You Will Need
Texts
Mrs Armitage on Wheels by Quentin Blake
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Fiction
English Year 1 Autumn Repeating Patterns
Mrs Armitage on Wheels
Have fun with repeating patterns in Mrs Armitage on Wheels and Harvey Slumfenburger’s Christmas Present. Explore repeated refrains and develop sentence writing and punctuation skills.
We recommend that you start with the core unit, the heart of this English block of study. This introduces key textual material and sets the tone for any further units you wish to teach. These can be selected on the basis of the needs of your class – look at the green icons to identify the unit’s particular focus: SPAG, Composition or Comprehension. Whichever units you choose, we suggest teaching them in order, as there is a built-in progression indicated by the numbering.
‘UNIT PLAN’ gives you a text version of all parts of the unit to use in your school planning documentation. ‘DOWNLOAD ALL FILES’ gives you that unit plan plus all of the associated documents.
Unit 1 Core: Sequence, retell and discuss Mrs Armitage on Wheels
(suggested as 4 days)
Objectives
Spoken language
-- Listen and respond appropriately to adults and peers.
-- Speak audibly and fluently.
-- Develop understanding through exploring ideas.
-- Give well-structured descriptions.
Word reading
-- Apply phonic knowledge.
-- Read by blending sound.
-- Read common exception words.
Comprehension
-- Participate in discussion about what is read, taking turns and listening to what others say.
-- Become very familiar with key stories and consider their particular characteristics.
-- Explain clearly their understanding of what is read to them.
-- Predict what might happen on the basis of what has been read so far.
-- Draw on what they already know or on vocabulary provided by the teacher.
Composition
-- Say out loud what they are going to write about.
-- Compose a sentence orally before writing.
-- Sequence sentences.
-- Re-read what they have written to check that it makes sense.
Grammar
-- Leave spaces between words.
-- Punctuate sentences using a capital letter and full stop.
Teaching and Activities
Day 1 Teaching
Read Mrs Armitage on Wheels. Notice the repeated refrain. Discuss the story and correctly sequence the events. Say the children will use a story-map to remember the story. Draw pictures to represent each stage of the story. Use the story-map to retell the story.
Activity
Children work in mixed ability pairs. The children discuss and sequence Mrs Armitage on Wheels either through arranging given images or drawing their own suitable picture/s to represent each event. Children use the story-map to retell the story.
Day 2 Teaching
Read Mrs Armitage on Wheels. Display a selection of cards outlining the problems and solutions in the story. Invite the children to share strategies for reading unfamiliar text. Use the strategies to read the text and match each problem and solution correctly.
Activity
Children work in ability pairs. Give each pair a selection of problems/solutions from Mrs Armitage on Wheels. Children use the strategies from the Input to read the text and then match each problem and its solution correctly.
Day 3 Teaching
Read Mrs Armitage on Wheels. Say the children will use role-play to consider alternative problems Mrs Armitage may encounter while riding her bike. Orally prepare a range of new problems for Mrs Armitage and consider how she will solve them.
Activity
Children work in pairs. One child pretends to be Mrs Armitage, while the other pretends to be Breakspear. Breakspear presents a problem. Mrs Armitage says the repeated refrain and considers how to solve it successfully. Children record their favourite ideas.
Day 4 Teaching
Read Mrs Armitage on Wheels. Display the final picture from the book. Say the children will predict the next part of the story. Discuss the problems Mrs Armitage may face and how she could solve them. Compose a sentence to summarise each prediction.
Activity
Children work in mixed ability groups of three. Together, the children predict what will happen next to Mrs Armitage. Children select their favourite idea and record it as a correctly punctuated sentence/s in their book.
Unit 2 SPAG: Use capital letters and full stops accurately
(suggested as 3 days)
Objectives
Word reading
-- Apply phonic knowledge and skills as the route to decode words.
-- Read accurately by blending sounds in unfamiliar words.
-- Read common exception words.
Comprehension
-- Participate in discussion about what is read, taking turns and listening to what others say Transcription.
-- Begin to form lower-case letters in the correct direction, starting and finishing in the right place.
-- Form capital letters.
Composition
-- Say out loud what they are going to write about.
-- Compose a sentence orally before writing it.
-- Read aloud their writing clearly enough to be heard by their peers and the teacher.
-- Re-read what they have written to check that it makes sense.
Grammar
-- Begin to punctuate sentences using a capital letter and a full stop.
-- Leave spaces between words.
You Will Need
Texts
Mrs Armitage on Wheels by Quentin Blake
Teaching and Activities
Day 1 Teaching
Share Mrs Armitage on Wheels. Notice that Mrs Armitage and Breakspear both begin with a capital letter. Say that sentences also begin with a capital letter and often end with a full stop. Introduce the Activity, displaying the statements and discussing punctuation.
