Year 6 · SPaG · Autumn: Phrases and clauses
Year 6 expanded noun phrases worksheet and PowerPoint
To recognise and write expanded noun phrases that add detail with adjectives, prepositional phrases and relative clauses.
Expanded noun phrases
A noun phrase is a noun with the words that go with it. An expanded noun phrase has extra detail added before or after the noun, so the reader can picture it.
| adjectives | before the noun: the tall, thin man |
|---|---|
| prepositional phrase | after the noun: the man in the doorway |
| relative clause | after the noun: the man who lives next door |
| not a noun phrase | a verb phrase (ran home) or a prepositional phrase on its own (in the doorway) |
Examples
- The tall, thin man in the doorway waved.
- I saw a bird with a yellow beak.
Key words
- noun phrase
- a noun with the words that go with it
- expanded noun phrase
- a noun phrase with extra detail added
- modifier
- a word or phrase that adds detail to a noun
- prepositional phrase
- starts with a preposition: in the garden
What is on the worksheet
Every sheet for this lesson has a short teaching box and 12 questions that get gradually harder: 8 fluency questions, then 4 reasoning questions that ask pupils to explain or choose. A writing challenge follows. The questions use the same styles as the key stage 2 grammar and punctuation test (circle, underline, tick, fill the gap, add punctuation, rewrite, explain). They are written for this website, not copied from past papers.
All the answers are on the last page of the same editable Word file. New questions are made every time, so you can print a different sheet for every group or for homework. The same sheet code always gives the same sheet.
Writing challenge: Write a description of a creature from a story you know. Use at least four expanded noun phrases, and use all three kinds of detail: adjectives, a prepositional phrase and a relative clause.
Pupil target: I can find and write expanded noun phrases.
The PowerPoint
A 20-slide lesson deck for the same lesson: a starter that revisits earlier learning, key words, an I do and a You do question on each slide with a countdown timer, answers that appear one click at a time, and a challenge. Download the expanded noun phrases PowerPoint.
Where this lesson fits
This is lesson 9 of 72 in the Year 6 SPaG scheme, in the Autumn term, block “Phrases and clauses”. It is taught before the SATs grammar test in May.
Other lessons in this block
- Main and subordinate clauses
- Coordinating and subordinating conjunctions
- Relative clauses
- Adverbs of possibility
- Modal verbs
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