Take your class on an imaginative adventure with Jungle Adventure, a Year 1 writing unit from our Real Writing collection. Written by published children’s author Dan Smith, this two-week sequence introduces pupils to the features of a simple portal story – also known as a home-away-home story – while helping them build confidence in their early writing.
What’s included?
Each unit follows a carefully mapped framework and provides two to three weeks of detailed lesson planning, teacher notes, teaching slides, activity sheets and differentiated resources. You’ll find:
- three versions of the model text (plain, illustrated and annotated PDFs)
- annotated and non-annotated PowerPoint presentations
- vocabulary cards for Tier 2, Tier 3 and common exception words
- CEW flashcards, story maps, sequencing cards and writing sheets
- teacher guidance for every stage – from familiarisation to independent writing
Key curriculum links
The unit links directly to Year 1 English objectives, supporting progression in spelling, grammar and punctuation. Pupils will:
1: spell words ending in the suffix -ed, understanding how to add it to verbs
2: sequence sentences to form short narratives
3: use capital letters for people and places
It also connects naturally to geography, as pupils explore continents, countries and the physical and human features of places. The story’s setting in Peru provides opportunities to extend vocabulary with geographical terms such as rainforest, mountains, river and village.
Featured vocabulary
Common exception words: said, I, we, here, says, there, was, one, school, the, my, to, me, are, is, by, of, you, come, go, ask, so
Tier 2 words: adventure, torch
Tier 3 words: country, jaguar, mountains, Peru, rainforest, river, village
Teachers can use the provided vocabulary cards and matching activities to introduce and revisit these words during reading and writing sessions.
Teaching sequence and activities
Across three phases, pupils will immerse themselves in the story and develop their own writing:
- Phase 1 – Familiarisation: read Jungle Adventure, identify portal story features, explore continents using maps and atlases, and orally retell the story using image and sequencing cards. Pupils create home and away drawings and story maps to internalise the structure.
- Phase 2 – Teaching and rehearsing: teach suffixes, sequencing, punctuation and common exception words through engaging, text-linked tasks. Pupils practise orally retelling stories, explore new vocabulary and rehearse sentence building.
- Phase 3 – Application: pupils plan and write their own version of Jungle Adventure, choosing a new place to visit via a magical object. They apply time adverbials, adjectives and geographical vocabulary to describe their chosen setting, then reread and edit their work using a writer’s checklist.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the unit, pupils will:
- understand the structure and features of a portal story
- use time adverbials to order events clearly
- write simple sentences using correct punctuation
- apply capital letters for names and places
- spell verbs ending in -ed correctly
- read and spell key common exception words
- produce a short first-person story set in a new place
This engaging unit offers everything you need to teach narrative writing with confidence, combining imaginative storytelling, clear curriculum links and meaningful cross-curricular learning.