Real Writing Year 2 - Unit 10
Model text: Day at School by Joshua Seigal
Curriculum links: Familiar settings
Unit overview
This writing unit for Year 2 is built around an original text by Joshua Seigal - a poem about a day in school. 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 explore the structure of the poem, identifying words that rhyme and counting syllables in each line. Pupils will learn how nouns are created by compounding words and will write using the present tense. Pupils will also learn how the apostrophe can be used in contracted words. In the final writing task, pupils will write their own poem about a day at school, with pupils challenged to follow the structure of the poem where possible. This unit gives pupils the opportunity to write poetry linked to their own experiences.
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 form nouns by compounding
Pupils will: learn how nouns can be created by compounding two words to create a new noun. Pupils will then use these compound nouns in their own sentences.
2. Grammar: to consistently write in the present tense
Pupils will: learn about the present tense, identifying the simple present and present progressive. Pupils will rewrite sentences written in the simple present tense using the present progressive. They will then write their own sentences about their teacher using the present tense.
3. Punctuation: to use an apostrophe to punctuate contracted words
Pupils will: learn how the apostrophe is used to mark where letters are missing in contracted words. They will match contracted words with their full written form and identify where apostrophes should be added in contracted words.
Additional teaching points to teach or revisit:
- using exclamation marks
- proof-reading to check for errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation
- reading aloud what they have written
- dividing words into syllables (year 1)
Year 2 words: featured vocabulary
Common exception words: Mr Mrs door kind fast class children break again floor
Tier 2 words: educate, register, chat, laze
Tier 3 words: N/A