific year groups can also be searched to narrow the search further than KS1 or KS2 .

Additional Spelling Resources and Websites

Spelling Frame is an engaging games and syllable-based resource. It is £10 for a year's membership per child/family. Sounds and sentences can be listened to as well as read and the use of colour helps learners to segment words according to syllables. It is available for Years 1 - 6 and covers all curriculum spellings (CEWs, rules, near homophones etc). Format is repetitive and allows spelling attempts to be corrected which helps with sight-recognition, memory and retention. Miss Haji LOVES this resource and wishes teachers had known about it before school closed! So, if you do struggle with spelling maybe give it a go and share what you think of it...It really does look good for all learners of any ageAll pupils Y1-6 now have a school account that we recommend they use regularly at home to help practise their targeted words and spelling rules.

https://spellingframe.co.uk/

Emily (Y6) says: "It is a good website and I like the fact that the spellings are in an order with similar sounds the same. The different games help to make you learn the words in different ways. It is sometimes difficult to recognise how to spell the word with the way they divide it up, but generally it is fun and helpful."

Sir Linkalot is a new award-winning spelling APP that approaches tricky and ambitious spellings through animation and pictures e.g. separate - se para te: 'para' would have a picture of a parachuting figure. History of words and fun facts about them are also included. The APP is free to access during school closure and on-line spelling lessons can be watched at 2pm each day. Another good resource to try we think

https://www.sirlinkalot.org/spellathome/

Spellodrome is a resource you might like to subscribe to if your child struggles with spelling (or perhaps really enjoys spelling!). £39 per year for a full membership and details can be found on their website.

http://uk.spellodrome.com/#/home

BBC Bitesize provides FREE clips that support some spelling rules e.g. -ough

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zt62mnb

Oxford Owl offers FREE information, advice and tips for parents about spelling (and other areas of English)

https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/advice-for-parents/help-with-spelling/

Spellzone costs £19.95 per year to subscribe but also has FREE spelling lists and games

https://www.spellzone.com/what-is-spellzone.cfm

Barrington Stoke School Spelling Dictionary is designed for KS1-3 and allows children to look up words as they sound e.g. 'photo' under 'f' etc. It is dyslexia friendly (as are all Barrington Stoke resources). £12.99

ISBN 978-1-78112-151-1

Franklin SPQ109 Collins Pocket Speller is an electronic speller most useful for children who are aware they struggle with spelling and want to make corrections, but who need help seeing alternatives to the phonetic spelling or homophone choice they have already made. These are proving very popular in Year 5/6. They are available from Amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Franklin-SPQ109-Collins-Pocket-Speller/dp/B000NOMRZY