Emma Posted February 5, 2013 Posted February 5, 2013 So this year, the government are replacing the Year 6 SATs writing and spelling exam with the SPAG (spelling, punctuation and grammar) test. It's caused quite a bit of controversy amongst teachers, not just for the sudden change but also the banding of what constitutes as a level 3, 4 or 5 won't be released until the children get their results in the summer. Writing assessed by the teacher will also be included in the level, but how much this will count towards their grade isn't yet known. Here's some more information about it. So, how do you feel about this test? What sort of test should children do, if any? ----- Here are a few sample questions. Post your answers/ score below. No cheating! 1. Complete the sentences below using either I or me. I wanted my mum to watch ____ in the school play. After we went cycling, Emma and ____ were very tired. The teacher asked Tim and ____ to collect the books. 2. Change the question below into a command. Could you get my coat? 3. Which sentence uses the correct plural? I brush my tooth twice a day. Lots of woman took part in the race. The sign warned that deer might be crossing. All the childs played together. 4. Find the adverbs in the sentence below. Excitedly, Dan opened the heavy lid. He paused briefly and looked at the treasure. 5. Find the connective in the sentence below. Although the room looked empty, Cara knew she would discover something in there. 6. Find the article in each sentence below. After the argument they all went home. We saw a magnificent polar bear. Eating an apple can help keep you healthy. 7. Are the underlined sentences below a phrase or a clause? We went outside so we could enjoy the sunshine. The sun shone in the bright blue sky. The beautiful rainbow lasted for hours. We had fun running around the garden. 8. Find the preposition in the sentence below. She waited until 10 o’clock. 9. Put a prefix at the beginning of each word to make it mean the opposite. ___________behave ___________correct ___________possible And finally, a nice easy one: 10. Insert the capital letters and full stops in the passage below. One has been done for you. T the sun shone while Luke was walking to school as he passed ben’s house, he was thinking about the weekend and their trip 1. 1 mark for all 3 correct: Me I Me (don't make me explain the last one!) 2. 1 mark for correct answer Accept an appropriate command starting with a suitable imperative verb: Also accept commands that start with ‘please’, Get / fetch / bring my coat 3. 1 mark The sign warned that deer might be crossing. 4.1 mark for both correct Excitedly and briefly 5. 1 mark Although 6. 1 mark for all three correct. the a an 7. 2 marks for all correct, 1 mark for 3 correct. clause phrase phrase clause 8. 1 mark until 9. 1 mark for all correct misbehave incorrect impossible 10. 1 mark for all correct The sun shone while Luke was walking to school. As he passed Ben’s house, he was thinking about the weekend and their trip.  So how did you do? There are 46 questions like this in total, some easier, some harder. 
Cube Posted February 5, 2013 Posted February 5, 2013 (edited) Erm...I got 5/11. 1. Me I Me Although for some reason I think it should be "me and Emma" and "me and Tim". 2. Get my coat. 3. The sign warned that deer might be crossing. 4. excitedly, heavy, briefly 5. The comma 6. home polar bear apple 7. phrase, phrase, phrase, phrase I honestly have no idea what "clause" means in this context. 8. until 9. (We aim to) misbehave incorrect impossible 10. The sun shone while Luke was walking to school as he passed Ben’s house. He was thinking about the weekend and their trip Edited February 5, 2013 by Cube
MoogleViper Posted February 5, 2013 Posted February 5, 2013 1. Complete the sentences below using either I or me. I wanted my mum to watch me fuck my sister as an ode to Star Wars in the school play. After we went cycling, Emma and I fucked so much in the woods that were very tired. The teacher asked Tim and I to stop sucking each other's cocks and to collect the books. 2. Change the question below into a command. Could you get my coat, you fucking bitch? 3. Which sentence uses the correct plural? I brush my tooth twice a day. Oh the dangers of too much fizzy pop. Lots of woman took part in the race. They all lost, obviously. The sign warned that deer might be crossing, so I put my foot down. All the childs played together. "Easy prey," said ReZ. 4. Find the adverbs in the sentence below. Excitedly, Dan opened the heavy lid. He paused briefly and looked at the treasure. After years of waiting, he finally saw his first vagina. 5. Find the connective in the sentence below. Although the room looked empty, Cara knew she would discover something in there. It was her Dad hiding in the closet again. 6. Find the article in each sentence below. After the argument they all went home, and had angry make up sex. We saw a magnificent polar bear. It's head was mounted in the hotel lobby. Eating an apple can help keep you healthy. That's where William Tell's son went wrong, may god rest his soul. 10. Insert the capital letters and full stops in the passage below. One has been done for you. T the sun shone while Luke was walking to school as he passed ben’s house, he was thinking about the weekend and their trip, but they must never mention the trip, not to anyone. Did I win?
