Teaching Strategies, Tactics, and Methods

Let’s get the most important question out of the way and figure out what the present tense is.

The present tense is one of the three main tenses, along with the past and future tenses, in which verbs will often appear. As the name suggests, the present tense is used to show that something is happening in the current or right now.

The present tense has four variations: present continuous, present perfect continuous, present perfect, and simple present tense. In this teaching wiki, we’ll cover each of them in detail and explain how they might be used in a sentence.

What are three examples of the present tense?

But first, let’s boost our understanding of the present tense by taking a look at a few examples alongside their past and future forms:

Past: He took a bus into town.

Present: He is taking a bus into town

Future: He will take a bus into town.

Past: She cooked dinner for her family.

Present: She is cooking dinner for her family.

Future: She will cook dinner for her family.

Past: The football team competed in the tournament.

Present: The football team is competing in the tournament.

Future: The football team will compete in the tournament.

From these examples, you should understand what a sentence written in the present tense looks like. Now without further ado, let’s look at each of the four different forms of the present tense:

What are the four types of present tense?

1) Simple Present Tense

The simple present tense is used when events happen continually over some time in the present. For example, when activities are done daily or by expressing thoughts and feelings.

Check out these examples of Simple Present Tense:

• Carl goes on holiday every year
• I feel ill
• We wake up for work at 7 am

You might like to challenge your pupils to add simple present-tense examples to this list.

Learn how to form the Simple Present Tense:

First-person singular: I dance

Second-person singular: You dance

Third-person singular: He/she/It dances (note the ‑s)

First-person plural: We dance

Second-person plural: You dance

Third-person plural: They dance

2) Present Continuous Tense

The present continuous tense describes an ongoing action that is happening right now, which is in progress or hasn’t been completed. The present continuous tense is used to write about events or actions that are happening currently.

We typically use the present continuous tense with the appropriate ‘to be’ verb and a dynamic verb. A dynamic verb shows action and/or process.

Check out these examples of Present Continuous Tense:

• It is raining.
• I am not going out after work today.
• James can’t come to the phone because he is making tea.

Learn how to form the Present Continuous Tense

First-person singular: I am

Second-person singular: You are

Third-person singular: He/She/It is

First-person plural: We are

Second-person plural: You are

Third-person plural: They are

3) Present Perfect Tense

The perfect form is a verb tense that consists of the present perfect, the past perfect, and the future perfect. We use it when talking or writing about actions completed by the present or a specific moment in the past or future. For example, the present perfect tense is used for repeated actions that began in the past but are not finished yet.

Check out these examples of Present Perfect Tense:

• I have guitar lessons every Monday.
• We have known each other since school.
• There has been an accident.

How to Form the Present Perfect Tense

First-person singular: I have

Second-person singular: You have

Third-person singular: He/She/It has

First-person plural: We have

Second-person plural: You have

Third-person plural: They have

4) Present Perfect Continuous Tense

And finally, we have the present perfect continuous. This will likely be the last of the present tenses you teach your little ones in KS2. The present continuous tense indicates that an action or condition is happening now, frequently, or may continue.

The present continuous (present progressive) tense is a way to convey any action or condition that is happening right now, frequently, and maybe ongoing.

Check out these examples of present Perfect Continuous Tense:

You can use some of our simple examples of present continuous tense to help explain how to identify and use the formula of this tense form.

• He is going to the library.
• We are coming to shopping in this market.
• You are shopping in that market.
• I am writing articles on different topics.
• He is reading various kinds of books.
• They are playing football now.

What are Present Tense words?

We’ve looked at each of the four present tense forms and read through a few examples. So, let’s briefly explore some valuable words and phrases that you or your learners can use when forming sentences in the present tense:Top of Form

Present tense	Word Bank	Example Sentence
Simple present tense	Every day, month, week, year, consistently, sometimes, never, frequently	Steve runs three miles every day.
Continuous present tense	I am, is, are	The boys play netball after school. We are visiting the museum in the afternoon.
Perfect present tense	Has, have	John has taken Sarah’s advice. They have fixed the fence.
Perfect continuous present tense	Has been, have been, haven’t been	I have been watching TV for hours. Nat has been learning ballet for seven years.

A consonant cluster, also known as a consonant blend, is where two or more consonant sounds appear in a word with no intervening vowels. Unlike consonant digraphs, where the consonants represent just one sound, each consonant sound in a blend can be heard when it’s sounded out.

