Real Writing Year 3 - Unit 13
Model text: The Music of the Moldau, by Lorretta Schauer
Curriculum Links: Music (great composers)
Writing unit overview
This writing unit for Year 3 is built around an original model text by Lorretta Schauer; a non-chronological report, describing the ‘Moldau’ movement of the ‘Ma Vlast’ symphony by the Czech composer Bedrich Smetana. 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 have an opportunity to learn technical vocabulary related to music and instruments. It will culminate in them writing a more detailed report about one section of the ‘Moldau’ movement, which could form part of a whole-class report on the whole piece. This unit has links to the music curriculum, specifically the objectives to appreciate and understand a wide range of high-quality live and recorded music drawn from different traditions and from great composers and musicians and to develop an understanding of the history of music. It could also be used as part of a topic on the theme of physical geography, in particular rivers, and locational knowledge.
Key curriculum skills
Two fully-resourced lessons are included for Year 3 English objectives, which can be taught as part of the unit or as discrete lessons:
1. Vocabulary - Exploring the etymology of words, specifically the use of Italian words in English
Pupils will: match Italian words to their definitions. Write these words into sentences. Think about other Italian words that we use in English.
2. Grammar - The use of figurative language, specifically similes
Pupils will: experiment with word cards to create different similes. Complete similes in the most effective way, without using cliches. Think of other similes to describe a river or an orchestra.
Additional skills to teach or revisit
- subordination
- the correct use of past and present tense
- the use of commas for lists
Additional Year 3 teaching points
- extending sentences with a wider range of conjunctions
- the use of conjunctions, adverbials and prepositions to express time, place and cause
- the use of paragraphs organised around a theme
- the inclusion of organisational features such as headings and subheadings
Year 3 vocabulary
Year 3/4 statutory spelling words: describe, early, popular, different, through, often
Tier 2 words: course, rapids, recurring, spring
Tier 3 words: pitch, pizzicato, melody, rhythm, strings, symphony, tempo, woodwind
What is a non-chronological report?
A non-chronological report is a piece of text that isn’t written in time order. They tend to be non-fiction, and they give information on subjects or events.