The Bard Posted February 5, 2013 Posted February 5, 2013 I got all that shit right, largely because I'm a pedantic stickler. I actually had no idea that SATs had a spelling and grammar component previously, I thought there was just the comprehension and creative writing part of the English paper.
jayseven Posted February 5, 2013 Posted February 5, 2013 I got it all right, and I'm all for kids learning this shit. I find it odd that there's no essay-based question to go along side it to really test a student's ability to utilise a learned skill. This test assesses a child's ability to evaluate something in front of them based upon memorised rulesets. I'd still like to see a form of creative writing -- though i guess that's harder to really provide fair marks for. This test would provide more quantifiable results. I didn't read the extra information you posted, Emma, so I'm sure it's a complicated matter, but it is a step away from getting students to memorise stock essay responses, which is definitely a good thing -- however I have little-to-no knowledge of the education system over here so you'll have better insight! I think it's reasonable to test a child's ability like this, but I have mixed feelings about when the tests are suitible i.e. falling at the end of the year isn't necessarily practical for improving the child's abilities as they're going to move up a year and have a new teacher the next term, etc etc. Rambles here!
Ville Posted February 5, 2013 Posted February 5, 2013 Everything right, except I capitalised the Sun. Well, since our sun's name is the Sun, it's technically correct, just not in any way necessary here... o_O
MoogleViper Posted February 5, 2013 Posted February 5, 2013 Everything right, except I capitalised the Sun. Well, since our sun's name is the Sun, it's technically correct, just not in any way necessary here... o_O No it isn't, it's called Sol.
Ville Posted February 5, 2013 Posted February 5, 2013 No it isn't, it's called Sol. The Latin name for the star, Sol, is widely known but is not common in general English language use http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun
Dannyboy-the-Dane Posted February 5, 2013 Posted February 5, 2013 Got them all right. I would have been severely disappointed in myself if I hadn't, considering I'm such a Grammar Nazi.
Ville Posted February 5, 2013 Posted February 5, 2013 Got them all right. I would have been severely disappointed in myself if I hadn't, considering I'm such a Grammar Nazi. You mean fly fucker? ; D
Jonnas Posted February 5, 2013 Posted February 5, 2013 Got them all right (well...I thought "phrases" and "clauses" were the other way around because I was unfamiliar with your nomenclature. I swear, those names are counterintuitive for me) I have no idea if it's an improvement over anything, I don't know what you silly Brits do with your children. How old are the kids taking these, again? It's because "I" is used when it's the subject and "me" is used when it's the object (or pretty much elsewhere), right? Or is there more to it? Everything right, except I capitalised the Sun. Well, since our sun's name is the Sun, it's technically correct, just not in any way necessary here... o_O Well, it could also be that Luke brought with him a special edition of The Sun with shining paper.
jayseven Posted February 5, 2013 Posted February 5, 2013 It's because "I" is used when it's the subject and "me" is used when it's the object (or pretty much elsewhere), right? Or is there more to it? Many people just assime that it's always "Tim and I" but that's not always grammatically correct. The easy way I've always used is to see what would make sense in the sentence if there was just one person acting out the verb. "The teacher asked Tim and ____ to collect the books." It's as if there are two sentences being joined; The teacher asked Tim to collect the books The teacher asked ____ to collect the books The teacher asked ME to collect the books. vs. The Teacher asked I to collect the books. Consider, instead; Tim and ___ went to the library to collect the books. Which makes more grammatical sense, I or ME? Another shorthand is, effectively, to use the WE/US rule. If you can remove the "Tim and ___" and replace it with WE grammatically, then you know the correct substitution would be 'I'. And if it would be US, then you know it should be 'ME'. That's been my basic understanding, anyway. EDIT: yeah subject/object makes sense too
Ville Posted February 6, 2013 Posted February 6, 2013 Well, it could also be that Luke brought with him a special edition of The Sun with shining paper. Well, that's the first thing that came to mind when capitalising it, actually o_O Sparkly page 3 mammaries or smth...
Cube Posted February 6, 2013 Posted February 6, 2013 Am I the only person who completely erased the meaning of words like "adverb" from my mind because there is virtually zero use for the words once you know how to write sentences?
Ashley Posted February 6, 2013 Posted February 6, 2013 Did you change the names, or were you and Dan just coincidentally used as examples?
