ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

S1
HOMEWORK
BOOKLET

M. Macinnes 2007

CAPITAL LETTERS AND FULL STOPS

You might feel that you can do this inside out if so, then this
homework should be easy! I bet you still forget to put capital letters
and full stops in the correct places in your schoolwork
though. And not just English; you should be writing
beautiful accurate sentences in all subjects. Remember
that!
Exercise A
Rewrite this passage putting in the capital letters and all the full
stops.
here is a famous problem called the monty hall problem which i
have included in this book because it illustrates what i mean there
used to be a column called ask marilyn in a magazine called parade
in america and this column was written by marilyn vos savant and in
the magazine it said that she had the highest iq in the world in the
guinness book of records hall of fame in the column she answered
maths questions set by readers in september 1990 this question
was sent in by craig f whitaker of columbia maryland
This extract was taken from The Curious Incident of the Dog
in the Night-time by Mark Haddon.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

M. Macinnes 2007

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Lines continued on next page if you need them.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

M. Macinnes 2007

.
.

How confident do you feel about CAPITAL LETTERS

AND FULL STOPS?
Great!

Got a few wrongNeed practice

Spelling

Focus: shun words

1. discussion
2. magician
3. completion
4. promotion
5. passion
6. collision
7. opposition
8. emotion
9. possession
10.

electrician

PARAGRAPHS
A paragraph is a group of sentences about one main idea. It can
be as short or as long as you like.
The topic of a paragraph is generally introduced by a key sentence.
This is often called a topic sentence. As its name suggests, this
sentence contains the central idea of the paragraph. It may make a
statement that the rest of the sentence develops. It often - but not
always - comes at the beginning of the paragraph.

Topic sentence - the first sentence of a paragraph that tells

the reader what the paragraph is about.

M. Macinnes 2007

Supporting sentences - these sentences add details to the

topic sentence.

Ending sentence - this concludes or closes the paragraph.

If in doubt, make your paragraphs shorter rather than longer. Long

paragraphs are difficult to read.
Take a new paragraph for a change in:

Time
Speaker

Place

Exercise A
Write a topic sentence for each of these examples.
1.

..
One of the most popular is Edinburgh Castle which is situated at the top
of the Royal Mile.

2.

Juices
and sodas have a lot of sugar in them and aren't a good source, so if you
drink them, they don't count towards your daily amount. Diet sodas aren't
a good choice either. Herbal teas that aren't diuretic are fine.

3.

They

make great company; they are independent, loving and clean and are
remarkably easy to look after, especially if you have a cat flap to allow the
cat to roam freely outside.

Exercise B
Rewrite this chunk of text correctly, making it into 3 paragraphs.
That morning I was so nervous, I couldnt eat any breakfast. I got
dressed in my new uniform and felt like a bit of a prat actually, in
my new blazer, nearly two sizes too big. I felt better when I met my
friends at the bus stop. They looked as frightened as me. When the
bell rang for the start of school, a teacher came to collect us and
take us to our first lesson.

M. Macinnes 2007

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
How confident do you feel about PARAGRAPHS?
Great!
Got a few wrongNeed practice

Spelling

Focus: antonym prefixes

1. impatient
2. misbehave
3. unfortunate
4. antibiotic
5. irregular
6. impractical
7. incredible
8. immature
9. misplace
10.
unrealistic
M. Macinnes 2007

COMMONLY CONFUSED WORDS

Some words are often confused. We are going to sort this out!
The definitions for the commonly confused words are in the boxes at
the top of each exercise.
Exercise A
quiet = without noise

quite = to an extent, completely

1. The village was .and peaceful.

2. It is .beautiful and I am .content here.
3. I am .happy to turn it down if it is not
.enough for you.
4. After a ..noisy start the class were ..
.. .
Exercise B
Choose from the following pairs of words to complete the sentences.
Past/passed

a) Its all in the ..

b) We a fairground on the way.

Addition/edition

a) The later .. of the paper is better.

b) The baby is a new .. to the family.

M. Macinnes 2007

Of = direction (off somewhere) & also the opposite of on

Of = amount of & belonging

Dont confuse of with have when saying would have,

might have and should have.
Exercise C
1.

Having set .. in the wrong direction, he then fell

.. his bicycle.

2.

A kilogram ..potatoes, .. course, makes a

lot .. chips.

3.

I should .. gone, and I could .gone!

4.

How many .. you felt .. colour at the weekend?

How confident do you feel about CONFUSED WORDS?

Great!

Got a few wrongNeed practice

Spelling

Focus: subject specific vocabulary Art

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

gallery
highlight
illusion
kiln
palette
pastel
perspective
8. portrait
9. sketch
10.
spectrum

COMMON SPELLING ERRORS

Weve been working at improving our spelling
each week. Its time to put you to the test!

M. Macinnes 2007

Exercise A
Spot the spelling mistake in each of the following sentences and
write the misspelled word out correctly.
1. Our holiday acommodation was terrific.
The correct spelling is ..
2. There is an introduction at the begginning of this book.
The correct spelling is ..
3. There is a huge busness park on the edge of town.
The correct spelling is ....
4. The Prime Minister was very definate on his decision to change the
law.
The correct spelling is ..
5. You look very disapointed.
The correct spelling is ..
6. The man looked very embarased when his hat blew off.
The correct spelling is ..
7. I write in my dairy every day.
The correct spelling is ..
8. Vandalism damages the envioment.
The correct spelling is ..
9. Is it necesary to wear make-up to school?
The correct spelling is ..
10.Those lines are paralel.
The correct spelling is ..

Exercise B
Use a dictionary to find the missing consonants.
1. campai____n
2. colum____
3. cons_____ience

M. Macinnes 2007

4. desi____n
5. ex____aust
6. Feb____uary
7. knowle_____ge
8. lis____en
9. obstac___e
10.
ras___berry
11.
reco____nise
12.
tec___nique
13.
tex_____ure
14.
autum___
How confident do you feel about SPELLING?
Great!

Got a few wrongNeed practice

Spelling

Focus: subject spelling English

1. narrator
2. onomatopoeia
3. pamphlet
4. paragraph
5. personification
6. playwright
7. prefix
8. resolution
9. rhyme
10.
simile
See what happens if you dont
practise!

