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Year 3 - English

Analysing the features of a diary entry

'The Firework Maker's Daughter': reading and diary writing

Unit Summary

Pupils explore the text's opening by summarising events and using inference to understand character traits and relationships. They identify Lila's emotions in the opening and use empathy to develop thoughts that convey these. Pupils then plan and write a diary entry from Lila's perspective.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to identify and analyse the layout and linguistic features of a diary entry.

Key Notes

  • The purpose of a diary entry is to recount important experiences and express feelings.
  • A diary entry follows a specific structure, it is written in the first person and it uses informal language.
  • Simple past and progressive past tenses recount what the writer experienced and felt.
  • Fronted adverbials of time support in sequencing events in a recount chronologically.
  • Present tense is used towards the end of a diary entry to show how the writer is feeling now.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • purpose: the aim of the text
  • recount: a piece of writing that recalls an event or experience
  • layout: the way a text is structured
  • linguistic features: a structure of language that uses words

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Children may find it difficult to identify informal language.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

The purpose of a diary entry is to recount important experiences and express feelings. A diary entry follows a specific structure, it is written in the first person and it uses informal language.

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

the aim of the text.

3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.

Mistake: Children may find it difficult to identify informal language. Correction: Spend some time examining different ways informal language appears in the model diary entry (e.g. exaggeration, contractions, capitalised words, informal vocabulary).

More Lessons In This Unit

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