We know that giving children strong grammar, punctuation and spelling skills really helps them to communicate clearly, but children often find the rules difficult to understand. Here are some top tips from our resources to help.

Brush up your knowledge

The National Curriculum includes an extensive list of grammar terms for children to understand. You can find clear definitions of all of the terms in the National Curriculum in our free grammar glossary – from subordinate clauses to coordinating conjunctions.

Once you’ve familiarised yourself with all of the terms, why not test yourself with our fun quiz!

Provide context

Teaching grammar in context is an excellent way for children to embed their knowledge. You can find lots of examples of grammar terms in the Oxford Reading Tree, TreeTops and Project X books in our free grammar glossary. Take a look at an example using relative clauses.

Or why not use real life examples from children’s favourite magazines, newspapers or school displays?

Get parents involved!

Give parents the confidence to help their children at home with free advice from grammar expert Charlotte Raby. She covers everything from the basics of grammar to fun games: ‘Captain’s Commands’, ‘Nouns in newspapers’, ‘Finish it!’ and many more.

Try a practice test

We all know test conditions can make even the most confident children worry. Help them prepare for the tests with free Nelson Grammar practice tests for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.

Make it interactive

Online games are a fun way of consolidating knowledge. This free game about verbs from the Oxford Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling Dictionary is great way for children to practice what they’ve learnt.

Make the most of displays

Sometimes giving children reminders and tips can really help. This downloadable poster can be printed and displayed in your classroom as a reference in literacy lessons.