This guide provides teachers with practical ideas and resources for teaching year 2 sentence writing objectives. Read on to find five simple ways to help Year 2 pupils improve their writing.
1. Recap Sentence Basics
The first step in developing year 2 sentence writing skills is to check that pupils are clear on what a basic sentence is. It is important to spend time discussing this. Teachers should ensure that pupils are aware of the different sentence types and how they are used in writing. The national curriculum requires that year 2 pupils review the following content first introduced in year 1:
How the grammatical patterns in a sentence indicate its function as a statement, question, exclamation or command
Understanding the differences between sentence types will help pupils with their writing. For most types of writing, the emphasis will be on ensuring pupils are able to write statements; however, they should be encouraged to incorporate questions and exclamations for interest. Writing instructions is an easy way to allow pupils to practise using commands.
Looking for resources to help pupils recap sentence types? You might like the resource below. Click the images for more details.
2. Introduce Subordination and Co-ordination
In Year 2, pupils should begin learning how to make sentences longer to add interest and variety. In Year 1, they learn to extend sentences using and. Year 2 sentence writing objectives in the national curriculum include the expectation that pupils should be introduced to the following:
Subordination (using when, if, that, because) and co-ordination (using or, and, but)
It is important to remember that the words in brackets are not just examples. They are the specific conjunctions pupils should be taught. The priority should be helping pupils use these confidently before moving on to more complex conjunctions they may find difficult.
Looking for a straightforward resource to help you introduce the relevant conjunctions to year 2? You might like the resource below. Click the images for more details.
3. Encourage the Use of Expanded Noun Phrases
To improve year 2 sentence writing skills, pupils should be be encouraged to become more adventurous in their writing. They should be taught that adding detail will help them to express their ideas more clearly and bring their writing to life. The national curriculum requires that pupils be introduced to the following:
Expanded noun phrases for description and specification [for example, the blue butterfly, plain flour, the man in the moon]
A straightforward way of pupils moving towards using expanded noun phrases is to encourage them to include a range of adjectives in their work. Teachers might also explore how to add detail after the noun using a such as in the example given above (the man in the moon).
The resource below will help pupils explore adding detail using expanded noun phrases.
The above resources are available in a great-value pack. Click the image below to view details.
4. Practising Sentence Writing
Giving pupils exercises to develop year 2 sentence writing skills is an important first step in improving their writing. However, real progress comes when they apply these skills in context by writing within full texts rather than producing isolated sentences. Pupils also need tasks that spark their interest and motivate them to write.
Take a look at the KS1 resource below, which includes engaging illustrated prompts for 10 writing tasks. Click the images to find out more.
KS1 Story Writing Pack Samples
5. Edit and Improve
Once pupils have drafted a piece of writing, they can move to the final stage of the process: editing. At this point, the number of possible improvements may feel overwhelming. Instead of giving pupils a long checklist, it may be more helpful to focus on a small number of specific targets linked to the year 2 sentence writing and punctuation objectives in Appendix 2 of the national curriculum.
It is important to remember that the national curriculum identifies content to be introduced, not mastered perfectly straight away. Pupils will need regular reminders to apply these skills in their writing throughout the year, and developing them will be an ongoing process.
