LITERACY HANDBOOK

INDEX Topic Spellings Nouns/making nouns plural Verbs/modal verbs Adjectives Sentence Structure and Types Full Stops and Capital Letters Connectives (Openers) Conjunction Apostrophe Commas Colon Semi-colon Speech and quotation Quotation Brackets Hyphen Paragraphs and Cohesion Register Rhetoric Using PEE Making notes Using VCOP pyramids Skim, scan and close reading Infer and deduce Talking to others Exploring in role Talking with others VCOP pyramid ISPACED sentence starters SOLO Taxonomy Wordmat

Page number 3 4 5 6 7 8 8 9 9 10 11 11 12 12 13 13 14 14 15 15/16 16 16 17 17 18 18 19 20/21 22 23 2

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SPELLINGS Use strategies to support the spelling of subject specific terms: 

Look, cover, write, check.



Create a mnemonic.



Rhymes or songs.

Correct common misspellings such as homophones (words that sound the same but are spelled differently) and recognise the reasons behind the differences: 

There (place)/ their (belongs to them)/ they’re (they are).



Too (also or very)/ to (direction)/ two (numerical).



Here (place)/ hear (listen).

Correct spelling errors identified in your own work. Use this space to write down any subject specific spellings you use:

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WORD CLASSES: NOUN Noun: A person, place or thing. Proper nouns – these all begin with capital letters and are the names of specific items: people’s names; place names, such as countries or towns, months of the year. Common – all other nouns are common. Pronouns – we use these in place of nouns, often to avoid repetition.

When writing, it’s important to know whether to use a personal (first or second) or impersonal (third) voice. First person – I, me, us, we, my, our. Second person – you, your. Third person – he, she, it, they, their. Formal essays and reports are usually impersonal. Persuasion, argument and advice often employ the second person. Discussion, review and some analysis will often utilise the first person.

Making nouns plural Usually add an –s:

Table – tables; house – houses; pen – pens. Ending in ‘s’ sound (x, s, sh, ch, z) add –es: Fox – foxes; waltz – waltzes; box - boxes. Ending in consonant +y remove the –y and add ies: Lady – ladies; army –armies; baby - babies. Ending in f/ fe change to –ves:

Wife – wives; wolf – wolves; thief - thieves. 4

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WORD CLASSES: VERB Verb: a doing or being word. All verbs have a root – the infinitive. We need to adjust the verb to match the noun, or pronoun it belongs to. This is called conjugation. Most verbs are regular and so follow a pattern of conjugation, but some are irregular. To play (regular) To be (irregular)

I

play am

We

play are

You play are

You play are

He

They play are

plays is

We also alter the verb to suit purpose: past, present or future. Regular verbs add –ed to become past tense and add the auxiliary verb ‘will’ before-hand to become future tense.

Modal verbs These verbs are auxiliary, which means that they are used together with other verbs, and they express degrees of certainty. They are often found in advisory texts: would

will

must

could

can

should

shall

may

might

Common Mistakes AVOID – We was. ‘we’ is the plural and so the verb must match: we were. AVOID - Should of. ‘should’ is a modal verb and needs to be paired with another verb. ‘of’ is not a verb. The correct phrasing is should’ve or should have.

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Talking with Others

WORD CLASS: ADJECTIVE

To work successfully with others:

Adjective: used to describe a noun. Comparative adjectives compare one noun with another and end in – er or are preceded by the word ‘more’:



Make regular contributions that are relevant and clear, giving reasons.

hot – hotter; beautiful – more beautiful.

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These contributions don’t always have to be right or accepted by others – be prepared to make and defend your point, but acknowledge others’ ideas.

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When possible, direct talk so that the group remain focussed on the task.

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Remember that you are part of a group – give others the opportunity to talk and, if they appear shy, encourage them to join in by inviting them in.

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Help members of your group by actively listening (eye contact, smiling/ nodding, questioning, repeating to clarify,) and by developing their ideas.

