Checkpoint English 0844 — Stage 6 Coverage Practice (Poetry, Punctuation & Word Skills)

Cambridge Primary Checkpoint English — Stage 6 coverage-gap practice

Questions

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Question 1 of 25

Section A: Reading — the poem ‘Night Storm’

Read the poem, then answer the questions.

Night Storm

The wind came whispering through the wood,
then howled like a wolf at the door.
The old house shivered where it stood,
as thunder cracked and crashed once more.

Rain drummed its fingers on the glass;
the lightning wrote in sudden white.
The garden trees began to dance —
wild shadows in the boiling night.

Then, slowly, all the fury passed.
The clouds rolled on; the stars returned.
The world lay still and calm at last,
while one small candle bravely burned.

1 In ‘The old house shivered’ and ‘The garden trees began to dance’, the poet gives human actions to things that are not human. What is this technique called?

Personification Alliteration A fact Rhyme

Working: A house cannot really shiver and trees cannot really dance — the poet describes them as if they were people. Giving human qualities or actions to non-human things is personification.

LO: 6Rw10 — explore how poets manipulate and play with words and their sounds (figurative language in poetry).

Section A: Reading — the poem ‘Night Storm’

Read the poem, then answer the questions.

Night Storm

The wind came whispering through the wood,
then howled like a wolf at the door.
The old house shivered where it stood,
as thunder cracked and crashed once more.

Rain drummed its fingers on the glass;
the lightning wrote in sudden white.
The garden trees began to dance —
wild shadows in the boiling night.

Then, slowly, all the fury passed.
The clouds rolled on; the stars returned.
The world lay still and calm at last,
while one small candle bravely burned.

2 Which line uses onomatopoeia — words that sound like the noise they describe?

‘as thunder cracked and crashed once more’ ‘the stars returned’ ‘The world lay still and calm at last’ ‘The clouds rolled on’

Working: ‘cracked’ and ‘crashed’ actually sound like the sharp, loud noise of thunder. Words that imitate a sound are onomatopoeia. The other lines describe calm things and make no sound.

LO: 6Rw10 — how poets play with words and their sounds.

Section A: Reading — the poem ‘Night Storm’

Read the poem, then answer the questions.

Night Storm

The wind came whispering through the wood,
then howled like a wolf at the door.
The old house shivered where it stood,
as thunder cracked and crashed once more.

Rain drummed its fingers on the glass;
the lightning wrote in sudden white.
The garden trees began to dance —
wild shadows in the boiling night.

Then, slowly, all the fury passed.
The clouds rolled on; the stars returned.
The world lay still and calm at last,
while one small candle bravely burned.

3 The poet writes ‘the lightning wrote in sudden white’. Explain what picture this creates in your mind.

Marks: 1 points

Model answer: It makes you picture a bright flash of lightning suddenly appearing across the dark sky, like a quick streak or line of white light, as if it were drawing or writing on the darkness.

LO: 6Rw9 / 6Rw1 — interpret poems in which meanings are implied; comment on the writer’s use of language and its impact. Keyword auto-graded; model answer shown.

Section A: Reading — the poem ‘Night Storm’

Read the poem, then answer the questions.

Night Storm

The wind came whispering through the wood,
then howled like a wolf at the door.
The old house shivered where it stood,
as thunder cracked and crashed once more.

Rain drummed its fingers on the glass;
the lightning wrote in sudden white.
The garden trees began to dance —
wild shadows in the boiling night.

Then, slowly, all the fury passed.
The clouds rolled on; the stars returned.
The world lay still and calm at last,
while one small candle bravely burned.

4 How does the MOOD of the poem change from the beginning to the end?

From frightening and tense to calm and peaceful From happy to angry From calm to frightening It stays exactly the same all the way through

Working: The first two verses are full of danger and noise (howling, thunder, ‘boiling night’), but the last verse is quiet and gentle (‘still and calm at last’). The mood moves from frightening / tense to calm / peaceful.

LO: 6Rw3 — analyse the success of writing in evoking particular moods, e.g. suspense.

