SPAG Booklet - Unit 6

Year 7

Vocabulary development

Research the meaning of the following words and then use each word in your own

sentence:

Pseudonym

Meaning:
Sentence:

Ambidextrous

Meaning:
Sentence:

Camaraderie

Meaning:
Sentence:

Venture

Meaning:
Sentence:

Buoyant

Meaning:
Sentence:
‘I’ before ‘E’

The usual spelling rule that we are used to hearing is ‘i before e’, often with the addition
of ‘except after c’, but this can sometimes lead to confusion.

Here are the rules when looking at ei or ie words:

• If they come after a c, then use ‘ei’ (but don’t always rely on this).

• If the sound is ‘ay’, then use ei.

• Some words just don’t conform to the rule at all, and should be learnt and remembered
for future use. These include: ‘weird’, ‘foreign’, ‘science’, ‘height’ and ‘sufficient’.

Can you guess the following words and write them correctly?

1. The person who lives next door is called your ________

2. On your birthday you might _______ a present.

3. The opposite of the floor is the _________.

4. Don’t take the whole cake- just take a ________!

5. From another country. ___________

6. Another word for tricked. __________

7. A light brown colour. _________

8. Strange or unusual. _______

Positive, comparative and superlatives

Fill in the table of adjectives below, thinking carefully about what the positive,
comparative and superlative form of the word might be.

Top tip- some words will use ‘more’ for the comparative and ‘most’ for the superlative-
can you spot which ones?

Positive Comparative Superlative

Red

Faster

Highest

Easy

Sooner

Expensive

Comprehension

The Long Trek

Steve reckoned that they were about three miles from the river if there was still a river.
By now, it might be just a trickle of slow-moving water, or a bed or dried mud, full of
tumbleweed and stones.

He closed his eyes as he peered through the clouds of dust- red dust kicked up by
hundreds of hoofs. The cattle that streamed past him as he sat slumped in his saddle
were as tired and worn out as the exhausted men who drove them.

Some of them bellowed with fear and pain. The calves pushed their noses into the sides
of the cows that had no more milk to feed them. All of them were mad with thirst and
very thin. From their knobbly backbones, the drawn skin was tight over the fleshless
haunches. Their ribs curved like the bars of a cage over their sunken flanks. They were
starving.

They had trekked from the cattle stations in the north of Australia where usually heavy
rains filled streams and pools. But this was a year of drought. The burning sun, which
has sucked up the last drops of water, had left the ground cracked and crooked. Wide,
dangerous ruts had formed in the earth. They were deep and broad enough to wedge a
man’s boots when he walked. There was only one thing to do. The cattle must be driven
many miles south, to the river; or they would die…

1. Why did Steve sit ‘slumped’ in his saddle?

2. Define the word ‘bellowed’. Why did the cows bellow?
3. Identify a device in the following sentence: Their ribs curved like the bars of a
cage over their sunken flanks.
4. Identify TWO devices in the following sentence: The burning sun, which has
sucked up the last drops of water, had left the ground cracked and crooked.
5. What is a drought?

- Word class

Complete the table, using adventurous vocabulary:

Letter: Adjective: Verb: Noun: Adverb:

A

Verbs

For each of the verbs below, write down whether it is the past or present form of
the verb.

1. Rise = Present
2. Am =
 3. Began =
4. Draw =
5. Bit =
6. Shook =
7. Tear =
8. Do =
9. Ate =
10. Beat =

Now, for each of the verbs above, write down what the other (past/present) form would
be.

E.G.
Past = Rose

Synonyms

A synonym is a word similar in meaning to another.

In the spaces provided below, write a synonym for each of the following:
 Stop ____________

Proud ____________

Cheat ____________

Rebel ____________

Sturdy ____________

Terror ____________

Clothes ____________

Wrath ____________

Agile ____________

Strange ____________

Conjunctions

A conjunction joins words, phrases or sentences together.

Let’s look at some conjunctions of time. These words will make reference to a
time but are also known as conjunctions because they join the phrases together.
In each sentence, highlight a conjunction of time or place:

1. The lady opened the door after she switched on the light.

2. The man ate his sandwich before he got on the bus.

3. The student was bored until she went to her PE class.

4. He worked hard now that he had a new boss who was very strict!

5. Slowly, she decided she should complete her homework, whenever that may

happen, who knows…

Can you write two sentences of your own that include a conjunction of time?

Practice or Practise?

During our last SPAG booklet, we looked at when and where to use the correct form of
‘practise/practice’. Read the sentences carefully and insert the correct form of the word.

Remember: practice = noun, practise = verb.

Insert ‘practice’ or ‘practise’ into the following sentences:

1. It’s common _______ to check your spelling before handing in your work.

2. Let’s all _______ showing love- not hate!

3. Joud was _______ skating backwards at rollerskating ________.

4. The doctors’ _________ was empty which made a significant change to the waiting

times.

5. You need a bit more _______ writing poems before you are as good as

Shakespeare!

- Vocabulary development

Research the meaning of the following words and then use each word in your own

sentence:
 Campaign

Meaning:
Sentence:

Belligerent

Meaning:
Sentence:

Conspicuous

Meaning:
Sentence:

Silhouettes

Meaning:
Sentence:

Supersede

Meaning:
Sentence:

Word class (in sentences)

Read the four sentences below and then highlight an example of each word class
in the relevant colour:

Verb Adjective Adverb Noun

 1. The boy ran so quickly that his shoes became dilapidated.
2. Susie stomped across the decayed tarmac, wildly gesticulating and throwing her
hands in the air.
3. Singing so elegantly, the young girl caused the audience to cry profusely.
4. Hastily, he completed his homework- the teacher won’t be happy with him if he
forgot again!
5. The end of term was rapidly approaching, and the students were elated that it
meant no more school for six whole joyous weeks!

Summary of skills

Write a short paragraph about your hopes and dreams for the future. Use the checklist
below to help you:

Have you used:

● A range of sentence structures
● Correct spelling and grammar
● Wider use of punctuation
● Used connectives and discourse markers to link your ideas
● Used adventurous synonyms for certain words