M. Macinnes 2007

10

WORD CLASSES
Words are divided into different classes. Here are three of them:
noun (naming word); verb (doing word) and adjective (describing
word).
Exercise A
Identify what the words below are from the following sentence, by
underlining, circling or highlighting.
There was a lovely flower in the house but the dog ate it
which caused a fight
1. house
2. eat
3. flower

noun/verb/adjective
noun/verb/adjective
noun/verb/adjective

4. lovely

noun/verb/adjective

5. fight

noun/verb/adjective

Exercise B
Now, pick out all the nouns and verbs from this extract.
Alan sighed and picked up the brush. He looked at the painting. He
had finished the trees and the fields, but had to complete the sky.
He also wanted to paint in some people, cows and birds to make it
more interesting.
Nouns (naming words)

Verbs (doing words)

Exercise C

M. Macinnes 2007

11

Fill the spaces below with a suitable word:

Leaning back in a wicker chair sat Doctor Pimm, a plump, red-faced
man with a shiny, _________________ head and _________________,
beady eyes. His wife Jane, was a tall, _____________ freckled woman
with closely-cropped ___________________ hair.
The words which fit the spaces above are:

nouns/ verbs/

adjectives (please circle the correct one).

How confident do you feel about identifying

NOUNS, VERBS and ADJECTIVES?

Great!

Spelling

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

beat
sweet
bright
white
wheat
might
heat
knight
bite
seat

Got a few wrongNeed practice

Focus: vowel choices

Extension:
collect, list
and categorise spellings
of a long vowel sound by
spelling pattern.

SENTENCE TYPES
Its time to move on to sentences. They come in three main types:
Simple sentence will have one complete verb and a
subject making one main idea.

M. Macinnes 2007

12

Compound sentence joins two or more main ideas

together with words like and, but, nor, then and yet.
Complex sentence have more than one idea; a main idea
which makes sense on its own, and a subordinate clause
which depends on the main clause and would not make sense
on its own.
A clause is an idea in a sentence. There are main clauses and
subordinate clauses.

Exercise A
Combine two simple sentences to make a compound sentence
using the words and, but, nor, then and yet. Note, there is only one
complete verb in each simple sentence.
1. He fell off his bike. He really hurt himself.

2. Buy a new car at this price. Youll never regret it.

3. Shes been playing music for two hours. Its driving me mad.

Exercise B
Underline the subordinate clause in each of these sentences.
1. Keen to go home, Roy threw a tantrum.
2. Speaking from his heart, he displayed how he really felt.
3. My barber, who is very wealthy, has cut his prices.
4. Until the bridge was built, people crossed the river by boat.
5. Whenever it snows, the mountains look beautiful.
Exercise C
Identify

whether

compound.

these

sentences

are

simple,

complex

or

Underline the main clause(s) in each sentence to

help you.

M. Macinnes 2007

13

1. I was late so I ran for the bus.

2. Its for John who lives in New York.

.
3. Today was a good day.

4. Like all his friends, he has a devilish grin.

.
5. I love pizza so I eat it all the time.
.
6. Despite losing, he played it again.
.
7. She opened the door of the cage.

8. After seeing that, I never went again.

How confident do
SENTENCE TYPES?

Great!

Spelling

you

feel

about

identifying

Got a few wrongNeed practice

Focus: plurals of words ending in -y

1. babies
2. monkeys
3. parties
4. trays
5. lollies
6. cries
7. days
8. jellies
9. keys
10.
worries

M. Macinnes 2007

If the word ends in a

consonant and then y, change
the y to ies to pluralise it.

14

COMPLEX SENTENCES
You need to know about different types of sentence so that you add
variety to your writing. Make sure you use complex sentences as
well as compound and simple ones.
Exercise A
Combine each pair of sentences into one sentence containing a
subordinate clause.
1. John was travelling by train.
grandma.

He was going to visit his

.
2. The dog growled at the man. It moved closer to him.
.
3. The manager was in a desperate hole. He mumbled that it
was a game of two halves.
.
.
Exercise B
Write a sentence with a subordinate clause, using each of the
following words to start it.
1.
..

Going

.
2.

Having

.
3. Wearing .
.

M. Macinnes 2007

15

Exercise C
Identify the main clauses and the subordinate clauses in these
complex sentences by highlighting in different colours.
1. Her giant poster of Johnny Depp fell off the wall while she was
asleep.
2. Although I was tired, I stayed up late to do my homework.
3. Our team lost the match, even though our striker was
brilliant.
4. Since Penny was late for the third time this week, Mr Edwards
put her in detention.
5. Alison, who went out with Tony, is now going out with Adam.

How confident do you feel about identifying MAIN

CLAUSES AND SUBORDINATE CLAUSES?

Great!

Spelling

Got a few wrongNeed practice

Focus: plurals

1. calves
2. radios
3. skis
4. thieves
5. umbrellas
6. knives
7. tomatoes
8. tattoos
9. potatoes
10.
heroes

M. Macinnes 2007

16

COMMON & PROPER NOUNS & CAPITAL LETTERS

You already know that nouns are naming words, but did you know
that you get common and proper nouns?
Common nouns used for general people, places and things
e.g. girl.
Proper nouns for particular people, places and things e.g.
Edinburgh. Proper nouns must begin with a capital letter.
Exercise A
Sort these nouns into common and proper nouns:
Brian, cow, Manchester, chair, books, Globe Theatre, houses,
Common
Nouns carpenter, Earlston,
Proper
Nouns
bracelet,
Lucy, elephant,
Stormbreaker

Exercise B
Copy the passage onto the space on the next page, putting capital
letters where needed (there should be 35) and underlining all
nouns.
my cousin ella was coming from hong kong to spend christmas with
us in devon. as i had never met her i was really excited. her father
and mother, my uncle charles and aunt anne worked for the foreign
office and they were being sent to china with british airways. ella
was travelling down from london on the riviera express and we were
to meet her at exeter station on the friday, the day before christmas
eve. on boxing day we were going to see cinderella at the theatre
royal, plymouth.

