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Year 2 - English

Writing the first entry of Florence Nightingale's diary

Florence Nightingale: diary writing

Unit Summary

In this unit, pupils write two sections of a fictional diary entry based on the historical figure Florence Nightingale. Pupils use research around her life and career as a starting point for writing a diary entry, focusing on using the first person perspective consistently.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to write the first entry of Florence Nightingale's diary.

Key Notes

  • Perspective is the way someone thinks, feels or sees something.
  • Writing in a diary will mostly be in the past tense.
  • A diary entry should be written in the first person.
  • First person is a point of view in writing or storytelling where the narrator or speaker refers to themselves.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • perspective: the way someone thinks, feels or sees something
  • past tense: tells the reader the action happened before now
  • first person: a point of view in writing or storytelling where the narrator or speaker refers to themselves using 'I'

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Pupils may struggle to maintain a consistent tense in their writing. Usually, this is moving betwen past and present tense.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.

Perspective is the way someone thinks, feels or sees something. Writing in a diary will mostly be in the past tense.

2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'perspective'

the way someone thinks, feels or sees something.

3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.

Mistake: Pupils may struggle to maintain a consistent tense in their writing. Usually, this is moving betwen past and present tense. Correction: Teach children that words such as 'was' and 'had' can change the tense of verbs to the past tense. Play a game where children have to change present tense verbs into past tense.

More Lessons In This Unit

Browse all guides in the Year 2 English guide library.