This non-fiction unit for Years 5 and 6 revisits the key features of recount texts. Analysing recounts drawn from a range of media, children identify common features and differences. They then go on to produce a plan, carry out interviews, collate and evaluate the information they have gathered and write an article or report. To give context to this work, it would be useful to arrange a visit from a local news reporter or a trip to a news office, if possible. The examples in these lessons are taken from ‘Beowulf’ and follow on from Fiction Unit 3. This unit could be used at any stage in Year 5. Lesson length This unit could take about three to four weeks. We have organised the unit’s content into seven lessons, each of which should take about an hour. Each lesson also has a set of extension activities for different abilities, as well as Hotspot! (Higher Order Thinking/Higher level questioning ) challenges. Lesson 1 Read all about it!• To identify the different features of a newspaper Beowulf ’s clash with Grendel – an impersonal recount • To write a recount of an event. 3 An interview with Wiglaf. • To recognise the key features of an interview use a range of open and closed questions to gather information from an eye-witness 4.‘We interrupt this programme for a newsflash…’ • To take useful notes and to ask open questions. • To explore individual’s motives through role play 5 Carefully chosen words.• To write a range of different kinds of sentences. 6 Here is the news • To organise and edit work and make improvements 7 The importance of good editing • To reflect critically on their own and other’s writing and to improve it. Leave a review

Taken from our PSHE KS1 Resource file. Lesson 1: Making choices Lesson 2: Dilemmas Lesson 3: Choosing a friend Lesson 4: How to play Lesson 5: Playing safe Lesson 6: Managing money Lesson 7: Money and talents Lesson 8: Looking at job choices In this unit of work the children will be taught to understand that we all have a right to our own opinion, which we express in the choices we make. Discussions throughout the unit will also help children to understand that their choices have different consequences, not only for themselves, but for other people around them. Even at an early age, there are real choices for children to make, for example, choosing healthy options at school meal-times and deciding what games to play. The lessons will also begin to cover and allow opportunities for discussion concerning how to use money wisely and how to explore related issues such as fairness; whilst encouraging the children to think about different career choices for the future. Leave a review

Taken from Learning Outside the Classroom: Early Years Foundation and Key Stage 1. Includes 5 detailed Lesson Plans Lesson 1: In this session, the children talked about why homes are important and thought about what it would be like to be homeless. I then introduced the children to a homeless woodlouse who needed us to help him fi nd a new home Lesson 2: This session involved a walk around the local area, where the children looked at the different types of homes in which people live. This would then lead into the next session about the different homes in which animals live, which would help the children to fi nd a new home for Harry the woodlouse. Lesson 3; In this session, we looked, in our school grounds, at the types of homes that different animals live in. The idea of the session was to gather some more ideas about the kind of home that Harry the woodlouse might like to live in Lesson 4: In this session, we looked at ‘habitats’, as a wider term for animals’ homes, i.e. the area where an animal lives, fi nds food and moves around. We studied different habitats in the school grounds and looked at the animals which lived there. We focused particularly on minibeasts, to help us decide about the habitat we could create for Harry the woodlouse Lesson 5: In this session, the class collected materials from outside to create their own habitat for Harry, which would be put outside afterwards for Harry and other wildlife to live in. The children used their prior learning about animal homes and habitats to decide on the important features of Harry’s new habitat. Leave a review

5 lessons with resources This non-fiction unit focuses on reading, writing, and giving oral instructions. There is emphasis on creating concise, precise instructions and on using the imperative form of verbs. This unit has close links to Fiction Unit 5 and uses the text and characters from Treasure Island as the basis for the lessons. 1 Long John Silver says… • To be able to follow instructions and to understand that instructions must be clear and precise. It is imperative that you Understand… • To define and use imperative verbs 3.Battleships• To write clear instructions and to recognise imperative verbs Buried treasure • To write clear instructions. 5 Treasure Island • To gather information and write clear instructions. • To write extended instructions. Leave a review

Taken from BUILDING BLOCKS. Building Blocks is a modular series of resources offering Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) practitioners a source of fresh, fun, adaptable activities linked to inspirational, child-centred themes, and providing comprehensive coverage of the different aspects of the Early Learning Goals. Topic: Why do boats float while stones sink? Includes: Activity ideas Activity sheet: Spot the boat Hints for home, Pupil profile sheets Progression towards Key Stage 1 Resources Topic coverage ■ Making observations and explaining why some things occur; ■ Carrying out simple experiments, using objects of different size, weight, shape and material; ■ Applying skills and knowledge to the world around them – what we can see on lakes, rivers and oceans, and what can be found in the sea Leave a review