What is a consonant blend, and what are some examples?

Consonant blends, also known as consonant clusters or adjacent consonants, is the phonics term given to two or more consonant sounds positioned side by side in a word with no intervening vowels.

Here’s the significant bit: unlike digraphs or trigraphs, where the letters all form one sound, each of the consonants in a cluster can be heard when the blend is sounded out. For instance, we say all three letter sounds of the ‘str’ blend in the word ‘string.’ If two or more consonants represent one sound, we’d call that a consonant digraph. Some examples of those include ‘sh’ or ‘th’.

Consonant clusters are often found at the beginning or end of a word. In the front, they’re never longer than three consonants long, such as the ‘s,’ ‘p,’ ‘l’ in splash, or ‘s,’ ‘p,’ and ‘r’ in a sprain. Three-letter consonant clusters always begin with the letter ‘s.’

At the end of the word, they can be up to four consonants long. A good example is the ‘l,’ ‘f,’ ‘th’ ‘s’ in twelfths. Although there are five letters there, there are only four consonant sounds, as /th/ is a digraph.

Consonant clusters in phonics can appear at the start of a word, for example:

• /s/ /t/in stay
• /f/ /r/in friend
• /c/ /r/in croak

Or at the end of a word:

• /s/ /k/in task
• /s/ /t/in fast
• /n/ /t/in went
• /n/ /d/in sound

What are some of the different consonant blends?

Now that we’ve seen some examples of consonant clusters in different words let’s look at many of these different blends themselves. There are dozens of various clusters in the English language, and children are likely to encounter many of the most common ones during their phonics education. Once you’ve become familiar with many common ones, you’ll know how to teach consonant blends more effectively.

Here are some of the most common two and three-letter clusters, as well as some example words:

Two-letter clusters:

Two-letter blends	Examples
bl	Blue, blob, bloom
cl	Climb, cling, clean
fl	Flu, flood, fly
gl	Glue, glass,
pl	Play, place, plan
sl	Slot, slide, sly
br	bread, break, brain
cr	crumb, cream, crab
dr	dream, dry, drop
fr	friend, fry, frost
gr	grow, grain, green
pr	pray, price, print
tr	tray, try, trust
sc	scan, scrap, scoop
sk	skip, skin, sky
sm	smart, smug, smear
sn	snake, sneak, snout
sp	span, spend, sponge
st	stay, star, store
sw	sweet, swim, swung
tw	twist, twig, twelve

Three-letter clusters:

Three-letter blends	Examples
shr	shrink, shred, shrew
spl	splash, splat, split
squ	squash, squid, square
str	street, strong, straight
thr	throw, three, thrill

What is the difference between consonant blends and blending?

By now, you’ll no doubt be knowledgeable about consonant clusters and some of the most common examples. But before we discuss the importance of these clusters and how to teach consonant blends, there’s the elephant in the room that we need to address, and its name is blending!

Although they’re both parts of phonics and are related, it’s important not to get blends and to blend mixed up.

• Consonant blends, as we know, are where two or more consonants are next to each other in a word with no intervening vowels, and each one is heard when the word is sounded out.
• When we talk about blending, though, we’re referring to one of the phonics methods through which kids learn to decode and read words. During phonics, children will learn to segment (or break down) a word into its sounds before blending them all to reform the word.

Now that we’ve cleared that up, let’s move on and explore why blends are essential to teaching and how to teach consonant blends!

Why do we learn about consonant clusters?

Consonant clusters are all well and good – but why do we need to learn about them? There are two main reasons why consonant clusters are essential to be aware of.

Consonant clusters are essential for early readers. Learning to decode a series of consonants can be tricky for young children because it is harder to distinguish between two or more individual sounds. Singular consonants, separated by vowels, are much easier to read and spell, and children might trip up when they encounter a new string of consonants to sound out, they can trip up. This is why it’s a good idea for them to know what consonant clusters are.

The other core reason consonant clusters are an essential teaching point is for those learning English as a foreign language. Consonant clusters in English can trip up speakers of other languages, and they might not know how to pronounce them correctly. They might also get them mixed up with consonant digraphs. Making them aware of clusters, digraphs, and the difference between them can help with their pronunciation and fluency.

1st Grade Animal Trivia

Which is the largest species of cat in the world? (a) Tigers (b) Lions (c) Panthers. Answer: (a) Tigers.

What is a baby cow called? (a) A puppy (b) A foal (c) A calf. Answer: (c) Calf.