Superlative adjectives end in –est or are preceded by the word ‘most’: Tall – tallest; interesting – most interesting. AVOID combining the two forms: 

more hotter; most tallest



more better; most happiest



more tastier; most fastest

WORD CLASS: ADVERB Adverb: a word used to describe a verb. These often end in –ly. Adverbs of degree add more information to an adverb or adjective: The very old man walked rather slowly. Preposition: These identify the location between one thing and another – beside, beneath, on top of, next to, facing , at, since, with, in, of. . . Determiner: used with a noun to identify quantity or specificity – some, a, the, this, my, your, all, both, any, either . . .

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Talking to Others

SENTENCE STRUCTURE AND TYPES

When presenting to others, think about your vocabulary: you must use words that your audience will understand, or that you are able to explain within the talk – use formality as appropriate:

Simple - these sentences can be of any length, but only contain one main clause built around one finite verb: Further away from them stood a prodigious figure.



The organisation of what you say: content needs to be structured, so that ideas are presented in a logical order.

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Resources: props or ICT are chosen and used to assist and engage, rather than dominate your talk.

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Your voice: volume, tone, pace and projection are varied appropriately.

Compound – these sentences contain more than one clause, joined by a co-ordinating conjunction. It may seem that the second clause doesn’t have a verb, but this is because we tend to omit it to avoid repetition:

Your body language: making eye contact is important and, whilst you should avoid being rigid, you should also avoid fidgeting.

I like fish and I like chips. = I like fish and chips. Complex – contain a main clause (a ‘root’ simple sentence) and at least one other subordinate (slightly less important) clause which is joined using subordinating conjunctions. Subordinate clauses do not make sense alone and cannot be sentences in their own right. (Main clause is underlined.)

Explore in role Sometimes you will be asked to explore ideas as if you are someone else. This will involve:

Whilst the rain fell, I slept. Often, the subordinate clause can be moved within the sentence.

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Adapting your use of vocabulary and register to suit the role.

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Using your hands and face to gesture and express suitably.

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Moving in a way that characterises your role.

Sometimes, a subordinate clause can split a main clause. (Main clause is underlined).



Recognising the relationships that the character has with others and acting on these.

After she won gold in the heptathlon, Denise Lewis, who was 28 at the time, saluted the fans where they could see her.

I slept, whilst the rain fell.

Sustaining all of the above, so that you are always seen as the character and you do not lapse back to being yourself. React to situations and ideas as your character, not personally.

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PUNCTUATION

ISPACED On pages 22 and 23 is another way to help you with your extended writing. It helps you in the planning process, the re-drafting process or if you want to add that ‘little bit of something’ to your writing to access the very top marks.

Full stops and capital letters All sentences must contain a finite verb and this creates a clause. Some follow a subject – verb – object structure: She hated him. (S-V-O) Others follow a subject – verb – complement structure:

Skim, scan and close reading

There was a little girl.

There are three key ways to approach texts:

There are a range of ways to build sentences. If we didn’t indicate the boundaries between sentences by beginning with a capital letter, and finishing with a full stop, we could create ambiguity: She opened the door as he spoke the house exploded. Was the explosion caused by the opening of the door, or the man’s voice?

Don’t be confused – conjunctions belong to the connective family but, when we talk about connectives in English, we are usually referring to the words or phrases used at the start of sentences (openers) to create cohesion: to link ideas between sentences and paragraphs for fluency.

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Place: Nearby, . . Around the corner, . .

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Addition: Also, . . Furthermore, . .

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Opposition: However, . . On the other hand, . . Alternatively, . .

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Logic: Therefore, . . . As a result . .

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Sequencing: Firstly, . . Next, . . In conclusion, . .

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If you need to get ‘a feel’ for a text, or decide if it is suitable for your needs, you can read every few words by skim reading.

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When you need a full understanding of a text, you should read every word and this is called close reading.

