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      Writing the first recount paragraph of a journalistic report about the Titanic

      Lesson details

      Learning outcome

      I can write the recount paragraph of a journalistic report about the Titanic, focusing on its design, construction and purpose.

      Key learning points

      1. An introductory sentence explains what the paragraph is about.
      2. Relative clauses give more detail about the sentence’s subject and they begin with relative pronouns ‘who’ or ‘which’.
      3. Conveying extra information (parenthesis) inside brackets is a tool for giving the reader lots of specific information.
      4. Journalistic reports are formal in tone and they communicate information to the reader in a clear, succinct way.
      5. Journalistic tone is objective; the journalist does not offer their own personal opinion.

      Keywords

      • Passive voice - a spoken or written voice in which the subject is acted upon by the verb

      • Parenthesis - additional information that is added to a sentence; if it is removed, the sentence still makes sense

      • Relative complex sentence - a sentence formed of a main clause and a relative subordinate clause

      • Adverbial complex sentence - a sentence formed of a main clause and an adverbial subordinate clause

      Common misconception

      Children may confuse co-ordinating and subordinating conjunctions.

      Ensure that both conjunctions are taught within the context of full compound and complex sentences to avoid confusion.

      Teacher tip

      If your pupils need more explicit teaching of sentence types, use the Year 5 'Five sentence types' discrete grammar unit.

      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.
      Order the parts of a recount paragraph.

      1 - introductory sentence
      2 - specific information
      3 - linking sentence

      Q2.
      Which of these is the definition of a relative pronoun?

      a being, doing or having word
      a person, place or thing
      Correct answer: a word that starts a relative clause like 'who' or 'which'
      a word that describes a noun

      Q3.
      Match the terms to their definitions.

      Correct Answer:active voice,a sentence in which the subject does or is the verb
      Correct Answer:passive voice,a sentence where the subject receives the action of the verb
      Correct Answer:first person,the 'I/we' perspective
      Correct Answer:third person,the 'he/she/it/they' perspective

      Q4.
      Match the definitions of 'it's' and 'its'.

      Correct Answer:it's,the contracted form of 'it is'
      Correct Answer:its,a possessive pronoun
      Correct Answer:It's cold outside!,a sentence using the contracted form of 'it is'
      Correct Answer:Its hull filled with water.,a sentence using the possessive pronoun 'its'

      Q5.
      Identify the relative clauses.

      as crew loaded cargo onto the ship
      before the ship set sail
      Correct answer: which set sail from Southampton
      when the ship reaches New York
      Correct answer: who is the commodore of White Star Line

      Q6.
      Tick the sentences written in the passive voice.

      Correct answer: The ship was boarded by passengers ahead of its departure at midday.
      Passengers boarded the ship ahead of its departure at midday.
      Correct answer: The passengers were accepted by the ticket office.
      The ticket office accepted the passengers.

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Match the linguistic devices to their examples.

      Correct Answer:subject-specific vocabulary,vessel
      Correct Answer:journalistic language,it has been reported that
      Correct Answer:fronted adverbial,Of particular interest,
      Correct Answer:parenthesis,(Belfast, Northern Ireland)

      Q2.
      A clause is...

      Correct answer: a group of words containing a verb.
      a joining word.
      a word that begins a relative clause.

      Q3.
      Match the definitions of sentence types.

      Correct Answer:simple sentence,a sentence consisting of one main clause
      Correct Answer:compound sentence,a sentence with two main clauses joined by a conjunction
      Correct Answer:complex sentence,a sentence formed of a main clause and a subordinate clause

      Q4.
      Tick the three co-ordinating conjunctions.

      because
      Correct answer: and
      if
      Correct answer: or
      Correct answer: but

      Q5.
      Tick the words that can act as subordinating conjunctions in complex sentences.

      Correct answer: although
      which
      Correct answer: because
      Correct answer: after
      Correct answer: before

      Q6.
      Match the clause types to their examples.

      Correct Answer:main clause,The Titanic took three years to build.
      Correct Answer:relative subordinate clause,which is commanded by Captain E. Smith
      Correct Answer:adverbial subordinate clause,after all passengers had boarded the ship

      To help you plan your 5 English lesson on: Writing the first recount paragraph of a journalistic report about the Titanic, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...