Section A: Reading — the poem ‘Night Storm’

Read the poem, then answer the questions.

Night Storm

The wind came whispering through the wood,
then howled like a wolf at the door.
The old house shivered where it stood,
as thunder cracked and crashed once more.

Rain drummed its fingers on the glass;
the lightning wrote in sudden white.
The garden trees began to dance —
wild shadows in the boiling night.

Then, slowly, all the fury passed.
The clouds rolled on; the stars returned.
The world lay still and calm at last,
while one small candle bravely burned.

5 The poem ends: ‘while one small candle bravely burned.’ What might the candle suggest to the reader?

Marks: 1 points

Model answer: The candle keeps shining even though the storm was wild, so it can suggest hope, courage or light surviving in the darkness — something small staying strong when everything around it is frightening.

LO: 6Rw9 — read and interpret poems in which meanings are implied or multi-layered. Keyword auto-graded; model answer shown.

Section B: Reading — ‘The Girl Who Drew the Stars’

Read this text about a real-life inventor, then answer the questions.

The Girl Who Drew the Stars

Amara Okonkwo was born in a small town where, most nights, the electricity failed. As a child she would lie on the flat roof and stare upwards, fascinated by the stars. Many people thought astronomy was a waste of time, but Amara disagreed.

By the age of nineteen she had built her first telescope from broken camera parts and a cardboard tube. It was, without doubt, the most beautiful object anyone had ever made. Some critics argued that her designs were too simple to be useful; others believed they could bring science to schools that had no money for equipment.

Today, thousands of her low-cost telescopes are used in classrooms across the country. Amara still says that the best ideas come from looking up.

6 Is this text a biography or an autobiography?

A biography An autobiography A set of instructions A poem

Working: The writer describes Amara using ‘she’ and ‘her’, so it is written ABOUT her by someone else. A life story written about another person is a biography. (An autobiography is written by the person about their own life, using ‘I’.)

LO: 6Rv5 — explore autobiography and biography, and first and third person narration.

Section B: Reading — ‘The Girl Who Drew the Stars’

Read this text about a real-life inventor, then answer the questions.

The Girl Who Drew the Stars

Today, thousands of her low-cost telescopes are used in classrooms across the country. Amara still says that the best ideas come from looking up.

7 Which person is the text written in?

The third person (she / her) The first person (I / me) The second person (you)

Working: The text uses ‘she’, ‘her’ and the name ‘Amara’, not ‘I’ or ‘you’. Writing that talks about someone as ‘he/she/they’ is written in the third person.

LO: 6Rv5 — first and third person narration.

Section B: Reading — ‘The Girl Who Drew the Stars’

Read this text about a real-life inventor, then answer the questions.

The Girl Who Drew the Stars

Today, thousands of her low-cost telescopes are used in classrooms across the country. Amara still says that the best ideas come from looking up.

8 Which sentence from the text is an OPINION, not a fact?

‘It was, without doubt, the most beautiful object anyone had ever made.’ ‘Amara Okonkwo was born in a small town.’ ‘By the age of nineteen she had built her first telescope.’ ‘Thousands of her low-cost telescopes are used in classrooms.’

Working: A fact can be checked; an opinion is what someone believes. The other three statements could be checked, but ‘the most beautiful object anyone had ever made’ is a judgement that not everyone would agree with — an opinion (the phrase ‘without doubt’ is a clue).

LO: 6Rx1 — distinguish between fact and opinion in a range of texts.

Section B: Reading — ‘The Girl Who Drew the Stars’

Read this text about a real-life inventor, then answer the questions.

The Girl Who Drew the Stars

Today, thousands of her low-cost telescopes are used in classrooms across the country. Amara still says that the best ideas come from looking up.

9 ‘Some critics argued… ; others believed…’. Why does the writer include BOTH of these views?

Marks: 1 points

Model answer: The writer gives both sides — those who thought the designs were too simple and those who thought they were useful — to make the writing balanced and fair, so the reader can see both points of view and decide for themselves.