Activity
Children work in mixed ability groups of three. Give each group a selection of sentences. Children cut out each sentence, read it aloud and add any missing punctuation marks. They sequence the sentences to retell the story of Mrs Armitage on Wheels.
Day 2 Teaching
Read Mrs Armitage on Wheels. Say the children will review the story, by sharing their favourite part of the book. Identify a favourite part of the book and use because to extend the sentence. Use correct punctuation to write the sentence, noting the punctuation marks.
Activity
Children work in ability pairs. They discuss their favourite part of the story. Children orally prepare, refine and rehearse a suitable sentence/s. They use correct punctuation to write the sentence. Encourage the children to re-read their writing and edit it if necessary.
Day 3 Teaching
Read Mrs Armitage on Wheels. Identify how Mrs Armitage adapted the bicycle. Discuss ideas for different modifications. For each suggestion explain why the adjustment would be beneficial. Orally prepare a sentence and use correct punctuation to write it.
Activity
Children work in mixed ability pairs. Give each child a writing frame. Together, the children discuss potential adaptations that would improve the bike. They select their favourite idea and orally prepare a sentence to explain it. Children use correct punctuation to write.
Unit 3 Comprehension: Share, discuss and retell Harvey Slumfenburger’s Christmas Present
(suggested as 3 days)
Objectives
Spoken language
-- Listen and respond appropriately to adults and peers.
-- Speak audibly and fluently.
-- Maintain attention and participate actively in collaborative conversations, staying on topic and initiating and responding to comments.
-- Participate in discussions.
-- Give well-structured descriptions.
-- Develop understanding through exploring ideas.
Word reading
-- Apply phonic knowledge and skills as the route to decode words.
-- Read accurately by blending sounds in unfamiliar words.
-- Read common exception words.
-- Read other words of more than one syllable.
Comprehension
-- Link what they read or hear to their own experiences.
-- Predict what might happen on the basis of what has been read so far.
-- Become very familiar with key stories, retelling them and considering their characteristics.
-- Participate in discussion about what is read to them, taking turns and listening to what others say.
-- Explain clearly their understanding of what is read to them.
Transcription
-- Begin to form lower-case letters in the correct direction, starting and finishing in the right place.
-- Form capital letters.
Composition
-- Say out loud what they are going to write about.
-- Compose a sentence orally before writing it.
-- Re-read what they have written to check that it makes sense.
Grammar
-- Begin to punctuate sentences using a capital letter and a full stop.
-- Leave spaces between words.
You Will Need
Texts
Harvey Slumfenburger’s Christmas Present by John Burningham
Optional Texts
Mrs Armitage on Wheels by Quentin Blake
Teaching and Activities
Day 1 Teaching
Read and enjoy Harvey Slumfenburger’s Christmas Present. Tell the children they will work in small groups to learn the repeated refrain. Display the refrain. Read it aloud several times. Discuss actions and practise using an assertive voice to perform the refrain.
Activity
Children work in mixed ability groups of three. Give each group a copy of the refrain. Children work together to read and learn the refrain. They add appropriate actions and rehearse performing it together effectively.
Day 2 Teaching
Read Harvey Slumfenburger’s Christmas Present and compare with Mrs Armitage on Wheels. Tell the children they will retell the story. Display pictures from the text, discuss and sequence them. Use the pictures to prompt a shared retelling of the story.
Activity
Children work in mixed ability pairs. Give each pair of a selection of pictures from the story. They sequence the pictures correctly and discuss why Father Christmas has to change transport. Children use the pictures as a prompt to retell the story.
Day 3 Teaching
Read the title and final page of Harvey Slumfenburger’s Christmas Present. What present do the children think Father Christmas gave Harvey? Remove hidden items from a bag. For each item generate descriptive vocabulary. Build and write some punctuated sentences.
Activity
Children work in ability pairs. They identify a range of presents for Harvey Slumfenburger, remembering to generate suitable descriptive vocabulary. Children select their favourite idea and orally compose a suitable sentence. They use correct punctuation to write.
Day 4 Teaching
Say that when you are given a present, it is polite to reply with a Thank You letter. Say the children will write a letter to Father Christmas from Harvey Slumfenburger. Orally prepare and then write a suitable letter to Father Christmas.
Activity
Children work independently. Give each child a line guide. Children orally prepare a Thank You letter to Father Christmas from Harvey Slumfenburger. They use correct punctuation to write each sentence on to the line guide.
Unit 4 SPAG: Joining words and clauses using ‘and’
(suggested as 3 days)
Objectives
Comprehension
-- Become very familiar with key stories and retelling them.
-- Draw on what they already know.
-- Participate in discussion about what is read to them, taking turns and listening to what others say.
