Overview Grammar_Punctuation-K-6

Overview of Grammar and Punctuation Skills K–6

• Framework outlines grammar and punctuation skills expected by end of each stage

• Organized by text level, moving from broad to specific concepts

• Concepts from earlier stages should be consolidated as per student needs

TEXT LEVEL – COHESION

Early Stage 1

• Pronoun Reference: Identifying the noun a pronoun refers to

• Synonyms: Words with similar meanings, e.g., leave/depart

• Antonyms: Words with opposite meanings, e.g., hot/cold

Stage 1

• Time Connectives: Words that sequence information, e.g., first, next

• Word Families: Related words by topic

• Noun-Pronoun Agreement: Correct pronoun selection based on noun's number and gender

Stage 2

• Subject-Verb Agreement: Verb form matches subject’s number

• Homonyms & Homophones:

  • Homonyms: Same sound/spelling, different meaning, e.g., bark (tree)

  • Homophones: Same sound, different spelling/meaning, e.g., fair/fare

Stage 3

• Cohesive Links: Using pronouns, conjunctions for connectivity in texts

• Connectives: Words linking sentences & paragraphs, e.g., however, because

• Nominalisation: Creating nouns from verbs/adjectives

• Reference Links: Tracking nouns/pronouns throughout text

SENTENCE LEVEL – STRUCTURE OF THE SENTENCE

Early Stage 1

• Sentence: Begins with capital letter, ends with punctuation

Stage 1

• Compound Sentence: Multiple clauses linked by conjunctions

• Quoted Speech: Direct dialogue citation

Stage 2

• Complex Sentence: Main and dependent clauses linked by conjunctions

Stage 3

• Topic Sentence: Introduces main idea of a paragraph

CLAUSE LEVEL – STRUCTURE OF THE CLAUSE

Early Stage 1

• Statement: Provides information

• Question: Seeks an answer

• Command: Instructs action

• Exclamation: For emphasis

Stage 1

• Clause: Complete thought, includes noun and verb

• Main Clause: Can stand alone

• Subordinate Clause: Cannot stand alone, adds information

Stage 2

• Voice: Active vs Passive (who does action vs who receives)

GROUP AND PHRASE LEVEL

Noun Group

• Group of words around a noun; may include articles and adjectives

Verb Group

• Built around a verb; may include auxiliary verbs

Adverbial Phrase

• Provides information about the main clause (where, when, how)

WORD LEVEL

Nouns

• Identify nouns in various forms: common, proper, singular/plural

Articles

• Types: a, an, the

Adjectives

• Descriptive words for nouns

Pronouns

• Stand in for nouns, e.g., I, you, he, she

WORD BUILDING AND ORIGINS

• Compound Words: Two combined words, e.g., playground

• Base Words: Words to which prefixes/suffixes can attach

• Etymology: Word origins and histories

CREATIVE AND EVALUATIVE LANGUAGE

• Features include alliteration, simile, metaphor

• Evaluative language expresses opinions and assessments

PUNCTUATION

• Capital Letter: For names & sentence beginnings

• Full Stop: Ends a sentence

• Question Mark: Indicates a question

• Exclamation Mark: Emphasizes a statement

• Comma: Separates items or clauses

• Quotation Marks: Indicate dialogue or titles

• Apostrophe: Shows contraction or possession