Real Writing Year 1 - Unit 5
Model text: My Life, by Mike Davies
Curriculum links: History (events within living memory)
Unit overview
This writing unit for Year 1 is built around an original model text by Mike Davies - an imaginary recount of a child’s life, in the first person. 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 Lilly’s recount of her life so far. They will learn about the past and the present and will recount events in their own lives.
Key curriculum skills
Three fully-resourced lessons are included for the following Year 1 English objectives, which can form part of the unit or be taught discretely:
1. Vocabulary: to spell words ending in y, making the /ee/ sound
Pupils will: will practise blending and segmenting words that contain the grapheme y, making the /ee/ sound at the end of words.
2. Punctuation: to leave spaces between words
Pupils will: learn why it is important to leave spaces between words when writing. They will orally compose and rehearse sentences, before writing these using finger spaces to separate words.
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3. Punctuation: to use a capital letter for the personal pronoun I
Pupils will: practise forming the letter I before identifying where the capital I is needed for personal pronouns.
Additional teaching points to teach or revisit:
- saying out loud what they are going to write about
- composing sentences orally before writing
- beginning to use capital letters and full stops
- reading aloud their own writing
Year 1 words: featured vocabulary
Common exception words: I my house our friend school you me so was he a she one says the there we
Tier 2 words: baby, toddler, child, parents
Tier 3 words: past, present