English basics for ages 6 7 key stage 1

How

to use this book

Literacy Basics helps you to help your child practise many important basic skills covered in the
National Literacy Strategy and National Curriculum.
Each book is divided into 30 units of work that focus on one clear objective.

Each unit is designed using the same, easy-to-follow key features.
Title
Target learning objective.

Look and learn
Some letter patterns are very common. They are very helpful for spelling.

Look and learn
Introduces and explains
the

target

a

objective.

abeeinatree

4

Provides an example to

Practice

illustrate

Make some words.

it.

a eon

abeastonthebeach

atoadontheroad

acrow

inthe snow

Practice
Provides straightforward
practice activities based
on the target objective.
Challenge
Choose ee or ea.

Challenge
Provides activities to

=

Choose oa or ow.

aa
1. c_t

extend and challenge.

teh:
7.g

t

q. ‘si-

2

Suggested way of using the book

@ It is suggested that your child works
systematically through the book.

@ Help your child get started on the Practice
section.

@ Try tackling one unit per week.

@ After this, your child can start to work fairly
independently through the page, but will need
further Support and encouragement.

@ Read through and discuss the Look and learn
section with your child to make sure the key
objective is understood.

@ The answers are supplied at the end of the book
for checking each unit on its completion.

Enjoy the book!
igloobooks
Published in 2013
by Igloo Books Ltd
Cottage Farm
Sywell
NN6 OBJ
www. igloobooks.com
Copyright © 2005 Igloo Books Ltd
OCE001 0613
8101197
ISBN: 978-1-84817-785-7
Letts Educational, 414 Chiswick High Road, London W4 5TF
Telephone: 020 8996 3333 Fax: 020 8742 8390
E-mail:
Text: © Letts Educational
Ltd 1999
Author: Louis Fidge
Printed and manufactured in China


BA

Contents
Letter patterns

Syllables

Word order

Verbs

Adding ed and ing

Beginnings and endings

Vowels and consonants

The letters er, ir and ur

Making sense of sentences

Check your sentences

Conjunctions

Looking for letter patterns

Rhyming

Commas

Word building

Adding to the ends of words

Full stops and question marks

Questions

Putting words in groups

Exclamation marks

Antonyms

Singular and plural

Compound words

Capital letters

Looking carefully at words

Synonyms

Speech marks

Collectingwords

The letters wh and ph

Checking up on punc

Answers


etter patte rns
+

-_

Look and learn \
Some letter patterns are very common. They are very helpful for spelling. )

Practice

\

Make some words.

Challenge
Choose ee or ea.

\


Look and learn \
We have to write words in the correct order so they make sense.

bark. Dogs can
Practice

Dogs can bark [¥]

\-

Write these sentences correctly. Remember the capital letters and

full stops.
1. Fish swim water. in

Fish swim in water.

. hop. to like Kangaroos
. read
I well. can
. sky The is blue.
. to It began rain.

. eating horse My apples. likes
. roaring was The loudly. lion
: Monkeys trees. climb can
DN
W
SB
OF
AWS
COON

Challenge

\

Tick |v_| the sentences
.
.
.

that make sense. Cross |X| those that are not sensible.
The bone bit the dog.
The tree climbed a squirrel.
The boy ate a sandwich.
The workman drank a cup of tea.
. The tune whistled a girl.
The flowers planted the gardener.
The pencil wrote with the bou.
. The man fell off the wall.
taeheed
posean
| i1| EES
. The television was watching the children.
. The mouse chased the cat.
=ODONADAURWDHD
ie

LIL
1]


Adding ed and ting
@eeeeeseeseoeeaseeeseeaeaeseeeaseeaeseeeaeeeaesgseeeeeoeeeoeeeseeee
eee
ee 8

=

Look and learn \

3

a |

Se

We can add ing and ed to the end of many words.

Practice
Complete this chart.