What color are ladybugs? Answer: Red and black.

How many legs do insects have? Answer: Six.

What is the fastest land animal in the world? Is it (a) An antelope, (b) A cheetah, (c) A hippo. Answer: (b) Cheetah. 

What is the national mammal of the United States? Answer: The American Bison.

What is the largest land animal in the world? Answer: African Elephants.

What color are polar bears? Answer: White.

What makes dalmatian dogs so unique? Answer: Their spots.

1st Grade Bird Trivia

Which bird lays the biggest eggs? Answer: The ostrich.

What type of bird eats animals that are already dead? Answer: Vultures.

All birds are related to dinosaurs. True or false? Answer: True.

Which bird has the largest wingspan? (a) The wandering albatross, (b) The bald eagle, (c) The great white pelican. Answer: (a) The wandering albatross.

What species of bird were Skipper, Rico, Private, and Kowalski in the movie Madagascar? Answer: Penguins.

Which bird goes “hoot” in the night? Answer: Owls.

Which pink-colored bird is famous for standing on one leg? Answer:  Flamingos.

On Thanksgiving, it’s traditional to eat roast duck. True or false? Answer: False.

What do you call the soft and sometimes colorful things that cover a bird’s body? Answer: Feathers.

1st Grade Space Trivia

What do you call the bright lights in the sky at night? Answer: Stars.

In space, there’s no gravity. What effect does this have on astronauts? Answer: They float.

Which planet is surrounded by a set of rings? (a) Mars (b) Saturn (c) Jupiter. Answer: (b) Saturn.

What does the Earth orbit around? Answer: The sun.

What orbits around the Earth? Answer: The moon.

What is the name of the galaxy to which our solar system belongs? Answer: The Milky Way.

1st Grade Movie Trivia

What’s the name of the villain in the Lion King? Answer: Scar.

Which animal does the Grinch have as a pet? (a) A dog, (b) A cat, (c) A parrot. Answer: (a) A Dog.

What’s the name of the snowman in Frozen? Answer: Olaf.

Scooby-Doo’s real name is Scoobert Doobert. True or false? Answer: False (it’s Scoobert Doo.)

Which Mexican holiday is Coco based on? Answer: Day of the Dead.

In Ratatouille, what secret talent does Remy the rat have? Answer: He’s a chef.

Madagascar is based on the lives of a group of (a) Farm animals, (b) Zoo animals (c) Wild animals. Answer: Zoo animals.

What is the name of Shrek’s four-legged sidekick? Answer: Donkey.

Complete the title of this classic Disney tale: Snow White and the Seven _____. Answer: Dwarves.

1st Grade Food Trivia

What are the two main toppings on a Hawaiian pizza? Answer: Ham and pineapple.

Which country does spaghetti come from? Answer: Italy.

What do vegetarians not eat? Answer: Meat.

What do vegans not eat? Answer: Meat and dairy products.

U.S. baseball fans eat over 25 million hot dogs every season. True or false? Answer: True.

Brisket, sirloin, T-bone, and tomahawk are all cuts of what meat? (a) Chicken (b) Pork (c) Beef. Answer: (c) Beef.

Which country do burritos, guacamole, and tacos come from? Answer: Mexico.

What are the three main ingredients in s’mores? Answer: Marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate.

Which vitamin do oranges contain? Answer: Vitamin C.

What types of food are Monterey Jack, mozzarella, Gouda, and Swiss? Answer: Cheese.

1st Grade Nature Trivia

What do you call a large, cone-shaped rock formation that spews out lava? Answer: A volcano.

What do you call water that has frozen due to cold temperatures? Answer: Ice.

What do you call a dangerous storm that starts at sea? Answer: A hurricane.

What’s the name for the fluffy white shapes you can see in the sky? Answer: Clouds.

What’s the highest mountain in the world? Answer: Mount Everest in Nepal.

What is the longest river in the USA? Answer: The Mississippi.

The highest temperature ever recorded in the United States is 134 degrees. True or false? Answer: True.

What do you call the ball-shaped pieces of ice that sometimes fall from the sky? Answer: Hail or hailstones.

Where is the coldest place in the United States? Is it (a) Fairbanks, AK, (b) Saint Paul, MN, or (c) Cheyenne, WY? Answer: Fairbanks, AK.

1st Grade U.S. Geography Trivia

Which two countries border the United States? Answer: Canada and Mexico.

