Instructions

Objectives

To explore and recognise different ways that information is organised in texts, including paragraphs, sections and chapters, and bulleted and numbered lists.

To write from memory simple sentences, dictated by the teacher, that include words and punctuation taught so far.

Resources

Lined paper | Recipes or a cookbook (this can be for any type of food) | 📄 KWL Chart

Today's Lesson

Spelling

Look at the words below and do a pre-test. This means that you are checking how well your student can spell these words before you teach them. You do not need to focus on the words your student spelled correctly the first time.

Rule: The /i/ sound spelt y elsewhere than at the end of the works (e.g. gym, myth... etc.)

myth
gym
Egypt
pyramid
mystery

Dictation

Dictation is a good way to help focus on the spelling and basic punctuation of a sentence.

For dictation exercises, follow the following steps:

Dictate (read out) the sentences below to your student.
Tell your student you will only say it once so they really have to concentrate.
Your student repeats the sentence. If you find that they are unable to repeat the sentence back to you, do not move on to step 4 but rather just do steps 1, 2 and 3. This will give your child time to improve his or her working memory. You should not move to step 4 unless your child is able to easily repeat the sentence back to you.
Your student writes the sentence.
Your student reads the sentence to make sure he/she used capital letters, full stops and correct spelling. You can see that words are used from the new weekly spelling list and can therefore be used as a spelling pre-test / check

Sentences for dictation

James liked to read a myth.
I go to the gym for exercise.
Sam went to Egypt on his holiday.
Sam saw the pyramid on his holiday.
It was a mystery where the cat went to.

When your student has finished writing and editing, go over the sentences and check for accuracy. Did they use capital letters and full stops? Are the words spelt correctly?

Main Activity

Once you have completed the above activities, explain to your student that you will be studying instructions. Begin by taking out the KWL chart. Ask your student if they know what a KWL chart is (something we use to keep track of our learning. The 'K' is for things we already know, the 'W' is for what we wonder or want to know and the 'L' is for what we have learnt).

📄 PRACTISE - KWL Chart

Watch the following video which will guide you through how to use KWL charts if you have never encountered them before.

Ask your student to either tell you (and you write) or to write down everything they know about instructions under the 'K' section of their KWL chart. If your student says they don’t know anything, prompt with questions such as - where might we find instructions? Have you ever seen any? Used any? If so, where?

Next, ask them to fill out the ‘W’ section of the KWL chart. Here they should include anything they would like to know or wonder about.

Discuss what your student has written. Tell your student that instructions can be in written form as well as interactive. Look at a simple recipe to see examples of written instructions. Discuss.

Look at the video for an example of interactive instructions:

WATCH - How to Illustrate a Cartoon Pirate (YouTube)

Discuss how they are similar and different. Discuss the language used (imperative / bossy verbs, chronological order, adverbs (telling you how or when to do something; often short sentences of bullet points).

Tell your student to add to the 'L' section of the KWL chart. You can add to the 'W' section as well if your student wonders anything.

Citations

[1] www.youtube.com