This Year 2 writing unit from the Real Writing collection is built around an original explanation text by children’s author Margaret Bateson-Hill.
The model text, How to Keep Healthy, is written as an accessible magazine feature that outlines practical ways to stay strong and well.
Over the course of two to three weeks of structured lessons, pupils investigate how explanation texts are organised and how writers choose precise language to make their ideas clear.
Each session leads purposefully towards a final independent outcome in which pupils create their own explanation about keeping healthy, linking their writing to what they have learned in science and RSE as part of the Physical Health and Mental Wellbeing curriculum.
Pupils will learn to…
- Identify and use the key features of an explanation text
- Understand technical vocabulary linked to health and wellbeing
- Practise spelling words where the letter c makes the /s/ sound
- Use co-ordinating and subordinating conjunctions to explain ideas
- Use commas accurately to separate items in a list
- Apply proofreading and editing skills to check for sense and accuracy
Resources included
- Three differentiated versions of the model text (plain, illustrated and annotated PDFs)
- Annotated and non-annotated PowerPoint slides
- Vocabulary cards and CEW cards
- Planning and writing templates
- Teacher notes with step-by-step teaching sequence
- Writer’s checklist for self-assessment
Activities and teaching sequence
- Hook the class: Begin with a discussion about how we stay healthy. Pupils could sort images showing different health habits (exercise, sleep, hygiene, rest).
- Explore the model text: Read How to Keep Healthy together. Identify headings, conjunctions and examples of technical vocabulary.
- Vocabulary discovery: Use word cards to match Tier 2 and Tier 3 words to their meanings. Revisit and use these throughout the unit.
- Shared writing: Model how to explain a process such as “how to brush your teeth” using causal conjunctions.
- Independent writing: Pupils plan and write their own explanation text, linking their ideas to prior science learning.
- Edit and improve: Pupils reread their work aloud, checking punctuation, conjunctions and use of commas.
Vocabulary
- Common exception words: bath, water, sugar, fast, everything, children, because, cold, could, should
- Tier 2 words: memory, mood, relaxing, strengthen, supple
- Tier 3 words: balanced diet, exercise, fibre, healthy, heart, hygiene, mindfulness, muscle
Curriculum links
- English: Writing composition, grammar, punctuation, spelling, and vocabulary development
- Science: The human body, exercise, diet, and hygiene
- PSHE / RSE: Physical health and mental wellbeing
Outcomes
By the end of this unit, pupils will:
- Write a clear and logically structured explanation text
- Use accurate punctuation and conjunctions to link ideas
- Demonstrate understanding of health-related vocabulary
- Show cross-curricular understanding of how to maintain a healthy lifestyle