The largest city in the U.S. is Los Angeles. True or false? Answer: False; it’s New York.

What is Las Vegas famous for? Answer: Casinos.

How many states are there in the U.S.? Answer: 50.

Of these three U.S. states, which is the largest: (a) New York, (b) Alaska, (c) Texas? Answer: Alaska.

Which is the smallest U.S. state? Answer: Rhode Island.

1st Grade Seasons and Holidays Trivia

What date is Christmas? Answer: December 25.

In which month does fall begin? Answer: September.

Name three things you do on Halloween. Possible answers: Trick or treating, wear a costume, decorate your home, eat candy.

Which religion celebrates Hanukkah? Answer: Judaism.

Easter happens in the summer. True or false? Answer: False; Easter occurs in spring.

What happens to trees in the fall? Answer: Their leaves change color and fall to the ground.

During which season is it most likely to snow? Answer: Winter.

What is the name of the reindeer with the red nose? Answer: Rudolph.

In which season do people celebrate Thanksgiving? Answer: Fall.

1st Grade Sports Trivia

In which sport might you hear these words: bogey, eagle, and birdie? Answer: Golf.

How many strikes are batters allowed in baseball? Answer: Three.

What do you call the player who directs their team’s play and calls all the shots in football? Answer: Quarterback.

Who invented Lacrosse? (a) Native Americans, (b) French settlers, (c) Civil War soldiers. Answer: Native Americans.

Which sport can you play on grass and ice while wearing rollerblades? Answer: Hockey.

Name three events you might find during your school’s field day. Possible answers: Ring toss, relay race, obstacle course, and sidewalk chalk.

A touchdown is scored in football when the ball is kicked through the goalposts. True or false? Answer: False.

Which of the following is a natural swimming stroke? (a) the caterpillar, (b) the butterfly, and (c) the worm. Answer: The butterfly.

What color are tennis balls? Answer: Green.

1st Grade U.S. Politics and History Trivia

What year was the Declaration of Independence signed? Answer: 1776.

Who was the first President of the United States? Answer: George Washington.

Who is the current President of the United States? Answer: Joe Biden.

How many stars are there on the American flag? Answer: 50.

What is the name of the U.S. national anthem? Answer: The Star-Spangled Banner.

The United States has never had a female president. True or false? Answer: True.

The United States flag contains three colors. What are they? Answer: Red, white, and blue.

What are the two main political parties in America? Answer: Republicans and Democrats.

Where does the President of the United States live? Answer: The White House.

1st Grade Around the World Trivia

Which country are the Harry Potter stories set in? Answer: England.

Where does sushi come from? Answer: Japan.

In which country would you find a giant panda in the wild? Answer: China.

France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Portugal are part of which continent? Answer: Europe.

Where does The Day of the Dead initially come from? Answer: Mexico.

Which country eats the most chocolate? Is it (a) Switzerland, (b) Canada, or (c) Brazil? Answer: Switzerland.

On which continent are you most likely to see zebras, lions, giraffes, cheetahs, and elephants in the wild? Answer: Africa.

Where is Greta Thunberg from? Answer: Sweden.

Scotland’s national animal is the unicorn. True or false? Answer: True.

Which English city does Paddington Bear travel to? Answer: London.

What is a Finite Verb?

A finite verb is a type of verb that shows agreement with a subject and can be in the present tense or past tense.

Finite verbs can be easily identified if they are the only verb within a sentence or the central element of the main clause. They can even be imperative verbs!

Finite Verb Examples

James does the washing every day (present tense)

Even Dave did the washing yesterday (past tense)

Do the washing, Josie! (imperative)

Non-Finite Verb Examples 

To understand finite verbs more clearly, take a look at some non-finite verb examples:

I have done the washing (combined with the finite verb have)

I will do the washing (combined with the finite verb will)

I want to do the washing! (combined with the finite verb want)

What is numerical order?

Numerical order is a way of arranging a sequence of numbers. This could be in ascending or descending order. For example, if you ordered a set of numbers in ascending order, such as 2, 55, 103, 256, 802. This can make searching through a large group of numbers a lot easier. Plus, it can help with analyzing numbers and working with statistics.

You put things into the correct place when ordering something by following a rule. There are lots of different rules for ordering you can follow. You can even make up your own rules for ordering. For example, you could order shapes by how many sides they have. Or, order a set of numbers from lowest to highest.

What is ascending order?

