Lesson Planning
Non-fiction
English Year 1/2 Autumn Recounts
Animal Diaries
Enjoy reading Diary of a Wombat and Waiting for Goliath in this lovely block. Learn to spell and capitalise the days of the week. Look at the use of first-person and find and use past tense verbs. Write postcards, letters and diary entries.
Start with the core unit to introduce key texts. Then select from comprehension, SPAG and composition units.
Unit 1 Core: Reading and writing diaries and recounts
(suggested as 5 days)
Group Readers
The Cat's Journey
The Cat's Journey by Ruth Merttens. The cat recounts her long journey in simple language, making it accessible to children who still struggle to read. What makes this a ‘must’ are the original and idiosyncratic illustrations, which carry the story forward simply and effectively.
You Will Need
Texts:
Diary of a Wombat by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley
The Cat’s Journey, Hamilton Group Reader, by Ruth Merttens and Anne Holm Petersen (provided)
Unit 2 SPaG: Verbs and tense - simple past and present
(suggested as 2 days)
Lesson Planning
SPaG: Grammar and Punctuation
There is no spelling and grammar presentation for this unit.
You Will Need
Essential Text
Hamilton animated tale, The Swallow’s Journey written by Ruth Merttens and read by Ted Fletcher
Weblink
A Swallow's Migration, directed and animated by Jordan Barry
Unit 3 SPaG: Days of the week; using capital letters correctly
(suggested as 3 days)
Lesson Planning
SPaG: Grammar and Punctuation
There is no spelling and grammar presentation for this unit.
You Will Need
Essential Texts:
Diary of a Wombat by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley
Hamilton animated tale, The Swallow’s Journey written by Ruth Merttens and read by Ted Fletcher
Weblink
BBC Tweet of the Day, Swallow
Unit 4 Composition: Write a diary for a character from a story
(suggested as 5 days)
Lesson Planning
Group Readers
The Cat's Journey
The Cat's Journey by Ruth Merttens. The cat recounts her long journey in simple language, making it accessible to children who still struggle to read. What makes this a ‘must’ are the original and idiosyncratic illustrations, which carry the story forward simply and effectively.
You Will Need
Essential Texts:
Waiting for Goliath by Antje Damm
Diary of a Wombat by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley
The Hamilton Group Reader, The Cat’s Journey by Ruth Merttens and Anne Holm Petersen
Weblink
BBC School Radio: Assemblies KS1 - David and Goliath