Infer and deduce This is where we make meaning of the gaps in a text. Using modal verbs (pg 5) we can suggest ideas based on evidence: Algy met a bear/ The bear met Algy/ The bear was bulgy/ The bulge was Algy

There are connectives of: Time: Later, . . Meanwhile, . . On Saturday...

If you need to find a specific piece of information, scan through the text looking for key words.

It is always a good idea to re-read a text more than once as you will often find information and ideas that you overlooked the first time.

Connectives (Openers)





Whilst the poem doesn’t tell us explicitly (surface meaning), it is implicit that the bear ate Algy. The quality of this sort of reading is based on a developed explanation of the inferred meaning.

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Conjunction

Developing explanation: (EXPLAIN) This therefore shows that . . .

This list of words may well be the most useful in improving your literacy as they will enable you to expand sentences. Conjunctions join clauses:

As a result of this, we can see . . . suggesting . . . . . .

and, but, or, then, yet, either . . or,

implying . . . . .

when, where, because, after, if, that, until, unless, although,

giving the impression . . . .

while(st), whether, which, when, who(se), whereas, as, so, since,

Making notes

before, in order that, as long as, in case.

When researching or summarising, we should take information that we have collected and reproduce it in our own words.

Apostrophe

In order to do this, we need to make notes. This means:

Used to indicate omission or possession.



Ignoring function words.



Using symbols such as + >.

When verbs are contracted (shortened), we replace the missed letter with ‘:



Shortening words such as regularly used proper nouns to initials.

I am -

I’m

They have – They’ve

In negative forms, not is contracted to n’t: Is not – Isn’t

Only you have to be able to read the notes, so they are personal to you.

Could not – Couldn’t

Some other cases: of the clock – o’clock. NOTE: it is typical in formal writing to use the full form.

In order to write up your notes, it is a good idea to number or highlight notes on a similar theme so that you can organise them into paragraphs.

We use ‘s to show ownership. My mother’s car

Using a VCOP pyramid

A week’s holiday

With words that end in ‘s’, the apostrophe goes after the ‘s’.

On pages 20 and 21 there is a VCOP pyramid. This can be used to help structure your extended writing, making it more exciting and challenging. Each band represents a level of challenge from the tip to the base, each increasing in difficulty.

James’ hat

girls’ toilets

NOTE: Possessive pronouns (his, its) do not use apostrophe and s: its roof.

It is a useful tool when planning extended writing but is just as useful when checking, enabling you to re-draft work so it is of better quality.

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Commas

Rhetoric

Separate items in a list:

These are devices used within writing to affect the reader:

On his floor were socks, football boots, three dirty mugs and some loose papers.



Rhetorical questions – directly questioning the reader to engage them in the text.

Note that the last two items, separated by the word ‘and’ do not



Repetition – using key words or phrases to emphasise their meaning and ensure that they are remembered.

She went to Boots, Next, BHS, and Marks and Spencer.



Here, we do use a comma before the conjunction ‘and’ to demonstrate that ‘Marks’ and Spencer’ belong together.

Metaphor – describing something by saying that it is something else that is comparable.

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Simile – to use the words like or as to compare one thing to another.

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Sentence variety – varying pace by creating particularly long or short sentences that will affect mood or tone.

require a comma.

Separate phrases from clauses: Suddenly, the wind changed. Once upon a time, there was a girl.

Using PEE

Singing a song, he walked to school.

At the highest level, we are able to make connections between several pieces of supporting evidence, and evaluate the likelihood that the meaning or interpretation is accurate.

(Phrases do not contain finite verbs) Separate clauses in sentences: If we look again at the example from page 7, we need to add commas to signal the movement from one idea (clause) to another:

Making statements: (POINT)

After she won gold in the heptathlon, Denise Lewis, who was 28 at the time, saluted the fans, where they could see her.

Smith suggests that . . .

It could be that . .

Perhaps, . . . .