Ascending order is arranging numbers from the smallest to the largest. This is usually done from left to right. A good way of remembering this is remembering that ascending means going up. So, the numbers have to go up. In English, this can also be when letters are arranged from A to Z.

You might be wondering where you can find ascending order in real-life situations. Here are a few examples that can help you out:

• Staircases: If you imagine a staircase, it’s the perfect example of ascending order. You start on step 1, and as you climb the stairs, you start going up more and more steps. If you picture a number on each step, beginning at 1, you’ll see ascending order.

• Height: As you grow and get taller, your height will be in ascending order. If you note your height yearly, you’ll see the numbers increase as you grow. It will be different for each person, but everyone grows.

• Money: If you gather some coins, you can display your ascending order. Start with 1p, then 2p and work your way up the coins. Eventually, you’ll have presented coins that go in ascending order.

• Shopping: When you’re out at the shops, count how many items are in your basket or trolley as you go around. The total number of items in your basket or trolley will be in ascending order. So as you go around the shop and add to it, the number of things increases.

What is descending order?

Descending order is the opposite of ascending order. It’s when the numbers go down. You can usually reverse your ascended order numbers to find the descending order. An excellent way to remember this is by thinking that descending starts with a D, which means down.

Here are some examples of where you can find descending order in real life:

• Flights: When an airplane is ready to land, it has to make a descent. This is when the plane starts to move back toward the ground. The number of feet the plane is in the air begins to decrease. If you noted how high the airplane was every minute, you would have numbers in descending order.
• Pyramids: The pyramids in Egypt are very famous. You could see for miles if you stood at the top of one of them. Also, you’d notice that they are set in descending order. From the bottom, thousands of blocks make up the base of the pyramids. Then as they get taller, the amount of blocks begins to get smaller and smaller until you reach the top.
• Slides: If you’ve ever been on a slide at the park, you’ll know the feeling of descending. Slides are a great example of descending order. They’re just like the example about planes. For example, if you measure someone’s height off the ground at the top of a slide, the numbers would be in descending order at intervals on the way down.

BODMAS

BODMAS is a way for children to remember what order of operations they need to do when working out problems. It stands for ‘Brackets, Order, Division, Multiplication, Addition, Subtraction.’

BODMAS is related to numerical order because it is an order of what operations to do. The different operations follow a particular rule in a set order. However, the Order’ section of BODMAS doesn’t mean numerical order, but orders of numbers such as squaring numbers.

What are some ways to order things?

There are lots of ways to order things. Sometimes you don’t just need to organize numbers, but you might need to organize items or shapes. This is a quick list of different ways you can manage numbers and other things:

• Ascending: This is usually used to organize numbers. You put the lowest number first and the highest number last. This is generally done from left to right, too.

• Descending: This is the opposite of ascending order. You have the most significant number first and work to the smallest number. Descending order is still done from left to right.

• Size: This is usually used for shapes and objects. Ordering by size is taking the smallest object and putting that first, then building up to the most prominent thing.

• Groups: Ordering things and numbers by groups can be a suitable method. For example, you could order fractions, prime numbers, or even odd numbers by groups. In addition, objects could be categorized into groups of the same color or size.

• Location: Things can be ordered by location. If you were organizing objects in a house, you could manage them by room. Or, if you have many items from different countries, you can order them by where they came from.
• Alphabetical: One of the oldest and most straightforward ways of ordering things is in alphabetical order. This can be done with an object by the first letter of the object’s name. So, for example, a spoon would come under ‘S,’ and an apple would come under ‘A.’

What is a Scalene Triangle? Parts and properties

A Scalene Triangle is any triangle where all three sides and angles are different lengths, just like in the illustration below. This also means that each angle has to be different. They tend to be easy to spot because they look a little wonky.

All sides of the scalene triangle are unequal in length.	There are no lines of symmetry in a scalene triangle.	The angle opposite the longest side of the triangle is the most significant.
E.g., a scalene triangle could have sides of 4cm, 5cm, and 8cm.	It cannot be divided into two halves.	See the image below for an example.

Because of their uneven qualities, scalene triangles are never symmetrical, giving them a distinctive lopsided look. Like all other triangles, the total angles in scalene triangles add up to 180°.

