Teacher notes for this lesson. Two sides of A4, not for pupils.Mild sheetMedium sheetSpicy sheetAnswers
Teacher notes · not for pupils Grammar sequence

And Then…

Joining words and clauses using and

Lesson 1 of 14
Year 1 45 min

Objective

Combine words to make sentences, and join two clauses with and to make one longer sentence.

Board title: Joining with and  ·  Say it: “Today we're taking two little sentences and joining them into one bigger sentence with the little word and.”

Curriculum

  • Y1: joining words and joining clauses using and
  • Y1: combining words to make sentences
  • Terminology: word · sentence · join (conjunction is for you, not them)
  • STA domain: G3.1

Success criteria

  • join two words together with and
  • join two whole sentences with and
  • use one and, then stop with a full stop
  • read my new sentence back to check it

Key vocabulary

sentence · half · join · and · full stop

Run of the lesson

5 min
Starter: write I made a cake. and I ate it. on the board. Ask what happens if the two become one, and what happened to the full stop in the middle. Don't rub anything out yet.
8 min
Model both joins, smallest first: cheese and tomato, salt and pepper, and let them add a pair of their own. Then the big one, I stirred the sauce and I added some salt. Read each half alone before you join it.
7 min
Build the Bridge, Mild band. Read both halves aloud before the class votes. The Mild set also offers but, or and so: when the game wants one, say the word for them and move on, six unhurried rounds beat ten rushed ones.
6 min
Trap and votes: read I got up and I ate and I cooked and I sang and I sat down. in one breath until you run out of air, then ask where a full stop would have helped. Four votes, a child says WHY before each reveal (answers: a-left, b-right, c-right, d-left).
16 min
Worksheet, independent. Circulate on Task 3: the tell is a chain of ands, so have each writer read their joined sentence aloud and check it has exactly one and and one full stop.
3 min
Plenary: two children read a Task 3 sentence and the class claps once on the word and. Then the class quiz: what should Polpetta do with all those ands in his day?
On screenSPAGhetti → Build the Bridge → Mild. One screen only; no pupil devices needed. Read the bank before you plan: the Mild set is not only and. It also offers but, or and so, which are the next lesson's business, so roughly two rounds in three will want a word you have not taught. That is workable, and it is worth knowing in advance rather than in front of them. Read both halves aloud, let the class choose and wherever it fits, and when the game wants but or or say the word for them and move on, a preview, not a test. If you want a clean run, do six rounds rather than ten and spend the time on the joining instead. ~8 items in 10 minutes with discussion.
SPAGhetti · Grammar sequence · Lesson 1 of 14  ·  Teacher notes 1 of 2
Teacher notes · not for pupils And Then… · side 2

On the day

If the tech failsSkip the game entirely. Task 1 is the same content on paper, read the four pairs aloud and vote with thumbs. Two sentence strips and a card with and written on it does the same job on a table. The lesson still works.
If they're on devicesLesson code ANDSA (on the worksheet footer) opens the right game, locks the café until 10 items are done, then unlocks it as the reward.

Misconceptions to watch for

And-chaining. One sentence, six ands, no stops. It arrives the moment joining becomes possible, because joining is new and satisfying and the full stop feels like giving up. Cap it out loud: one and, then a full stop, until the habit settles. Reading their own sentence aloud in one breath does more than any rule.

And between halves that have nothing to do with each other. My name is Mia and the bus was late. The grammar is faultless and the sentence is still wrong. and says these two belong together, so ask: do they? This one is worth naming, because they will meet it again with every other joining word.

Two sentences run together with no join at all. I make the soup Nonna bakes the bread. They know the two ideas belong together and simply leave the middle empty. Ask them to read it aloud and stop where they take a breath, the gap they hear is exactly where and goes.

Starting every new sentence with and. And then we went. And then we ate. Be straight with yourself about this one: it is a style habit, not a broken rule, and published writers do it deliberately. Do not mark it wrong. Say instead that the and has more work to do inside the sentence, and show them the joined version beside their own.

The three sheets

Same four tasks on every sheet, in the same order, with the same look. Only the demand changes. Print the one each child needs; nobody does two.

Mild

Same four tasks as every other sheet, same order, same look, the demand is lower, not the dignity. Shorter passage in Task 2, and in Task 3 a word bank or words to tick, with printed sentence starters. Give it to anyone who needs a way in, and expect them to move up.

Medium

The core sheet. Give this to most of the class. No word bank; Task 3 is written from a cold start.

Spicy

Same four tasks, more demand, a longer passage with a subtler error, and Task 3 asks for two things at once. Not extra work; harder work. Nobody should be doing Spicy and the Medium sheet.

Adaptive teaching

  • Support: Task 1, then build the join with two paper strips and a card marked and before any writing happens.
  • SEN: gentle mode on; read both halves aloud for them and let them point at where the join belongs.
  • Stretch: Task 3 extension, join the two sentences, then add a second sentence that uses no and at all.
  • EAL: and itself is easy and early. Hearing where one sentence ends is the hard part, say each half separately, twice, before you join it.

Play it

Lesson code ANDSA at playspaghetti.com. The code is printed on the bottom of every pupil sheet with a QR, and Class Quiz in your dashboard opens the plenary quiz for this lesson pre-picked.

SPAGhetti · Grammar sequence · Lesson 1 of 14  ·  Teacher notes, not for pupils 2 of 2  ·  Ludora