Year 6 Autumn 1 English Planning Unit : Survival!

Year 6 Autumn 1 English Planning Unit : Survival!

This half term block, based around a theme of Survival, consists of two English units:

• Novel as a Theme
• Biography

Cross curricular links
Although the units will stand alone, they can be planned to run alongside Science and Geography work on Evolution and inheritance (adaptation, survival of the fittest, reproduction and passing on traits) and the World’s countries and key features. The unit on biographies has been chosen to fulfil the National Curriculum requirement that children in upper Key Stage 2 should read and discuss an increasingly wide range of non-fiction and reference books or text books. Famous scientists are suggested as the topic for the biography unit but the unit could be easily adapted to support another curriculum area if desired.

Vocabulary, Grammar and Punctuation
Skills have been specifically identified for each unit from Key Learning in Writing. The full set of units include all skills for the year group. However, if these units and/or skills are rearranged from the planned order, modifications to the identified grammar skills may be necessary. When planning, consider if the suggested skills are the most appropriate for the class or if different skills are needed based on assessments of children’s outcomes. This may involve the revisiting of skills from previous year groups. Refer to Key Learning in Writing for the year group to ensure full coverage over the year.

Our English Planning Units have all recently been updated to include:

• new ideas and approaches for planning through the teaching sequence phases with more detailed guidance on reading and gathering content phases;
• updated suggestions of texts, direct links to specific film clips and resources within every unit;
• a tighter focus on grammar skills via warm-up sessions and integration within units;
• increased emphasis on vocabulary for reading and writing;
• further short and longer writing opportunities built into each unit; and
• updated outcome suggestions for scaffolded writing whilst highlighting the need for independent writing for assessment purposes.