Tell Me A Dragon: teaching sentence structures through a great text

Tell Me A Dragon, by Jackie Morris, is a beautiful book.  It has the most wonderful illustrations, which will both support and motivate children to write more descriptively, and the structure of the sentences on each page provide children with models for writing which they can imitate or innovate. 

How you use the text will depend on the year group you are teaching and the grammatical features you have identified for development with your pupils.   I've provided a few examples from the text for each grammatical element, together with the relevant Sentence Toolkit tools which you could use with these.  Once children have understood how to use the structure and had fun with writing their own examples, they could perhaps produce a class or group book, writing sentences to describe their own dragons.

Noun phrases which provide beautiful description, using both pre- and post-modification of the noun  (Sentence Toolkit: tape measure)

• the silver moon-path,  (premodification only)
• the secret music of the wind (postmodified with prepositional phrase)
• whisper-thin wings of rainbow-hues (wings are pre-modified with 'whisper-thin' and post-modified with 'of rainbow hues')

Adjectival phrases (Sentence Toolkit: large paint brush)

•  snaggle-toothed, fierce and brave
• jade-winged and amber-eyed with a tail as long as a river (the adjectival phrases is extended by adding a prepositional phrase introduced by 'with'.  Within this prepositional phrase, the noun phrase 'a tail' is also post-modified with a simile.  The children don't need to analyse the structure in a technical way, but the model is fantastic for imitating and innovating.  E.g. My dragon is steely-scaled and stony-eyed with spikes as hard as granite.)  

  Similes (Sentence Toolkit: medium size paintbrush)

• as big as a village
• as long as a river

Simple adverbial phrases of where and when, suitable as models for writers beginning to use adverbials (Sentence Toolkit: saw)

• across the sky
• in the waves
• all day
• from far away and long ago
• around my pillow
• into my dreams

Subordinate clauses.  There are two subordinate structures I would use this text for.  (Sentence Toolkit: spanners - the conjunction spanner and the -ed spanner - and also the comma screwdriver) 

If I were developing subordination of time (Year 2), the model  I would use would be:

• When she laughs, petals ride on her breath. 

 Introducing the use of 'when' to start the sentence, will lead to the children automatically creating subordinate structures.  Alongside this, you and the class should note how the comma has been used to separate the two parts (clauses, but you wouldn't be using that term in Year 2 necessarily) of the sentence.  Children could think of other things their dragon might do, e.g. When he snarls, When she flies, and go on to complete the sentence with a main clause.

If I were developing other ways of creating complex sentences, in order to vary sentence structure, I would use the  model below.  I would use this with Year 5 and 6 pupils who were already using conjunctions for subordinate clauses:

• Curled around my ear, my dragon sings sweet songs and tells me strange stories from far away and long ago.
• Curled around my pillow...

This structure uses a past participle followed by a prepositional phrase to introduce the subordinate clause.  Children could use this pattern to develop their own dragon sentences.  Where else could the dragon be curled?  Around my arm, neck, shoulder? What other verbs could be used here?  Children could brainstorm their own past participles: wrapped (around my arm), rested (on my shoulder), draped (over my shoulder), hidden (under my hat).  Have some fun with it and get children used to the structure.  Even if they don't know the terminology, they will be able to start sentences with the pattern and will, therefore, be varying their construction of complex sentences.

Punctuation (Sentence Toolkit: screwdrivers, hyphens)
The text provides good models of punctuation, in particular use of commas to mark phrases and clauses and hyphens to create compound constructions to modify/describe nouns.  For example: snaggle-toothed, jade-winged, amber-eyed, sea-dragon, ice-dragon.

To see other texts recommended on this blog, click here.  And for more Texts that Teach, check out this link.

Telling the difference between phrasal verbs, prepositional verbs and phrasal-prepositional verbs

Somebody asked me about these different types of verbs recently.  I hope that the following will help you distinguish between them.  Let's start off with some examples:

1. The eagle took off into the wind.
2. The eagle stretched out his talons towards the water.
3. Hungrily, the eagle looked for a meal.
4. The eagle put up with the wind patiently.

Each of these verbs (highlighted in red) includes a verb and a preposition.  In the last example, there are two prepositions forming part of the verb.  However, there are differences in the way these verbs can be used and how they interact with other sentence elements.

