The Empire Windrush: diary writing
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Why this why now
This unit uses and builds on pupils' understanding of diary writing from the Year 6 unit, 'Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet': diary and narrative writing'. This time, pupils write the diary entry based on a real-life historical stimulus - the Empire Windrush. In so doing, pupils research the historical event, building empathy for the passengers on board. Pupils practise using informal devices, like exclamatives, first person, verbless sentences and conversational tone. This unit prepares pupils for essay writing on the same stimulus in the Year 6 unit, 'The Empire Windrush: essay writing'.
Prior knowledge requirements
- The Second World War lasted from 1939 to 1945.
- Some of the major powers involved in the Second World War were Germany, Japan, the United States of America and the Soviet Union.
- Nazi Germany was defeated by the end of the Second World War.
- There was a major human cost of the war with millions of lives lost, including those of civilians and soldiers.
- Economies, societies and cultures of different countries around the world were affected by the Second World War.
- The Second World War has shaped significant parts of the modern world.
- The United Nations was formed on 24 October 1945 after the Second World War had ended.
- Important lessons are learned after wars.
- Migration is the movement of individuals or groups of people from one place to another often across long distances.
- Immigration is the act of entering and settling in a country that is not a person's country of origin for the purpose of living and working permanently.
Why this why now
This unit uses and builds on pupils' understanding of diary writing from the Year 6 unit, 'Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet': diary and narrative writing'. This time, pupils write the diary entry based on a real-life historical stimulus - the Empire Windrush. In so doing, pupils research the historical event, building empathy for the passengers on board. Pupils practise using informal devices, like exclamatives, first person, verbless sentences and conversational tone. This unit prepares pupils for essay writing on the same stimulus in the Year 6 unit, 'The Empire Windrush: essay writing'.
Prior knowledge requirements
- The Second World War lasted from 1939 to 1945.
- Some of the major powers involved in the Second World War were Germany, Japan, the United States of America and the Soviet Union.
- Nazi Germany was defeated by the end of the Second World War.
- There was a major human cost of the war with millions of lives lost, including those of civilians and soldiers.
- Economies, societies and cultures of different countries around the world were affected by the Second World War.
- The Second World War has shaped significant parts of the modern world.
- The United Nations was formed on 24 October 1945 after the Second World War had ended.
- Important lessons are learned after wars.
- Migration is the movement of individuals or groups of people from one place to another often across long distances.
- Immigration is the act of entering and settling in a country that is not a person's country of origin for the purpose of living and working permanently.
Reading, writing & oracy
The Empire Windrush: diary writing
In this unit, pupils use research around the Empire Windrush and an account of a fictional passenger to write a diary entry from a Windrush passenger's perspective. They use a conversational tone and informal devices, including exclamatives and verbless sentences, to meet the writing purpose.
6 lessons in unit
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