Real Writing Year 6 - Unit 9
Volcanoes and Earthquakes, by Jon Mayhew
Curriculum links: Science (evolution and inheritance)
Unit overview
This writing unit for Year 6 is built around an original model text by Jon Mayhew - a story set on board The Beagle. 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 learn about Charles Darwin’s famous voyage on The Beagle. They will have the opportunity to learn about some of his discoveries and read a narrative retelling part of his voyage. Pupils will then have the opportunity to write their own narratives based on Darwin’s voyage
Key curriculum skills
Two fully resourced lesson plans are included for Year 6 English objectives:
1. Vocabulary: To know how words are related by meaning as synonyms
Pupils will: revisit synonyms; practise using a thesaurus; understand how synonyms can change the meaning of sentences; match synonyms; change synonyms to improve writing; write a paragraph choosing synonyms carefully.
2. Grammar: To use relative clauses beginning with who, which, where, when, whose, that
Pupils will: revisit pronouns; identify relative pronouns; understand relative clauses; understand the difference between defining and non-defining relative clauses; write a journal entry using relative clauses.
Revisited skills
- punctuating speech
- using adverbials
Additional year 6 curriculum teaching points
- using dialogue to convey characters and advance action
- describing characters and settings
Year 6 words: featured vocabulary
Tier two words: conical, discover, plume, dread, lurch, voyage
Tier three words: specimen, observe
Year 6 spellings: foreign, develop, physically, muscle, controversy