M. Macinnes 2007

17

How confident do you feel about identifying COMMON &

PROPER NOUNS?
Great!

Spelling

Got a few wrongNeed practice

Focus: soft c

1. century
2. cistern
3. cyclone
4. cinnamon
5. decision
6. incident
7. circle
8. accident
9. circuit
10.
ceiling

M. Macinnes 2007

HINT:
usually
sound.

-ci, -ce and cy

soften the c

18

CONCRETE, ABSTRACT & COLLECTIVE NOUNS

Theres more!
Nouns are also broken into concrete and
abstract nouns.
Abstract noun the name of something we cannot see,
hear or touch (e.g. love, freedom).
Concrete noun the name of something we can see, hear
and touch (e.g. tree).
Collective noun the name for a special group of people
or animals (e.g. choir, crew, audience, herd).
Exercise A
Sort these 4 concrete nouns and 4 abstract nouns and put them in
the list: hatred, thought, pyjamas, honesty, toast, ice, happiness,
mouse.
Concrete Nouns

Abstract Nouns

Exercise B
What is the collective noun for each of these groups? (You might
have to look some up).
Noun

Collective Noun

Bees
Cards
Players
Sheep
Puppies
Fish
Geese
Exercise C
Pick out the nouns in the passage below and identify them.
It was a bitterly cold Saturday in February. Liz and her brother
Danny, were watching a choir in total happiness, snowflakes settling
gently on their shoulders and eyelashes.
Noun

M. Macinnes 2007

Type of Noun

19

How confident do you feel about identifying NOUNS?

Great!

Spelling

Got a few wrongNeed practice

Focus: plurals
Nouns ending in
hissing/buzzing/shushing
sounds usually and es in
the plural.

1. balloons
2. kisses
3. sisters
4. lunches
5. watches
6. boxes
7. meals
8. girls
9. churches
10.
buses

MAKING VERBS AGREE

Verbs take different forms depending on their tense. The verb to
be looks like this in the present and the past tense.
Present Simple Tense
I am
You are
He/she/it is
We are
You (plural) are
They are

Past
Simple
Tense
I was
You were
He/she/it was
We were
You (plural) were
They were

Exercise A
Look carefully at the verb tables above and choose the correct verb
forms in these sentences.

M. Macinnes 2007

20

1. The chickens was/were kept in a large pen.

2. I is/am/are hoping to see you soon.

3. There is/are a long row of houses.

4. We was/were thirty altogether in the class.

5. Mr and Mrs Smith is/are living at 4 Reiver Avenue.

M. Macinnes 2007

21

Exercise B
There are 11 mistakes of agreement in this passage. Rewrite it,
underlining your corrections.
There is hundreds of rabbits at Holly Farm. Almost everybody like
rabbits except the farmer, Mr. Davis, and he hate them because
they eats his cabbages and digs holes in his fields. He and his son
tries to scare them off but it do not work. The number of rabbits
continue to grow and Mr Davis have had enough. He and his son
says they is going to call in the Pest Control Officer.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
How confident do you feel about MAKING VERBS AGREE?
Great!
Got a few wrong
Need practice

Spelling 18
1. benefited
2. chaos
3. chemistry
4. conscience
5. cupboard
6. description
7. environment
8. February
9. fiend
10. hymn

M. Macinnes 2007

Focus: strategies for learning spellings

ADVERBS

You need to make up your

own ways of remembering
how to spell these words.
Try creating a mnemonic, a
rhyme, sounding out each
syllable or drawing
pictures.

22

Now you know about nouns, verbs and adjectives, its time to learn
about adverbs. Adverbs describe verbs. They tell you how, when
and where things are done.
To identify adverbs you can:
Find the verb in the sentence, then ask yourself the where,
when or how question. The word that tells you the answer is
the adverb.
Or you can often identify adverbs by finding words ending in
ly. Remember though, lots of adverbs do not end in ly (like
yesterday, fast etc).
Exercise A
Identify the adverbs in the sentences below by underlining, circling
or highlighting.
1. She smiled cheerfully at her boyfriend.
2. I quickly put the keys down.
3. My dad is coming here soon.
4. Dale was shaking terribly and muttering incoherently.
5. He slammed the glass down hard on the side.
6. The journey was mercifully short.
Exercise B
Now add in adverbs to these sentences to make them more
interesting.
1. Talk __________________ or you will waken the baby.
2. He frowned, and then looked at Jason _____________________.
3. He went home ______________________.
4. He plays pool ___________________.
5. Ill be ready _________________________.
6. ________________ Im going to the dentist.

M. Macinnes 2007

23

Exercise C

In Box A are five verbs and in Box B are five adverbs. Use them in 15 to complete the sentences.
BOX A
broke flew finished
failed completed

BOX B
soon easily gently
unfortunately over

1. Kelly _____________ the exam ________________.

2. The plane _________________ _______________ the house.
3. The vet _____________ the news to the old lady _____________.
4. How

many

__________________

their

homework

________________?
5. Is the programme _______________ so _________________?
How confident
ADVERBS?

Great!

Spelling

you

feel

about

identifying

Got a few wrongNeed practice

Focus: doubling consonants

1. mopping
2. feeling
3. burning
4. dragging
5. disgusting
6. running
7. stopped
8. begging
9. writing
10.
hiding

M. Macinnes 2007

do

It all depends on the sounds of the

vowel before the end of the word. If
its a short vowel and a single
consonant (like fit), you double the
letter (e.g. fittest, fitter). If its a
long vowel (like stoop) you dont
double it (e.g. stooped).

24

PREPOSITIONS
A preposition is an important little word which shows the
position of one noun or pronoun in relation to another.
These are all words which can be used as prepositions:
to
at
before
after
since
on
of
under

beneath
above
against
until
near
with
without
of

across
for
from
over
around
by
along
between

among
opposite
below
through
beside
up
in

Exercise A
Use a suitable preposition from the list above to complete each of
these sentences. Do not use the same one twice!
1. The cat sat the mat.
2. Alice went the looking glass.
3. Jack went the hill Jill.
4. Pride comes a fall.
5. Greg was guilty apostrophe crime.
6. Ailsa was similar Molly.
7. Alright, you can stay twelve.
8. Who set the cat the pigeons?
9. The cow jumped the moon.
10.

