Which to use: Hamilton’s new flexible English blocks or our adaptable weekly plans?
Find out which Hamilton English planning resources you can access for free.
Hamilton have produced books in printed and digital formats specially for children to read in small groups.
Drawing on classic picture books, sequence plots, study description and noun phrases, learn progressive forms of verbs and write stories based on The Sand Horse.
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.
Spoken Language
-- Articulate and justify answers, arguments and opinions.
-- Give well-structured descriptions, explanations and narratives for different purposes, including for expressing feelings.
-- Use spoken language to develop understanding through speculating, hypothesising, imagining and exploring ideas.
-- Participate in discussions, presentations, performances, role-play, improvisations and debates
-- Select and use appropriate registers for effective communication.
Word Reading
-- Continue to apply phonic knowledge and skills as the route to decode words until automatic decoding has become embedded and reading is fluent.
Comprehension
-- Understand both the books that they can already read accurately and fluently and those that they listen to by: answering and asking questions.
Transcription
None for this unit
Composition
-- Plan or say out loud what they are going to write about.
-- Write down ideas and/or key words, including new vocabulary.
-- Write narratives about personal experiences and those of others (real and fictional).
-- Write for different purposes (a short book review).
-- Encapsulate what they want to say, sentence by sentence.
-- Re-read to check that their writing makes sense.
-- Read aloud what they have written with appropriate intonation to make the meaning clear.
Grammar
None for this unit
Texts
Not Now, Bernard by David McKee
There’s NO such thing as a Dragon by Jack Kent
A Lion in the Meadow by Margaret Mahy and Jenny Williams (Currently out of print but readily available second-hand)
and/or
The Slightly Annoying Elephant by David Walliams and Tony Ross
Day 1 Teaching
Read Not Now, Bernard by David McKee and lead children in a discussion of the book’s characters, themes and setting. Ask children if they can relate to Bernard’s situation in the story.
Activity
Children work in small, ability-related reading groups. They re-read Not Now, Bernard and answer a series of questions about the text. They look through books from the class collection and find others books that have a similar scenario to Not Now, Bernard.
Day 2 Teaching
Read children either A Lion in the Meadow by Margaret Mahy or The Slightly Annoying Elephant by David Walliams. Compare the story to Not Now, Bernard. Model coming up with and developing ideas for an imaginary creature of your own similar to those in the stories read in class.
Activity
Children work in mixed-ability pairs. They come up with their own imaginary creatures and develop ideas around what their creatures might do or say, using the stories they have heard in class as models for their thinking.
Day 3 Teaching
Read There’s NO Such thing as a Dragon by Jack Kent. Again, compare the story to the others read in this Unit. Help volunteers to role-play a short conversation between characters from the story, emphasising the need to speak ‘in character’. Repeat for conversations featuring characters from Not Now, Bernard and A Lion in the Meadow
Activity
Children work in mixed-ability pairs. They compose a short conversation between a parent/carer and a child concerning a visit from the imaginary creature children thought up yesterday. They write lines that are appropriate to the characters and scenario. Later, children enact their conversations.
Day 4 Teaching
Remind class of the books they have read in the unit and prompt children to share which has been their favourite, and why. Elicit children’s understanding of the purpose and format of a book review. Shared-read short reviews. Model composing a simple review of There’s NO Such thing as a Dragon.
Activity
Children work independently or in ability-related pairs. They decide on a favourite book from the set read in the Unit and compose a brief review of the title. When finished, children read their reviews aloud to the rest of the class.
Spoken Language
-- Use relevant strategies to build their vocabulary.
-- Give well-structured descriptions, explanations and narratives for different purposes, including for expressing feelings.
-- Use spoken language to develop understanding through speculating, hypothesising, imagining and exploring ideas.
Word Reading
-- Read most words quickly and accurately when they have been frequently encountered.
Comprehension
-- Ask questions to improve their understanding of a text.
-- Discuss words and phrases that capture the reader’s interest and imagination.