1S)
Ld
oe
AL
EN
ad
Bead
fae
fee
Challenge

\

3 <

Add ed to the end ofthese verbs. Take care with the spelling!

bake

baked

hurry — hurried

dive

marry

SCORE

carry

BENS

empty

race

COPY


owels and consonants
SCOHOSCSHCHEHOHSESHSHHSHSHEHSHOHSHOHHEHHHHSEHSEHHEHEHSHEHHHHEEEES

‘5

Look and learn |

Th
j +)
ae

‘

A

Fy
Py

There are 26 letters in the alphabet. There are 5 vowels: a,e,i,o and u.
All the other letters are consonants.

i
i
*

Every word usually has at least one vowel in it.

Practice

\

Underline the vowel in each word.

sath
aast

he

ants
and
“une

. hats

2. net

3. mop

4. bell

SeEZID

6. rug

. fog

8. hut

9. tap

. hen

11. tin

12. sock

. CUD

14. sack

15. wig

n
~~

|
eS
ei
nay
ae
de

~ Challenge

\

_ Think of a suitable vowel to complete each word.
ee
ot
oe

Les Ce

Jd. Pl

Bh, WPte

4. r_b

Savon

6.

by

Ve

ial

8. w__y

Geb rk

10.

brn

Hires

oval

Now write the words you made in the correct sets.

12d

2 wn


Making sense of sentences
@eeeeeeseeceoevoeoe

eee

eaeseeseeeeseeaeoeeoeeseoeeeeeeeeeee
ee ee 8 8
i.

Look and learn \

|

Sentences should make sense when youreadthem.
Na

__

i
bee
Se

I seed a ghost.
Practice

aa

I saw a ghost.

\

Choose the correct word to complete each sentence.
1.
2.
) 3.
/ 4,
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Challenge

Sam
caught _ the ball.
The children
running.
[fell over and
myself.
Emma
to school by bike.
Joelhas
his leg.
Ann
home as soon as possible.

The boy
crying.
|
it yesterday.
He
speak clearly.
|
only just got up.

(catched / caught)
(was / were)
(hurt / hurted)
(goed / went)
(broked/ broken)
(came / camed)
(was / were)
(done / did)
(don't / doesn't)
(has / have)

\

There is a word in each sentence that is not needed. Cross it out.

.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.

The squirrel climbed up ard the tree.
[broke Tom's his pencil.
[couldn't not find my book.
The lady saw where Ben he was.
The teacher got into in her car.
The girl returned it the ruler.
Tom and Anna were ran on ahead.
Edward climbed got out of bed.

<<


OF) njunctions
-~ Look and learn \

|

A conjunction is a joining word. It may be used sen
two sentences together.

_
_

Mrs Shah picked up her bag. She went to the shop.
Mrs Shah picked up her bag and went to the shop.

— Practice

\

Make each pair of sentences into one sentence. Use the word and.
1. I went to the market. I bought some apples.

2. I got undressed. I went to bed.
3. Sam boiled the kettle. She made a cup of tea.
4. Zak sat down. He watched the television.

5. Sita opened her desk. She took out her book.
6. Mr Brand went into the garden. He cut the grass.

Challenge

\

_ Finish off each sentence in your own words.

. Katie likes skating but
. The monkey climbed the tree and
. Shireen hurt herself when
. I kept playing until
. [had awash because
COUR
WN
= . It began to rain so


Look and learn

Being able to rhyme can help you with your spelling.
went up the hill.

had a pill.

Jack and Jill

felt quite ill.
went to the mill.

Practice
Choose a word from the box to rhyme with each word below.

1. spoon

moon

2.

kite

3. today

4. grew

> 5. stone

6. pain

7. sigh

8. wood

9. bull

10. book

Challenge
Match up the pairs of rhyming words. They sound alike but
Oe

have different letter patterns.
meet

C) °

~

{roip

ew

food

maid

* spade


Look and learn

In spelling we have to learn how
to build up words.

cl+t+ow+n=clown

Practice
Build up these words.

