Standard English

Standard English • ‘Standard English’ is basically the English we are taught at school; the form of English Language that uses all the correct grammar, spelling, vocabulary and punctuation. The following phrases are not Standard English because the verb/subject don’t agree: • We was…. • She don’t…. • I were… • He live… • I likes… Try to write them correctly. • Now, what’s wrong with this?! “Me and me mates was walking down the street. We sees this man coming towards us and he was looking right angry like I were a murderer or something. He don’t saying nothing but we was proper scared like…” • Try to re-write it in Standard English.

Standard English (Formality) • Think of ten synonyms (different words with similar meaning) for the word ‘good’ • In the margin rate each word on a scale of 1-10 for how formal you think it is • Now, write down the most formal synonym for the word ‘bad’ you can think of, and the most informal?

Modern Language • Write down 5 words which are used today but which wouldn’t have been used 150 years ago • Think about different reasons for the introduction of these new words (new technology, foreign influences etc). You don’t need to write these ideas down. • Write two definitions for each of the below words (one using the word in its more traditional sense and one in its more modern form): - Gay - Boss - Buzzing • Now, make a list of the reasons why you think language changes over time

Full Stop! • Think about what full stops are used for. • Work out where full stops should be placed in the passage below (don’t write it, just do it in your head): My favourite subject at school is English I really like it because I get to write stories and read interesting books all of my friends like English too I suppose you could say it’s everybody’s favourite! • Now, re-write the below placing the full stops in the correct places: Sarah loved. dancing and everybody said that. she was good at it she went three times a week and. Spent all her spare time practising • Try to write a definition for ‘full stop’.

Commas • Commas can be used in two ways: to list things instead of saying and/or (listing commas) OR to separate additional information in a sentence instead of a bracket (bracket commas) • Place the commas in the correct place in these sentences and note down what type of comma each sentence uses (list or bracket) : Saturday morning TV is great. I especially like SMTV CDUK The Saturday Show and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Chris Tarrant who presents “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” used to present the Saturday morning TV show “Tiswas”. • Now, try to write a sentence about school which uses ‘listing commas’ and then a different sentence about school which uses ‘bracket commas’ • If you can, try to write a sentence that uses BOTH types of comma

Apostrophes - omission • An omission apostrophe is the one you use when a letter is missing e.g. it’s (the letter missing is ‘i’ because it should be it is) • Write 5 sentences featuring five different examples of omission apostrophes

Apostrophes - possession • The apostrophe we looked at last time (omission) was used to replace letters, this time it is the apostrophe that tells us something belongs to something else (possession). For this, we use an apostrophe (‘) followed by an ‘s’ e.g. Year 8’s favourite lesson is English – the apostrophe + ‘s’ is used because the favourite lesson ‘belongs’ to year 8; it is THEIR favourite lesson… • Make the following sentences shorter by using a possessive apostrophe: The shoes belong to Sarah. The ball belonging to the dog rolled away. The pattern on the wallpaper is horrible. • BUT, what happens when the original word ends in an ‘s’ already? You ONLY need to put the apostrophe sign (‘) – no extra ‘s’ e.g. Miss Watts’ classroom • Think of five more examples when this type of possessive apostrophe would be used • Now, write a sentence featuring both an example of omission and possessive apostrophes

Colon • A Colon has 3 uses: The skills Sarah has are: running, jumping, fighting, and sewing. (colon used to introduce list of items) Xena is a warrior: she spends a lot of her time fighting battles. (colon used to restate what has already been said) Gabrielle was in pain: she had just sprained her ankle. (colon used to elaborate on previous clause) NB. what goes before the colon MUST be a sentence on its own • Write an example of your own for each one.

Speech Marks • Note how punctuation is used in these sentences with speech: “I’d love to come to the party,” said Sheila “I think it’ll be great!” “Will you be wearing that dress you wore last week?” asked her friend. • Add the appropriate punctuation to these sentences: Matt said I’m sorry, I can’t remember. Go to sleep now, Abbie whispered. But I’m not tired replied her sister. The man stood up. We don’t want a new road he shouted. • Which of these would require speech marks? I had asked if we could have crisps but my mum said that we couldn’t. Can I have some crisps, Mum? I asked but she replied no • Now, note down a conversation you have had today, using speech marks.

Plural Spelling • Turn the below words into plurals – think carefully about how they should be spelt! Horse case Hiss try Fly day Match book Calf cloud Fox path Boy scarf City lie Bus desk Church elf Lady object Cathedral candle Theif bully

Syllables • Syllable = one part of a word; a bit like a beat e.g. ‘Goal’ has one syllable, football has two, ‘penalty’ has three… • Make a list of popstars where each artist/groups’ name contains one more syllable than the one before e.g. Cher, Will Young, Darius etc. • Now, with the person next to you, have a conversation in which each response has one more syllable than the previous one e.g. ‘Hi’… ‘Hello’… ‘How are you?’ etc.