You wont get in a ticket.

11.

Sinbad sailed the sea.

12.

E.T. came Outer Space.

M. Macinnes 2007

25

Exercise B
Which preposition would be most suitable to use with each of these
words?
1. Ashamed

8. Prevented

2. Rely

9. Apologise

3. Involved

10.

Opposite

4. Afraid

11.

Interfere

5. According

12.

Blame

6. Responsible

13.

Exposed

7. Comment

14.

Divide

How confident do you feel about PREPOSITIONS?

Great!

Got a few wrongNeed practice

Spelling

Focus: strategies for learning spellings

1. psyche
2. psychiatrist
3. psychologist
4. rhyme
5. rhythm
6. separate
7. siege
8. Wednesday
9. minute
10.
diary

M. Macinnes 2007

You need to make up your

own ways of remembering
how to spell these words.
Try creating a mnemonic, a
rhyme, sounding out each
syllable or drawing
pictures.

26

PRONOUNS
A pronoun is a word which is used instead of a noun. There are a
few different kinds of pronouns but were going to start first with
personal pronouns.
Subject Form

Object Form

(the person/thing doing the verb)

(the person/thing having the verb

I
You
He
She
It
We
You (plural)
They

done to them)

Me
You
Him
Her
It
Us
You
Them

Exercise A
Rewrite the passage below using some of the above pronouns
instead of the underlined nouns.
Lewis and Lucy had tickets for a concert which Lewis and Lucy had bought
when Lewis and Lucy were in London. Unfortunately, Lewis and Lucy had
lost the tickets. Lucy said, Lucy remembers Lucy gave the tickets to
Lewis.
What is Lucy talking about? Lewis replied. Lucy knows Lewis hasnt
seen the tickets.
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..

M. Macinnes 2007

27

A possessive pronoun is a word used without a noun to show

something belongs to someone/something. E.g. mine, yours, his,
hers, its, ours, yours and theirs.
Exercise B
Rewrite these sentences using a possessive pronoun. E.g. Johns
seat becomes his seat.
1. I thought that pencil was Karens.

2. You said we were going to your house.

3. We said wed share our umbrella with them.

4. Jenny and Neil said the CD belonged to them.

5. Hey! That cake belongs to me!

How confident do you feel about PRONOUNS?

Great!

Got a few wrongNeed practice

Spelling

Focus: subject spelling Art

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

abstract
acrylic
charcoal
collage
collection

6. colour
7. dimension
8. easel
9. exhibition
10.

frieze

BUILDING SENTENCES CONJUNCTIONS

M. Macinnes 2007

28

Who, whose, which and that are very useful for joining sentences.
E.g. This is John. + He is a postman. = This is John who is a
postman.
Exercise A
Join each pair of sentences using who, whose, which or that.
1. This is my aunt.
old.

She is thirty years

.
.
2. We were attacked by midgies.

The bites are really itchy.

.
.
3. That is David Ellis

He built his own car.

.
.
4. We are going with Lucy.

Her dad has a flat in Wick.

.
.
5. She used to be in Eastenders.

It is a soap opera.

.
.
6. This is my dog Alf.

His mother was a Crufts champion.

.
.
7. We are country people.

We need public transport.

.
.
8. They flew first class to New York.
expensive.

It

was

rather

.
.

M. Macinnes 2007

29

9. Do you know Karen?

She lives in Dunblane.

.
.
10. Where is the toy train?
It makes a funny noise.
.
.

M. Macinnes 2007

30

Remember, conjunctions are joining words.

Here are eleven
conjunctions which give great variety in your writing.
and

but
while

so

because

before

after

when
whereas

Exercise B
Join these groups of sentences using the above words.
1. The lady hurried to catch the lift. I held the door open. She was
extremely old.
..
..
2. Lisa was not placed. Danni came first. Both sisters competed.
..
..
3. There was a violent thunderstorm. The sky was almost black. It
was unbelievably hot.

.
.
.
.
How confident do you feel about BUILDING SENTENCES?
Great!

Got a few wrong

Spelling

Focus: common letter clusters

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Australia
practice
mourn
drought
learn

M. Macinnes 2007

Need practice

6. weight
7. notice
8. claustrophobia
9. because
10. apprentice

31

BUILDING VOCABULARY
Dictionaries are useful things, but they werent
always around.
The first major English
dictionary was written by a man called Dr.
Samuel Johnson in 1755. It took him about 10
years to complete. Because Johnson wrote
most of it himself, he allowed humour to come
into some of his definitions. Heres one you
might enjoy: "Oats: a grain which in
England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland
supports the people. You can probably guess that Johnson
wasnt a fan of the Scots.
But dont let that put you off!
Exercise A
Now to get on with building your vocabulary; here are some words
you might find useful if you were to meet Dr. Johnson. Find the
definitions and write them on the dotted lines.
1. lexicographer
.
.
2. malicious
.
.
3. lucid
.
.
4. pithy
.
.
5. postulate
.
.

M. Macinnes 2007

32

6. proficiency
.
.

M. Macinnes 2007

33

Exercise B
Its time you wrote down 5 interesting words you dont know and
find the definitions. To find them, just listen to what people say on
the television, in newspapers, at school and at home. You must find
five words. No excuses!
WORD

DEFINITION

How confident do you feel about BUILDING YOUR

VOCABULARY?
Great!

Spelling

Got a few wrongNeed practice

Focus: -able and ible endings

1. adorable
2. probable
3. terrible
4. possible
5. horrible
6. reliable
7. miserable
8. invincible
9. respectable
10.
credible

M. Macinnes 2007

34

APOSTOPHES
Apostrophes look like this:
They are used to show that:
a letter is missing e.g wouldnt (=would not). This is called
OMISSION.

something belongs to someone/something.

is called POSSESSION.

This

A lot of people make mistakes in using apostrophes (just

look at pub menus and shop names), but YOU wont be
one of them!
Exercise A
Put the apostrophe in the correct place to show the OMISSION of
letters. Write the word correctly on the dotted line.
1. I shouldnt go to the concert, but I will.
..
2. Shell be a bit late Im afraid.
..

