This Year 1 writing unit from our Real Writing collection is based on an original model text by author Mike Davies. Pupils will read My Life, an imaginary first-person recount of a child’s experiences, and use it as a model to explore writing about their own lives.
The text is available as a PDF in three versions – plain, illustrated and annotated. It comes with annotated and non-annotated PowerPoint presentations to support teaching and learning.
Curriculum links and objectives
Over this two-week unit, pupils will explore the past and present, learning to recount events in their own lives. The unit maps directly to the Year 1 English curriculum and provides opportunities to teach or revisit key skills, including:
- Spelling words ending in y to make the /ee/ sound
- Leaving spaces between words when writing
- Using a capital letter for the personal pronoun I
- Saying out loud what they are going to write about
- Composing sentences orally before writing
- Beginning to use capital letters and full stops
- Reading aloud their own writing
The unit also links naturally to history, allowing pupils to explore events within living memory and reflect on how they have changed over time.
Resources
The unit includes:
- Three fully resourced lessons with teacher notes, teaching slides and activity sheets
- Vocabulary cards featuring tier 2 words: baby, toddler, child, parents
- Tier 3 words linked to history: past, present
- Common exception words: I, my, house, our, friend, school, you, me, so, was, he, a, she, one, says, the, there, we
- Planning sheets, past and present worksheets and sequencing cards to support writing
Key teaching activities
Begin by asking pupils to bring in a photo of themselves as a baby (teachers and adults can also share a photo). Discuss how they have changed and what they can do now that they could not do then. Pupils can share photos in groups and talk about their experiences.
Read the model text, My Life, to the class and discuss Lilly’s life so far. Pupils will identify key details, such as where she was born, who cared for her as a toddler and what she enjoys now. Sequencing cards can be used to show the order of events, and pupils may orally retell Lilly’s recount.
Introduce new vocabulary using tier 2 and tier 3 word cards and complete matching activities. Pupils will then examine the structure of a recount and use the past and present worksheets to record what they could do as a baby and what they can do now.
Using planning sheets, pupils will draw or write words on a timeline to organise their own ideas before writing.
Pupils will then write a recount about themselves using capital letters, full stops and finger spaces. Encourage them to compose sentences orally before writing.
Provide support for less confident writers with scaffolds such as simple labels or images. Challenge more confident pupils to include adjectives and detailed information about friends and family.
Finally, pupils will reread their work and self-assess using the writer’s checklist.
Outcomes
By the end of the unit, pupils will:
- Confidently write a short first-person recount about their own life
- Use capital letters and full stops correctly
- Sequence events accurately using past and present tenses
- Spell words ending in y with the /ee/ sound
- Incorporate tier 2, tier 3 and common exception words into their writing
- Strengthen oral composition, spelling and handwriting skills
- Reflect on their personal history and connect learning to history topics