This Year 3 writing unit from our Real Writing collection is built around an original model text by Ross Montgomery: instructions for making a healthy fruit salad.
All texts in this collection are written by published children’s authors and follow a carefully mapped framework, ensuring a coherent sequence of learning. The model text is available in three PDF versions – plain, illustrated and annotated – as well as PowerPoint presentations, both annotated and non-annotated, to support flexible teaching.
Across two to three weeks of lessons, pupils will explore kitchen-related technical vocabulary and develop the writing techniques required for composing instructional texts.
By the end of the unit, pupils will create their own informal, child-focused instructions for making a fruit salad, incorporating imaginative ideas and personal preferences.
This unit links closely to Year 3 writing objectives. It also offers meaningful cross-curricular connections to science topics, such as nutrition and the “Animals, Including Humans” unit.
Key curriculum skills
Grammar
Pupils will learn to use the suffix ‘-ly’ to turn adjectives into adverbs. They will revise word classes, understand how adverbs modify verbs and recognise that not all words ending in -ly are adverbs. Pupils will identify adverbs in context, transform adjectives into adverbs and use them confidently in sentences.
Composition
Pupils will rehearse and compose sentences orally before writing them, with a focus on command sentences. They will revisit sentence types. They'll also learn about ‘bossy verbs’ and how they can be polite as well as instructive. Pupils will write their own command sentences, peer-assessing for clarity and accuracy.
Revisited skills
The unit provides opportunities to consolidate previous skills, including:
- Subordination and extending sentences with a wider range of conjunctions
- Identifying grammatical features of different sentence types
- Correct use of past and present tense
- Using commas for lists
- Including organisational features such as headings and subheadings
Vocabulary
The unit highlights key vocabulary for Year 3 pupils, including:
- Tier 2 words: carefully, while, after that, finally, chef, seasonal, segments, grateful, tropical
- Tier 3 words: sieve, colander, pesticides, ingredients
- Year 3/4 statutory spellings: experiment, fruit, natural, remember, various
Teaching activities
Pupils will begin by exploring a variety of fruits, noting taste, texture, appearance and smell, which helps build vocabulary for descriptive writing.
They'll read the model text together, identifying imperative verbs, sentence types and organisational features, and explore key Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary alongside statutory spellings.
Pupils will then plan their own fruit salad instructions, using a margin planner to organise ideas and develop clear, sequenced writing. Over several lessons, they'll draft, proofread and edit their instructions, applying grammar, punctuation and vocabulary skills to produce polished, child-focused instructional texts.
Resources
Teachers receive all necessary materials, including:
- Model text PDFs and PowerPoints
- Word cards for tier 2 and tier 3 vocabulary
- Activity sheets and posters on instructional writing
- Writing planners and skills checklists
Pupil outcomes
By the end of the unit, pupils will:
- Compose clear, sequenced instructions with accurate grammar and punctuation
- Use rich vocabulary, including technical and descriptive words
- Apply previously taught writing skills in a purposeful context
- Demonstrate creativity and independence in writing their own fruit salad instructions