1. sh+ou+t=

2.

|+ou+d=

3. m+ou

+th=

4.

r+ou+nd=

Secoroutrd=
=

6.

c+out+nt=

7. c+ow=

8.

cr+owt+n=

9. ow+l=

10.

fl+ow+er=

12.

t+ow+tel=

11.

v+ow+el=

Challenge
Underline all the ou and ow words in these sentences.

. Alisaw a mouse in his house.

. Just now I saw a brown cow.
. Does an owl growl?
Please don't shout about it!
I found a pound on the ground.
There was a flower on my towel.
The proud man spoke in a loud voice.

Go south at the mouth ofthe river.
There are five vowels in the alphabet.
The queen wears a crown on her head.
omy
>Sl2MNAURWH


Full stops and question marks
Look and learn \

A sentence often finishes

A question always finishes

with a full stop.

with a question mark.

Practice

\

Put in the missing full stops and question marks.

15 When is your birthday
It is in March
How old are you
[am seven
Where do you live
I live in Newcastle

What do you like best at school
Ror
BLT
eo
soe
Ee My favourite subject is art

Challenge

\

Rewrite these sentences correctly.
i} how many children are there in your class

2. some children like to keep pets
3. do you have any brothers or sisters
what is the weather like today
.

who is your favourite singer

. tom and emma are good friends


Putting words in groups
-_

eeeeeeeeceeoee
ease
eee eoeeeoe

eeoeeee
ees eaeees eee
aoe
esene
aoe
-

Wook and learn \
Sometimes it is helpful to put words in groups.

saw
hammer

chair

pliers

settee

a

Practice

\

Sort out these words into groups.

bee
drums
piano

guitar
Italy
Germany

insects

Challenge

France
ant
recorder

ladybird
Spain
beetle

countries

\

Circle the odd word out in each group.

jacket
penasijumper

| |3.| book bus car lorry

cup saucer bowl ruler

wa

| [Beleoage the house bungalow |B) desk ople orange borane
_

Ts]


=e

Look and learn \

| is

Antony ms are words that are opposite in meaning.

Ihe

||

strong |]

2.

i _dry

3.

‘| thin||

4.

i] slow —-——>

hard |

5.
6.

=

fast

slow

_wide

7.

near

8.

a

a.
10.

quiet

I

short _
light

Challenge

\

Choose the prefix un or dis to make each word
mean the opposite.

ee
ate |__|
pack ton |
Tet
Joe [ee —tar
Sey
J wp toe

7


Compound words
@®eeeeeeao

eceeaeas

ees eaeaeaeeeeeaeeoeeeeeseseevseeeevs
e@eeoaeaeee eevee ®@

Look and learn i"
Compound words are made up of two smaller words joined together.

butter

Practice

+

\

Do the word sums to make the compound words.

1. snow + ball =_

snowball

3. sun+ shine =

2.

rain+ bow =

4.

moon + light =

5. foot+step=_—<“;é‘SSYSShlatn + baat =

|

7. play + time =

8.

9. tooth + brush =

Challenge

10.

arm-+ chair =
sand + castle =

\

Match up pairs of words to make some more compound words.

hedgehog _


Looking carefully at words
e®eeeeeeoeoceoeeae

eee

eee

eoeseseeec@eaeeeaeeeeeaeseeoeeeoe

eee eee
8 8
i

re

Look and learn \

;

We can often make new words by

We can often find smaller words

changing some letters.

hiding inside larger words.

look

Practice

cook

hook

\

=i

Make some new words.

