This grammar game is a great way for Year 5 children to revise and practise using relative clauses to create complex sentences in KS2.
- Blue and Green Cards
The blue and green cards are the sentence fragments that can be added together to make a simple sentence.
- Yellow Cards
Children can then use a yellow card to add a relative clause and make a complex sentence. Some combinations will give funnier sentences than others!
Two versions of the sentence makers are included. The first can be used by children at their tables. The second version is large enough to be used on working walls or classroom displays.
We have omitted punctuation from these cards as a teaching point. Children will need to add the correct punctuation when writing the sentences that they have formed.
Teacher’s notes are also included.
What is a relative clause?
Relative clauses provide extra information about a noun, and are introduced by relative pronouns (eg who, that, where).
Relative clause examples
- The boy who brought the cakes.
- The lady who lives in the house with the red door.
- The road which bends to the left.
- The dress that I wore to the party last week.
What is a complex sentence?
A complex sentence consists of a main clause (a simple sentence) and one or more dependent clauses. Dependent clauses can be created via subordinating conjunctions or by using relative clauses to add extra information.
Classifying sentences as ‘simple’ or ‘complex’ can be confusing, because a ‘simple’ sentence may be complicated, and a ‘complex’ one may be straightforward. The terms ‘single-clause sentence’ and ‘multi-clause sentence’ may be more helpful.
National Curriculum English programme of study links
Using relative clauses beginning with who, which, where, when, whose, that or with an implied (ie omitted) relative pronoun