Planning and Activities
Non-fiction
English Year 2 Summer Information Texts
Dinosaurs
Using Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs, explore differences between fiction and non-fiction. Research and create fact files using noun phrases. Study sentence types.
Start with the core unit to introduce key texts. Then select from comprehension, SPAG and composition units.
Unit 1 Core: Distinguish between fiction and non-fiction; read and compare non-fiction texts about dinosaurs
(suggested as 4 days)
SPaG: Grammar and Punctuation
There is no spelling and grammar presentation for this unit.
You Will Need
Essential Texts
Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs by Ian Whybrow and Adrian Reynolds
The Dorling Kindersley First Dinosaur Encyclopedia, Penguin Random House
Websites
The Dino Directory from nhm.ac.uk
Dinosaur pages from natgeokids.com
Dinosaur information from kids-dinosaurs.com
Unit 2 SPAG: Identify adjectives and noun phrases and use these in descriptions of dinosaurs
(suggested as 3 days)
Planning and Activities
SPaG: Grammar and Punctuation
You Will Need
Essential Text
The Dorling Kindersley First Dinosaur Encyclopaedia, Penguin Random House
Presentations
Grammar: Nouns and Adjectives
Unit 3 Comprehension: understand how to research dinosaurs using non-fiction texts
(suggested as 4 days)
Planning and Activities
Group Readers
Nana, what’s an information text?
This is a humorous story, told by a dinosaur. It provides a lot of information about information texts. Brilliantly conceived and illustrated, this is a must when introducing non-fiction texts as a genre.
You Will Need
Essential Texts
The Dorling Kindersley First Dinosaur Encyclopedia, Penguin Random House
A range of other good quality dinosaur non-fiction text that contain contents pages, indexes and glossaries.
Group Reader
Nana, what’s an information text? (provided below)
Website
The Dino Directory from nhm.ac.uk
Unit 4 SPAG: Identify different types of sentence and use each type in own writing
(suggested as 3 days)
Planning and Activities
SPaG: Grammar and Punctuation
There is no spelling and grammar presentation for this unit.
You Will Need
Essential Text
The Dorling Kindersley First Dinosaur Encyclopaedia, Penguin Random House
Website
Information about palaeontologists from scienceforthekids.wordpress.com
Unit 5 Composition: use research to produce a class non-fiction book on dinosaurs
(suggested as 4 days)
Planning and Activities
SPaG: Grammar and Punctuation
There is no spelling and grammar presentation for this unit.
You Will Need
Essential Text
The Dorling Kindersley First Dinosaur Encyclopaedia, Penguin Random House
Websites
The Dino Directory from nhm.ac.uk
Dinosaur pages from natgeokids.com
Dinosaur information from kids-dinosaurs.com