Adding a few letters to the end of a word changes its meaning: jump becomes jumping, jumped and jumper. Adding un- to the start makes the opposite: happy becomes unhappy. Year 1 explorers add -ing, -ed, -er and un- to words that don’t need other changes.
What your child will learn
- Add -ing and -ed to verbs, like jumping and jumped
- Add -er to make words like helper and faster
- Use un- to change a word’s meaning to the opposite
- Spot the ending in a longer word
Little endings, big changes
-ing tells us something is happening now (I am jumping), and -ed tells us it has already happened (I jumped). -er can mean “a person who does it” (a helper) or “more” (faster).
The prefix un- means “not”: unkind means not kind, and unlock undoes a lock.
Example questions
Here are a few questions like the ones in the first quest. Can you solve them?
1. fast + er =
- fastr
- fastest
- faster
- fastter
Show answer
Answer: faster. Add -er to compare: fast, faster.
2. play + ed =
- plaied
- playd
- played
- playeed
Show answer
Answer: played. Just add -ed: play + ed = played.
3. True or false? “Unlock” means the opposite of “lock”.
Show answer
Answer: True. Un- undoes the action: you unlock a door to open it.
Tips for grown-ups
- Play “what am I doing?”: act out jumping, hopping and clapping and say the -ing word.
- Talk about yesterday using -ed words: we played, we walked, we laughed.
- Find un- words on packaging: unwrap, unzip, unpack.