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Examples of Informal Letters KS2 – Year 3 Unit 15: Penpal Letter

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This resource is part of our writing curriculum
Real Writing
  • Covers every objective for years 1-6
  • Over 150 high-quality model texts
  • A whole year's worth of lessons

We’ve built this examples of informal letters KS2 writing unit for Year 3 around an original model text by Loretta Schauer - an informal letter from a young person in the UK to her pen pal overseas.

The example text is available as a PDF in three versions (plain, illustrated and annotated). We’ve also included annotated and non-annotated PowerPoint presentations.


Real Writing Year 3 - Unit 15
Letter to a Pen pal, by Loretta Schauer
Curriculum links: Geography (Place knowledge)


In this two-week examples of informal letters KS2 unit, pupils will read a letter to a pen pal overseas from a child in the UK. They will have an opportunity to learn some vocabulary connected with international travel and British culture. It will culminate in them writing their own letter as if they were living in a different country, replying to the original letter, using the letter writing templates and planning sheets provided.

Key curriculum skills

Two fully resourced lesson plans are included for Year 3 English objectives, which can form part of the unit or be taught discretely:

1. Vocabulary - To understanding the meanings of words

Pupils will: revise word classes; deduce the meanings of words from context; use dictionaries when meanings cannot be deduced; write sentences using new vocabulary correctly.

2. Grammar - To use a or an depending on whether the following word starts with a consonant or vowel

Pupils will: revisit determiners (although they will not need to learn and remember this term until year 4) and nouns; understand that we use ‘a’ before some nouns and ‘an’ before others, and why; sort words into those that follow ‘a’ and those that follow ‘an’; create sentences using ‘a’ and ‘an’ correctly.

Additional objectives to teach or revisit

From previous year groups:

  • the use of noun phrases for description and specification
  • contracted words
  • commas for lists

Additional Year 3 curriculum teaching points

  • extending sentences with a wider range of conjunctions
  • the use of conjunctions, adverbials and prepositions to express time and cause
  • the use of paragraphs to organise information

Year 3 vocabulary

Tier two words: museum, queen
Tier three words: United Kingdom, custom, scenery
Year 3 and 4 statutory spelling words: address, recent, favourite, peculiar, reign, occasion, often, though, history, special

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