WRITING SKILLS Uninteresting sentence structure: Carrots are healthy. They contain large amounts of vitamin A.

Eating carrots is good for your eyes. There is some evidence that eating carrots will help you see in the dark. Better sentence structure: Carrots, which contain large amounts of vitamin A, are extremely healthy. In fact, carrots are great for eye health, and there is some evidence that eating carrots will help you see in the dark. Use A CARP PIE to gain more marks by making your sentences more interesting either by varying the way you begin the sentence!

A is for Adverbs An adverb is a word which describes a verb (eg fast, slowly, well) It usually describes how or when the verb is being done. Example: Greedily, Jake ate the jelly baby. Example: Daringly, he jumped over the fence. My example:

C is for Connectives Use words/phrases such as While, As, During, Before, After, Although, As if, As long as, As though, Because, If, In case, Once, Since, Though, Until, Unless, When, Whenever, Where, Wherever, While, But to begin sentences. Example: Although Geoffrey jumped carefully, he failed to land on Mr Curleys car. Example: But the voice was still coming from right behind him. Example: Although he pushed it with all his might, the box did not budge. My example:

A is for Adjectives Pair two adjectives together at the start of a sentence, usually linked by and or but. You can also just use one adjective. Example: Weary and anxious, Michael trudged off the pitch. Example: Elated, Jane punched the air. My example:

R is for Relative Pronouns The main relative pronouns are who, which and that. Who is used for people. Which and that are used for animals and things. Example: Alistair, who was complaining bitterly, came last. My example: P is for Prepositions A preposition is a word or group of words linking a noun to the rest of the sentence, often indicating place or position, e.g. about, against, by, from, at, in, as. Example: Behind the door lurked a large jelly baby. Example: At the end of the long winding road, stood a beautiful castle. Example: As far as her eyes could see the place was deserted. My example: P is for Punctuation An easy, simple and efficient way to gain extra marks is to use a range of punctuation: Semi colon (;) means hold in your mind what I have just said because here is some more information which is linked, but which would be too much in one long sentence. A semi-colon joins two verbs; it can often replace the word and. Example: Jordan entered the room with a smile; behind him staggered Sophie carrying all his bags - and his lunchbox. My example:

Dash (-) emphasises the words after the dash. Example: Tom often dozed off in English lessons - until his chair collapsed. My example:

A pair of dashes (- -) emphasises the words between the dashes. Example: Hannah hunted hopelessly in her bag - bulging as usual with make-up and fashion magazines - for her English homework. My example:

Ellipsis () some words are missing. Example: Laura proudly entered the room, carrying a jellyfish.

My example:

I is for ing words The ing word must be a verb; it is called a present participle. Example: Heaving a big sigh of relief, Greg was glad to hear the good news. Grabbing the ____________, Greg __________ the room. My example:

E is for ed words. Example: Flabbergasted, Johnny watched helplessly as Steve broke his favourite toy. My example:

Practice: Highlight every sentence you have started with a noun or pronoun (he/they/she) in your composition. Using A CARP PIE, rewrite each of them into 2 different sentences, each with a different opening, or combining two previous sentences (by using a relative pronoun or a semi-colon).