The verb in sentence number 1. is a phrasal verb, which is used intransitively, i.e. it does not take a direct object.  We can see that the sentence has the elements:
           The eagle        took off       into the wind.
           subject (S)      verb(V)       adverbial (A)

One of the ways that phrasal verbs 'behave' is that you cannot usually place an adverbial between the verb and the preposition.  So we could not say: The eagle took into the wind off.

Sentence number 2 has a transitive phrasal verb.  It takes the direct object (Od) 'his talons'.  We can analyse the elements of this sentence:
           The eagle stretched out his talons towards the water.
                 S               V              Od                  A

As with intransitive phrasal verbs, we are unable to place the adverbial phrase between the verb and the preposition: The eagle stretched towards the water out his talons.

However, transitive phrasal verbs can be separated by the direct object.  So we can manipulate in the following ways, even when a pronoun replaces the noun phrase filling the direct object slot.

• The eagle stretched his talons out towards the water.
• The eagle stretched them out towards the water.

Sentence number 3 uses a prepositional verb.  We can analyse the elements of this sentence:
          Hungrily, the eagle looked for a meal.
                A           S             V          Od

The direct object in a sentence with a prepositional verb has to follow the preposition, so it cannot act in the same way as a phrasal verb, splitting the verb and particle.

• Hungrily, the eagle looked a meal for.
• Hungrily, the eagle looked it for.

Another difference between prepositional verbs and phrasal verbs is that an adverbial can split the verb and preposition in a preposition verb, even though the direct object cannot do this.

• The eagle looked hungrily for a meal.

Sentence number 4 is different in that the verb is followed by two prepositions.  This is a phrasal-prepositional verb and it is always used transitively as a direct object has to follow the prepositional part of this verb.
          The eagle put up with the wind patiently.
                 S              V           Od          A
In a phrasal-prepositional verb, the first preposition is the phrasal part and the second preposition is the prepositional part.  The rules stated above about adverbials apply to each part of these verbs.  Adverbials cannot usually split the verb from the phrasal preposition, so we can't have:

• The eagle put patiently up with the wind.

But the adverbial can split the phrasal and preposional elements:

•  The eagle put up patiently with the wind.

Likewise, the direct object cannot split the verb; it has to follow the final preposition:

• The eagle put up the wind with patiently.

There is no doubt that the flexibility of English, in enabling prepositions to be used in these types of structures, adds tremendously to the creativity of our language.  

Survival at 40°C Above: developing sentence structures with KS2 children

I've recently discovered Debbie S Miller's book: Survival at 40°C Above.  This book would be ideal for linking cross-curricular topic work on habitats with literacy, as it is beautifully written and exemplifies many of the sentence elements that we would want to introduce and develop with children.  As soon as I started reading it, I could hear the mellifluous tones of David Attenborough in my head, guiding me through the Simpson Desert in the literary, non-fiction style that has become a genre of its own.  I haven't read any of Debbie Miller's other books yet, but am looking forward to Survival at 40°C Below!

With a text as good as this, it would be possible to develop many aspects of children sentence level writing but, of course, a literacy unit would probably only focus on one or two of these at most.  There are excellent models of the following elements; I've provided a few examples from the text for each one, together with the relevant Sentence Toolkit tools which you could use with these.

Noun phrases which provide beautiful description as well as precise vocabulary.  Although the content is non-fiction, these phrases help create the literary style of this text.   (Sentence Toolkit: tape measure)

• This vast, rippled desert (premodification only)
• the tan coloured skin of this large lizard (postmodified with prepositional phrase)
• the long, wind shaped dunes that twist and turn across Australia (postmodified with relative clause)

 Powerful verbs and verb phrases (Sentence Toolkit: hammers)

• The goanna detects the shadow of this predator with the tiny sensor eye on top of his head and immediately races to hide in a tuft of spinifex.
• Darting across the sand, this striped lizard discovers a perfect spot to bask in the sunlight that also offers a good lookout for possible predators.
• Triops erupt from this new source of life.

Adverbial phrases of where, when and how (Sentence Toolkit: saw)

•  By noon the sand is blistering hot beneath a cloudless sky.
• During this scorching time, the goanna moves to a grove of gidgee trees.
• Each shiny strand acts like a tiny mirror.

