James and the Giant Peach week 3 - writing the diary

Bring grammar and creative writing to life with this fully-planned mini-unit based on James and the Giant Peach. Designed for busy teachers, this pack includes 2 high-quality grammar lessons on singular possessive apostrophes and 3–4 structured writing lessons where pupils learn to write an effective diary entry from the perspective of James.

This unit is ideal for classes studying Roald Dahl, diary writing, or refreshing key grammar skills through engaging texts.

What’s Included

1. Two Complete Grammar Lessons – Singular Possessive Apostrophes

Clear teacher explanations and modelling

Misconception checks and retrieval

Guided practice activities

Independent tasks with challenge questions

Sentence stems and examples linked to James and the Giant Peach

Pupils learn to:

Identify the noun that “owns” something

Add an apostrophe correctly for singular possession

Apply skills in short writing tasks

1. Three to Four Creative Writing Lessons – Diary Entry from James’ Perspective

A fully mapped sequence that guides pupils from idea-generation to a polished diary entry. Lessons include:

Stimulus extracts and images from the story

Modelled diary paragraphs

Fronted adverbials, emotion vocabulary and rich description

Planning frames and success criteria

Paired and independent writing opportunities

Optional fourth lesson for editing and improving

Pupils will learn to:

Adopt James’s voice and feelings

Write using first person and past tense

Build atmosphere and emotion

Include detail, cohesion and sentence variety

Who This Resource Is For

Year 3–4 teachers

Teachers studying diary writing or Roald Dahl

Intervention groups needing apostrophe practice

Why Teachers Love It

✔ Ready to teach — no planning required
✔ Grammar and writing woven together
✔ SEND-friendly and fully scaffolded
✔ Outcomes that show clear progression
✔ Engaging, book-based learning rooted in a classic text