This Year 2 Real Writing unit focuses on an original report about Florence Nightingale by published children’s author Jo Franklin.
Across two to three weeks of structured lessons, pupils study the key features of report writing, organise facts under question subheadings and develop vocabulary linked to nursing and medical history.
They learn how writing changes with purpose while forming nouns using the suffix -ness, identifying common and proper nouns and choosing irregular past tense forms accurately.
Pupils practise applying apostrophes for possession, use coordinating and subordinating conjunctions, build expanded noun phrases and proofread effectively before producing their own well-structured report linked to wider history learning on significant individuals.
Curriculum links
- English: reports, question subheadings, tense choice, noun types, apostrophes for possession, vocabulary building, reading aloud
- History: significant individuals, Victorian healthcare, the Crimean War
- PSHE: helping others, responsibility and care
Vocabulary focus
Tier 2: legacy, statistics
Tier 3: Crimean War, Florence Nightingale, hospital, infection, injured, Lady with the Lamp, nurse, soldier
Common exception words: old, past, kind, prove, improve, people, because, after, parents
Resources included in this unit
- Model text PDF: plain, illustrated and annotated
- Annotated and non-annotated teaching slides
- Teacher notes
- Report features poster
- Vocabulary cards and matching activities
- Organising information cards
- Report planning sheets with and without subheadings
- Florence’s diary writing sheet
- Common exception word cards
- Writer’s checklist
Teaching sequence
Phase 1: Familiarisation
- Show images of nurses and discuss their role
- Read the model text and identify report features
- Collect facts about Florence Nightingale
- Match vocabulary to images and definitions
- Sort information under question headings
- Map the model text onto planning sheets
- Retell the report using a question-and-answer format
Phase 2: Teaching and rehearsing
- Add the suffix -ness to form nouns using resource 1
- Choose correct tense forms, including irregular verbs, using resource 2
- Identify common and proper nouns using resource 3
- Practise common exception words through reading and spelling
- Locate apostrophes for possession in context
- Compose sentences using conjunctions
- Build expanded noun phrases to add detail
- Write a diary entry exploring Florence’s thoughts at key moments
Phase 3: Application
- Generate question subheadings for the final report
- Research answers using books and provided texts
- Complete planning sheets with notes and pictures
- Rehearse sentences orally
- Write the full report using the writer’s checklist
- Read aloud to check meaning and correct errors
Outcomes
By the end of the unit pupils:
- write a structured report with question subheadings
- use the suffix -ness accurately
- identify and apply common and proper nouns
- choose irregular past tense forms correctly
- use apostrophes for possession
- build expanded noun phrases to add detail
- read aloud and edit writing for clarity
Assessment opportunities
Teachers can observe:
- organisation and clarity when answering question subheadings
- correct application of tense within sections
- accurate capital letters for names
- confident use of subject vocabulary
- independent proofreading strategies