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Year 5

Parenthesis: brackets

I can use brackets to add extra, factual information.

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New
New
Year 5

Parenthesis: brackets

I can use brackets to add extra, factual information.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Parenthesis can be achieved with a range of punctuation.
  2. Brackets are a punctuation mark used to add extra, factual information in a clause.
  3. Brackets can be removed from a clause and it will still make sense.
  4. Brackets can be used purposefully in non-fiction texts to increase the amount of facts given to the reader.

Common misconception

Pupils may include within brackets information that is essential to the sentence's coherence.

Encourage pupils to cover the parenthesis in a sentence and see if what's left makes complete sense.

Keywords

  • Parenthesis - additional information that is added to a sentence; if it is removed, the sentence still makes sense

  • Brackets - a punctuation mark used to add extra, factual information in a clause

  • Factual - true

There are different ways of adding parenthesis to sentences, using different sentences. Here, we use phrases only (not clauses) to add factual information using brackets to non-fiction writing.
Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of the following can be included in a reporting clause?
Correct answer: who said the speech and how they said it
the words someone said out loud
Correct answer: the actions someone performed as they spoke
Q2.
What is missing from this piece of direct speech: "what's wrong?" said Jun.
inverted commas
Correct answer: a capital letter
a comma
a full stop
Q3.
Which of these speech first sentences is correctly punctuated?
"I can't believe this! scowled Sofia angrily.
"I can't believe this" scowled Sofia angrily.
Correct answer: "I can't believe this!" scowled Sofia angrily.
Q4.
Which speech second sentence is punctuated correctly?
Jacob muttered, "What a waste of time".
Correct answer: Jacob muttered, "What a waste of time."
Jacob muttered "What a waste of time."
Q5.
Match the type of speech sentence to the example.
Correct Answer:speech second,Sam sighed, "Next year, we'll beat them."

Sam sighed, "Next year, we'll beat them."

Correct Answer:speech interrupted,"Next year," Sam sighed, "we'll beat them."

"Next year," Sam sighed, "we'll beat them."

Correct Answer:speech first,"Next year, we'll beat them," sighed Sam.

"Next year, we'll beat them," sighed Sam.

Q6.
Which speech interrupted sentence is punctuated correctly?
"We could go to the shops" said Dad, "or we could stay in."
Correct answer: "We could go to the shops," said Dad, "or we could stay in."
"We could go to the shops," said Dad "or we could stay in."

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Tick all the texts that are non-fiction.
Correct answer: a reference book
a novel
Correct answer: an atlas
a poem
Q2.
Tick all the sentences that contain parenthesis.
Correct answer: The Indian Ocean (a vast expanse of water) is found in the Southern Hemisphere.
The Pacific Ocean is the largest on earth and covers a huge area.
Correct answer: The Atlantic Ocean (between Britain and the USA) is the second largest ocean.
The Arctic Ocean has more animal life than any other ocean.
Q3.
Which section of this sentence could be a piece of parenthesis in brackets? 'Winston Churchill 1874 - 1965 was born in Blenheim Palace.'
Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill was born in Blenheim Palace
Correct answer: 1874 - 1965
was born in Blenheim Palace
Q4.
Which section of this sentence could be a piece of parenthesis in brackets? 'Somerset a county in South-West England is known for its cheese.'
Somerset
Correct answer: a county in South-West England
is known for its cheese
its cheese
Q5.
Which version combines these two sentences correctly using parenthesis in brackets? 'King Charles became king in 2022. He is 74 years old.'
King Charles (aged 74 became king in 2022).
Correct answer: King Charles (aged 74) became king in 2022.
King Charles aged 74 (became king in 2022).
Q6.
Tick all the pieces of parenthesis that could be placed inside this sentence: 'The World Cup was held in Qatar.'
Correct answer: a famous football tournament
which was played in Qatar
Correct answer: a country in the Middle East
was won by Argentina