Transcription
None for this unit
Composition
None for this unit
Grammar
-- Learn how to use expanded noun phrases to describe and specify [for example, the blue butterfly] and the grammar for year 2 in English Appendix 2 .
-- Use and understand the grammatical terminology in English Appendix 2 in discussing their writing [noun, adjective, adverb, noun phrase].
Texts
It’s a Secret! by John Burningham (Out of print, but readily available second hand)
Either of…
The Way to the Zoo by John Burningham
The Magic Bed by John Burningham
Presentations
SPaG PowerPoint: Noun Phrases
Day 1 Teaching
Introduce John Burningham and read It’s A Secret! With reference to the text, confirm children’s understanding of ‘noun’ and ‘adjective’. Use the presentation Noun Phrases to identify examples of each in short texts and to be aware that adjectives can be placed at different points within a sentence.
Activity
Children work in ability-related pairs or small groups. They read a short passage based on It’s A Secret! and identify nouns and adjectives. They then suggest adjectives of their own to add description to nouns. Some children work with an adult to develop expanded noun phrases to describe objects in a party game.
Day 2 Teaching
Re-read It’s a Secret by John Burningham. Use the presentation Noun Phrases to introduce and explain how adverbs can qualify adjectives, helping us to create more finely tuned descriptions. Is the cat very chatty or mildly chatty? Children identify adverbs qualifying adjectives.
Activity
Working in ability-related pairs, children identify qualifying adverbs in descriptive sentences. They then consider which adverbs suggest the strongest degree of the adjective.
Day 3 Teaching
Read either of The Way to the Zoo or The Magic Bed and ask children to compare this to It’s a Secret. Use the presentation Noun Phrases to expand descriptions and then ask children to shared write descriptions of John Burningham’s animals which include expanded noun phrases.
Activity
Children choose an animal, then they add adjectives to describe it and qualify one of the adjectives with an adverb. Finally they add a phrase to tell us something more, often about where the animal is. They create expanded noun phrases as their own descriptions.
Noun Phrases Presentation
Children learn to identify nouns, adjectives and adverbs modifying these. They then add more description to create expanded noun phrases.
Spoken Language
-- Give well-structured descriptions, explanations and narratives for different purposes, including for expressing feelings.
-- Speak audibly and fluently with an increasing command of Standard English.
-- Participate in discussions, presentations, performances, role play, improvisations and debates.
-- Use spoken language to develop understanding through speculating, hypothesising, imagining and exploring ideas.
-- Select and use appropriate registers for effective communication.
Word Reading
-- Continue to apply phonic knowledge and skills as the route to decode words until automatic decoding has become embedded and reading is fluent.
Comprehension
-- Discuss the sequence of events in books and how items of information are related.
-- Become increasingly familiar with and retell a wider range of stories, fairy stories and traditional tales.
-- Discuss and clarify the meanings of words, linking new meanings to known vocabulary.
-- Understand both the books that they can already read accurately and fluently and those that they listen to by checking that the text makes sense to them as they read and correcting inaccurate reading.
Transcription
None for this unit
Composition
-- Write narratives about personal experiences and those of others (real and fictional).
-- Plan or say out loud what they are going to write about.
-- Write down ideas and/or key words, including new vocabulary.
-- Make simple additions, revisions and corrections to their own writing by evaluating their writing with the teacher and other pupils.
-- Read aloud what they have written with appropriate intonation to make the meaning clear.
Grammar
None for this unit
Texts
Whatever Next! by Jill Murphy
Group Readers
The Day Ben Went Bump
Day 1 Teaching
Read children Whatever Next! by Jill Murphy and lead discussion about the book. Using a series of story cards, help children to place events from the book in chronological order. Support children as they begin to commit the main events of Jill Murphy’s book to memory.
Activity
In mixed ability pairs, children rehearse giving oral retellings of Whatever Next! They aim to tell the events of the story in the correct order and to give as much detail as possible. They speak ‘in character’ when voicing characters from the tale.
Day 2 Teaching
Introduce children to The Day Ben Went Bump by Ruth Merttens and Jackie Abey. Help children to recognise similarities between the story and Whatever Next! in terms of the two tales’ settings and themes. Teach children to use a range of word-reading skills to read sections of the story aloud.