Jonnas Posted February 6, 2013 Posted February 6, 2013 EDIT: yeah subject/object makes sense too Yeah, just making sure, since that's more or less the rule in German (except they have a 3rd form, too ) Am I the only person who completely erased the meaning of words like "adverb" from my mind because there is virtually zero use for the words once you know how to write sentences? It's quite handy when learning another language, though. I've heard a story about an anglophone in Brazil who used adverbs as a crutch for speaking Portuguese (most adverbs in English can be done "Adjective"+ly, like "Heavily". The same thing happens with Portuguese with "Adjective"+mente, like "Verdadeiramente"). Knowing about objects and clauses is also important in languages like German.
Rummy Posted February 6, 2013 Posted February 6, 2013 Many people just assime that it's always "Tim and I" but that's not always grammatically correct. The easy way I've always used is to see what would make sense in the sentence if there was just one person acting out the verb. "The teacher asked Tim and ____ to collect the books." It's as if there are two sentences being joined; The teacher asked Tim to collect the books The teacher asked ____ to collect the books The teacher asked ME to collect the books. vs. The Teacher asked I to collect the books. Consider, instead; Tim and ___ went to the library to collect the books. Which makes more grammatical sense, I or ME? Another shorthand is, effectively, to use the WE/US rule. If you can remove the "Tim and ___" and replace it with WE grammatically, then you know the correct substitution would be 'I'. And if it would be US, then you know it should be 'ME'. That's been my basic understanding, anyway. EDIT: yeah subject/object makes sense too What about myself, when should/would/could you use that? *waits for someone to correct Tales's grammer*
Ville Posted February 6, 2013 Posted February 6, 2013 *waits for someone to correct Tales's grammer* Tales' grammar. There you go.
Rummy Posted February 6, 2013 Posted February 6, 2013 Tales' grammar. There you go. I'm just surprised the self-professed grammar nazis didn't notice it sooner. I made my post to highlight that and the other issue I've never achieved a solid closure on; is Tales's valid or not?
jayseven Posted February 6, 2013 Posted February 6, 2013 What about myself, when should/would/could you use that? I didn't know exactly how to answer this so I've gone to t'internets; Myself is often used where I or me might be expected: as subject <to wonder what myself will say — Emily Dickinson> <others and myself continued to press for the legislation>, after as, than, or like <an aversion to paying such people as myself to tutor> <was enough to make a better man than myself quail> <old-timers like myself>, and as object <now here you see myself with the diver> <for my wife and myself it was a happy time>. Such uses almost always occur when the speaker or writer is referring to himself or herself as an object of discourse rather than as a participant in discourse. The other reflexive personal pronouns are similarly but less frequently used in the same circumstances. Critics have frowned on these uses since about the turn of the century, probably unaware that they serve a definite purpose. Users themselves are as unaware as the critics—they simply follow their instincts. These uses are standard. See here for full definition. Essentially it can be used in place of 'I' or 'me' but really only in some situations. If you say "the teacher asked Tim and myself to get the books" you are sounding like you are overcorrecting your speech - something one might do, say, in court, to try and sound cleverer or more proper. That's how it reads in this context to me, and that's just because I'm better at recognising the authorial intention of such a use in, say, a book, rather than the correct grammatical use! Hope this post was vaguely helpful.
Ville Posted February 6, 2013 Posted February 6, 2013 I'm just surprised the self-professed grammar nazis didn't notice it sooner. I made my post to highlight that and the other issue I've never achieved a solid closure on; is Tales's valid or not? Ha, we did notice it, but didn't feel a need to point it out...I mean, it's a pretty common mistake even among native speakers o_O As for Tales' vs. Tales's...both seem to be ok. Just see the link below, the whole topic is an absolute sea of horror... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostrophe#Singular_nouns_ending_with_an_.E2.80.9Cs.E2.80.9D_or_.E2.80.9Cz.E2.80.9D_sound
Dannyboy-the-Dane Posted February 6, 2013 Posted February 6, 2013 It annoys me however, upon writing, this, that Dane has already responded... I'm ... I'm sorry. Why does it annoy you? Ha, we did notice it, but didn't feel a need to point it out...I mean, it's a pretty common mistake even among native speakers o_O As for Tales' vs. Tales's...both seem to be ok. Just see the link below, the whole topic is an absolute sea of horror... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostrophe#Singular_nouns_ending_with_an_.E2.80.9Cs.E2.80.9D_or_.E2.80.9Cz.E2.80.9D_sound Also, speaking personally, I don't go around pointing out people's mistakes - unless I want to be intentionally annoying. And indeed, the topic of apostrophes is a chaotic one.
Rummy Posted February 6, 2013 Posted February 6, 2013 Then you're not a real grammar nazi! I think that...just confused me even more Ville! I'm gonna carry on using my 's for anyone who is singular, s's, x's or z's regardless!
Dannyboy-the-Dane Posted February 6, 2013 Posted February 6, 2013 Well, I guess not in the common sense of the word. I'm only a Grammar Nazi towards myself!
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