This non-fiction unit looks at persuasion and argument. Children will read and evaluate texts intended to inform, protest, complain or persuade. In doing so, they will consider how the texts are set out and what language devices are used. They will notice the deliberate use of ambiguity, half-truth, bias; how opinion can be disguised to seem like fact; infer writers’ perspectives from what is written and from what is implied. Children will investigate the use of persuasive definitions, rhetorical questions, pandering and condescension. During the unit, children will write persuasive letters for real purposes, for example to put a point of view or comment on an emotive issue. The first two lessons focus on writing persuasively about environmental issues. The next two lessons look at formal and informal writing and at how to produce a balanced argument. In Lesson 5 the children will take part in a formal debate. The final lesson looks at a famous wartime speech by Winston Churchill. (This could be used separately during a history lesson.) Lesson 1: How big is your carbon footprint? • Evaluate texts intended to persuade. • Identify persuasive devices • Infer what is implied 2 Green letters• Know the features of a persuasive letter. 3 Exploring a controversial issue • To identify textual viewpoints – for, against and balanced. To explore the language and organisational features of texts presenting a specific argument/ point of view. 4 Comparing formal and informal texts • To identify and explore the features of formal and informal texts. • To listen for language variation in formal and informal contexts. • To employ the features and narrative techniques of formal and/or informal texts in their own writing 5 Establishing a viewpoint on a controversial issue • To participate in wholeclass debate using the conventions and language of debate, including Standard English. • To identify the ways spoken language varies according to differences in the context and purpose of its use. Analysing a famous speech • Listen to and understand a speech. • Recognise the use of repetition and emotive language. Leave a review

About this unit This unit looks at what it means to belong to something, whether it be a community, class, club, country, team, family, circle of friends and so on, and the need to show that belonging through joint activities or lifestyle, dress or behaviour. The unit explores belonging to: • a family • a school • other groups • the local community • our country • the world. People of particular life stances or groups will be valuable in sharing their experiences and showing any clothing and artefacts that signal their belonging and pride in that. Where opportunities arise for adding this feature to the lessons, make the most of them! Lesson length: Each lesson is designed to take one hour. (Lesson 3 will take longer if the group works outside to gather photographs.) Expectations At the end of this unit most children will: • understand the importance people attach to belonging to a group, and be able to name a religious and secular group. Some children will have made less progress and will: • be able to talk about the groups they belong to. Some children will have progressed further and will: • be able to explain why people belong to religious groups, naming some

5 Lessons including resources and lesson plans Lesson 1: Where does water come from? Learning objectives Children should learn to: • recognise the processes which make up the water cycle; • sequence the components of the water cycle; • see that human uses of water are also part of the water cycle. Lesson 2: Where does water go? Learning objectives Children should learn to: • understand what happens to rainfall when it reaches the ground; • undertake investigations in the field Lesson 3: Weather around the world Learning objectives Children should learn to: • investigate places; • locate places using an atlas; • describe what places are like in terms of weather conditions; • understand that different places experience different weather/climate Lesson 4: Where are hot and cold places found around the world? Learning objectives Children should learn:. • to recognise broad global climate patterns; • about weather and climate conditions around the world Lesson 5: Climate Patterns Learning objectives Children should learn to: • describe the main climate patterns; Taken from LCP’s LKS2 Geography Resource File

Taken from our Year 2 Literacy Resource file. The unit, Instructions, builds on work done in Year 1 and has three phases, with oral and written outcomes and assessment opportunities at regular intervals. The focus is on following and giving instructions. Children begin with an oral phase, followed by a recognising, reading and following phase, and finally progressing to the written production phase. Within this context, children begin to explore the key structural features of instructions and learn to select the appropriate register and style necessary for instructions. This unit uses many curriculum areas in order to give children as much variety as possible in the instructions they read, follow and compose. Lesson 1 Listen and move • To be able to listen to and follow oral instructions. • To recognise an instruction because of its language style. • To be able to give oral instructions telling someone how to move Photo tableaux • To listen to, follow and give oral instructions explaining how to position one’s body. • To be able to look at a photo of a person and work out how to make another person recreate the same pose. 3 Let’s make a smoothie! • To follow instructions successfully to make a smoothie. • To identify the structure of an instructional text – in this case, a recipe. • To read and match instructions with pictures. 4 Mum’s birthday cake • To consolidate the text structure. • To practise reading and understanding a text which describes a process 5 Writing instructions for making things with paper • Recognise adjectives and nouns. • Be able to write numbered instructions. • Be able to extract a set of instructions from a report text. 6 Instructional texts • To recognise instructional texts from the language, topic and layout. • To complete a chart with information about an instructional text 7 How do I get there? • To use directions as a form of instruction. • To write and follow directions. 8 Looking at language • To use directions in order to focus on written presentation, specifically spelling, collocations and punctuation. Leave a review