Subordinate clauses.  There are a variety of these - adverbial and relative, using conjunctions and non-finite forms, particularly the present participle.  The text exemplifies how subordinate clauses can be placed in different positions in the sentence for effect.  (Sentence Toolkit: spanners for adverbial clauses and tape measure for relative clauses)

• As the night sky melts away, the Simpson Desert horizon glows like a campfire. (adverbial, finite)
• Flicking his tongue, the goanna laps up a good meal of protein. (adverbial, non-finite)
• Seeds lie dormant, lacking enough moisture to sprout. (adverbial, non-finite)
• Some of the kangaroos lick their arms and paws to cool themselves. (adverbial, non-finite)
•  The moon casts soft light on new seedlings that will turn dust bowls into lush carpets of plants. (relative)

Punctuation (Sentence Toolkit: screwdrivers)
The text provides good models of punctuation, in particular brackets and commas to mark phrases and clauses.

To see other texts recommended on this blog, click here.  And for more Texts that Teach, check out this link.

Prepositions and prepositional phrases

I notice from my Feedjit link that many foreign visitors are finding this blog by searching for 'prepositions' or 'prepositional phrases'.  I hope the information you find here is useful, but if there are any specific queries you have, leave a comment and I'll try and help!

Me, myself and I

I was interested to note the differences in the testing of pronoun use in the recent KS2 Grammar, punctuation and spelling test, compared with the sample questions previously provided to teachers by the Department for Education.

Previous questions focused on the correct use of ‘I’ and ‘me’ in a number of sentences and included plural subjects and objects, where a pronoun had to be added to a name in the subject or object position. (Click on link above for more information on this.)

In contrast, the May 2013 paper focused only on the selection of a pair of pronouns which would make sense when completing the cloze sentence provided.   Neither ‘I’ nor ‘me’ was included in the pronouns provided and the subject and object required were singular.  

Is this change because the Government has decided it would be unfair to expect 11-year olds to use a grammatical feature correctly, when they are bombarded daily with such poor examples of use?  In fact, how can adult members of the public be sure about the use of ‘I’ and ‘me’ when so many ‘communicators’ on television and radio (including those in entertainment, business and politics) constantly get it wrong? 

I have just returned from a holiday in Holland, where the standard of spoken English was extremely high.  I did not hear ‘I’ or ‘me’ used incorrectly once.  Yet, within 24 hours of returning home, I had heard about 4 or 5 examples of incorrect use on BBC radio and television programmes.  I understand that many dialects use non-standard constructions and I have no issue with this in conversations and informal speech.  However, I do expect those who represent organisations and companies in the media to use standard English.  We often hear politicians and business leaders lamenting the fact that children leave school without the required standard of English.  Well, it’s about time they started setting a better example to everyone and sharing some of the responsibility with teachers and schools!

Beware grammar books for children!

Last week I was shown four newly published grammar books for children.  But why would you want a child to read a grammar book?  Surely the best way for children to develop their awareness and understanding of grammatical elements and punctuation is through effective teaching, by a teacher with good grammatical subject knowledge, using quality, authentic texts that illustrate the feature you are focusing on?  In this way children can:

• experience the effects of what has been written through shared or guided reading;
• be guided through the vocabulary and sentence constructions the author has used to create those effects (hearing and using the correct grammatical terms where relevant);
• experiment with using those models of construction to create effects in their own writing;
• self and peer assess how successful they have been and how these constructions have improved their writing for their reader.

 Having said that, if you are intent on exposing children to grammatical text books, there are a few things you should bear in mind. 

Beware texts that describe verbs as ‘doing words’.  How is a child going to understand or identify the verb in the sentences ‘He has a cold.’ or ‘She was very unhappy with her new shoes.’  Verbs do not just describe ‘doing’, but also ‘being’ and ‘having’.  Trying to simplify this for children is not doing them any favours.

Avoid grammar books which provide lists of words and ask for the verb, noun, adjective or adverb to be identified.  Nearly all the grammar books I was shown did this and it can be so confusing for children.  To match a word with a word class, you have to see it in the context of a sentence.  A large number of the words in our language can have multiple functions, so we cannot make any identification until we see how it fits into the word order of the particular sentence.  One of the books I was shown used the word ‘run’ in a list of words.  The task was to identify verbs, but consider the following:

·         They run every day for fitness.

·         They go for a run every day.

