This Year 2 Real Writing unit centres on Day at School, a lively original poem written by published children’s author Joshua Seigal.
Across two to three weeks of detailed lesson planning, you will guide pupils as they explore the rhythm, structure and language of poetry. The unit gives pupils the chance to write creatively about their own school experiences while developing key English skills through purposeful, structured activities.
All texts in the Real Writing collection are written by published children’s authors and follow a carefully mapped framework that builds progression across year groups.
This unit offers full teaching notes, ready-to-use slides, differentiated activity sheets and model texts in three formats—plain, illustrated and annotated—plus annotated and non-annotated PowerPoints for flexible classroom use.
Key skills and curriculum links
This unit supports the following Year 2 English objectives:
- To form nouns by compounding
- To consistently write in the present tense
- To use an apostrophe to punctuate contracted words
You will also revisit key skills from Year 1, including:
- Dividing words into syllables
- Using exclamation marks
- Proof-reading for spelling, punctuation and grammar
- Reading writing aloud with expression
Cross-curricular opportunities naturally arise through speaking and listening, performance, and PSHE-style discussions about school life and daily routines.
Activities and teaching sequence
- Hook the class: Discuss the school day using your timetable. Pupils list lessons, clubs and playtime activities.
- Explore the model text: Read and perform Day at School, identifying rhyme, rhythm and syllable patterns.
- Investigate vocabulary: Match Tier 2 words (educate, register, chat, laze) with images and definitions.
- Explore rhyme: Identify rhyming couplets and challenge pupils to find new rhyming words.
- Understand meaning: Act out or illustrate each rhyming couplet to explore how pupils and teachers feel.
- Write: Pupils plan and draft My Day at School poems, using their own experiences as inspiration.
- Check and perform: Encourage reading aloud, proof-reading and performing poems to peers.
Vocabulary focus
Common exception words: Mr, Mrs, door, kind, fast, class, children, break, again, floor
Tier 2 words: educate, register, chat, laze
Tier 3 words: n/a
Resources included
- Original poem by Joshua Seigal (Day at School)
- Model text PDFs (plain, illustrated, annotated)
- Annotated and non-annotated PowerPoints
- Teaching notes and lesson slides
- Activity sheets for vocabulary, rhyme and writing tasks
- CEW (Common Exception Word) flashcards
- Writer’s craft instructions and checklist
- Ideas sheet for planning poems
Outcomes
By the end of the unit, pupils will:
- Identify rhyme, rhythm and syllable patterns in poetry
- Use compound nouns and the present tense accurately
- Apply apostrophes correctly in contracted words
- Write and perform a structured poem about their own school day
- Read their work aloud clearly, showing confidence and understanding of poetic form