Types of Scalene Triangle

There are three main types of scalene triangles:

• Right-angled scalene triangle– these triangles have one angle of 90° and two more differing values. All three sides are of differing lengths.
• Acute scalene triangle– in these triangles, all three angles are less than 90°, and all three sides have differing lengths.
• Obtuse scalene triangle– these triangles have one angle over 90° and two less than 90°. Again, all three sides are of differing lengths.

Spotting a Scalene Triangle

Like all triangles, scalene triangles have three sides and three angles that all add up to 180°. The size and shape of a scalene triangle can vary a lot, but there are a few things to bear in mind that will help you to tell a scalene triangle apart from the others:

If you have a ruler available, you can measure the sides of a given triangle. If they’re all different lengths, then it is a scalene triangle.

If you have a protractor to hand, use that to measure the angles of the triangle. Again, if they’re all different, it’s a scalene triangle.

If you don’t have a way of finding out the length or angles of a triangle, it can be tricky to say for sure whether it’s a scalene or not. That said, because they’re always unsymmetrical, scalene triangles tend to have a bit of a ‘wonky’ look that can be a giveaway.

What is an Adverb of Place?

Adverbs of place tell us where things happened – they change or add meaning to a sentence. So they’re also sometimes called spatial adverbs.

Adverbs of place are usually used after the principal verb or clause that they modify.

How do you use adverbs of place?

An adverb of place is always used to talk about the location where the verb’s action is being carried out. Adverbs of place are usually placed after a sentence’s object or main verb. However, adverbs of place can be directional.

To learn more about how to use adverbs of place with your students accurately, check out these simple adverbs of place rules:

• Many adverbs of place indicate movement in a particular direction and end in the letters “-ward or -wards.”
• An adverb of place always talks about where the verb’s action is being carried out.
• Adverbs of place can be directional, indicate distantly, or indicate an object’s position about another thing. For example, below, between, above, behind, through, around, and so forth.
• Adverbs of place are typically placed after a sentence’s object or main verb.

28 Examples of Adverb of Place

Adverbs of place can be directional, which means they tell us the direction of something. For example:

Adverb of Place	Example Sentence
Up	The kite is up there!
Down	The shop is down the road.
Around	They looked around the park.
North	The house is north of here.
South	She walked south.
East	We’re going east.
West	It’s to the west.

They can also refer to the distance of something, such as how close or far away something is.

Adverb of Place	Example Sentence
Nearby	The beach is nearby.
far away	She lives far away.
miles apart	The two shopping centers are miles apart.
close by	The new zoo is close by.

Adverbs of place can also tell us the position of an object about another thing.

Adverb of Place	Example Sentence
Above	He lives above the shop.
Below	We keep the mugs on the shelf below the glasses.
in front	The hedges are in front of the house.
Behind	There are flowers behind the garden bench.
Through	The exit is through that door.
Around	There are lots of people around.
on top	Birds sit on top of their nests.
underneath/beneath	The plant’s roots grow underneath/beneath the ground.

Other adverbs of place show movement in a particular direction. These typically end in the suffix -wards.

Adverb of Place	Example Sentence
forwards	She’s walking forwards.
backward	To moonwalk, you have to learn to walk backward.
upwards	Look upwards, and you’ll see the sky.
downwards	The elevator is going downwards.
onwards	We have to keep moving onwards.

There are several adverbs of place which end in the suffix -where. They express the idea of a location rather than a specific one.

Adverb of Place	Example Sentence
Somewhere	Her glasses have to be around here somewhere.
Nowhere	The last marble was nowhere to be found.
Everywhere	In the spring, there are flowers everywhere.
Anywhere	Is there anywhere left to go?

 

Adverbs of Place ending in -where

Adverbs of place that end in -where express the idea of location without specifying a specific location or direction. For example:

• I would like to go somewhere warm for my vacation.
• I keep running into Sally everywhere!
• Is there anywhere I can find a perfect plate of spaghetti around here?
• I have nowhere to go.

Adverbs of Place that express both location and movement

Some adverbs of place describe both movement and location at the same time. For example:

• The child went indoors.
• He lived and worked abroad.
• Water always flows downhill.
• The wind pushed us sideways.

Adverbs of Place that are also prepositions

Many adverbs of place can also be used as prepositions. When used as prepositions, they must be followed by a noun. Examples of adverbs of place that are also prepositions include:

• I am wearing a necklace around my neck.
• Let’s hide behind the shed.
• John made his way carefully down the cliff.
• I dropped the letter in the mailbox.

FAQ: Adverbs of Place

1. Is home an adverb of place?
   While the word ‘home’ is usually a noun, it can also be used in some instances as an adverb of place.

