Joining clauses and words using and
Teach • Introduce the example text – The Tunnel by Anthony Browne (see PDF1) – to pupils. • Highlight the use of the word ‘and’ to join words and clauses. • What do children think of the first sentence where ‘and’ is used three times? This is a matter of opinion. It is likely that the author used it to make the story exciting and to make you read more quickly.
At this stage, pupils should understand that letters carry meaning and they are able to represent spoken sounds (phonemes) through writing appropriate letters (graphemes). Pupils achieving their Early Learning Goal for writing should be able to write a simple sentence which can be read by themselves and others. Although some words may be incorrectly spelt, they will be phonetically plausible. For example, ‘I likt the ays creem.’ (I licked the ice cream.)
Practise • Using the interactive programme, ask pupils to decide where to add ‘and’ and where to place a full stop and start a new sentence.
Review • Ask pupils what they think a sentence is. How would they recognise a sentence? They would be looking for a capital letter at the start and a full stop or other punctuation at the end. • The focus for this session is on how to use the joining word (conjunction) ‘and’ to create longer sentences. We can use ‘and’ to join words or groups of words together. • It is important to remind pupils not to overuse the word ‘and’ within a sentence. They can do this by re-reading and checking their work. • Using the interactive programme, ask pupils to create a simple sentence. Remind pupils that they will need to add a full stop at the end of the sentence.
Apply • Ask pupils to work with their partner to add ‘and’ and then think of their own additional words and phrases for the following sentences. One example has been provided for each sentence. – Peter ran home and … fell asleep in bed. – The fox was clever and … tricked the Gingerbread Man. – Gail blew out the candle and … everyone cheered. • To turn this into a game, prepare the sentences by writing the first and last parts of each sentence and the word ‘and’ onto separate pieces of paper. There should be three parts to each sentence. Have multiple copies of each. The children then need to find the corresponding part of their sentence and the word ‘and’.
• Model overuse of the word ‘and’ by building a sentence containing ‘and’ 3–4 times. Ask pupils to read the sentence with you. How does it sound? It makes sense but we don’t want to use ‘and’ in a sentence more than twice and, usually, only once. • Take suggestions from pupils to edit the sentence into two or more sentences, and correctly add capital letters and full stops. • Using the interactive programme, ask pupils to add words or groups of words to build a simple sentence. Ask pupils to re-read and check the sentence when they have finished, and ensure they have placed the full stop correctly.
Answers for pupil sheet Activity 1:
and and
nda
and
nad
and
dan dan
and
adn
adn
and
dna
Activity 2: a. The cat was cuddly and cute. b. The line of cars grew longer and longer. c. The children played on the beach and they built a sandcastle. d. The car was green and it pulled a caravan. Activity 3:
The spider went to the gate
and the boy sat down.
The chair looked cosy
and spotty.
The sky turned dark
and the sheep.
Farmer Pete went to feed the pigs
and it spun a web.
The little dog was brown
and thunder rumbled.
Activity 4: a. The kitten and puppy sat and ate dinner. and Then they curled up and slept. b. The garden was full of daffodils and tulips. and The birds were feeding on nuts and seeds. c. The party girl had a new dress and shoes. and Everyone came to play pass the parcel and sing.
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The
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