Real Writing Year 5 - Unit 1
Model text: Animal Habitats - Anita Loughrey
Curriculum Links: Science (Habitats)
Unit overview
This writing unit for Year 5 is built around an original model text by Anita Loughrey; a non-fiction magazine report about animal habitats. The example text is available as a PDF in three versions (plain, illustrated and annotated); annotated and non-annotated PowerPoint presentations are also included.
During this 2-week teaching unit, pupils will look at a magazine report about animal habitats. They will learn how headings, pictures and glossaries organise information and use relative clauses to add information. Pupils will also investigate the use of precise nouns (e.g. using ‘toucan’ instead of ‘bird’) to add detail for the reader. Finally, they will research and write their own magazine article about a habitat of their choice, drawing on the knowledge and skills acquired during the unit.
Key curriculum skills
Two fully-resourced lesson plans are included for Year 5 English objectives:
1. Vocabulary - select appropriate vocabulary, understanding how such choices can change and enhance meaning
Pupils will: write precise nouns for a selection of given words; change nouns in a sentence for more precise nouns; rewrite a short paragraph, changing the word ‘food’ for more precise nouns; write a report for a visitor, using precise nouns to describe the games available to play in their playground; create a class collection of precise nouns.
2. Grammar - to use relative clauses beginning with who, which, where, when, whose, that or with an implied relative pronoun
Pupils will: underline relative clauses in a text about deserts; read sentences and mark where relative pronouns can be omitted; write a paragraph about mountain gorillas and include relative clauses to give information about the nouns; collect examples of relative clauses from their own reading to add to a class display.
Revisited skills
Work on main and subordinate clauses, investigating how a subordinating clause can be moved to the beginning of the sentence to help vary sentence starts.
Year 5 words: featured vocabulary
Spelling words: individual
Tier 2 words: release, abundant, influence, population, mound, humid
Tier 3 words: habitat, desert, rainforest, polar, region, continent, environment, adapt, survive, species, climate, predator, offspring