3. Its a shame Lucy cant be there.

..
4. Whenre you coming back?
..
Exercise B
Now for possession. Please note, if something belongs to more
than one person or thing, the apostrophe goes after the end of the
word. E.g. The girls toilets = the toilets belonging to the girls.
1. Alfs pencil case was broken.

2. The cat is at Erins house.

..
3. The teachers staffroom is a sacred place.
..
4. All the dictionaries covers were torn.
..
M. Macinnes 2007

35

5. I told you Alexs girlfriend was hot!

..

M. Macinnes 2007

36

Exercise C
One of the most commonly wrongly used apostrophe words is its.
Thats because if something belongs to it, you DO NOT put in
an apostrophe between the t and the s. After all, you wouldnt
say something belonging to him was his, would you? I know it
breaks the rule of belonging, but just remember: only use its if it
means IT IS or IT HAS.
Now, write the missing its or its correctly in the gaps.
1. ... too late, Ive already lost it.
2. Gosh! .. hot today isnt it?
3. The dog has cut . paw.
4. This pencil Miss, .... lead is totally broken!
5. Whens he going to tell us . ready?
How confident do you feel about APOSTROPHES?
Great!

Spelling
1. manager
2. occasional
3. fiercest
4. hopeful
5. merciless
6. originally
7. exceptional
8. thankless
9. likely
10.

M. Macinnes 2007

Got a few wrongNeed practice

Focus: suffixes

beautiful

37

AVOIDING APOSTROPHE CRIMES

Remember the rules on the use of the apostrophe? Apostrophes are
used for.. OMISSION (missing letters out) AND POSSESSION
(showing something belongs to someone or something).
The exception to the rule

is

How do you know when to use its or its? (HINT: Look back at the
work on apostrophes you did before).
Its =
.
Its = .

Exercise A
Put the apostrophe(s) in the correct places in these sentences.
1. My best friends sister is called Jodie.
2. I havent done my homework.
3. The boys changing rooms stink!
4. If they go down the shops, theyll miss the start of the football.
5. Andys project is brilliant.
6. Thats not my monster! Its skin is too rough.
7. Youre my best friend said Lucy.
8. Michelle shouldve caught the half-eight bus, but she missed it.
9. Im always later for school in the mornings, its my dads fault.
10.

Weve won lots of cups this year; were the

Borders best school.

Exercise B
Now try putting the apostrophe in these ones
1. Im sure its hurt, its got its wing stretched out.

M. Macinnes 2007

38

2. When were done well do ours and then theyll do theirs.

3. I dont know why mens toilets are always smellier than ladies.
4. The planes are about to take off - hear the roar of the aircrafts
engines!
5. Im watching Sundays game in an hours time.
Exercise C

Use apostrophes and an s to change the clumsy phrases below into a

quicker way of saying the same thing. E.g. The hat belonging to Joe =
Joes hat

1. the hutch belonging to the rabbit

2. the edge belonging to the cliff

How confident do you feel about APOSTROPHES?

Great!
Got a few wrongNeed practice

Spelling
1. jealous
2. jewellery
3. knight
4. liaison
5. library
6. medicine
7. miniature
8. mnemonics
9. parliament
10. rhythm

Focus: strategies for learning spellings

You need to make up your

own ways of remembering
how to spell these words.
Try creating a mnemonic, a
rhyme, sounding out each
syllable or drawing pictures.

VOCABULARY BUILDING

To make your writing better, you not only have to be able to write
fluid, interesting sentences, you also have to use interesting and
varied words to really get across what you mean. Get into the habit
of noting down and looking up unknown words in the dictionary (try
to do at least 3 a week). This week, youre being given a helping
hand to start you off. Its a joy learning new words and this is your
next task.
Exercise A
M. Macinnes 2007

39

Look up the definitions of these words and write them down

underneath them.
1. impudent
.
.
2. discretion
.
.
3. intuition
.
.
4. audacity
.
.
5. infallible
.
.
6. anecdote
.
.
1. specious
.
.

Exercise B
Next you need to know where to look to find interesting words to
replace more commonplace ones in your writing. The answer lies in
the thesaurus.

M. Macinnes 2007

40

To use a thesaurus:
look up the word you want to replace, just as you would in the
dictionary e.g. nice.
youll find lots of other words that mean the same as nice in
different ways. For example, pleasant, kind, polite, good, fine,
lovely.
Look up the following words in the thesaurus and write down three
of the alternatives underneath them.
1. say
.
.
1. hope
.
.
NOW TRY AND LEARN SOME OF THE MORE UNUSUAL ONES!
How confident do you feel about looking things up in a
DICTIONARY and THESAURUS?
Great!

Spelling
1. animal
2. literate
3. jewellery
4. lettuce
5. difference
6. definitely
7. parallel
8. similar
9. television
10.

Got a few wrongNeed practice

Focus: unstressed vowels

reference

SPEECH MARKS
You need to use speech marks (inverted commas) to show speech.
The words in the inverted commas show the exact words spoken.

M. Macinnes 2007

41

Where you write the closing speech mark, there is always a

punctuation mark inside the speech marks.
Each utterance begins with a capital letter. E.g. He said,
We should have gone too.
If youre writing sentence that has normal prose and then
speech, a comma before the words spoken.
Use a comma if speech continues in the same sentence. E.g.
Yes, replied Arthur, I am.
Take a new line if a different person is speaking
Indent the beginning of speech slightly.

Exercise A
Rewrite the sentences, punctuating them correctly using speech
marks.
1. I must go home now said anne
.
.
2. father thundered sit down at once
.
.
3. do you think he did it asked jenny softly
.
.
4. the man said you have forgotten your change
.
.
5. david cried out manchester united will never beat chelsea
.
.

M. Macinnes 2007

42

Exercise B
Rewrite this passage as dialogue (speech). Remember to take a new
line when someone else speaks.
Name asked the doctor Blenkinsop replied the patient pardon I said
Blenkinsop.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
How confident do you feel about SPEECH MARKS?