‘Home’ isn’t a specific, physical place – it’s a different place for everyone and is even sometimes described as a feeling – which is why it can be used as an adverb.

For example, the sentence, ‘I went home,’ works as an adverb of place that tells us where the speaker ‘went.’

2. Where is an adverb placed in a sentence?

When modifying a sentence, adverbs can be placed in four positions:

• In the beginning.
• In the end.
• Before all the other verbs.

3. What is an adverb of place and time?

Adverbs of time are used to say when something happens. They are commonly used at the end of a sentence but may also be used at the beginning in some instances. Examples of adverbs of time include:

• I often eat vegetarian food.

Adverbs of place tell us where things happened – they change or add meaning to a sentence. They’re also sometimes called spatial adverbs. Examples of adverbs of lace include:

• John looked around, but he couldn’t see the monkey.
• I searched everywhere I could think of.
• I’m going back to school.

4. Are ‘Here’ and ‘There’ adverbs of place?

‘Here’ and ‘there’ are some of the most common adverbs of place. They give a location relevant to the speaker rather than another subject or object in the sentence. ‘Here’ means in the same place as the speaker, and ‘there’ means someplace away from the speaker.

Examples of ‘here’ and ‘there’ as an adverb of place:

• Come over here.
• Dinner is over there.
• The food is in here.

‘Here’ and ‘there’ are also combined with prepositions to make adverbial phrases about the place.

• There are birds up there.
• Come over here and look at this.
• There’s something under here.

Root Words

Root words in English are essential words with no prefixes or suffixes added to them. Read through the rest of this handy teaching wiki to learn more about what root words are and what root words look like in English, with root word examples, as well as a great collection of resources and teaching aids to support your lesson planning this term.

Independent root words examples in English and their meaning

• Act – to move or do (root word with added prefix or suffix – actor, acting, re-enact).
• Crypt – to hide (root word with added prefix or suffix – cryptic, cryptography).
• Ego – I (root word with added prefix or suffix – egotist, narcissistic, egomaniac).
• Form- shape (root word with added prefix or suffix – conform, formulate, reform).
• Legal – related to the law (root word with added prefix or suffix – illegal, legalities, paralegal).
• Meter – measure (root word with added prefix or suffix – kilometer, millimeter, pedometer).
• Norm – typical (root word with added prefix or suffix – abnormal, normality, paranormal).

What is the difference between root words and base words?

Base words are similar to root words but are not precisely the same. A base word is a standalone English word that can also form other words by using prefixes and suffixes (whereas root words cannot always be used as an independent words). When a prefix or suffix is added to a base word, the word’s meaning changes, and a new word is formed.

What are some KS2 root words examples?

Suffixes – ‘er’ and ‘-est’ is used to create comparative and superlative adjectives.

Example:
high / higher / the highest
Warm / warmer/ warmest.

Some root words can have words added to change their meaning entirely.

Example:
normal / ab – normal / normal – ity
place / re – place / place – d

Adding ‘jelly’ to the front of the word ‘fish’ makes ‘jellyfish,’ and adding ‘sun’ to the start of ‘flower’ creates ‘sunflower.’

More root words in English – KS2 examples

Root word	Prefix added	Suffix added
Marine	submarine	mariner
View	review	viewed
play	replay	player played
heat	reheat	heated, heater
behave	misbehave	behavior behaved
place	replace	replaced
normal	abnormal	normality, normalize
want	unwanted	wanted

What are some common prefixes that are added to root words in English?

• Dis-, De-: Opposite of
• Trans-: In-between, transcend
• Inter-: Between, among
• Sub-: Under
• Non-: Not, negative
• Un-: Opposite
• Semi-: Half
• Re-: Back, again
• Mid-: Middle
• Mis-: Wrongly

As we might already know, a sentence is a grammatical unit made up of one or more words. In addition, every sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop or punctuation mark. But what is a simple sentence?

A simple sentence in English is a sentence that’s made up of a single independent clause. In a simple sentence, there’s only one subject and often only one verb. In other words, a simple sentence is the most basic sentence that we could create!

What are ten simple sentence examples?

Now that we have a basic understanding let’s look at ten simple sentence examples. By looking at a few simple sentences in English, we’ll be able to learn what they look like and how we can identify them:

Hugh went to the shops.

Terry was late for the bus.

The car ran a red light.

I bought a new computer.