LO: 6Rv6 — identify features of balanced written arguments. Keyword auto-graded; model answer shown.

Section B: Reading — ‘The Girl Who Drew the Stars’

Read this text about a real-life inventor, then answer the questions.

The Girl Who Drew the Stars

Today, thousands of her low-cost telescopes are used in classrooms across the country. Amara still says that the best ideas come from looking up.

10 How does the writer organise TIME across the three paragraphs?

In time order, from her childhood to the present day Backwards, from today to her birth In a random order with no pattern It only describes one single moment

Working: Paragraph 1 is Amara’s childhood, paragraph 2 is ‘the age of nineteen’, and paragraph 3 begins ‘Today’. The events are told in the order they happened — in time order (chronological), from past to present.

LO: 6Rw7 / 6Rw8 — understand aspects of structure, e.g. the handling of time; how paragraphs are structured and linked.

11 Section C: Punctuation — Which sentence uses a colon ( : ) correctly to introduce a list?

You will need the following: a pen, a ruler and some paper. You will need: the following a pen, a ruler and some paper. You: will need the following a pen, a ruler and some paper. You will need the following a pen: a ruler and some paper.

Working: A colon comes after a complete idea and introduces a list or explanation. ‘You will need the following’ is a complete idea, then the colon introduces the list. The other options break up the sentence in the wrong place.

LO: 6Rw13 — identify uses of the colon, semi-colon, parenthetic commas, dashes and brackets.

12 Section C: Punctuation — Which sentence uses a semicolon ( ; ) correctly to join two closely related ideas?

The sky grew dark; rain was clearly on its way. The sky grew dark; and rain was clearly on its way. The sky grew dark; because rain was clearly on its way. The sky grew; dark rain was clearly on its way.

Working: A semicolon joins two complete sentences that are closely linked, WITHOUT a joining word like ‘and’ or ‘because’. ‘The sky grew dark’ and ‘rain was clearly on its way’ are both complete and related, so the semicolon is correct. Adding ‘and’ or ‘because’ after the semicolon, or splitting a phrase, is wrong.

LO: 6Rw13 — uses of the semi-colon.

13 Section C: Punctuation — Which sentence uses a PAIR of dashes correctly to add extra information (a parenthesis)?

My uncle — who lives in Canada — is visiting next week. My uncle — who lives in Canada is visiting next week. My uncle who lives — in Canada — is visiting next week. My uncle who — lives in Canada is visiting — next week.

Working: A parenthesis is extra information dropped into a sentence; it needs a matching PAIR of dashes (or brackets, or commas) around it. ‘— who lives in Canada —’ surrounds the extra information neatly, and the sentence still makes sense if you remove it. The others place the dashes in the wrong spots.

LO: 6Rw13 — parenthetic commas, dashes and brackets.

14 Section C: Punctuation — Click the SIX words that form the parenthesis (the extra information you could remove and still have a complete sentence).

✋Click on the words you think are correct. Find 6 correct words. Click a word again to deselect it.

The trophy, which was made of solid gold gleamed on the shelf.

0 words selected / 6 to find

Working: Remove the words between the two commas and the sentence still works: ‘The trophy gleamed on the shelf.’ So ‘which was made of solid gold’ is the parenthesis, held inside a pair of parenthetic commas.

LO: 6Rw13 — parenthetic commas.

15 Section C: Connectives — Choose the connective that shows a CONTRAST: ‘I had revised for the test; ____ , I still felt nervous.’

however therefore because so

Working: The two ideas pull in opposite directions (revised, but still nervous), so you need a contrast connective: however. ‘Therefore’ and ‘so’ show a result; ‘because’ shows a reason.

LO: 6Wp1 / 6Ws7 — use a wide range of connectives to clarify relationships between ideas; meanings of connectives.

16 Section C: Connectives — Choose the connective that shows a RESULT: ‘The road was flooded; ____ , the bus was cancelled.’

therefore however although meanwhile

Working: The flood CAUSED the cancellation, so you need a connective that shows a result: therefore. ‘However’ shows contrast, ‘although’ shows concession, and ‘meanwhile’ shows something happening at the same time.

