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

The Word-Class Arena

Word classes as one system

Lesson 14 of 14
Year 6 45 min

Objective

Identify all eight word classes by the job a word does in its sentence, including words that belong to different classes in different sentences.

Board title: Word classes  ·  Say it: “Today we're naming the job every word is doing in its own sentence, and proving the same word can do a different job next door.”

Curriculum

  • Y6: all eight word classes secure, as one system
  • Y1–Y5: each class as first taught (revisited)
  • Terminology: word class, determiner, pronoun, preposition, conjunction
  • STA domain: G1.1–G1.8

Success criteria

  • name all eight word classes
  • ask what job is this word doing here
  • show one word working as two classes
  • tell a determiner from a pronoun

Key vocabulary

word class · noun · verb · adjective · adverb · pronoun · preposition · conjunction · determiner

Run of the lesson

5 min
Starter: what class is light? Collect the light (noun) and a light bag (adjective) and park them all, every answer is right somewhere. Don't resolve it.
10 min
Model the question that runs the lesson, what job is it doing HERE? Walk The gladiator trained bravely before dawn word by word, naming each class. Then give the test-paper pair its full minute: this cake (determiner) against This is cake (pronoun), the test is what follows.
12 min
Ludus Magnus, Spicy band. Sixty-second rounds, two or three of them, keys 1 to 3 as swords; between rounds a child justifies each strike, and the vote pairs go up between games (answers: a-left, b-right, c-right, d-left).
15 min
Worksheet, independent. Circulate on Task 3: the double-job sentences show who has the habit and who has a list, so ask 'what job is it doing here?' of every label, especially train as a verb and then a noun.
3 min
Plenary: one child writes a word on the board and the class builds two sentences that give it two classes. Then the class quiz: prove Polpetta wrong by putting running in front of water.
On screenSPAGhetti → Ludus Magnus → Spicy. One screen only; no pupil devices needed. Sixty-second rounds, run two or three, with reasons demanded between rounds.
SPAGhetti · Grammar sequence · Lesson 14 of 14  ·  Teacher notes 1 of 2
Teacher notes · not for pupils The Word-Class Arena · side 2

On the day

If the tech failsSkip the game entirely. Task 1 is the same content on paper, read the pairs aloud and vote with thumbs. The lesson still works.
If they're on devicesLesson code CLSSF (on the worksheet footer) opens the right game, locks the café until 10 clean strikes land, then unlocks it as the reward.

Misconceptions to watch for

Class by meaning. Running is always a verb. Class is the job in this sentence: running water describes, running is healthy names. Ask 'what job is it doing here' every single time.

Determiner and pronoun muddled. This cake, this points at a noun: determiner. This is cake, this stands in the noun's place: pronoun. The test is what follows the word.

Adverb means -ly word. Friendly and lovely are adjectives; fast and well can be adverbs. Test the job, does it tell you how, when or where something happened?

before/after as one class. Before lunch, preposition, a noun follows. Before we ate, conjunction, a whole clause follows. Same word, two jobs; the test paper loves this one.

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 Task 3 orally with a scribe. Game on Mild.
  • SEN: gentle mode on; read Task 2 aloud before they check the labels.
  • Stretch: Task 3 extension, one sentence where a single word appears as three classes.
  • EAL: pre-teach job as the metaphor for class; word order carries more of the meaning in English than in many first languages.

Play it

Lesson code CLSSF 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 14 of 14  ·  Teacher notes, not for pupils 2 of 2  ·  Ludora