Year 6 · SPaG · Spring: Formal and informal writing
Year 6 formal vocabulary worksheet and PowerPoint
To choose formal vocabulary to replace everyday words and phrases in formal writing.
Formal words
Formal writing uses precise, serious words. Often a formal word is a single word that replaces a chatty phrasal verb (a verb plus a small word like up, out or into).
| everyday → formal | get → obtain, buy → purchase, help → assist, kids → children |
|---|---|
| phrasal verbs | sort out → resolve, look into → investigate, put up with → tolerate |
| more | try → attempt, need → require, show → demonstrate |
Examples
- We need to get more information. → We need to obtain more information.
- The police will look into it. → The police will investigate it.
Key words
- formal
- serious, careful language
- phrasal verb
- a verb with a small word, such as sort out
- vocabulary
- the words we know and use
- precise
- exact and clear
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 an email to a company complaining about a broken toy. Use at least six formal words from the lesson.
Pupil target: I can choose formal words.
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 formal vocabulary PowerPoint.
Where this lesson fits
This is lesson 45 of 72 in the Year 6 SPaG scheme, in the Spring term, block “Formal and informal writing”. It is taught before the SATs grammar test in May.
Other lessons in this block
- Formal and informal writing
- The subjunctive in formal writing
- Question tags
- Writing in a formal style
- Standard English
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