Taken from Year 2 Literacy Resource File This unit is closely linked to the curriculum areas of natural science, geography and history. The children begin by learning and practising skimming, scanning and gist-reading skills using a variety of texts. They then focus on a main topic (the life of a famous person) and practise close reading and note-taking. This leads them on to posing questions about the life and times of the person: in this case, Pocahontas. They then carry out the necessary research to answer their questions and, finally, compose a collaborative information text on the topic. This text is divided into chapters with sub-headings, and also incorporates images. The children will build on work in Unit 2 by producing a glossary to go with their information text 1 A review of information texts • To review and assess prior knowledge of information texts. • To talk about what information a specific text contains 2 Skimming• To focus on the form and organisational features of information texts. • To use skim-reading to read for gist and to evaluate the usefulness of a text. • To review question forms. • To identify and describe the uses of different parts of an information text. 3 Scanning• To develop scanning skills when reading non-fiction information texts. • To find key words in a text. • To match subheadings to sections of a text. 4 Pocahontas • To research and write an information text based on an historical topic. • To practise notetaking and close reading of a text. • To navigate an online text. • To use an online glossary. • To use notes to answer questions about the text. • To understand a text about a famous person. 5 Selecting information • To research a specific topic area and collate information in order to collaboratively compose an information text. • To pose questions. • To record the information using an appropriate method 6 Writing an information text • To use research in order to put together an information text. • To maintain purpose, narrative tense and information text features in composition. • To use images to aid written text. Leave a review

Taken from our Year 2 Literacy Resource File The focus is on following and producing explanatory texts. This unit is closely linked to the curriculum area of science and life cycles of plants. Children begin with an investigation into the seeds of various plants. This is followed by a reading phase about the life cycles of some of these plants. The children then link the texts with the appropriate diagrams and pull out some of the key language to help them make a glossary and understand how to write explanatory texts. Children are given the opportunity to look at more examples of explanatory texts before they begin the investigative study which they will finally write about. In groups, children follow instructions to grow potatoes. At each stage they are encouraged to observe and record the process and the results. They are encouraged to keep a diary of the investigation and to evaluate their own work as they go. At the end of the investigation, they are asked to review the process and finally to produce a presentation about the life cycle of the potato 1 What is it? • To promote interest in the topic. • To follow the stages in an explanatory text about the life cycle of a plant. • To understand what a glossary is. 2 Explanation language and features • To focus on the form and organisational features of explanatory texts. • To widen the concept of what topics explanatory texts deal with. 3 Let’s grow potatoes • To initiate an ongoing investigative study in order to develop and produce an explanatory text. • To read, understand and follow instructions. 4 Our potatoes• To conclude an ongoing investigative study in order to develop and produce an explanatory text. • To work collaboratively to produce a paragraph describing the end result of an investigation. • To share information 5 Presentations• To produce an explanatory text/ presentation. • To produce a suitable visual explanation of a process. • To use labels as an aid to visuals. Leave a review