Activity
Children work in small, reading ability-related groups. They read and discuss either Whatever Next! or The Day Ben Went Bump (some with adult support) before then answering a series of referential and inferential questions about their text.
Day 3 Teaching
Reread Whatever Next! and look at the story’s ‘shape’ and structure using a story sequence chart. Model planning a new oral story featuring Baby Bear that imitates the structure of Whatever Next! Teach children to use a planning sheet and to jot down notes to capture story ideas and vocabulary.
Activity
Children work in ability-related pairs. They share ideas for a further adventure for Baby Bear. They record their ideas as notes on a planning sheet, using the structure and themes of Whatever Next! as a guide to their story making.
Day 4 Teaching
Show children how they can finish and refine the oral stories they began yesterday. Model incorporating short passages of dialogue into an oral retelling, indicating how storytellers use their voices to show mood in a story, or to reflect dramatic tension.
Activity
Children work in ability-related pairs as yesterday. They finesse their new stories featuring Baby Bear and rehearse telling these stories aloud. They practise including short passages of characterful dialogue in their retellings. Children finish the Unit by sharing their stories with the class and others.
The Day Ben went Bump
This is a really simple fantasy story about a child who falls through the floor and meets a variety of creatures in the ground below! Easily accessible for beginning readers, the children can use this to stimulate their own versions.
You can purchase printed copies of this Group Reader from Hamilton Education.
Spoken Language
-- Use relevant strategies to build their vocabulary.
Word Reading
None for this unit
Comprehension
None for this unit
Composition
-- Write for different purposes.
-- Encapsulate what they want to say, sentence by sentence.
-- Read aloud what they have written with appropriate intonation to make the meaning clear.
Transcription
None for this unit
Grammar
-- Learn how to use the present and past tenses correctly and consistently, including the progressive form.
-- Learn how to use the grammar for Year 2 in English Appendix 2; Use and understand the grammatical terminology in English Appendix 2 in discussing their writing (verb, tense, past, present).
Texts
The Magic Bed by John Burningham
The Way to the Zoo by John Burningham
Presentations
SPaG PowerPoint: Past and Present Tenses
Day 1 Teaching
Using The Way to the Zoo by John Burningham in conjunction with the presentation Tenses provided, teach children both to identify verbs in a sentence and to say whether a verb is in the present or past tense. Model converting present tense verbs into their past tense form, guiding children as to the spelling changes they will need to consider when doing so.
Activity
Children work in ability-related pairs. They shared-read a short text and then change present tense verbs from the text into the past tense. Some go further and also think of synonyms for the verbs, while others simply locate verbs in the text.
Day 2 Teaching
Read children The Magic Bed by John Burningham. Referring to the text and continuing to use the presentation Tenses, teach children to distinguish between the simple past and progressive past forms of verbs. Explain the place and value of the progressive past form when writing. Model using conjunctions to extend sentences containing verbs in the progressive past form.
Activity
Children work in ability-related pairs. They turn a series of sentences written in the simple past form into the progressive past. Some also add additional clauses to their sentences while others are supported to compose sentences containing verbs in the progressive past form orally.
Day 3 Teaching
Read children the reviewers’ comments on the back covers of both The Way to the Zoo and The Magic Bed. Use the presentation Tenses for the last time to introduce children to the difference between the simple present and the progressive present. Model using both forms of the present tense in short review comments for one of the books read in class.
Activity
Children work independently or in ability-related pairs. They discuss their feelings about the books read in class and then write short comments of their own about their chosen title. They ensure that their writing is in the present tense. Some write about both the books they have read in class.
Past and Present Tenses Presentation
Children revise the concept of a verb., They identify past tense, in two forms (simple and progressive) and present tense, in the same two forms.
Spoken Language
-- Use relevant strategies to build their vocabulary.
-- Give well-structured descriptions, explanations and narratives for different purposes, including for expressing feelings.
-- Use spoken language to develop understanding through speculating, hypothesising, imagining and exploring ideas.