M. Macinnes 2007

43

Great!

Got a few wrongNeed practice

Spelling

Focus: common prefixes

1. disappointed
2. inconvenient
3. misunderstood
4. premature
5. international
6. biological
7. relive
8. submarine
9. nonsense
10.
indescribable

BUILDING VOCABULARY
The words below can all be used to describe people their
characteristics, moods, attitudes and personalities. Using your
dictionary to help you, write out the correct meaning.
1. audacious
.
.
2. benevolent
.
.
3. culpable
.
.
4. callous
.
.
5. gregarious
.
.
6. inhibited

M. Macinnes 2007

44

.
.
7. inconsistent
.
.
8. dynamic
.
.
9. stalwart
.
.
10.

illustrious

.
.

M. Macinnes 2007

45

Rewrite the following sentences, using suitable words from the list
from the previous page to fill the gaps:
1. Although he was usually a very friendly person, he behaved
towards the visitors in a rather _____________________ way.
2. The

vet

was

shocked

when

he

heard

of

the

mans

__________________________ treatment of the dog.

3. Andy is a real _________________ friend.
4. The behaviour of the _______________________ criminal had
clearly been ______________________.
How confident
VOCABULARY?

do

you

feel

about

Great!

Got a few wrong

Spelling

Focus: homophones

BUILDING

YOUR

Need practice

1. knew (to know someone)

2. weak (as weak as a kitten)
3. serial (the serial killer)
4. heard (I heard a noise)
5. allowed (Im not allowed out)
6. knot (the knot came loose)
7. peace (peace and quiet)
8. new (my new skirt)
9. aloud (I read aloud)
10.
piece (a piece of homework)

REVISING WRITING SPEECH

M. Macinnes 2007

46

Look back at your previous homework on writing speech to remind

you of the rules. You should constantly be revising your basic skills
as its easy to forget, or becoming sloppy in your writing.
Exercise A
Rewrite each sentence/ group of sentences with all the correct
punctuation.
1. Tackle her shouted the goalkeeper before she shoots.
.
.

2. Amanda closed her eyes and said dreamily your brother is the
best-looking boy in the whole school.

3. Pass this note to Emma whispered Katie as she pretended to

pay attention to what Mr Cole was saying to the whole class.

4. Your table manners Granny said to Malcolm are the worst in

the whole family.

5. What a mess exclaimed Mrs Mullen as she went into her

daughters bedroom.

Exercise B

M. Macinnes 2007

47

Write out the following conversation, adding speech marks and

starting a new line, in from the margin, for each new speaker. Do
not change any of the other punctuation.
I do not think this is a very modern life, said Barney to his aunt as
the door banged shut. Do you think it is safe? asked Aunt Jess. I
suppose so, said Barney as he pressed the green button marked UP.
The lift jerked upwards for a few feet then stopped. Were stuck!
gasped Aunt Jess and she started to scream.

How confident do you feel about WRITING SPEECH?

Great!

Got a few wrongNeed practice

Spelling

Focus: subject spelling Geography

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

estuary
habitat
infrastructure
interfere
latitude

6. location
7. pollution
8. regional
9. transportation
10.
weather

USING COMMAS

M. Macinnes 2007

48

You will hopefully have been using commas in your writing anyway.
The work we did on clauses should have helped you decide where to
put them. Heres some revision for you.
One of the ways commas can be used is to mark of groups of
words which are not absolutely necessary as the sentence
would still make sense without them. E.g. Dad, lying in the
bath, got his toe stuck in the tap. You should have spotted that
lying in the bath is a subordinate clause; it is extra information
which is not necessary to the meaning of the sentence.
Exercise A
Each of these sentences has extra information. Put the comma(s) in
the correct place in each sentence.
1. Singing loudly she began to wash the dishes.
2. Sitting up in Grandmothers bed the wolf looked greedily at
Red Riding Hood.
3. Dressed in his best suit Tom went off happily to his first day at
work.
4. Having taken an enormous mouthful she began to eat with her
mouth open.
5. Last night Catherine walking in her sleep fell downstairs.
6. The referee feeling he ought to be strict sent Wakefield off the
pitch.
7. The walkers all thoroughly exhausted collapsed on the ground.
8. Balancing carefully the acrobat began to walk across the wire.

Exercise B
Another time you should use commas is when there is a group of
words which is another way of describing what goes immediately
before it in a sentence. E.g. Mrs Campbell, the village gossip, was

M. Macinnes 2007

49

leaning on the wall. Here the village gossip is not a clause as it does
not contain a verb, but it is extra information about Mrs Campbell.
Put the commas in these sentences.
1. My mum wrote a letter to Miss Clarke my teacher to explain
why my homework was late.
2. Haggis the stomach of the sheep is a traditional dish of the
Scots.
3. The homework a difficult exercise was not done correctly by
anyone.
4. He kept pigs animals he was very fond of as well as hens.
5. The garden a jungle of weeds was full of mice, voles and
hedgehogs.
How confident do you feel about COMMAS?
Great!

Got a few wrongNeed practice

Spelling
Focus: subject spelling - English &
Geography
1. soliloquy
2. subordinate
3. synonym
4. tabloid
5. vocabulary
6. amenity
7. authority
8. climate
9. employment
10.
erosion

SYNONYMS
Synonyms are words with the same or similar meanings
(e.g. worried/anxious; big/large; small/tiny;
gorgeous/beautiful).

M. Macinnes 2007

50

Exercise A
Using a thesaurus find synonyms for the following words.
1. cold
...
2. hot
...
3. weird
...
4. dark
...
5. quick
...
6. horrid
...
7. lovely
...
Exercise B
Find the correct synonyms for the following words using a thesaurus
and the word parts in the grid. The first one is done for you.
Enormous

Dangerous

Difficult

Easy

Bright

gigantic

Clear

Strong

Brave

Thin

Wide

M. Macinnes 2007

51

gigan
ageous
der

trans
ad
power

ful
ple
bro

cour
iant
slen

tri
ous
parent

sim
cky
tic

hazard
brill

Exercise C
Find the word in each group of synonyms which is the odd one
out.
Odd One Out
a) happy, ecstatic, merry, dejected

b) crestfallen, elated, desolate, miserable

c) beautiful, hideous, alluring, gorgeous

d) palatable, delectable, delicious, unpalatable

e) hostile, amiable, convivial, friendly

f) kind, charitable, generous, miserly

..
g) horrible, loathsome, revolting, delightful
..
h) active, indolent, energetic, industrious

..

