First person diary entries - imaginative (Block B)

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Year 4 Writing Unit: First person diary entries - imaginative (Block B)

• This is a two-week unit. • The unit is set in the context of the CUSP History unit ‘Achievements of Ancient

Egyptians’. • The structure of the unit is as follows:

Week 1 Week 2

Explicit teaching of the grammatical structures and text conventions

required

Structural understanding, planning and execution of

extended task and focused editing teaching

Week: 1/2 Focus: Explicit teaching of the grammatical structures and text conventions required

Revisiting prior learning

Taught content Opportunities to apply taught content

What successlooks like

1. Idioms (see the model text for examples)

Understand how colloquialisms and creative punctuation create an informal tone

Prior to this unit, teachers may wish to share the story of King Midas and the golden touch. This is used as the context for the imaginative diary entry.

Share the model text and discuss the key elements (characters, perspective, historical context, key event). Explain that a diary entry can be factual or fictional. Give pupils time to discuss the context and contents of the model text and to generate key questions based on what they have read.

Explain that a diary entry is a personal text and can therefore be written informally.

Highlight the following examples of language features which create an informal tone:

• Colloquialisms / idioms, e.g. … I felt sure in my bones …

• Contractions, e.g. … I can’t help feeling sorry for the greedy old fool …

• Creative punctuation, e.g. GOLD!

Give pupils time to collect and sort further examples from the model text and add their own from wider reading. Draw attention to formal equivalents (e.g. Hi –Good morning, can’t – cannot) and practise using these orally in sentences.

Can identify informal language and grammatical features

2. Pronouns Understand historical context and first person perspective

Remind pupils of the difference between first person and third person perspective. Identify key pronouns that indicate this in the model text. Explain that third person pronouns can also be used to refer to other characters in the context of a first person text.

Discuss the use of historical references and make the connection between how cultural references are expertly woven into some texts. Explore the challenges around writing like this (e.g. lack of real experience to draw on) and model how historical knowledge can inform your creative thinking as an author. Link this to famous authors who do this successfully, e.g. Emma Carroll or Peter Bunzl.

Collect examples of historical references from the text. Revisit the learning from the associated CUSP unit and create a bank of possible references that could be included in a text about the Ancient Egyptians or the Archaeologists who discovered Tutankhamun.

Can identify the perspective of a text

Can discuss historical references in a text

Learning Sequence:Y4 First person diary entries - imaginative (Block B)

Week: 1/2 Focus: Explicit teaching of the grammatical structures and text conventions required

Revisitingprior learning



3. Apostrophes for possession and contraction

Understand how contractions create an informal tone

Explore the purpose of a diary entry and share other known diary entries. Consider the audience for a diary entry. Pupils read the model text aloud in partners and discuss the text, considering what they like and what they don’t like and how it compares to a formal letter. Highlight the contracted words in the model text. Demonstrate how we use apostrophes to show that we have omitted letters when joining words together. Model how to create the contracted form from two words. Exemplify common misconceptions, e.g. placement or orientation of the apostrophe, misspellings such as carn’t or didern’t. Pupils write common contracted words from the two words given. Demonstrate how contractions are a result of speeding up spoken language and spoken language can be more informal. Model write some sentences which use contractions from the perspective of a historical character from the associated CUSP unit. Pupils then continue to practise this, underlining contractions and explaining how they have been formed.

Can identify and construct contractions accurately

4. Prepositions of time (at, after, on)

Understand how prepositions and conjunctions can be used to express time and cause

Highlight the use of the prepositions ‘after’ and ‘at’ in the model text and explore how they express time. Explore ways of using prepositions of time in different contexts and discuss the role of these prepositions in moving a narrative on. Model writing some sentences using prepositions of time in the context of writing in the first person about your day, e.g. I sat down to eat breakfast at 7am. I fed my dog after I walked him. Pupils write their own sentences following a similar structure, using the prepositions to show time.

Highlight an example of the use of conjunctions to express cause in the model text (e.g. It took another half hour of hard physical effort to work the door open because there were some fallen rocks in the way…) . Model creating causal sentences in the same way and ask the pupils to write similar sentences of their own. Demonstrate the impact of removing the conjunction (e.g. She was angry because he was late. She was angry. He was late.). Collect examples of causal conjunctions and encourage pupils to experiment with the most appropriate conjunction in different examples of sentences.

Can identify and use conjunctions and prepositions to express time or cause

5. Flexible content


Week: 2/2 Focus: Structural understanding, planning and execution of extended task




Demonstrate secure use of the following punctuation:

• Capital letters and full stops• Exclamation marks and question marks• Commas after fronted adverbials

While basic punctuation such as capital letters and full stops may be referenced in the Ingredients for Success checklist, teachers will need to use their discretion to determine whether this requires additional explicit teaching for their cohort or whether it can be consolidated through standard classroom expectations of writing outcomes.

1. Note form for planning

Understand the structure of a text and use this to inspire your own writing

Revisit the model text. Remind pupils that we can use the structure of a text to help us plan our own writing. Published authors often draw from the work of others to inspire their own writing.

