Year 3 · SPaG lessons

Year 3 SPaG lesson sheets

One sheet for each SPaG lesson, with new questions every time. Each sheet starts with a short teaching box, then eight fluency questions that get gradually harder, then four reasoning questions and a writing challenge. You get one editable Word file: the sheet, and all the answers together on the last page.

The scheme and the PowerPoints

Direct speech

1. Recognising direct speech: Finding the words someone says, inside inverted commas. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
2. Punctuating direct speech: Inverted commas, capital letters and the comma or end mark in direct speech. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
3. Writing direct speech: Writing what people say with the reporting clause before or after. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint

Apostrophes and commas

1. Commas in lists: Using commas to separate the items in a list. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
2. Apostrophes for contractions: Joining two words with an apostrophe where letters are missing. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
3. Apostrophes for possession: Showing that something belongs to someone with an apostrophe and s. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint

Verb tenses

1. Past and present tense (1): The simple past and the simple present. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
2. Past and present tense (2): The present and past progressive: is walking, was walking. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
3. Recognising the present perfect: Has or have with the past participle. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
4. Using the present perfect: Writing sentences with has or have and the past participle. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint

Conjunctions and clauses

1. What is a clause?: A group of words with a verb, and how a conjunction joins two clauses. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
2. Expanding sentences (and, but, or, so): Joining two sentences with and, but, or and so. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
3. Expanding sentences (when, if, that, because): Adding more information to a sentence with when, if, that and because. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
4. Coordinating conjunctions: And, but, or and so: joining clauses of equal weight. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
5. Subordinating conjunctions: Because, when, if, before, after, while and until. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
6. Conjunctions for time: Before, after, when, while and until. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
7. Conjunctions for place: Where and wherever. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
8. Conjunctions for cause: Because, so and in case. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
9. Conjunctions for time, place and cause: Mixed practice: conjunctions that tell you when, where and why. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint

Adverbs

1. What is an adverb?: Words that tell you more about a verb: how, when, where. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
2. Adverbs of time: Yesterday, soon, later and other adverbs that say when. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
3. Adverbs of place: Here, there, outside, away and other adverbs that say where. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
4. Adverbs of cause: Therefore, consequently and as a result: adverbs that show why. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
5. Adverbs of time, place and cause: Mixed practice: adverbs that say when, where and why. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint

Prepositions

1. What is a preposition?: Words such as under, behind and before that link a noun to the rest of the sentence. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
2. Prepositional phrases: A preposition and the noun that follows it. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
3. Prepositions of time: Before, after, during, until and since. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
4. Prepositions of place: Under, behind, beside, between and other prepositions that say where. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
5. Prepositions of cause: Because of, due to, owing to and thanks to. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
6. Prepositions of time, place and cause: Mixed practice: prepositions that say when, where and why. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint

Determiners and articles

1. What is a vowel?: The five vowels a, e, i, o and u, and how to find them in a word. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
2. What is a consonant?: All the letters that are not vowels, and how to find them in a word. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
3. A or an: Using a before a consonant sound and an before a vowel sound. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
4. Recognising determiners: Articles, possessive, demonstrative and numerical determiners and quantifiers. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
5. Using determiners: Choosing the determiner that fits the noun. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint

Nouns and noun phrases

1. Noun phrases: A noun with a determiner and adjectives: the old wooden door. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
2. Types of nouns: Common, proper and collective nouns. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
3. Recognising abstract nouns: Telling abstract nouns, such as bravery, from concrete nouns, such as table. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
4. Using abstract nouns: Making abstract nouns from adjectives and using them in sentences. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
5. Using different types of nouns: Mixed practice: noun phrases, common, proper, collective and abstract nouns. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint

Prefixes and word families

1. Root words, prefixes and suffixes: The root of a word, and the letters added to the start or end of it. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
2. Identifying word families: Words that share a root: kind, kindness, unkind. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
3. What is a prefix? (un-): The prefix un- changes a word to mean not: happy → unhappy. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
4. Adding super-, anti- and auto-: The prefixes super- (above), anti- (against) and auto- (self). · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
5. Adding sub- and inter-: The prefixes sub- (under) and inter- (between). · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
6. Prefixes together: Mixed practice: un-, super-, anti-, auto-, sub- and inter-. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint

Sentences

1. What is a sentence?: A group of words that makes sense, starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
2. Different types of sentences: Statements, questions, commands and exclamations. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint

Paragraphs

1. Sequencing sentences: Putting sentences in an order that makes sense. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
2. What is a paragraph?: A group of sentences about one idea. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
3. Paragraphs in narrative: Starting a new paragraph in a story when the time, place or speaker changes. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
4. Paragraphs in reports (sub-headings): One paragraph for each topic, with a sub-heading. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint
5. Paragraphs in biographies: Paragraphs in the story of someone’s life, in time order. · Make a sheet · PowerPoint

About these sheets

The questions are written by this website. They use the same kinds of question as the key stage 2 grammar and punctuation test (circle, underline, tick, add punctuation, match, join two sentences, explain) but are not real test questions. Every sentence is built from hand-checked word lists, and every answer is worked out by the same code and then checked again by a second program that was written separately. The checker cannot judge whether a sentence is sensible or whether a pupil might find a second answer, so read the answers before marking and use your own judgement. Written answers are marked on meaning where the answer sheet says so.

This site is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the Standards and Testing Agency or the Department for Education.