Year 1 English Plans

Listen to and read some traditional tales, explaining how they used to be passed down orally. Children retell and sequence stories and discuss others read, heard. Establish proper nouns begin with capitals and write sentences that contain 'because'. Write own story. This plan uses The House that Jack Built by Jenny Stow and Anancy and Mr Dry Bone by Fiona French.

Read a story with repeating patterns, Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain, by Verna Aardema. Retell the story using flow charts, write describing words and punctuate sentences. Read two counting stories Handa’s Hen by Eileen Browne and We All Went on Safari by Laurie Krebs, before guiding children to write their own. The Hamilton Group Reader, Boris and Sid go on a tram, is used to develop confidence in reading aloud.

Children read three rib-tickling books about crazy escapades with animals – No Thank You, The Day Louis Got Eaten and There’s a Lion in My Cornflakes – before writing their own animal adventures and composing vivid descriptions of fantastical creatures.

Children learn about instructions and persuasion by exploring the fantastic Mo Willems books about Pigeon. They practise giving and receiving instructions about everyday activities and write and illustrate their own 'Don't let the Pigeon' story. Some children independently read Hamilton Group Reader Boris and Sid are Bad!

Children study non-fiction texts on nocturnal animals, Night Animals by Claire Llewellyn, Owls by Emily Bone. Using stimulating texts, and linking what they read to their own experiences, they produce information books on owls to guide Harry Potter in looking after Hedwig. Hamilton Group Reader, The Owl and the night, is used to develop confidence in reading aloud.

Letters are fun to read and exciting to write. Children use Mr. Postmouse’s Rounds  by Yvette Ghione and Marianne Dubuc as the stimulus to improve their understanding of reading and writing letters. They explore questions, statements and exclamations. They understand how to read each sentence using the correct intonation, how to write each sentence using the correct punctuation and how to edit their sentences to ensure they make sense. They will understand that proper nouns and the personal pronoun 'I' are spelt with initial capital letters. Children also learn the effect and power of using descriptive vocabulary in their writing.   

Introduce a variety of poems by selected poets on the theme of Senses, The Works chosen by Paul Cookson, Sensational: Poems inspired by the Five Senses chosen by Roger McGough. Encourage children to learn parts by heart and then respond to these poems, focusing on interesting adjectives. Identify and create similes. Finally children write poems about hearing and touch.

This humorous plan gives children an opportunity to explore how capital letters are used at the beginning of people's names and of sentences. Children explore how 'and' can be used to join ideas together and how to use sentences to express their ideas creatively, reading from The Works chosen by Paul Cookson, and The Works Key Stage 1 chosen by Pie Corbett.