Year 3 - English
Analysing the features of diary entries
'The Journey': diary writing
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
In this unit, pupils write a diary entry based on the picture book 'The Journey' by Francesca Sanna. Pupils use the book as a starting point from which they write a diary entry, focusing on using the first person perspective consistently and practising the skill of varying tense accurately.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to identify and analyse layout and linguistic features of a diary entry.
Key Notes
- The purpose of a diary entry is to recount important personal experiences and to 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 at points in 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
- Pupils 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 personal experiences and to 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: Pupils may find it difficult to identify informal language. Correction: Spend some time examining different ways that informal language appears in the model diary entry (e.g. exaggeration, contractions, capitalised words, informal vocabulary).
More Lessons In This Unit
- Engaging with the plot of 'The Journey' Study Guide
- Exploring the characters and key themes in 'The Journey' Study Guide
- Planning the first paragraph of a diary entry based on 'The Journey' Study Guide
- Planning the second paragraph of a diary entry based on 'The Journey' Study Guide
- Publishing a diary entry based on 'The Journey' Study Guide
- Writing the first paragraph of a diary entry based on 'The Journey' Study Guide
- Writing the second paragraph of a diary entry based on 'The Journey' Study Guide
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