Real Writing Year 1 - Unit 17
Model text: Toys, by Joshua Seigal
Curriculum links: Design technology, history
Unit overview
This writing unit for Year 1 is built around an original text by Joshua Seigal, a poem describing toys. 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 how adjectives can be used to describe and identify plural nouns. Pupils will also be taught why finger spaces are needed between words and will learn how exclamation marks can be used to show excitement and delight. At the end of the unit, pupils will write their own poem about toys using the skills that they have been taught.
Key curriculum skills
Four fully-resourced lessons are included for the following Year 1 English objectives, which can form part of the unit or be taught discretely:
1. Vocabulary: to add the suffix -s to create plural nouns
Pupils will: learn how the suffix -s can be added to words to create plurals when no change is needed to the root word. They will also identify examples of singular and plural nouns.
2. Vocabulary: to use adjectives to describe
Pupils will: learn how adjectives can be used to describe nouns. They will collect words that could be used to describe toys and orally compose sentences that contain adjectives to describe different toys.
3. Punctuation: to leave spaces between words
Pupils will: learn why it is important to leave spaces between words when writing. They will write sentences about toys from the past, using finger spaces to separate words.
4. Punctuation: to use exclamation marks to show excitement and delight
Pupils will: learn how exclamation marks can be used to show when people are excited about or delighted with something. Using the topic of toys, pupils will write their own sentences showing how excited they are to receive a new toy and play with it with their friends.
Additional teaching points to teach or revisit:
- saying out loud what they are going to write about
- combining words to make sentences
- reading aloud their own writing
Year 1 words: featured vocabulary
Common exception words: the a push pull go
Tier 2 words: soft, fast, spin,bounce, cord, scaly, dainty, fluffy, slash, bendy, gleaming, row, boulders, cubes
Tier 3 words: N/A