Transcript English SATs - Alnwick Lindisfarne Middle School

English SATs
How to Help at
Home
How to Help with Reading
Please see suggestions in pack.
How to Help with Writing
Know which level your child is currently working at and help them to
secure the criteria at that level before moving on to the next level.
Criteria for Level 3
• I use mostly simple sentences and some complex sentences
• I use mostly ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘so’ and ‘because’ to join sentences
• I usually write in the correct tense throughout my writing but I
sometimes make mistakes
• I usually use full stops, capital letters, ? and ! accurately
• I use speech marks to punctuate speech
• My writing usually has an opening and a closing
How to Help with Writing
Criteria for Level 4
• I use a variety of sentence types including simple and complex
sentences
• I use a range of connectives to join sentences e.g. although, when,
where, because etc
• I write in the correct tense throughout my writing and I can change
tense if necessary
• I always use full stops, capital letters, ? and ! accurately
• I use speech marks accurately. I also put punctuation inside my
speech marks and set it out remembering ‘new speaker, new line’
• I use commas accurately in lists and in sentences
• I organise my writing into paragraphs
• My writing always has an opening and a closing
How to Help with Writing
Criteria for Level 5
• I use a wide range of connectives to join sentences e.g.
on the other hand, in addition, meanwhile
• I use a full range of punctuation including commas,
dashes, brackets and full speech punctuation
• I organise my writing into paragraphs and within each
paragraph my writing ‘flows’ well
• I use a wide range of vocabulary and words specifically
chosen for effect
How to Help with Writing
To achieve a secure Level 4 and Level 5, pupils
need to demonstrate that they can use complex
sentences in their writing. When they write at
home, it would help if you could check their
work to ensure that they have included some of
these. They should try to ensure that they use a
range of connectives (because, as, although,
however, when, if, meanwhile etc).
How to Help with Writing
Examples of Complex Sentences
The following sentence is a simple sentence
because the clause makes sense on its own:
The parents came to school.
This is called a main clause.
How to Help with Writing
To make it into a complex sentence, you need to add another
clause which does not make sense on its own and which begins
with a connective (joining word). This is called a subordinate
clause.
The parents came to school because they wanted to find out
more about SATs.
The parents came to school where a meeting was being held.
The parents came to school as they were going to be given
some information.
How to Help with Writing
The subordinate clause can often be put at the front of a sentence, in
which case a comma is used to separate it from the main clause.
Because they wanted to find out more about SATs, the parents came
to school.
As they were going to be given some information, the parents came
to school.
However, this doesn’t always work!
Where a meeting was being held, the parents came to school.
How to Help with Writing
A subordinate clause can also be ‘emedded’ into a sentence after
the subject or the object. In this case, commas or brackets need
to be used to separate it from the main clause.
The parents, who wanted to find out more about SATs, came to
school.
The parents, who were going to be given some information,
came into school.
How to Help with SPAG (Spelling,
Grammar and Punctuation)
Ensure that your child knows what all of the
technical terms mean on the grammar glossary.
Ask them regularly to give you definitions and
examples.