Grammar – Non Chronological report

23rd May 2024Ruth Shields

In our grammar lesson, we’ve really been honing in on the appropriate fronted adverbials and conjunctions you’d use within a non chronological report. We spent some time thinking about how we could link facts using fronted adverbials and which ones would best fit into the sentence. We also looked at models of a fiction and non fictions piece of writing so we could see the difference between the two. Finally we worked alongside our partner to start putting facts about the Mayans into sentences using appropriate fronted adverbials.

Find the shape – non-chronological reports

22nd May 2024Laura Hamill

In today’s writing lesson, Crew Hamill began with a silent conversation in which we walked around the classroom looking at chunks of our model text, making a note of things we noticed, any features we could find and any fronted adverbials we could spot. We were able to identify some key features of a non-chronological report, such as paragraphs, subheadings and fronted adverbials. Following this, we looked at some example double-page spread reports and worked in mini crews to annotate them with praises and notices. We then came together as a crew and shared these. We were able to use these to generate a checklist of non-negotiables that we are going to use when writing our own non-chronological reports. This list included things like neat, cursive handwriting and accurate, detailed drawings.

Applying editing and redrafting

21st May 2024Ruth Shields

After having some time to edit and redraft other people’s work, it was time to apply these skills to our own work. We were given time to start working through our plot point so we could uplevel it. This is a skill we’ve been working hard on this year and still find it a little tricky especially as we feel we did a good job the first time round. However, we know there is always room for improvement.

Editing and Redrafting

21st May 2024Ruth Shields

Last week, we spent some time revisiting editing and redrafting out writing. We were shown examples of work from books and then we worked together to edit for things like punctuation and sense. Once we were happy we had completed the editing, we worked together to redraft which could have considered of added a fronted adverbial, conjunction or adding further description.

Grammar Day

20th May 2024Laura Hamill

Today, Crew Hamill began their new writing genre and discussed that we would be creating a non-chronological report all about Ancient Maya. We have done lots of historical learning over the last few weeks in expedition that we will be using to support this writing and we are going to be using one of our class texts to gather further information. To begin this new genre, we looked at our first grammar focus: fronted adverbials. We discussed what these were and read two different passages that contained them. We discussed how these are used differently depending on the genre we are writing and made comparisons between the two passages. Following this, we worked in talk partners to identify which fronted adverbials would be most appropriate in a non-chronological report. We then up-levelled sentences by adding fronted adverbials to them to make them more interesting. We can now use these sentences when we begin writing our plot points!

Crew Boswell – Exploring Newspapers

15th May 2024Matthew Boswell

In writing, we have started preparing to write our next piece. We will be writing a newspaper article about the book that we are currently reading. Our experience day was to spend some time reading, comparing and exploring newspapers – their style, content and appearance. Following this, we contributed our ideas to build a picture of what we noticed, what we liked and what we wondered about newspapers as a genre. We’re looking forward to building on these ideas to help us write our own article!

How do we edit?

12th May 2024Ruth Shields

Now that we’ve finished our plot points, it’s time to edit and redraft some of our writing. In our writing lesson on Friday, we were shown some examples of writing from children’s books and we were shown how to edit a piece of work. Then we had an opportunity to work through some sentences and share our thoughts with the rest of the class. Next, we’ll look at redrafting and have time to redraft our own writing so we can uplevel it.

Writing Experience Day

10th May 2024Laura Hamill

In preparation for our final plot point in writing, we were super excited to spend a lesson taste testing a number of different types of sweets. These sweets triggered different taste buds on our tongue, meaning we reacted to them in different ways. We were able to use our experience to create a bank of vocabulary to support our writing. We pulled lots of funny faces – especially with the sour and fizzy sweets.