How confident do you feel about using SYNONYMS?

Great!

Got a few wrongNeed practice

Spelling
Design

Focus: subject spelling Craft &

M. Macinnes 2007

52

1. aesthetic
2. technology
3. disassemble
4. evaluation
5. innovation
6. specification
7. manufacture
8. portfolio
9. brief
10.
production

ANTONYMS
Antonyms are words with the opposite meaning to another
word (e.g. hot/cold; love/hate; big/small). Very often a
thesaurus will list antonyms of words as well as synonyms.
Exercise A
Using a thesaurus, find as many antonyms as you can for the
following words.
1. easy ...
...
.
2. wide

...
.
3. sad
.
...
.
4. small ..
..
5. ugly
..
Exercise B

M. Macinnes 2007

53

Put the following antonyms into pairs.

Far
Near

Long
Stale

Poor
Injure

Light
Heavy

Cure
Rich

Fresh
Short

.. +

.. +

.. +

.. +

.. +

Exercise C

.. +

Find the antonyms for the following words using a thesaurus and the
word parts in the grid. One is done for you.
Poor -

Export -

Vague -

Weak -

Hope -

Arrive -

Tiny -

Deep -

Friend -

Clever -

Fact -

Optimistic - pessimistic

pessi my
defi
art
air
sha

ene
thy
misti
c

llow
desp
fic

dep
port
ful

weal
ive
pid

power im
stu
nite
mass tion

How confident do you feel about using ANTONYMS?

Great!

Got a few wrongNeed practice

Spelling

Focus: subject spelling Drama

M. Macinnes 2007

54

1. applause
2. character
3. director
4. dramatise
5. improvise
6. performance
7. rehearsal
8. scenario
9. theatre
10.
curtain

PREFIXES
A prefix is a group of letters that go before a word to change its
meaning.
Exercise A
Find out what these prefixes mean and write them in the box below.
Prefix

Meaning

Anti
Mis
Sub
Pre
Pro
Contra
Exercise B
Prefixes that turn a root word into its opposite are called antonym
prefixes. Use a prefix to make these words into their opposites.
Prefix

in

M. Macinnes 2007

Root Word

accurate
fortunate
biotic
convenient
legal
mature
fiction
helpful
55

inform
legible
proper
freeze
count
decent
reasonable
Exercise C
Find two more examples of words that use these prefixes:
Prefix

Example 1

Example 2

Tele
Bi
Micro
Auto
Aqua
Circum
Aero
Re
How confident do
about PREFIXES?

you

feel

Great!
Got a few
wrong Need
practice

Spelling
classical prefixes

Focus:

1. aeroplane

M. Macinnes 2007

56

2. television
3. transatlantic
4. superpower
5. audience
6. autobiography
7. bilingual
8. circulate
9. audible
10.
microphone

WHERE WORDS COME FROM

Many English words have Greek and Latin roots. You might
remember some of these bits of English words from Greek and Latin
from our work on prefixes.
Audio (to hear)

Geo (earth)

Bio (life)

Chromo
(colour)
Logo
(word/reason)

Chrono (time)

Metre
(measure)
Graph (writing)

Phone
(voice/sound)
Scope (target)

Sphere (ball)

Photo (light)

Exercise A
Below are some prefixes from Greek and Latin. Look up the prefixes
in a dictionary to find out exactly what they mean.
1. bi =

..

2. com =

..

3. epi =

..

4. ex =

..

5. mega =

..

6. tetra =

..

7. mono =

..

8. sub =

..

9. hypo =

..

M. Macinnes 2007

57

10.

uni =

..
11.

syn =

..
12.

tele =

..
13.

inter =

..
14.

mal =

..
15.

poly =

..
Exercise B
Guess what each of the following words mean using your
knowledge of prefixes. For each word, write down your guess,
then look it up in the dictionary. If you were wrong, write down
the correct meaning.
1. anteroom = ..
...
2. biofuel = ..
...
3. tetrapod = ..
...
4. monochromatic =
...
5. polyphone = ..

M. Macinnes 2007

58

...
6. hypoacidity =
...
How confident do you feel about WHERE WORDS COME
FROM?
Great!

Got a few wrongNeed practice

Spelling

Focus: subject spelling History

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

agriculture
castle
bias
cathedral
chronology

6. civilisation
7. constitution
8. current
9. defence
10.
disease

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
You can make description really interesting, not only by the words
you choose, but by the comparisons you make between things.
Figurative language involves metaphors, similes or figures of
speech.

A simile is a comparison between two things using the words

like or as. E.g. Her hand was as cold as ice.

A metaphor compares by saying something is something else.

E.g. You are a devil.

Exercise A
Identify whether these are similes or metaphors.
1. The sun was an orange ball in the sky.
.................
2. He took to it like a duck to water.
.................

M. Macinnes 2007

59

3. Emma was as white as a sheet.

.................
4. His breath was on fire after eating the chilli.
.................
5. Im feeling as fit as a fiddle!
.................
6. He shot after them like a bat out of hell.
.................
7. Youre as high as a kite!
.................
8. You are a nosy cow!
.................
Exercise B
Complete these similes:
1. As strong as .
2. As proud as ..
3. As weak as
4. As sharp as
5. As cunning as ...
Now you know what figurative language is, you should try to put
your own similes and metaphors into your writing.

How confident
LANGUAGE?

M. Macinnes 2007

do

you

feel

about

FIGURATIVE

60

Great!

Got a few wrong

Spelling

Focus: common letter clusters

1. mourn
2. apprentice
3. through
4. height
5. sausage
6. thought
7. police
8. bright
9. enough
10.

