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Year 4 - English

Writing 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 write a paragraph of a diary entry based on 'Into the Forest'.

Key Notes

  • This paragraph recounts the boy's encounters with characters in the forest and conveys how his emotions heighten.
  • Diary entries should include specific linguistic features (past tense, first person perspective and informal language).
  • Fronted adverbials of time help clearly sequence the encounters.
  • A relative complex sentence uses a relative pronoun (who or which) to provide greater detail about a noun.
  • A relative clause can follow the main clause in a relative complex sentence or be embedded within it.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • emotions: strong feelings that result from a person's circumstances, mood, or relationships with others
  • fronted adverbial of time: a sentence starter that tells the reader when something happened
  • relative complex sentence: a sentence formed of a main clause and a relative subordinate clause

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Children may struggle to embed a relative clause and they may forgot the necessary commas needed to demarcate a relative clause.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

This paragraph recounts the boy's encounters with characters in the forest and conveys how his emotions heighten. Diary entries should include specific linguistic features (past tense, first person perspective and informal language).

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

strong feelings that result from a person's circumstances, mood, or relationships with others.

3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.

Mistake: Children may struggle to embed a relative clause and they may forgot the necessary commas needed to demarcate a relative clause. Correction: Ensure there is a model of a relative complex sentence where the relative clause follows the main clause and one where the relative clause is embedded. Write the relative clause and commas in a different colour to make them visually stand out.

More Lessons In This Unit

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