Word Reading
None for this unit
Comprehension
-- Listen to, discuss and express views about…stories… at a level beyond that at which they can read independently.
-- Explain and discuss their understanding of books, poems and other material, both those that they listen to and those that they read for themselves.
-- Discuss the sequence of events in books and how items of information are related; become increasingly familiar with and retell a wider range of stories, fairy stories and traditional tales.
Transcription
None for this unit
Composition
-- Encapsulate what they want to say, sentence by sentence.
-- Consider what they are going to write before beginning by planning or saying out loud what they are going to write about.
-- Write down ideas and/or key words, including new vocabulary.
-- Write narratives about personal experiences and those of others (real and fictional)
-- Re-read to check that their writing makes sense and that verbs to indicate time are used correctly and consistently, including verbs in the continuous form.
-- Make simple additions, revisions and corrections to their own writing by re-reading to check that their writing makes sense and that verbs to indicate time are used correctly and consistently, including verbs in the continuous form.
-- Proof-read to check for errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation [for example, ends of sentences punctuated correctly].
-- Read aloud what they have written with appropriate intonation to make the meaning clear.
Grammar
-- Learn how to use expanded noun phrases to describe and specify [for example, the blue butterfly.
-- Learn how to use the present and past tenses correctly and consistently, including the progressive form.
Texts
The Sand Horse by Ann Turnbull and Michael Foreman
Presentations
SPaG PowerPoint: Noun Phrases
SPaG PowerPoint: Past and Present Tenses
Day 1 Teaching
Discuss ‘sand art’ and beach sculpture with children. Read class The Sand Horse by Ann Turnbull and Michael Foreman. Take children’s responses to the story’s characters and themes. Introduce children to their project in this Unit – to write new versions of The Sand Horse for inclusion in a Class Big Book of Sand Animal Stories.
Activity
Children work in mixed ability pairs or small groups. They sculpt or draw sand animals. As they work, children decide on the animal they will write about in their story. They explain to others what they find fascinating or exciting about that animal.
Day 2 Teaching
Using the text of The Sand Horse in conjunction with the exercises in the presentation Noun Phrases, teach children to use adjectives and adverbs to expand noun phrases for description. Model using expanded noun phrases to describe the seagulls from The Sand Horse.
Activity
Working in ability-related pairs, children write evocative descriptions of the animal that will feature in their sand animal story. They use expanded noun phrases to describe their creatures. Some will use adverbs as well as adjectives in their writing.
Day 3 Teaching
Explore the narrative structure and story sequence of The Sand Horse with children. Brainstorm ideas for a new version of the story. Show how to use a planning sheet to capture and record ideas in note form.
Activity
Children work in ability-related pairs. They share ideas for new versions of The Sand Horse. They record ideas and vocabulary for their stories on a planning sheet. Once complete, children compare their plans with those of others in the class.
Day 4 Teaching
Use The Sand Horse and the presentation Tenses to confirm children’s understanding of the past tense. Explore the place of both the simple past and the progressive past forms in story writing. Model writing out a new story in draft, using ideas, plans and animal descriptions formulated earlier.
Activity
Children work independently or in ability-related pairs. They draw on their plans and notes to write out their new versions of The Sand Horse in draft. They make sure they are using the past tense in their writing.
Day 5 Teaching
Model converting a draft story into a best copy. Teach children letter forms and letter joins as needed and review sentence punctuation and spelling strategies. Remind children to regularly re-read work to check for errors and to improve their descriptive writing.
Activity
Children write out their draft new versions of The Sand Horse in best. They use good handwriting and word spacing and check their punctuation and spellings. When finished, they rehearse reading their stories aloud before sharing them with the rest of the class. Children then add decorated stories to the Class Big Book of Sand Animal Stories.
Noun Phrases Presentation
Children learn to identify nouns, adjectives and adverbs modifying these. They then add more description to create expanded noun phrases.
Past and Present Tenses Presentation
Children revise the concept of a verb., They identify past tense, in two forms (simple and progressive) and present tense, in the same two forms.
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