1. Change the hin hair tof, p,ch
fair
pair
chair

|2. Change the cin care to d, sc, st

3. Change the w in wear to b, t,p

|4. Change the pin port tof, s, sh

|

5. Change the s in saw toj, cl, str |6. Change the min more to w, sn, sc

Challenge

'2.-

\

Find the name of an animal or insect hiding in each word.

ve [ie
hedgehog [|

wen

share


Speech marks
F Look and learn |
; Speech marks show us someone is speaking. We write everything the f
person says inside the speech marks.
AN
(_Tlive
I
inacastle.
in
acastle, )
) sgl
=,

( Iliveinacave.
live in a cave. )
ofc.
hs
oo

SS

@

The dragon
g said, “I eeninacave.”

Practice

“I live inacastle,” i knight
SHS replied.
ee

\

Write the words from the speech bubbles inside the speech marks.

i

.
*
qua
IIlliveinthesea.)

a

a

1 . The spider said, “
Et

»

> [ini syeltel
°

, the frog replied.

inaapond.)
Llive in
{_Ilive
a

Challenge

a

\

; Write something you think eac
h person might say.

ae
ee
nh
Cee
=)

The builder said, “ I build houses .”
The teacher said, “
The doctor said, “

SET CAOWUGADCaS CU Mam en
The farmer said, “
The vet said, “
The hairdresser said, “

LS) The author said, “

homed
fol
(ea)
ip!
pad

¥
at

ea

JAS

Seamer .6 /
a
Ry
WE

i


The letters wh and ph
Look and learn \

Two common letter patterns are wh and ph.

Practice

\

Find the five
wh and five
ph words in
the puzzle.

Challenge

\

Choose wh or ph to complete each word.
1. _wh at

20pm

Silas

5550 (ce

6. _—ere

7. ne

9. onics
113.

___isker

10 Seon

ew

Oren
(Psy, cell _ felevar

8: jun

12. _istle


Syllables
@ee@eaeeeaeeeeoeeeaoeaseoseeceoeoeeeees
ees eeees eo eevseeaeeeaesoeeene
~

egies

sr:

?

;

+

:

:

Look and learn \.
When you say long words slowly you can hear that they can be

broken down into smaller chunks called syllables.

Tap out the syllables
com

— pu — ter

poe

when you count them. / £74.

(three syllables)

—————

ltt

_ Practice
_

;

\

Make these two-sullable words.

1. yel + low =

YW,

yellow

2. sis + ter =

3. un+cle=

4. al+ ways =

5. Fri+ day =

6. be + cause =

7. sud + den =

8. an + gry =

jou + ful =

10. ba + by =
12. quick + ly =

11. good + ness =

Challenge

Wal

Say these words slowly. Write if each word has two or three syllables

3.

ME GUUIKGICS!
eee MeO SeLOMGLON
ae ) 6.
. somebody(__) 8. anyone(__)
4.
. picture(__)
11. skating(@__) 12.
Pdinosaun@romen

2arcarpet (a2)

tOnighteien ue 14.0coretulG@ sa)

garden(__)
cabbage(__)
aeroplane(__)
motorway(__)

)15sremember(

& ) |

ie,


Verbs
@eeeeeeesee

e@eeeeveaeeeaeseeeeeeeeseseeseeeaeeeeeeeeee
e880 8

—

Look and learn \
Verbs tell us what someone or something iS doing.
C—

A kangaroo hops.

Practice

\

7

-

Choose the best verb to complete each sentence.

fly

swim

Squeaks

roar

slides

chatters

hops

bark

purrs

crawl

+ 1.
3.
5.
7.
9.

Challenge

Fish __ swim
Asnail
Beetles
Acat
Dogs

2.
4.
6.
8.
0.

A frog
Birds

A mouse
Lions
Amonkey

\

+

Choose the correct form of the verb to fill each gap.
1.
Paes
3.
4.

The wind
Ml
Tom
The birds

5. My uncle

—

LA

4

to blow.
a lovely picture.
down the stairs.

into the tree.

|

(beginned/ began) (
(drew / drawed)
(fell / falled)
(flied / flew)

me a present. (gived / gave)

6. Theman
7. Emma
8. |

the bell.
in the sea.
my best clothes.

