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Writing the first entry of Florence Nightingale's diary

Lesson details

Learning outcome

I can write the first entry of Florence Nightingale's diary.

Key learning points

  1. Perspective is the way someone thinks, feels or sees something.
  2. Writing in a diary will mostly be in the past tense.
  3. A diary entry should be written in the first person.
  4. First person is a point of view in writing or storytelling where the narrator or speaker refers to themselves.

Keywords

  • Perspective - the way someone thinks, feels or sees something

  • Past tense - tells the reader the action happened before now

  • First person - a point of view in writing or storytelling where the narrator or speaker refers to themselves using 'I'

Common misconception

Pupils may struggle to maintain a consistent tense in their writing. Usually, this is moving betwen past and present tense.

Teach children that words such as 'was' and 'had' can change the tense of verbs to the past tense. Play a game where children have to change present tense verbs into past tense.

Teacher tip

Play a game of hot-seating at the start of the lesson, so children can practise getting in the role of Florence Nicghtingale and speaking from the first person perspective.

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0
except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions
(Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

6 Questions

Q1.
What is someone's perspective?

the way someone uses punctuation
the way someone wants to be treated
Correct answer: the way someone thinks, feels or sees something

Q2.
What is the name for a book that people write down their experiences, thoughts and feelings?

a story book
Correct answer: a diary
a comic book

Q3.
True or false? Each time a person writes in their diary, it is called a chapter.

Correct Answer: false, False

Q4.
True or false? A diary is personal and private to the writer.

Correct Answer: true, True

Q5.
Florence travelled to Crimea with a team of 38 ...

teachers.
Correct answer: nurses.
doctors.

Q6.
When Florence saw the hospital in Scutari, what do you think she thought?

It was excellent.
Correct answer: It was not good enough.
It was not too bad.

6 Questions

Q1.
Diaries are a type of...

Correct answer: recount
poem
fiction

Q2.
A diary entry is written in which tense?

Correct answer: past
present
future

Q3.
Which of these verbs are past tense?

look
looking
Correct answer: looked

Q4.
Fill in the blank. A diary entry should be written in the __________ person.

Correct answer: first
second
third

Q5.
Which of these words would you likely use when writing in the first person?

you
he
Correct answer: I

Q6.
Which of these is written in the first person perspective?

She saw the hospital.
Florence saw the hospital.
Correct answer: I saw the hospital.

To help you plan your 2 English lesson on: Writing the first entry of Florence Nightingale's diary, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...