11 Plus Exams Forum

Hello all, what books would you recommend for punctuations, vocabs and spelling practice.
We are a bit stuck at the moment...help...

Not sure what age you are looking for. If its KS2 try CGP - they have introduced a some new Spelling and punctuation practice books.

http://www.cgpbooks.co.uk/pages/books.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you're thinking in terms of the new new KS2 tests, presumably you've already seen the level 3-5 and level 6 sample materials?

Gosh! Thanks. There must have been a mighty big change to the teaching of English in Y5 and Y6 this year to get students ready for this paper. I wonder how long this will take to filter all the way through KS2. I end up having to teach a lot of this in my classes as current KS2 students do not know it. It brings the Sats paper very close to the 11 plus English exams. Some of these questions are just slightly easier versions of the type of questions QE boys ask in their English exam. I wonder if the private preps realise that the state schools students are now learning all this in class. This is indeed very different but long long long overdue. Perhaps forum members will take slightly more account of Sats now instead of rather strangely seeing it as for the school and not for their dc. DG

I've just looked at the Level 6 papers. How many primary teachers are able to do this with confidence, I wonder?

Okanagan wrote:If you're thinking in terms of the new new KS2 tests, presumably you've already seen the level 3-5 and level 6 sample materials?

No, Okanagan, I have not seen these. I will look it up right away. Thanks.

That explains why my dd has been doing grammar everyday since Xmas. They have been packing four year's worth of grammar into four months. Teacher asked those who have sat selective exams to bring in any left over grammar questions to work on with the class. What a shambles. Ds in year 5 has also suddenly been doing a lot of grammar at school. Until now the emphasis has been on expressing themselves, on the basis that the grammar would be picked up from reading, the panic shows what we all knew, it doesn't work like that.

Agree, that it is a shambles. I DIYed for my DSs and it was clear that they had only ever touched on these things once at school and they were never done again! We had do all this again with them at home. It is is such a pity that they were left to either just pick these things up or let the secondary schools pick up the pieces.

I concur that this was long overdue: I really couldn't care less if my child is using dropped in clauses ( and they gave plenty of homework on that) - in fact I often wish my children would just stop using them and concentrate on conveying meaning in a clear and logical way without feeling the need link 5 clauses together but use the wrong connectives! However, I do expect my child to have the foundations of grammar in place before they move on.

I know they were being assessed for this in their writing but not enough emphasis was being put on assessing how well this was taught.

UmSusu

I can confirm that at my DD's school there has been a new focus on grammar since the start of year 6, and they haven't hidden the fact that it is for the test. All year 6 pupils have been issued with the CGP Grammar book by the school and are being set homework from it.

Thanks NorthLondonmum, I must get this book, is it a new one? Do you have the ISDN number? How far does it go? Does it cover things like noun phrases and extended noun phrases. I assume it has abstract and collective nouns? How many are doing the Level 6? Are they using the same book? DG