Composition
-- Say out loud what they are going to write about.
-- Compose a sentence orally before writing it.
-- Re-read what they have written to check that it makes sense.
-- Read aloud their writing clearly enough to be heard by their peers and the teacher.
Grammar
-- Join words and join clauses using and.
-- Leave spaces between words.
-- Join words using ‘and’.
-- Begin to punctate sentences using a capital and a full stop.
-- Use grammatical terminology from Appendix 2.
You Will Need
Texts
Harvey Slumfenburger’s Christmas Present by John Burningham
Teaching and Activities
Day 1 Teaching
Read and enjoy Harvey Slumfenburger’s Christmas Present. Focus on the ending. Display pictures of different forms of transport. Identify each one. Model using ‘and’ to speak and write about two of them. Orally compose a range of sentences, using ‘and’ to join words and then write them.
Activity
Children work in mixed ability pairs. Together they identify lots of different forms of transport they would like to use to travel to school. Children orally compose a range of suitable sentences, using ‘and’ to join the words. They select a sentence/s and use correct punctuation to write it/them.
Day 2 Teaching
Read/recap Harvey Slumfenburger’s Christmas Present, discussing the different forms of transport and the problem they present to Father Christmas. Display a range of independent clauses. Say child will use ‘and’ to join two sentences. Orally explore combining two independent clauses together.
Activity
Children work in ability pairs. Give each pair of children a range of independent clauses. They cut out each independent clause and match them together, using ‘and’ to join them. They re-read each new sentence to check it makes sense.
Day 3 Teaching
Read/recap Harvey Slumfenburger’s Christmas Present. Say the children will finish a selection of sentences to retell the story. Display and read each unfinished sentence. Notice each sentence has an ‘and’ after it, waiting for another clause to be added. Orally explore how to do this.
Activity
Children work in mixed ability pairs. Give each child a writing-frame. Children discuss how to add an extra independent clause to each sentence. They select their favourite idea and use correct punctuation to complete each sentence.
Unit 5 Composition: Write a repeating pattern story
(suggested as 4 days)
Objectives
Spoken language
-- Use spoken language to develop understanding through imagining and exploring ideas.
-- Listen and respond appropriately to adults and their peers.
-- Consider different viewpoints.
-- Participate in performances.
-- Select and use appropriate registers for effective communication.
Comprehension
-- Predict what might happen on the basis of what has been read so far.
Transcription
-- Sit correctly at a table, holding a pencil comfortably and correctly.
-- Begin to form lower-case letters in the correct direction, starting and finishing in the right place.
-- Form capital letters.
Composition
-- Say out loud what they are going to write about.
-- Discuss what they have written with the teacher or other pupils.
-- Compose a sentence orally before writing it.
-- Sequence sentences to form short narratives.
-- Re-read what they have written to check that it makes sense.
-- Read aloud their writing clearly enough to be heard by their peers and the teacher.
Grammar
-- Leave spaces between words.
-- Punctuate sentences using a capital letter and a full stop.
-- Join words and join clauses using ‘and’.
You Will Need
Texts
Harvey Slumfenburger’s Christmas Present by John Burningham
Teaching and Activities
Day 1 Teaching
Read and enjoy Harvey Slumfenburger’s Christmas Present. Display and discuss pictures of Father Christmas’s journey home. What do children think happened on the way home? Say the children will plan to tell that story. Model using a planning template to plan a story.
Activity
Children work in mixed ability groups of three. Give each group a story-planning template. They identify three forms of transport for Father Christmas to use on his journey home and consider the problems each will present. Children discuss and draw their ideas.
Day 2 Teaching
Display the story plan. Use the plan to rehearse the whole story orally. Say the children will begin to write their storybook. Orally prepare and rehearse the first three sentences. Write the sentences, reminding children about careful handwriting onto a blank 8-page booklet.
Activity
Children work independently. Give each child the story plan and a blank 8-page booklet. They orally compose, refine and rehearse the first three sentences of the story and then use correct punctuation to write them. Children re-read their writing and edit, if necessary.
Day 3 Teaching
Read the start of the story, from the booklet, written during the Input on Day 2. Today we will finish our stories. Display the story plan. Orally prepare and then write the final three sentences onto the final three pages of the booklet, revising punctuation as you write.
Activity
Children work independently. Give each child the story plan and the 8-page booklet they began on Day 2. They orally compose, refine and rehearse the end of the story before using correct punctuation to write the final three sentences.
Day 4 Teaching
Display the finished storybook. Model writing a title and blurb and then discuss and model effective ways of reading their stories to an audience.
Activity
Children work in mixed ability pairs. Give each child the 8-page booklet they completed on Day 3. They add a title and blurb. Together the children use the strategies from the Input to rehearse reading their story effectively, before reading it aloud to an audience.