Real Writing Year 5 - Unit 4
Model text: Diary of Neil Armstrong
Curriculum Links: Science (Earth and Space)
Writing unit overview
This writing unit for Year 5 is built around an original model text by Jon Mayhew; an imagined diary entry written by Neil Armstrong. The example text is available as a PDF in three versions (plain, illustrated and annotated); annotated and non-annotated PowerPoint presentations are also included.
In this 2 week unit, pupils will learn how to write a diary, which is a type of informal recount. They will identify diary entry features using the model text. They will learn about a significant event in history (moon landing of 1969) and investigate how the event could be written from different viewpoints.
Key curriculum skills
Two fully-resourced lesson plans are included for Year 5 English objectives:
1 - To distinguish between homophones and other words that are often confused (homonyms and homographs)
Pupils will: revisit learning about homophones KS2; understand what is meant by homophone, homonym and homograph; use a dictionary to find the meanings of words that can be easily confused; match homonyms to their meanings; write definitions of homographs; write sentences using pairs of homonyms.
2 - To use commas to clarify meaning and avoid ambiguity
Pupils will: revisit how commas are used in lists; understand how to use commas to avoid ambiguity; explain how commas change the meanings of specific sentences; place commas into sentences to clarify meaning.
Additional objectives to teach or revisit:
- using prepositions and fronted adverbials.
- investigate the use of headings to structure the text
- using relative clauses beginning
- using the present perfect form of verbs
- distinguishing between the language of speech and writing
- choosing the appropriate register
Year 5 vocabulary
Spelling words: guarantee, sacrifice
Tier 2 words: mission, preparation, ascent, intense, insignificant, leaky, valve, trudge, destination, cumbersome
Tier 3 words: gravity, launch (verb/noun), cockpit, atmosphere, lunar module, command module, orbit, dock
What are homophones?
Homophones are words that sound the same but are spelt differently and have different meanings.
Examples of homophones or words that are often confused from English Appendix 1: years 5/6
- advice/advise
- device/devise
- licence/license
- practice/practise
- prophecy/prophesy
- farther/father
- guest/guessed
- heard/herd
- led/lead
- morning/mourning
- past/passed
- precede/proceed
- aisle/isle
- aloud/allowed
- affect/effect
- altar/alter
- ascent/assent
- bridle/bridal
- cereal/serial
- compliment/complement
- descent/ dissent
- desert/dessert
- draft/draught
- principle/principal
- profit/prophet
- stationary/stationery
- steal/steel
- wary/weary
- who’s/whose