We went to the cinema.

Martha bought a new dog.

The bus was late.

We played football.

She often reads books.

They walked to the park.

As we can see from these simple sentence examples, each sentence comprises only a single independent clause. Moreover, we can also see that no dependent provisions are attached to the sentences.

How do you write a simple sentence?

By now, we’ve learned a bit about simple sentences and seen some simple sentence examples. But how can we write our simple sentences in English?

When writing a simple sentence, the key thing to remember is that it must be an independent clause that can stand on its own without other clauses to give it meaning. However, these can vary in length quite considerably. For instance:

Maurice swam.

I ate.

Even though these simple sentence examples are only two words long, they still count as simple sentences. This is because they contain both a subject and a predicate (or verb). However, we can also write longer, simple sentences such as this one:

Clara taught herself how to play the piano.

When we think of simple sentences in English, we might imagine they have to be very basic. However, longer sentences can still be simple sentences. This example sentence contains two verbs: ‘taught’ and ‘play.’ However, it includes a single subject and forms only one independent clause.

Here’s how this sentence might look if it were made up of more than one clause:

Clara wanted to play the piano, so she taught herself.

As we can see, this sentence doesn’t count as a simple sentence in English. This is because it’s made up of an independent clause, ‘Clara wanted to play the piano,’ followed by a subordinate clause which needs the main clause to give it context. A comma separates the two clauses.

What are the other sentence types

Now that we’ve seen some simple sentence examples and know how to write a simple sentence let’s take a quick look at the other main sentence types. These are:

Compound sentences: A sentence that’s made up of two independent clauses. In a compound sentence, these clauses are connected by a coordinating conjunction, such as ‘and’ or ‘but.’

Complex sentence: A complex sentence is a sentence that contains an independent clause and one or more subordinating (or dependent) clauses. These subordinating clauses rely on the independent clause to give meaning and context; thus, they can’t function as complete sentences.

Compound-complex: A compound-complex sentence is a little bit trickier to write. These consist of two or more independent clauses and at least one dependent clause.

What is an informal letter?

An informal letter is the type of letter you would write to someone you know, for example, a friend or family member.

They’re written in a more friendly and familiar style than a formal letter that follows strict layout and style rules.

Informal letters are more flexible when following these rules and can take many forms.

Why write a letter to your friend?

Nowadays, receiving or writing a letter to your friend is rare. This is due to instant messaging, emails, and other technologies that make communication more immediate.

But, the excitement of receiving a letter remains. And the act of writing a letter has its benefits too.

Setting time aside to write a letter to your friend shows them you have been thinking of them and makes them feel special. Writing is also an excellent chance to express yourself and order your thoughts.

What kinds of letters might you write to a friend?

Informal letters are written for a whole range of reasons. You might write a letter to your friend to:

• Share news
• Say thank you
• Wish them a happy birthday
• Invite them to an event
• Congratulate them on something
• Apologize
• Tell them about a holiday

Features of an informal letter

Informal letters have different features in comparison to formal letters. They aren’t as rigid in the way they are structured or written. And this means when you write a letter to your friend, you can have some fun by breaking the usual letter-writing rules.

How you structure your letter will depend on your writing type. But there are a few standard features that are noticed when writing informally. These are:

• A friendly opening and close
• A date
• Informal and chatty language
• Written in first person
• Paragraphs
• Addresses of the sender and recipient (depending on the type of letter)

Teaching letter writing to children

Children will be taught how to write various letter types in school. These might be informal letters, postcards, or formal letters of complaint or persuasion.

Learning to write letters will start with children exploring the features of a letter. To do this, they will examine an exemplar and talk about what they notice. Next, they will be encouraged to think about the questions – How is it laid out? How is it written? What words have been chosen and why?

Once they are familiar with how a letter is formed, they will move on to writing their own. The key to engaging children in letter writing is to give them purpose. Once they have a reason to write a letter, they can then learn how to construct paragraphs and think about the style of language they will use in their writing.

Fun ideas for letter-writing activities with kids

Engaging children in the topic of letter writing is easy because there are so many exciting cross-curricular learning opportunities.

A term’s topic could start with a mysterious letter from a book character. This will excite children and encourage them to write a letter back in response.

Or, you could tie in some letter writing with a visit to the local post office. If you’re fortunate, maybe you could persuade the local postperson to visit your class and discuss how the postal service works. Doing this will give learning a context, which will help children remember things better in the future.