- Home
- Canvas Guide
Partial Progress - Circles (browser only)
All About Me
Objectives
To talk about what I will write.
To plan my writing.
Resources
Laptop, PC or tablet | Mini whiteboard and pen | Piece of paper | Photo of your student | Glue
📄 Word Cards | 📄 All About Me lined paper | 📄 Sentence Checklist | 📄 Alphabet Mat
Vocabulary
Words in bold can be found in the 📄 Year 1 English Glossary.
facts | planning facts | plan | full stop | capital letter | sentence
Today's Lesson
What to Get Ready
Look at the 📄 All About Me lined paper resource and choose a page to print where the line spacing will suit your student’s handwriting size. If your student has larger handwriting, choose the page with bigger gaps between the lines. If your student has smaller handwriting, choose the page with smaller gaps between the lines.
Print out a photo of your student. Stick this in the middle of a piece of paper. Make sure there is space around the photo for your student to write. If there is not, either choose a smaller photo or a larger piece of paper.
Introduction
Explain that today your student will be writing about their favourite things. First they need to plan what they would like to write. Explain that planning is an important part of writing. Planning means we think of all our ideas first so that when we are writing we only need to think about writing.
Show your student the sheet of paper with their photo in the middle. Explain that they are going to write their ideas around this photo.
Talk with your student about what they enjoy doing and their favourite things. These questions may help:
- What is your favourite colour?
- What is your favourite animal?
- Who are your friends?
- Which sport do you enjoy the most?
- What do you like doing at the weekend?
As your student answers, ask them to write words around their photo to help them remember their answers. For example, if they like playing football and watching TV at the weekends, they could write ‘football’ and ‘TV’. Remind them they do not have to write in sentences as this is just a plan.
Main Activity
Explain that now your student will be turning their ideas into sentences. Ask them to tell you what every sentence needs. Then ask them to check they remembered everything by looking at the 📄 Sentence Checklist.
Read the words on the 📄 Word Cards. Explain that your student may like to use these words in their sentences.
Ask your student to choose an idea from their planning sheet to write about. For example, they may have written ‘rabbits’. Explain that they could then write a sentence such as: ‘I like rabbits.’ ‘I love rabbits.’ ‘My favourite animal is a rabbit.’
Point to the correct word card as you say it in your sentence.
Encourage your student to choose a sentence that they want to write and to say it a few times until they know it well. Ask them to say and then write the first word (remembering to start that word with a capital letter). Then place their finger next to it to make a space, before saying and writing the second word.
At the end of the sentence ask your student to place a full stop on the line.
Once the sentence is written, ask your student to place a finger under each word in turn, while they read the sentence out loud, to check it makes sense.
Repeat with other ideas from the planning sheet.
Extra Support
If your student needs extra support with spelling a word, first ask them to say the word slowly. Ask them ‘What is the first sound you can hear?’ then, ‘What is the last sound you can hear?’ and, ‘Can you hear any other sounds in the middle?’
You can also encourage them to use their 📄 Alphabet Mat to help them spot the sounds they can hear, but do not tell them the letters/sounds they need. It does not matter if spellings are incorrect.
If needed, you could also take turns with them to write sentences.
Extra Challenge
If your student is ready for an extra challenge, you could encourage them to make their sentences longer by using the joining words ‘and’ or ‘because’. For example, rather than writing the sentence ‘I like football.’ they would write ‘I like football and cricket.’ or ‘I like football because it is fun.
Handwriting and Spelling
Explain that today your student will be continuing to practise their handwriting by writing the days of the week.
Today they will practise writing the days Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Remind your student that these are proper nouns, which mean they start with a capital letter.
Ask your student to write Friday on the mini whiteboard (you can call out the letters for them). Ask them to decide which letters they have formed the best. Ask them to choose one letter to practise.
Repeat with the word Saturday and Sunday.