Where to start?

When introducing reading and writing to primary school students it’s best to follow the national curriculum’s guidelines so that your students can:

• Identify and use nouns in sentences
• Form plurals of nouns correctly
• Use phonics to decode and read words containing digraphs
• Be comfortable using prepositions
• Recognise and use compound words in sentences
• Understand the sounds of different combined letters*
• Understand how the addition of prefixes and the subtraction of suffixes can change the meaning of a word

*There are 26 letters in the English alphabet which make 44 different sounds called phonemes.

We believe the best way to improve a student’s reading comprehension is to make the process fun. That’s why we’ve made our own teaching resources and English activity worksheets for you to use when doing English activities in the classroom.

English Worksheets in our library

Here is the list of our printable activity sheets to help improve your year group’s reading comprehension.

1. Days of the week — What comes next? This worksheet is perfect for young learners to practise the days of the week and learn about sequencing.
2. Rhyming words worksheet — Our rhyming words worksheet is a fun and engaging way for children to develop their phonics skills and improve their reading and writing ability.
3. Reading comprehension worksheet — Our Big Red Barn worksheet is a great way to encourage children to expand their vocabulary and practise descriptive writing by describing animals.
4. Describing Animals — Our Describing Animals worksheet is a great way to encourage children to expand their vocabulary and practise descriptive writing.
5. Common exception words — Our common exception words worksheet is a helpful tool for children to identify common exception words which don’t follow spelling patterns. This is good for students learning to read and write.
6. Common exception words — Our worksheet is an engaging way for students to practise using common exception words in context.
7. Real Words vs Common Exception Words — Our Real Words vs Common Exception Words template is a great way for students to practise identifying and understanding the difference between the two types of words.
8. Word building — Our Word Building worksheet is a fun and interactive way for students to practise creating words using letter tiles or written letters.
9. Verb matching — Our Verb Matching worksheet is a great way for students to practise identifying and matching verbs with the correct subject.

Aside from our worksheets above, think about how else you can incorporate nouns, plurals, phonics, and compound words into your lessons. Here’s an idea of how to do this:

Introducing English language concepts

Nouns

• Ask the students if they know what nouns are and give examples (e.g., dog, cat, book, ball).
• Explain that nouns are words that name people, places, or things.
• Share several nouns and ask your students to identify them.
• Ask your students to create their own sentences using the nouns.

Plurals

• Explain that plurals are used when there’s more than one person, place, or thing.
• Give examples of plurals (e.g., dogs, cats, books, balls).
• Explain the different ways to form plurals (adding -s, -es, changing the spelling).
• Try this quiz if your students are ready.

Phonics

• Explain that phonics is the relationship between letters and sounds in words.
• Show flashcards with pictures and words and ask the students to read the words using phonics.

Compound Words

1. Explain that compound words are made up of two or more words that have a combined meaning.
2. Show examples of compound words (e.g., basketball, toothbrush, bookshelf).