Includes lesson plans and resources. Taken from our Literacy Upper Keystage 2 Resource File Tales from other cultures and traditions Lesson:1 Once upon a time… (two versions of Red Riding Hood) LO: To find similarities and differences between two stories Lesson 2: Would you trust this wolf? LO: Speak and write in a persuasive way and use speech marks with other punctuation. Lesson 3: Creating word pictures LO: Use similes and metaphors to make writing interesting Lesson 4: The real Mr Wolf LO: To recognise that stories change when told from a different perspective Lesson 5 Journey to Jo’burg LO: Find out about life in other countries by reading stories. • Make notes about characters and places Lesson 6: In Johannesburg LO: Read between the lines’ in stories. Write newspaper articles and letters from different viewpoints. Lesson 7: Going home LO: Discuss important issues found in stories. Make notes on both sides of an argument. Lesson 8: Inspiration for Journey to Jo’burg LO: Match an author’s experiences to scenes and characters in their stories. This fiction unit explores some stories from other cultures. In reading stories from a variety of cultures and traditions, children are encouraged to see differences in relationships, customs and attitudes and use of language. Children will identify points of view and plan and retell a story from alternative viewpoints. They will also précise texts and rewrite them as letters, dialogue or newspaper articles. There will be opportunities to discuss the motives of both the characters and the story tellers. The first four lessons focus on versions of the familiar European folk tale ‘Red Riding Hood’. The last four lessons analyse a children’s novel - Journey to Jo’burg written by a South African author in the 1980s. As one focus of this unit is on story illustrations, it might be useful to link with Art and design lessons and invite a professional illustrator into school. Leave a review

6 lesson plans with resource sheets About this unit: As we learn about other people, what makes them tick and how they live their lives, we need to consider ourselves and how we experience things. This gives us a confident base from which to explore. This unit encourages people to: • think about how they were welcomed into the world • talk about things that they like • consider who they belong to • know about events in their lives • consider their feelings • celebrate these events and feelings creatively. This unit sets the tone for RE in Year 1: a time for sharing thoughts and feelings in a supportive, trusting atmosphere where we are not afraid to say what we think. Lesson length: Each lesson is designed to take one hour. Expectations At the end of this unit most children will: • be able to express what they feel about themselves with confidence. Some children will have made less progress and will: • need support expressing their thoughts. Some children will have progressed further and will: • be able to express what they feel about themselves with confidence and understand enough about others to sum up their thoughts too.

About this unit: This unit explores ways in which different people mark special occasions in the life of their families and communities, particularly: • birthdays • harvest • Bonfire Night • Guru Nanak’s birthday • Hanukkah • the Nativity. The unit looks at what these events mean to people of faith, and to people in the class. It allows people to share ideas and examine how traditions are formed. There is a brief look at Sikhism and Judaism, with a Christian and secular look at other significant dates in the calendar. This should be a joyful unit full of real experiences, so, plenty of food, music and fun! Lesson length: Each lesson is designed to take one hour. If a visit is arranged for Lesson 4, this will take longer

Taken from our Year 2 Literacy Resource File Lessons include 1 The Boy Who Cried Wolf • To listen and respond to the story, considering whether the action is funny or serious. • To consider story themes and morals. • To write simple and compound sentences in relation to reason 2 Predicting the ending • To read with fluency, drawing on word recognition. • To predict the story ending. 3 Role-playing the villagers • To read with fluency, drawing on word recognition. • To predict the story ending/next incident. • To present parts of stories using drama 4 The boy’s perspective • To use drama to prepare for writing. • To identify characters. • To write an ending of the story. 5 The Three Billy Goats Gruff • To consider story themes and morals. • To empathise with characters. • To write simple and compound sentences 6 Role-playing the Three Billy Goats Gruff • To prepare and retell stories. • To present the story through drama. 7–8 Retelling the story • To retell stories using pictures as prompts. • To write using simple and compound sentences, and direct speech. This unit covers four weeks and focuses on traditional stories. The unit has two alternative outcomes. Children read and compare traditional stories and then work towards their own written version of a traditional narrative. They could also create a digital text combining words, images and sounds using presentation software Leave a review

6 lessons includes plans and resources The children will be encouraged to use reading journals to record their thoughts, predictions, questions and notes. To widen their experience they will be given opportunities to read extracts aloud and to watch excerpts from television or film adaptations. They will explore the relationships between characters and the language and techniques used to present these relationships and develop the plot. The children will work in pairs or groups, as well as a whole class and will discuss the techniques they use to help them understand the text, such as prediction, empathy and visualisation, using a story mountain. Finally, they will be supported in writing in the style of the author to rewrite a chapter or write a new one. These lessons use Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-94) as the focus text. It will be helpful to have begun reading it as a class before starting this unit and to have finished it before the third lesson. This will enable children to delve more deeply into the plot, characterisation, language and structure. 1 Treasure!• To use technical vocabulary to talk about pirates Notes on ‘the old sea dog’ • To draw picture notes of the main parts of the story 3.Long John Silver • To study dialogue between main characters to recognise how character can affect their behaviour. The book versus the film• To compare film and print versions of the same scene 5 Mapping the story • To outline key events in a story’s structure A missing chapter • To continue a story in the style of the author Leave a review

