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Year 4 - English

Planning a paragraph of a diary entry based on 'Into the Forest'

'Into the Forest': diary writing

Unit Summary

In this unit, pupils write a diary entry based on the picture book 'Into the Forest' by Anthony Browne. 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 plan a paragraph of a diary entry based on 'Into the Forest'.

Key Notes

  • This paragraph of the diary entry recounts the boy's encounters with characters in the forest from his perspective.
  • The boy encounters a boy with a cow first, then a girl with long, golden plaits and then a pair of abandoned children.
  • Thoughts and feelings can be explicitly stated and conveyed through the use of 'show and tell'.
  • The boy's emotions heighten over the course of the encounters.
  • Your plan should contain precise and ambitious vocabulary and thoughts and feelings for each encounter.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • encounter: a casual, unexpected or brief meeting with a person or thing
  • emotions: strong feelings that result from a person's circumstances, mood, or relationships with others
  • 'show and tell': a writing technique for showing a character's feelings with description of their actions and expressions

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Children may struggle to avoid repetition for describing each encounter.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

This paragraph of the diary entry recounts the boy's encounters with characters in the forest from his perspective. The boy encounters a boy with a cow first, then a girl with long, golden plaits and then a pair of abandoned children.

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

a casual, unexpected or brief meeting with a person or thing.

3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.

Mistake: Children may struggle to avoid repetition for describing each encounter. Correction: Model a range of ways for saying the same thing. For example 'bumped into', 'came across', 'encountered', 'stumbled across', etc. Create a class bank of phrases and ideas they can use in their plan.

More Lessons In This Unit

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