This Year 6 writing unit from our Real Writing collection centres on an original narrative by published children’s author Jon Mayhew. Pupils will explore the discovery of Oracle Bones – ancient artefacts from the Shang Dynasty – and learn how to include a flashback in their own stories.
Each unit follows a carefully mapped framework, providing two to three weeks of detailed lesson planning to support teachers in delivering a structured, engaging programme of study.
The example text is available as a PDF in three versions (plain, illustrated and annotated), with accompanying PowerPoint presentations to support classroom discussion and modelling.
Pupils will read the model text, Dragon Bones, to investigate how dialogue conveys character, revealing relationships, emotions and traits. They'll also explore homophones commonly confused in KS2, focusing on whether words are nouns or verbs, such as advice/advise.
The unit supports cross-curricular links, particularly with history, as pupils consider the significance of the Shang Dynasty and other early civilisations. It also strengthens pupils’ understanding of story chronology and how authors use flashbacks to enrich narratives.
Vocabulary
This unit incorporates Tier 2 and Tier 3 words to extend pupils’ lexical repertoire:
- Tier 2 words: acrid, advice, smoulder
- Tier 3 words: ancestor, artefact, dynasty, excavate, prophesy, shrine
- Year 5/6 statutory spelling words: cemetery, language, curious, ancient, sacrifice, shoulder, soldier, stomach
Pupils will identify and use these words within their own writing and investigate their meanings through the context of the story.
Resources
- Model text (PDF: plain, illustrated, annotated)
- Annotated and non-annotated teaching slides
- Oracle Bones image cards
- Vocabulary cards and worksheets
- Story chronology and planning worksheets
- Writing skills checklists
Key teaching activities
Begin by examining images and videos of Oracle Bones. Discuss their use for divination and decision-making in Ancient China. Pupils can research and explain their significance in short paragraphs.
Next you'll explore Tier 2 and Tier 3 words in context and complete matching activities. Reread the model text, sequence events and identify the flashback. Pupils can annotate the dialogue and discuss how it conveys character.
Pupils will then create a character profile of Li Chi, using textual evidence to support inferences, before writing a diary entry in role as Li Chi or a narrative featuring an ancient object with a flashback.
Pupils will practise expanded noun phrases, semi-colons and linking ideas across paragraphs with adverbials of time.
Outcomes
By the end of the unit, pupils will be able to:
- Write a coherent narrative including a flashback
- Use dialogue to convey character and emotion
- Apply expanded noun phrases, semi-colons and adverbials of time to improve cohesion
- Correctly spell common exception words and distinguish frequently confused words
- Understand the historical significance of Oracle Bones and connect their learning to wider history topics
This unit provides teachers with a complete, step-by-step plan to develop confident, imaginative writers while linking English objectives to a broader curriculum context.