Teacher notes for our one-year, whole-class writing scheme of work to get Year 2 children writing in sentences! Too many children are still going into Key Stage 2 without a solid understanding of sentence writing - this scheme of work changes that! “Don’t practise until you get it right, practise it until you can’t get it wrong!” - Unknown

This unit expands the children’s independent writing to include both a piece of fiction and a piece of non-fiction writing. They learn explicitly about using conjunctions to join simple sentences, as well as avoiding run-on sentences. Core texts are Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers, Antarctica: A Continent of Wonder by Mario Cuesta Hernando and Where on Earth? Antarctica by Shalini Vallepur. Included: Lesson plans for unit (18 tasks: 4 - 6 weeks) 63 PowerPoint slides to support lessons Resources to support lessons List of suggested texts to support and enrich learning “Don’t practise until you get it right, practise it until you can’t get it wrong!” - Unknown

This unit of work builds on the work the children have done to concentrate on speaking and writing in sentences in the previous unit. In this unit, the children spend time looking at examples and non-examples of sentences, discussing and identifying which are sentences and why. Drama is used to expand vocabulary of movement and the children write in character for the first time. Throughout this unit, share as many different versions of the three core texts as you can find: Little Red Riding Hood The Three Little Pigs Jack & the Beanstalk as well as versions of other traditional tales and fairy tales. The final task of the unit is to produce a class book showcasing illustrated copies of the children’s version of one of the traditional tales. We encourage teachers to add this to the classroom library, so that children can choose to read it in the future. This gives a real purpose to their writing. Included: Lesson plans for unit (13 tasks: 4 - 6 weeks) 58 PowerPoint slides to support lessons Resources to support lessons “Don’t practise until you get it right, practise it until you can’t get it wrong!” - Unknown

This unit of work consolidates reading and writing skills learnt in Year 1, providing a refresher for children after the summer holidays. It also helps Year 2 staff get to know individual children’s strengths and areas for development and allows them to provide targeted intervention before introducing Year 2 skills after half term. Core texts are Here Come the Aliens by Colin McNaughton and The Marvellous Moon Map by Teresa Heapy & David Litchfield. Included: Lesson plans for unit (19 tasks: 4 - 6 weeks) 48 PowerPoint slides to support lessons Resources to support lessons List of suggested texts to support and enrich learning about space “Don’t practise until you get it right, practise it until you can’t get it wrong!” - Unknown

In this unit, the children practise using subordinating conjunctions to join simple sentences correctly. They learn how to write descriptions, use the vocabulary of comparison and, as a final piece, write their own dinosaur story. Core texts are Dear Dinosaur by Chae Strathie & Nicola O’Byrne, There’s a T-Rex in Town by Alexksei Bitskoff & Ruth Symons and Dinosaur A to Z by Dustin Growick. Included: Lesson plans for unit (18 tasks: 4 - 6 weeks) 75 PowerPoint slides to support lessons Resources to support lessons List of suggested texts to support and enrich learning “Don’t practise until you get it right, practise it until you can’t get it wrong!” - Unknown