KS2 SATS Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling revision - help!

[Hopeful2002]

All,

I hope this is the right place to post this!

DD is in year 6 and coming up to her SATS. I hadn't even considered SATS prep after the 11+ because I felt she'd worked hard for her 11+ and I wanted her to relax and enjoy the rest of year 6. But DD came home the other day having done some practice papers and was frustrated that she hadn't known some of the jargon in the grammar paper (she didn't know what an article was, for example). She's had glandular fever so was out of school for about 6 weeks and had only just gone back so she's obviously missed some stuff. Also, she's very open about the fact that she isn't really concentrating much in her English lessons ("the teacher is soooo boring"). Her maths is fine but she said she'd like to do a bit of revision for the grammar paper. She's reading loads - she's suddenly discovered the joy of it - which I suppose is the main thing. But I just wondered whether anybody had any recommendations for some fun books we can use to (gently!) go over the grammar / punctuation / spelling stuff. I've seen loads of books but I know from experience with the 11+ that some are more enjoyable / effective than others, so would really appreciate recommendations!

Thanks in advance all!

[janet71]

I know my son HATES reading but all the 11+ work we did over the past year helped in respect to words and the meanings of them and has been entered for level 6 SATS this may (and he was borderline average 4c a year ago) So I know understanding the meanings helped him use "new" words. If you didnt do any of this for your 11+ there is a list on the Verbal resoning forum that you can start with....My DS spelling is/was terrible as our primary sch didnt correct spellings (apparently stiffled creativity! even though I complained every parents eve) now there is a SPAG test on spelling so they are emphasising spelling but this doesnt help my 11yr old who hasnt really done any spelling tests for 3 yrs....Anyway this month I have gone through the SPAG tests online (just google English SATS papers and go through the English spelling tests you will see a few repeated over the years) I also broke it down to learn "words ending in IOUS" - (google that there is a list of the most common) made him understand that he only has to add LY to all these and he has great adjectives to use (Furious, cautious, ferocious etc) Also break down words eg my son didnt know how to spell Naturally - asked him to spell nature (he did) and then he saw the connection - Also asked him to spell Spacious and he put spatous I think and so asked him to spell Space (he did) again he then saw the connection - So I try to break down prefix and suffix so he can link these words and then learn endings like the IOUS, TION, ALLY etc etc After 2 weeks he has improved massively. Another tip may be for your DD to pick 20 words/adjectives she would like to use (a mix of emotions) in her writing and learn how to spell them. With respect to Grammar - try google level 5 KS2 grammar there are test papers and info there.....you can ofcourse purchase SATS Grammar KS2 on a large internet site (the big river) for £3.95

[KS10]

http://www.vocabulary.co.il/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I think this is good. DD had a go yesterday and loved it. I particularly like the prefix games, although they have some prefixes in the root word section too .

[stroudydad]

Why woul anyone want to do out of school prep for sats???

[KS10]

I guess some do, though not necessarily for the KS2 tests, because they feel that their DC's grammar needs some attention. I'm working with one girl right now who has been entered for the L6 paper but who doesn't have some of the basics.

As for my DD looking at the website yesterday, another poster didn't think it was stretching in terms of vocabulary. I wanted to know what my own child thought of it and as I said she loved it. She will probably choose to go on it again and that's fine by me. She even asked for help with her maths because she wasn't happy with her marks in the practice papers. So her dad and I have been helping her.

[stroudydad]

Surely someone shouldn't be entered for level 6 unless they have are working above level 5??

[ginx]

My dd2 can't be bothered to do any extra work. She has to be forced to do her homework. They're doing lots of work at school so I'm just leaving it.

She's trying level 6 maths, reads lots at home - we've discussed active and passive verbs till I think she knows them - I'm not doing any more. I know she will try her hardest.

I feel a tiny bit guilty reading about those parents working ... but not guilty enough. What will happen if she "only" gets a level 5 in maths instead of 6? Or even if she only got a level 4? She should get 5's which is "where she's at".

[RedVelvet]

Why woul anyone want to do out of school prep for sats???

Yes. I thought the whole point of SATS was to measure the school's effectiveness.

[KS10]

It is, but sometimes people want to do extra because that's what they're like while others may feel that their child needs that extra bit of support. Also those who haven't had any sort of tutoring because they weren't trying for grammar may suddenly feel inadequate next to the naturally bright and the tutored kids. This is certainly the case for DD wrt maths. I have to keep reminding her that she hasn't had any extra help till now.

Not really sure how they arrive at the levels. I just know that this girl could define a noun but couldn't accurately identify them in a paragraph. Maybe she's good at comprehension and writing (although the comprehensions she has done with me have been a bit hit-and-miss) but not so good at parsing a sentence. After all, they haven't had to before.

Eta: my opinion is now tending towards live and let live. It's all very well asking why anyone is doing extra work for KS2 tests - I have asked that question myself - but I doubt there are many (many not any) who haven't had any form of tutoring at all. And when I read of those who are having to go through the appeals procedure I start to think that maybe these tests are fairly significant to them.

[stroudydad]

I do understand your point, and I am happy to admit my children had some tutoring for 11+. My personal opinion though (as RedVelvet said) is that sats should be a measure of the school not the child.