How to teach statements, questions, commands and exclamations

Overview

Although exclamations, commands, questions and statements feature on the Year 2 curriculum, they are all tested in the Year 6 SATs, so it’s important to revisit them throughout primary school. Work needs to be done on helping children understand the difference between a statement and a phrase - appreciating the parts of a sentence and where and why full stops should feature. We also look at the range of question types that pupils will need to encounter across the year groups, so they are able to recognise questions in different forms, and we pick apart sentences that are specifically exclamations, and therefore begin with ‘how’ or ‘what’. A number of options are suggested for putting the use of exclamations into context, such as writing letters, books reviews, character descriptions and recounts. We’re then taken through the same process with commands - examining the different forms of command and the types of writing that can be used to teach them. To help children get to grips with all these different types of sentences, we’re shown how activities such as ‘human sentences’ work well, where parts of a sentence are written on pieces of paper and then handed out to pupils, who must arrange themselves and the words and punctuation in the correct order.

Course Materials:

Presentation Slides - Download

.pptx file

Training Handout - Download

.pdf file

Course Creator

An experienced primary school teacher and senior leader, Shareen currently runs a successful education consultancy in London. Working with LAs across the country, she has an extensive track record of raising standards in English. Writing and advising for Letts, HarperCollins, Rising Stars and OUP, Shareen also acts as a subject expert on reading and grammar for the DfE.

About the Course

These sessions focus on deepening and developing subject knowledge in primary English. Key areas (e.g. grammar, writing and spelling) are explored in depth, so that teachers can feel confident when delivering them in the classroom, and there are plenty of practical ideas to try too.