Real Writing Year 4 - Unit 14
Model Text: A Children’s Guide to The Planets (Gustav Holst), by Jo Franklin
Curriculum links: Music (Great Composers); Science (Space); History (Ancient Rome)
Unit Overview
This writing unit for Year 4 is built around an original model text by Jo Franklin; a report for children on The Planets, by Gustav Holst. 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 two-week unit, pupils will read an article about the orchestral suite ‘The Planets’ by the composer Gustav Holst. They will have an opportunity to learn technical vocabulary used about music and space and discuss music by famous British composers; they will also look at how the names of Roman gods are still used today to indicate particular qualities. Finally, they will write a report about a planet in our solar system, using paragraphs with headings to present facts.
Key curriculum skills
Two fully-resourced lessons are included for the following UKS2 English objectives, which can form part of the unit or be taught discretely:
Vocabulary: To understand the meaning of words (Greek and Roman gods)
Pupils will: connect the names of gods and modern objects; consider why the names of Roman gods are used; write an explanation paragraph linking a Roman god with a modern object; find out more about Roman gods.
Composition: To organise paragraphs around a theme
Pupils will: group facts together; consider headings for groups of facts; research and gather information about a planet; write a factual paragraph about that planet.
Revisited skills
- using adjectives and prepositions
- using consistent tense
- using a range of conjunctions
Additional year 4 curriculum teaching points
- using fronted adverbials
- creating expanded noun phrases using adjectives and prepositional phrases
Year 4 words: featured vocabulary
Tier 2: ancient, inspiration, ominous, evoke, eager, ebb and flow
Tier 3: composer, astronomy, astrology, composition, solar system, movement, tempo, pitch, chord, orchestra, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
Spelling words: famous, guide, imagine