We've built this Year 1 writing unit around an original retelling of the classic tale The Gingerbread Man by published children's author, Lucy Strange.
Designed to engage pupils over a two-week period, this unit helps children explore story structure and practise essential English skills.
Pupils will also create their own imaginative version of the story, adding their own twists to the Gingerbread Man’s adventures.
The unit links to design technology, providing opportunities to discuss cooking, ingredients and nutrition.
Key skills and curriculum links
This unit includes three fully resourced lessons covering core Year 1 English objectives:
- Vocabulary: practise reading, spelling and using words containing the /tch/ grapheme.
- Grammar: combine words to create simple sentences and orally rehearse them before writing.
- Punctuation: begin to punctuate sentences with exclamation marks to show excitement, surprise or commands.
You can also use the unit to teach additional skills such as:
- starting sentences with capital letters
- ending sentences with full stops
- leaving spaces between words
- sequencing sentences to form short narratives
- reading their own writing aloud
Activities and teaching sequence
Pupils will begin by reading the story, acting out scenes and using story maps, character cards and image prompts. They will sequence the story as a class, in groups and individually, and orally rehearse it to prepare for writing. At each stage, vocabulary is explicitly taught. Pupils will encounter:
- Tier 2 words: sly, cottage, boasted, gobbled, tossed
- Tier 3 words: gingerbread, stirred, dough, delicious
- Common exception words: the, said, he, his, me, once, there, was, one, come, love
Resources included
Inside our pack you'll find:
- Teacher notes and suggested full teaching sequence
- PowerPoint slides for the model text, annotated model, vocabulary, grammar and punctuation lessons
- Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary cards for display and matching
- Common exception word cards
- Traditional tales story map poster, blank and completed story maps
- Character and sequencing cards
- Image cards and themed writing paper
- Jumbled-up sentences and caption cards
- Finger space templates and writer’s craft checklists
Outcomes
By the end of the unit, pupils will be able to confidently retell the story orally and in writing and produce their own imaginative version of a classic tale.
The activities provide opportunities for support and challenge, and link literacy with design technology through discussion of cooking and ingredients.
All texts in our Real Writing series are written by professional children’s authors and follow a carefully mapped framework, ensuring pupils develop essential skills in a structured way.
Each unit comes with two to three weeks of detailed lesson planning, giving teachers a clear sequence of activities that can be used as a complete programme or adapted to fit your classroom timetable.