'The Journey': diary writing
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Why this why now
This unit uses and builds pupils' knowledge of diary writing from the Year 2 unit 'Florence Nightingale: diary writing'. The unit starts with an analysis of the plot and characters in the picture book 'The Journey' by Francesca Sanna in order for pupils to understand and discuss key themes in the text. Pupils review key features of diary entries, then they write their own version of a diary entry from the perspective of one of the girls. This unit prepares pupils for writing another diary entry in the Year 3 unit 'The Firework Maker's Daughter': reading and diary writing'.
Prior knowledge requirements
- A diary is a type of fiction writing.
- A diary entry is a way to recount important events from the writer's day.
- A diary entry is a way for the writer to convey their feelings about what happened in their day.
- A diary entry uses an informal style of writing.
- The book tells the story of two young girls, who lost their father in war. Their mother wants to move them to another country where they can be safe.
- They undertake a long journey across land and sea, and cross different borders. They face many obstacles on their journey.
- The story ends with family being near somewhere safe. They are yet to find a safe home.
- A refugee is a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.
Why this why now
This unit uses and builds pupils' knowledge of diary writing from the Year 2 unit 'Florence Nightingale: diary writing'. The unit starts with an analysis of the plot and characters in the picture book 'The Journey' by Francesca Sanna in order for pupils to understand and discuss key themes in the text. Pupils review key features of diary entries, then they write their own version of a diary entry from the perspective of one of the girls. This unit prepares pupils for writing another diary entry in the Year 3 unit 'The Firework Maker's Daughter': reading and diary writing'.
Prior knowledge requirements
- A diary is a type of fiction writing.
- A diary entry is a way to recount important events from the writer's day.
- A diary entry is a way for the writer to convey their feelings about what happened in their day.
- A diary entry uses an informal style of writing.
- The book tells the story of two young girls, who lost their father in war. Their mother wants to move them to another country where they can be safe.
- They undertake a long journey across land and sea, and cross different borders. They face many obstacles on their journey.
- The story ends with family being near somewhere safe. They are yet to find a safe home.
- A refugee is a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.
Reading, writing & oracy
'The Journey': diary writing
In this unit, pupils write a diary entry based on the picture book 'The Journey' by Francesca Sanna. Pupils use the book as a starting point from which they write a diary entry, focusing on using the first person perspective consistently and practising the skill of varying tense accurately.
8 lessons in unit
slide decks, worksheet PDFs, quizzes and lesson overviews. You can select individual lessons from the 'The Journey': diary writing unit and download the resources you need, or download the entire unit now. See every unit listed in our primary english curriculum and discover more of our teaching resources for primary english programmes.