Need practice

journey

IMAGERY PERSONIFICATION
We have already looked at imagery, or figurative language, when we
worked on similes and metaphors. Another important aspect of
imagery is PERSONIFICATION.
Personification is when we
describe something that is not really alive as though it were a
person or animal. E.g. the wind howled.
Exercise A
Give each of these machines animal or human characteristics (e.g.
camera the camera winked its lens, and the photo was taken.)
1. car

2. TV

3. train

4. stapler

5. computer printer
M. Macinnes 2007

61


6. lawnmower

7. sea

8. house

Exercise B
Read the extract below from the poem In The Kitchen by John
Cotton.
In the kitchen
After the aimless
Chatter of the plates,
The murmurings of the gas,
The chuckle of the water pipes
And the sharp exchanges
Of knives, forks and spoons,
Comes the serious quiet,
When the sink slowly clears its throat
Explain why these examples of personification were good ones, why
plates could be said to chatter for example.
1. the aimless/ Chatter of the plates
This

is

effective

because...
.
.
2. the chuckle of the water pipes
This

is

effective

because...

M. Macinnes 2007

62

.
.
How confident do you feel about PERSONIFICATION?
Great!

Got a few wrongNeed practice

Spelling

Focus: subject spelling English

1. advertise
2. alliteration
3. apostrophe
4. atmosphere
5. chorus
6. clause
7. clich
8. comma
9. comparison
10. conjunction

ONOMATOPOEIA
Onomatopoeia is an effect in speech or writing when words sound
like the noise they describe. (e.g. The firework exploded with a loud
bang. The angry driver made the car horn
honk loudly.)
Exercise A
Complete the following sentences with a suitable
onomatopoeic word from the list below.
Wailing
Crackled
Fizzed
Hissed
Chirped

Crunched
Screeched
Squawked
Plopped
Splashed

1. The speeding car .. to an abrupt halt.

2. The fireworks fuse .. .

M. Macinnes 2007

63

3. The chicks .. in their nest.

4. the jam .. into the rice pudding.
5. A large stone .. into the large still pool.
6. The turkey .. as the farmer chased it.
7. Small twigs .. in the fire.
8. Gravel .. under his heavy boots.
9. The snake .. in the grass.
10.

The .. of the baby caught his

mothers attention.
Exercise B
Use five of the following onomatopoeic words in sentences.
Babbling
Tinkle

Clang
Rattled

Clicked
Jangled

Neigh
Meow

Oink
Hoot

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

M. Macinnes 2007

64

.
How confident do you feel about ONOMATOPOEIA?
Great!

Got a few wrongNeed practice

Spelling

Focus: subject spelling English

1. consonant
2. dialogue
3. exclamation
4. expression
5. figurative
6. genre
7. grammar
8. imagery
9. metaphor
10. myth

REVISION SO FAR.

All of the exercises youve done so far should have helped you to
focus on improving your writing. You should be using complex,
accurate sentences in your work, using adverbs and adjectives to
make writing more interesting, and using both dictionaries and
thesauruses to help you build your vocabulary and improve spelling.
Now to revise
Exercise A
Sort these words into nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs.
apple
sunshine
Noun

gorgeous
hill
Verb

groaned
terrified

expertly
fought

Adjective

tomorrow
delightful
Adverb

Exercise B
Highlight main and subordinate clauses in each sentence and
state which type of sentence it is (remember simple, complex or
compound) on the dotted line.

M. Macinnes 2007

65

1.

Until I get home, I cant change out of these wet clothes.

..

2. I love the sound of rain on the roof.

..
3. Gary was there so I didnt go in.
..
4.

Tim chatted to his housemates whilst straightening his hair.

..

5. Although she felt sad, she sang at the concert

..
6. Whenever he chased his tail, the dog ran in circles.
..

M. Macinnes 2007

66

Exercise C
Look at the following sentences.
Into each one insert
subordinate clause that uses who, when, where or which.
1. The
knife
sharp....

was

.
.
2.
Henry
wanted
course...

an

eighth

.
.
3.
The
detective
crime..

drove

to

the

scene

of

the

.
.
How confident do you feel about YOUR REVISION?
Great!

Spelling

Got a few wrongNeed practice

Focus: unstressed vowels

1. separate
2. medicine
3. January
4. generally
5. benefit
6. alcohol
7. abominable
8. description
9. compromise
10.
literature

2010 Version

67

TARGET SETTING
Congratulations! Youve finished your homework booklet and
covered all the main basic skills as well as learning 300
spelling words. Thats good going. However, dont think you
can rest on your laurels; you will probably have found some
topics in the booklet trickier than others. These are the areas you
need to target. That means that you must keep going over these
areas ask your teacher for extra worksheets. A little work now will
pay off later.
Your new teacher will probably ask you what your targets are. Note
them down here to remind yourself and keep this homework booklet
for future reference. Look it up if youve forgotten how to write
speech or when to use an apostrophe for example. I bet youll need
it at some point!
My Targets are:
1.
How

will

achieve

my

target?

..
.
2.
How

will

achieve

my

target?

..
.
3.
How

will

achieve

my

target?

..
.
My Strengths are:
1.
2.

2010 Version

68

3.

EXTRA SPELLINGS
Spelling 31

Focus: subject spelling History

1. document
2. dynasty
3. economical
4. emigration
5. government
6. imperial
7. immigrant
8. independence
9. parliament
10.
propaganda
Spelling 32

Focus: subject spelling ICT

1. connection
2. delete
3. document
4. electronic
5. interactive
6. processor
7. program
8. spreadsheet
9. icon
10.
cartridge
Spelling 33

Focus: subject spelling Library

1. alphabet
2. anthology
3. article
4. catalogue
5. dictionary
6. encyclopaedia
7. glossary
8. thesaurus
9. relevant
10.
librarian

2010 Version

69

Spelling 34

Focus: subject spelling Music

1. choir
2. chord
3. instrument
4. percussion
5. synchronise
6. timbre
7. harmony
8. composition
9. lyric
10.
musician

Spelling 35
1. activity
2. athletic
3. exercise
4. medicine
5. muscle
6. tactic
7. squad
8. qualify
9. league
10.

Focus: subject spelling PE

field
S1 Homework Book Complete!

2010 Version

70