LO: 6Wp1 / 6Ws7 — connectives that show relationships between ideas.

17 Section C: Conditionals — Complete each sentence with the missing verb.

If it rains this afternoon, we cancel the picnic.

If I were taller, I reach the top shelf.

Working: 'if' sentences show possibility.

If it rains this afternoon, we ___ cancel — a likely event → will.
If I were taller, I ___ reach — an imagined / unreal situation → would ('could' is also accepted).

LO: 6Rw5 — understand the use of conditionals, e.g. to express possibility.

18 Section C: Prefixes — Drag each word to the prefix that turns it into its OPPOSITE.

Drag each item into the correct category. Place all 5 items into the 5 categories below.

obey
kind
legal
possible
responsible

im-

il-

ir-

dis-

un-

possible

legal

responsible

obey

kind

Working: A prefix at the front of a word can reverse its meaning: impossible, illegal, irresponsible, disobey, unkind. The spelling of the prefix often matches the first letter of the word (im- before p, il- before l, ir- before r).

LO: 6Ws4 / 6Ws5 — develop knowledge of prefixes (im, in, ir, il) and how to transform meaning with prefixes.

19 Section C: Spelling — A person who performs magic tricks is spelled which way?

magician magicion magishion magitian

Working: The ‘shun’ sound at the end of a word meaning ‘a person who…’ is usually spelled -cian: magician (like musician, electrician). The other spellings use the wrong ending.

LO: 6Ws1 / 6Ws2 — word endings with the same pronunciation but different spellings (-tion, -cian, -sion).

20 Section C: Spelling — Which spelling of this ‘shun’-ending word is correct? ‘She made a careful ____ about which book to read.’

decision desicion decission decishion

Working: After a ‘d’ sound, this ending is usually spelled -sion: decision (from ‘decide’). The other spellings use the wrong ending for this word.

LO: 6Ws1 — endings with the same sound but different spellings (-tion, -sion, -ssion).

21 Section C: Homophones — Complete the sentence using their, there or they’re.

coats are over by the door, but too wet to wear.

Working: these three sound the same but mean different things.

Their — shows belonging (the coats belong to them).
there — shows place (over there).
they're — short for 'they are'.

LO: 6Rv2 — conventions of standard English usage (revisits grammatical homophones, 5Ws10).

22 Section C: Apostrophes — Complete the sentence using its or it’s.

The dog wagged tail because pleased to see you.

Working:

its (no apostrophe) — shows belonging: the tail belongs to the dog.
it's (with apostrophe) — short for 'it is'. Tip: if you can say 'it is', use it's.

LO: 6Wp5 — punctuate speech and use apostrophes accurately.

23 Section C: Vocabulary — Long ago, writers used the word ‘thou’. Which modern word means the same as ‘thou’?

you they us the

Working: Language changes over time. ‘Thou’ is an old-fashioned form of you (singular), found in very old stories, plays and poems. We no longer use it in everyday English.

LO: 6Rw12 — understand changes over time in words and expressions and their use.

24 Section C: Vocabulary — What does the proverb ‘Don’t count your chickens before they hatch’ mean?

Don’t depend on something good happening until it actually does. You should always keep chickens as pets. Always count things very carefully. Eggs are best eaten at breakfast.

Working: A proverb is a short, well-known saying with a deeper meaning. This one does not really refer to chickens — it warns you not to rely on something good happening until it actually does.

LO: 6Rw2 — explore proverbs, sayings and figurative expressions.

25 Section C: Reading skills — A writer follows three long sentences with a single very short one: ‘Then everything stopped.’ Why might a writer choose to do this?

To create a dramatic pause that grabs the reader’s attention Because they had run out of ideas To save space on the page Because short sentences are always incorrect

Working: Changing sentence length on purpose creates an effect. A sudden short sentence after long ones makes the reader pause and adds drama or tension — it grabs attention.

LO: 6Rw4 — begin to show awareness of the impact of a writer’s choices of sentence length and structure.