“GHT” • List as many words as you can which include the letter string “ght” eg. might, ought • These words can be difficult to spell, come up with a rhyme to help you remember the “ght” letter string e.g. Giants Hate Trolls (!)

Speaking and Listening • List the qualities of a good speaker • Pick one skill from the list that you would like to actively try and improve (I will be asking for feedback on how well you’ve done with this next lesson and will expect specific examples)

Speaking and Listening • Last lesson you picked out an area of your speaking skills you need to work on. How have you done this? Write down some examples. • If you have not done this, write some ideas for how you can try and work on this area. • Prepare to feedback to the class.

Speaking and Listening • People often say “She’s a good listener”…what exactly do we mean by this? • List as many different types of listening as you can think of e.g. listening to your teacher, listening to the radio… • We have to act very differently for each type of listening. Think about how. • Now, write down how you can prove that you’re a good listener.

Speaking • Think about when part of a text is being read aloud in class; some students are enjoyable to listen to, whereas others can be a little painful! • Complete this sentence: “A bad reader does the following…” • Now, list as many techniques that you can think of that can be used to improve delivery of the reading of a passage.

Commentary • In your life, when might you hear a commentary of some kind? • What are the features of a commentary? i.e. how do you know when you are listening to one? • How would a commentator try to make it exciting for listeners? • Prepare to have a go at commentating with the class…

Presenting • Think of the WORST presentation you have ever seen (e.g. an assembly, on a trip, a lesson, at an extra-curricular club, on TV etc.) • List the qualities that made it so bad • So, what SHOULD you do when giving a presentation? (e.g. speak to the audience, present with high energy etc.) • Now, choose what you think is THE most important thing to remember when delivering a formal presentation and explain why

Similes • Similes are when you compare something to be ‘like’ or ‘as’ something else. • Read the below similes and try to figure out what they are describing. I’m as tall as a tree and as skinny as a matchstick. I’m as bright as a star but only when it’s as dark as the deepest black. • Now, choose an object of your choice and write your own riddle of similes like this. The class will try to guess what your object is so make the similes good!

Similes • Think of a person in your family and write a list of similes that could be used to describe them. Make sure you include similes that describe their physical appearance as well as ones that describe their personality. e.g. My dad whistles like a bird in the morning. My dad thinks he’s as funny as a comedian!

Similes • Think of a beach on a hot sunny day and write a list of similes which could be used to describe it. You should try to come up with at least five similes – covering each of the senses; • See • Hear • Touch • Smell • Taste

Metaphor • A metaphor = when you compare something to something else by describing it as that other thing e.g. the teacher is a demon, the boxer was a lion waiting to pounce, the candy floss puffs in the sky drifted slowly in the breeze • Write three reasons for why we might use metaphors in writing • Re-write the below passage, putting in a number of metaphors (you may continue it if you wish) It was a dark night and the sky was black and dark. The wind could be heard in the trees and the houses looked big and tall in the distance….

Metaphors • Think about why we might use metaphors instead of similes to describe a character. Write down 3 ideas. • Now come up with some examples of metaphors you could use to describe a person/character in your life (you could write about a person who you are in love with – e.g. “She is the light of my life”)

Metaphors • Look around the room and choose an object/item. Then think of a number of metaphors that could be used to describe it • E.g. metaphors for a cactus plant could be…an exploding firework, a bad hair day etc.

Personification • List the ways in which a tree is similar to a person (e.g. branches are like arms) • Now, write a description of the tree as if it is a person (e.g. His arms wave to friends closeby…)

Plural Spellings • Look at the below passage, spot the spelling mistakes and re-write it using the correct spelling for each plural spelt incorrectly. I love big citys like London. I like the red busses that you see and the sightes that you can visit. There are lots of big church’s and cathedral’s to see. You just have to be careful that theifs don’t steal your belonginggs.

Plurals • Create two columns; one labelled ‘singular’ and one labelled ‘plural’. • In the ‘singular’ column, write all the words below. • Then, in the ‘plural’ column, write the plural form of each word (e.g. glasses)

Mistakes! • Re-write the below passage placing full stops and capital letters in the right places. Also, if you notice any spelling mistakes, change them! (HINT: there are 13 mistakes!) wen i got home my mum told me I must practise my violin becouse I had been lazy resently she sed I would never be in any conserts if I didn’t start putting more efort in i was so tired and had lots of homework to do so I stomped upstares to my room in a rage EXTENSION: Can you spot anywhere in this passage where it would be good to insert a comma as well?

Possessive Apostrophes Re-write these sentences adding in the missing possessive apostrophes.

Standard English