Explore the purpose of each paragraph of the model text. Teach pupils the difference between a story and a diary entry. Create a structure (see below) and use this to model how to plan the structure of a diary entry that draws on the historical context of the CUSP History unit (teachers can choose an alternative context that suits their class, if preferred). Pupils use the planning structure to plot the key components of their own diary entries. Remind pupils that ideas develop over time and that these can be refined subsequently.

Can draw on their reading to inform their writing

Structure of the model text: 1. Headline to introduce the diary entry2. Where did the event happen? 3. How did the day begin?4. What was the exciting event? 5. Further detail about the event?6. How did it end? Looking ahead to tomorrow

2. Punctuation: exclamation marks, ellipses, capitalisation

Create an informal tone within an extended diary entry

Revisit your planning from the previous week. Use hot-seating to explore the events and responses of the character you have chosen to write as. Model how to orally rehearse your text and add annotations and jottings to your planning to help you write it. Give pupils time to rehearse and annotate their own planning.

Model writing the opening two paragraphs of your diary entry (Headline and location), referring to your plan and commentating on the use of devices that create an informal tone (colloquialisms, creative punctuation and contracted forms of words). Demonstrate how to rehearse sentences orally, adjusting word choice out loud, then write the sentences. Give pupils time to write the opening of their diary entry, focusing on informal tone and rehearsing sentences aloud before writing.

Can use a range of devices to create an informal tone


Week: 2/2 Focus: Structural understanding, planning and execution of extended task




3. Pronouns (e.g. I, my, mine, we, our, ours)

Sustain the first person perspective and edit as you go

Read your modelled writing from the previous lesson out loud. Demonstrate how to make simple proofing corrections as you read it aloud, checking for accurate transcription and clarity of meaning. Model how to check that the pronouns and verb forms used keep it in the first person perspective and the past tense. Highlight precise selection of vocabulary and suggest areas where detailed language choices could be improved.

Return to your planning and model orally rehearsing what you will write in the next two paragraphs (how the day began and the exciting event), adding annotations to your plan where useful. Give pupils time to rehearse and record their next two paragraphs of their diary entry. Remind them to keep checking pronouns and verbs for consistency of tense and perspective as they write.

Can identify and correct errors in tense and perspective by re-reading work aloud

4. Recognise and sort prepositions and conjunctions

Use prepositions and conjunctions to express cause and manner within extended writing

Revisit the use of prepositions of place and conjunctions to show cause and manner. Give pupils the chance to sort conjunctions and prepositions and orally rehearse sentences from their planning that use these.

Give pupils time to write their final two paragraphs. Focus specifically on the level of detail that pupils include, identifying language that describes feelings, thoughts and events. Highlight precise selection of adjectives, adverbs and figurative language. Encourage pupils to identify where they have used prepositions and conjunctions to extend, elaborate and qualify their sentences. Discuss the impact of this on the reader.

Can use prepositions and conjunctions to express cause and manner within extended writing

5. Commas after fronted adverbials and to mark a list

Edit secretarially Using some of your modelled writing or examples of pupils’ work, remind pupils how to check the clarity of their writing by reading it aloud to a peer. Model making edits to verb conjugation or selection of pronouns as you read. Show how to check the use of punctuation as part of clarifying meaning, including commas for fronted adverbials and in lists. Pupils review their own use of punctuation in their extended piece. Draw attention to examples of the deliberate use of creative punctuation for tone (e.g. exclamation mark for emphasis, ellipsis).

Can make changes to their writing retrospectively, focusing on accuracy of transcription




Tier 2/3 Vocabulary

rubblethe piles of broken stone and bricks etc. that are left when a building falls down or is destroyed

summon to order someone to come to or be present at a particular place, or to officially arrange a meeting of people

shove to push someone or something forcefully

chamber a room used for a special or official purpose

morsel a very small piece of food

perishto die, especially in an accident or by being killed, or to be destroyed

Vocabulary:Y4 First person diary entries - imaginative (Block B)



Content Knowledge:Y4 First person diary entries - imaginative (Block B)

Content Knowledge

Preposition

A word that is used to describe the relationship (often time or location) of one thing to another, e.g. after, before, on, under, inside, behind. Some prepositions can also be used as adverbials.

ConjunctionA word such as 'and', 'but', 'while' or 'although' that connects words, phrases and clauses in a sentence.

Reported speech

Speech reports consist of two parts: the reporting clause and the reported clause. The reporting clause includes a verb such as say, tell, ask, reply, shout, usually in the simple past tense, and the reported clause includes what the original speaker said.

E.g. He said that he was sorry for disturbing me then breathlessly told me that the digging crew had found something.

Colloquialism Informal, non-standard expressions, sometimes known as slang (e.g. bloke, gobsmacked, chinwag, gutted, stroppy).

Contractions

Used in informal structures where two words are brought together and shortened to make one word. Missing letters are marked with an apostrophe (e.g. don’t).



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First person diary entries - imaginative (Block B)

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