Usually, we don’t need to use them with co-ordinating clauses.

There is a possibility that . . . .

As parenthesis (brackets), often in news reporting: Barack Hussein Obama II (50) is the 44th and current president of the United States of America.

Providing evidence: (EVIDENCE) We can see this when . . . For example, . . . .

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Paragraphs and Cohesion

Semi-colon

Work should be organised into paragraphs that show separate ideas. We change paragraph, most simply, by using TiP ToP if there is a new: 

Time



Place



Topic



Person

The information on either side of a semi-colon must be a complete sentence. We use this punctuation mark to join two separate sentences, without the use of a conjunction, and when the rules for a colon do not apply: It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. Saturn was long thought to be the only ringed planet; this is now known not to be the case.

A new paragraph should open with what is referred to as a topic sentence: a sentence that introduces the new content.

Or we can use the semi-colon to separate items in a list, when the

In typed work, a new paragraph begins on the next line down and it is NOT essential to indent from the left margin.

items are lengthy:

DON’T leave a line between paragraphs.

crisps to start; a main of beef, which was cooked extremely rare; and

The dinner party consisted of a baked beetroot risotto with parmesan a crème brûlée.

Register

Colon

Texts vary in formality according to differing audiences and purposes.

The colon introduces something that will explain or elaborate that

Standard English is the use of grammatically correct structures.

which precedes it. Information before the colon must be a complete

An impersonal tone creates objectivity and formality.

sentence, but that which follows does not have to be:

The passive voice provides an alternative to using you: It might be said that . . .

Africa is facing a terrifying problem: perpetual drought.

(This explains what the problem is.)

Avoid the use of spoken discourse markers such as Anyway or As I was saying in formal writing.

She was sure of one thing: she was not going to be a housewife.

Restrict the use of contractions (pg 9).

(This identifies what she was sure of.)

Recognise that in speech we may use regional variations of vocabulary or grammar: you going shops? But this is not acceptable in formal writing.

On occasion, the construction is reversed, with the full sentence following the colon: Bleak House, Oliver Twist, Hard Times, Little Dorrit: Dickens 14

wrote an array of entertaining fiction.

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Speech and quotation

Brackets

Direct speech is what someone says and the actual words spoken must be placed within speech marks (sometimes referred to as 66 and 99):

Also known as a parenthesis. These include information that is additional and extraneous to the sentence and could be removed without affecting meaning. Often, we find these in texts aimed at nonspecialists to clarify concepts and ideas.



The first letter must be a capital, even if it is within a sentence.

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Suitable punctuation (. , ? ! : )must be used before speech marks are closed.

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The first speech mark should be preceded by a punctuation mark (. , ? ! : ) unless it is the first word in a text.

Photosynthesis (the process that converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds) is vital for all aerobic life on earth.

Hyphen This punctuation mark is distinguished from the dash as no spaces are left either side of its use.

To make conversations clear to the reader, it is important to start a new line for each new speaker:

It separates words in compound adjectives:

“So,” said the interviewer, “do you agree?”



foul-smelling substance

He paused, and then replied, “Yes,” angrily.



well-known painter

Reported speech does not require speech marks as it is not a representation of the words spoken, but a recount of the content:



German-English dictionary

He told the interviewer that he agreed.



one-in-a-million chance

Quotation When we use the written word of someone else, we must acknowledge that it belongs to them and enclose it in quotation marks. These are like speech marks but use single inverted commas. When William Hutton went to Birmingham in 1741, he found a ‘vivacity’ never seen before. It is acceptable to introduce a full quotation within a sentence with a colon:

And it separates words in compound nouns when the second word is short: 

break-in



write-off



mix-up



passer-by

In On Revolution, Hannah Arendt points to the Roman’s thinking about the ethics of waging war: ‘we must turn to Roman antiquity to find the first justification of war’. Most scientific writing relies on summary and paraphrase. This must be referenced. 12

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