New sample BookWrites teaching sequences (added February 2023)
Years 1 and 2 – Stella and the Seagull by Georgina Stevens and Izzy Burton
When Stella’s seagull friend gets poorly from the plastic stuck in its tummy, Stella wants to try and help. She writes letters to all sorts of organisations and gradually her ideas spread around the community and make a huge impact. Although the story is fictional, the writing outcome is non-fiction and the book also includes real-life examples of young people making a difference.
Planned outcome/focus: Children write letters asking companies and organisations to help improve something in their own local area.
Grammar and punctuation focus: Sequence sentences to maintain cohesion; capital letters for names and the pronoun I; multi-clause sentences using and
Possible curriculum links: Science – understanding plants, animals and materials in their environment
Years 3 and 4 – Interview with a Tiger and Other Clawed Beasts Too by Andy Seed and Nick East
This is a hilarious book where you get to imagine animals with big personalities. The interview style creates the voice of the animals but you learn lots of accurate information too.
Planned outcome/focus: Children create their own ‘Interview…’ with other creatures, people or even objects in a Q&A style like Andy Seed’s original. Contrasting two interviewees allows children to create a distinctive voice for each.
Grammar and punctuation focus: Prepositional phrases as part of expanded noun phrase to add detail after the noun (Y4) and/or used adverbially (Y3); nouns and pronouns for clarity and cohesion; using dictionaries for definitions.
Possible curriculum links: This text can link with almost any area of the curriculum as the outcome could be an interview with anything!
Years 5 and 6 – Varjak Paw by S. F. Said and Dave McKean
This is a rewrite of one of our most popular sequences. It is a fast-paced novel featuring the adventures of three cats desperately trying to survive multiple threats.
Planned outcome/focus: Children write an additional adventure for the three characters. The narrative focus is on contrasting atmospheres, action and using dialogue to convey character and advance the action.
This BookWrites sequence would work well at the end of Y5 or at any point in Y6.
Grammar and punctuation focus (includes revision and application of Y3/4 grammar to convey atmosphere and develop character): expanded noun phrases for conveying precise imagery; adverbials (prepositional phrases); dialogue to advance the action and to develop character; building suspense and atmosphere; verb choices; colons and semi-colons between clauses
Further free BookWrites downloads can be found on our Christmas BookWrites sequences page.
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Annotated assessed writing
This assessed writing from I Don’t Believe it, Archie! is an example of the writing that comes out of the teaching sequence. It has been assessed and annotated to exemplify the assessment criteria for year 4.
It is part of our BookWrites teaching sequences subscription and Assessment of Writing resource.