Some words in our language are much more flexible.  Take the word ‘out’ for example:

• He is going out.  (adverb)
• The flowers are out in the garden. (adjective)
• He should out himself if he wants to. (verb)
• Given an out, she will take it.  (noun)
• It jumped out of the box (as part of the prepositional phrase ‘out of’)
• This car outmanoeuvres any other on the market. (a prefix, here as part of a verb)

So, it is always important when identifying word classes, to see the word in context.

Also beware books which tell you not to split infinitives!  One of the books I saw, from a reputable publisher, contained that advice.  To specifically prohibit such a useful construction for varying effects in sentences is, to my mind, completely wrong.  (See what I did there?)  ‘To prohibit specifically’ just doesn’t have the same ring to it!  This rule was devised by grammarians trying to make rules for English grammar and was influenced by their study of Latin grammar, where the infinitive cannot be split.  Sometimes in English, for the purposes of sense and how the sentence sounds, an infinitive should be split.  There are enough grammatical features for children to grasp without filling their heads with antiquated, unnecessary nonsense.

So, my advice on grammar books for children is as follows.  Don’t waste money on them; spend the money more wisely, buying good quality, enjoyable texts which will show off our wonderful language in all its glory.

Developing sentences with young children

I spent a great day with colleagues yesterday, considering books that we could use in literacy lesson.  One of my favourites was 'What Happens When...' by Delphine Chedru.

Teachers often ask me how to help children understand where full stops should be used. Well, where do we put a full stop?  At the end of a sentence, of course!  But that's not much help to children if they don't understand what a sentence is.  Where is the end of the sentence?  Well, it's where the full stop is!  When I use Excel, I sometimes get a message telling me I have a circular reference; the messages we give to children can also set up confusing loops in their understanding. So, how to we help children grasp the concept of a sentence - before they even start to write?

Sentences in English are all about the verb: something happens or just is.  We must be careful that 'doing' word does not become synonymous with 'verb' in children's minds, because the verb could also be a 'being' or 'having' word.  I think it's quite interesting that the verbs we use seem to fit into categories of the primary auxiliary verbs we use in our language (to be, to do and to have).  Do let me know if you think of other categories though!

We need to create sentences with children and discuss them so that children can understand their structure and the function of the words used, but this needs to be an enjoyable experience and foster a curiosity about their language.  'What Happens When...' is a wonderful book for developing sentences to discuss with the children.  On each double page spread there is a question and a picture of an object (great for developing questions too!)  The picture then unfolds to another double page picture which portrays one possible answer.  I would use the book in this way.

Look at the first question with the children: 'What happens when my balloon floats up, out of the zoo...?' Discuss what is happening in the picture.  What is the balloon doing?  What is happening? What is floating?  Where is it floating? What is the bird doing?  Where is the balloon?  Encourage them to answer in sentences by prompting for more information if they just answer 'floating' or 'in the sky'. Use specific praise for 'a good sentence'.  It's important to use the terminology 'sentence' with them as a matter of course, so they get used to hearing it alongside good examples and their own successes.

Ask the children what might happen next to the balloon.  Encourage them to answer in sentences and ask questions about the sentence.  For example, they might say 'The bird will pop the balloon.' This could lead to questions such as 'What will the bird do?', 'Who will pop the balloon? or 'What will the bird pop?'.  This gets the children used to talking about their sentences, but also develops an awareness of subject, verb and object (although, of course, not using this terminology).  Encourage peer questioning about sentences too.

When they have come up with some suggestions, turn the page and see what the author suggests.  This next picture could lead to further sentences and discussion.  For young children, this would make an ideal guided activity.

You could develop the exercise further to model writing one of the sentences and show children that, after a sentence with one thing 'happening', we need to add a full stop.  I would use the full stop screwdriver from the Sentence Toolkit to model the action of fixing my full stop at the end of my oral sentence and encourage them to use this at the end of each of their oral sentences.


The acting out of sentences with a mimed full stop added, followed by discussion about that sentence, can be incorporated into many different lessons.  For those of you who teach phonics, this discussion about what is going on in sentences is the grammatical equivalent of oral blending and segmenting.  These sorts of activities with children help them to create oral sentences, which can be gradually extended as their writing develops.  It's always good to 'test out' a sentence orally before writing, to see how it sounds and what sense it makes.  An early start in this will help writing composition later.  And the discussion about what is happening, and how many things are happening, in their sentences before they use their full stop screwdriver should help reduce the number of sentences which all run into each other, with no punctuation in sight!