9. The lady
10. The dog

a letter.
the cat.

(rang / ringed)
(swimmed/ swam)
(wore / weared)

GY

(writed / wrote)
(saw | seed)
a


Beginnings and endings

eewe

_ Look and learn \ —
Always check to make sure your sentences make sense.

_ Tom has forgotten to finish

Emma has rubbed out the

his sentence.

beginning of her sentence.

i

Yesterday le

- Practice

.. came

to tea.

\

Match up the beginning and ending of each sentence.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

You cut paper
The girl ate
ea
Inthe rain we
We had a picnic
I drew aline
The frog jumped
Isaw a spider

an ice cream.
out of the pond.
with scissors.
spinning a web.
need an umbrella.
with a ruler.
ticked loudly.

8.

The clock

in the park.

; Challenge

\

_ Think of a good way to begin each sentence. (Remember to begin with a

capital letter!)
1.

2
3
4.
5:
6
7
8

with a hammer.
in the night.

after lunch.
an old car.

in the garden

through the tunnel.
_ the sea.

crashed into the wall


The letters er, ir and ur
Look and learn \
The letter patterns er, ir and ur make a similar sound.

Practice

\

Write the words in the chart.

churn
stir
term
herb

bird
dirt
curl
church

purse

first

skirt

stern

person

burn

fur

third

Challenge

\

Match up the pairs of words that rhyme.

herd

stern
shirk

perch
curl
serve

fur

VEISe

germ


Check your sentences
Look and learn \ —
Always check your writing to see if you have made any silly mistakes.

“4a

Fe

4

‘A

W/

_
<

fJ

“4

fpe

The children was reading.
i Practice

The children were reading.

\

Tick |W |the sentences that are correct. Cross |X |the sentences that are wrong.
. I does my writing neatly.
. The dogs was barking loudly.
. Aman is digging his garden.

The lady went shopping.
. It are very cold today.
. They always come ona Thursday.
. Tom try hard with his spelling.
My cat like milk.

. Frogs hops.
. The sports car goes very fast.
=CDONNAURWD

amy

Challenge

[LILI

|

Think of a suitable word to complete each sentence.

1.

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

The ships
sailing on the sea.
Mrs Brown
shopping in the market.
Victoria
the ball to Amy.
The box was very
:
Lots of
were flying in the sky.
Mu
are painting and collecting shells.
was eating his dinner.
The ——_—sChhoooted twice.
Thecars_____—_ going far too fast.
looking for Josh.
My friend and I


Looking for letter patterns

look and learn \
In spelling you have to look very carefully.

Bogedsopn

guage aoe

recall

rym

rhTefal
yi [kt
Practice

Findthe 10 ea ae in the puzzle.

a6

aeRIS SGPT

zidlelalr{k|t|m[n[o
pigiri{s|{t{ulfle|a|r|

BCRMGGCG)

7 edpena bablbears

Challenge
Divide these ea is into sets.

We

TIO

-

;

_| easounds like | ea sounds like
e in bed
e in meet
=

hedt
leap

ready
teach
steam
thread

speak

head

heat


Commas
Look and learn |

Commas

are used to separate things ina list.
{>

Penguins, monkeys, elephants,
camels, lions, tigers ...

Practice

\

Fill in the missing commas in these lists.

mice rats gerbils hamsters and guinea pigs
potatoes onions carrots cabbages and sprouts

apples pears oranges bananas and grapes
cups saucers plates bowls and dishes
curry pizza sausages pasta and fish
cars lorries bikes buses and vans
red orange yellow green and blue
guitar piano trumpet trombone and flute
J

q

,

Challenge

\

Write a list of what each person needs.

=

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

helmet | hose

A hairdresser needs shampoo, a comb, a brush and a mirror
Atirefighter needs
A footballer needs
A gardener needs
Adiver needs
Adoctor needs

ns

5