Hyphens, Synonyms and Antonyms Starter

Year 6 EnglishSPaG3 pages

About this worksheet

Seven quick questions on hyphens, synonyms and antonyms make up this three-page Year 6 starter. Pupils match "a man-eating shark" and "a man eating shark" to their meanings, then add hyphens to good natured and to recover. In between, they find a synonym for gigantic, an antonym for courageous and the opposites in a sentence about a heavy parcel. The last question asks which of four words means predict. An answer key covers every question. It fits England National Curriculum grammar objectives for Year 6.

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Hyphens, Synonyms and Antonyms Starter: SPaG - page 1

Hyphens, Synonyms and Antonyms Starter: SPaG - page 2

Hyphens, Synonyms and Antonyms Starter: SPaG - page 3

Curriculum objectives covered

Writing - vocabulary, grammar and punctuation

“Learning the grammar for years 5 and 6 in English Appendix 2”

Part 2 works on synonyms and antonyms, which Appendix 2 lists for Year 6.

Writing - vocabulary, grammar and punctuation

“Using hyphens to avoid ambiguity”

Questions 1, 2 and 6 show a hyphen changing the meaning, from the shark to re-cover.

Writing - vocabulary, grammar and punctuation

“Use and understand the grammatical terminology in English Appendix 2 accurately and appropriately in discussing their writing and reading.”

Questions 3, 4, 5 and 7 ask pupils to use the terms synonym and antonym correctly.

What's inside this worksheet

Part 1: Hyphen Power

Pupils match the two shark phrases to their meanings, then hyphenate "good natured" in a sentence about well-behaved children.

Part 2: Word Connections

A synonym for gigantic, an antonym for courageous, and the two opposites in "The heavy parcel was difficult to lift, but the small bag was quite light."

Part 3: Quick Fire Mix

Pupils add a hyphen so recover means to put a new cover on the chair, then tick the synonym for predict from Prevent, Foresee, Guess and Remember.

How teachers use it

Lesson starter

Give it ten minutes at the start of a grammar lesson. The shark question gets a laugh and makes the point about hyphens at once.

Retrieval a week later

Set Part 3 again the following week to check pupils still remember re-cover.

Vocabulary extension

Take question 3 further by asking pupils to rank their synonyms for gigantic from weakest to strongest.

More Year 6 English worksheets

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