Taken from -RE Resource File RE Resource File Key Stage 2 Years 3 Key Stage 2 Years 3 & & 4 Includes: Introduction Unit resources Medium-term plan Lesson 1: What does a baby need? Lesson 2: What is sin? Lesson 3: Christian baptism Lesson 4: Muslim birth ceremonies Lesson 5: Sikh birth ceremonies Lesson 6: Making comparisons All lesson plans and printable activities included This unit is designed as an introduction to Religious Education at Key Stage 2. It introduces pupils to some of the religions they will study during their four years in Key Stage 2. All religions treat the birth of a new life as special and celebrate its importance in different ways. In the religions covered in this unit, God is acknowledged to have an important role in the creation and safe delivery of a new life and is thanked for the new baby. Prior learning: The class will have spent time in Key Stage 1 studying religious belief and practice. This unit will build on their previously gained understanding. Lesson length: The lessons are designed to last approximately 60–70 minutes. At the end of this unit most children will: • Be able to explain the meaning behind the symbols and actions in the different birth ceremonies. • Be able to explain the importance of committing the baby to the community of God. Some children will have made less progress and will: • Be able to share their own experiences of babies and explain what some people believe are babies’ spiritual needs. Some children will have progressed further and will: • Be able to explain similarities and differences between the themes in the different birth ceremonies. Leave a review

Includes: Introduction Unit resources Medium-term plan Lesson 1: Belonging to a group Lesson 2: Confirmation and believer’s baptism Lesson 3: Bar Mitzvah Lesson 4: Amrit ceremony Lesson 5: Taking responsibility Lesson 6: Initiation ceremonies About this unit This unit is intended to explore becoming an adult and discuss the themes that are addressed by different religious initiation ceremonies and their effect on people’s lives. Not all religions have specific ceremonies welcoming members into adulthood but Christianity, Judaism, Sikhism and Hinduism do. In this unit we will look at three religions: Christianity, Judaism and Sikhism, together with a non-religious view: humanism. This unit allows pupils to consider the commitment involved in deciding to become a full member of a religious community. Prior learning: This unit will build on the work completed in Year 3 on birth ceremonies. Lesson length: The lessons are designed to last approximately 60–70 minutes. Taken from our R.E Lower Keystage 2 Resource File Leave a review

Includes: Introduction Unit resources Medium-term plan Lesson 1: Doing the right thing Lesson 2: Making choices Lesson 3: A good influence Lesson 4: Wrong choices Lesson 5: David and Goliath Lesson 6: Inner strength Lesson 7: It’s up to you This unit is intended as an introduction to thinking about ultimate truths in Key Stage 2. By beginning with ‘golden rules’, found represented in all major faiths, pupils then explore how their sense of right and wrong can change with circumstances. By using stories from different faiths and by studying the actions of believers who chose what they believed to be right over wrong when that was a hard choice for them to make, pupils are introduced to the concept of faith and behaviour being inextricably linked. The issue of ‘right and wrong’ will be discussed almost daily throughout a school child’s life! For this age group, right and wrong tends to be very cut-and-dried. These lessons are not intended to introduce the issue of ‘grey areas’ or ‘relative truth’ as children at this age have neither the spiritual, mental, moral or ethical maturity to address these issues appropriately in a classroom context. Leave a review

Lesson 1Fairness: Behaviour Lesson 2: Fairness: Sharing Lesson 3: Relationships: Relationships at school Lesson 4: Relationships: Relationships at home and in the community Lesson 5 Choices: Keeping healthy Lesson 6: Choices: Being independent The material in this unit contains ideas on how PSHE and Citizenship can be introduced in the early years. Many of the skills and values that fall within this area of the curriculum are taught throughout each day in an Early Years classroom. The qualities they encourage are illustrated on the following page. Three themes: • Fairness • Relationships • Choices have been covered in depth. Many of the qualities that are developed in PSHE and Citizenship are embraced within these particular subjects. They are fundamental to the Early Years curriculum. Timing In this unit most of the activities would take 10-15 minutes. However, some of the ideas presented are not full activities but suggestions of how to incorporate the topic into the everyday classroom. Leave a review