Real Writing Year 2 - Unit 25
Model text: Been a Bean by Joshua Seigal
Curriculum links: Science
Unit overview
This writing unit for Year 2 is built around an original text by Joshua Seigal - a poem describing the lifecycle of a bean. 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 the poem, preparing a performance of it, and will identify words that are homophones. Pupils will also explore how the suffix -ly can be added to adjectives to create adverbs. In the final writing task, pupils will write their own poem about a lifecycle. This could be of a plant or an animal, linking the writing to your current topic or interests of the pupils. This unit gives pupils the opportunity to write poetry that gives them the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of a topic learnt in science. The work could be linked with a topic on plants or the lifecycle of animals.
Key curriculum skills
Two 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 some homophones and near homophones
Pupils will: investigate words that are homophones, learning the meanings for different spellings of the words.
2. Grammar: To add the suffix -ly to adjectives to form adverbs
Pupils will: add the suffix -ly to words to form adverbs, learning spelling rules where needed. They will then use the adverbs to describe verbs within sentences, describing different plants and how they grow.
Additional teaching points to teach or revisit:
- using noun phrases
- using apostrophes to punctuate contracted words
- compound nouns
- write in the correct tense
- proof-reading to check for errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation
- read aloud what they have written.
Year 2 words: featured vocabulary
Common exception words: climb pretty beautiful plant whole again
Tier 2 words: absorb, commence, healthy, miniscule, temperature)
Tier 3 words: bean, flower, nutrients, plant, roots, seed, shoots, sprout