Week 6

Scroll down for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and FriYayDay!

Well hello and welcome to WEEK 6! I cannot believe we are here already and it is time to put all our learning into practise with a (sort of) week-long HOT WRITE. By the end of Friday, we will have designed, planned, written and MADE our very own autobiography non-fiction books . Wowsers my trousers, how exciting!

"So, how will this wondrous week look," I hear you cry! A wee bit like this:

We Know

Having read countless real paper books (fiction and non-fiction), explored non-fiction books online AND built William's autobiography book, you now know that a book is made of many parts:

We Will

Our books will be made of AT LEAST 8 pages (including the front and back covers) and we will be building our books up steadily across the course of the week. Look back at the 'skeleton' non-fiction book you made at the end of Week 1 to remind yourself of the kinds of features we will be including. Each part (page) has a reason for being there (its 'purpose') and many of these will be listed in the Contents Page.

We Need

Monday's first task is to complete a planning sheet. This will help you to know what your autobiography book will be about. Of course as it is an AUTObiography, we know this special book will definitely be ALL ABOUT YOU! You can write on the sheet or in your exercise book. The last section asks you to CHOOSE other topics to write about.

• Reception: please select AT LEAST 1 extra topic
• Year 1: please select 3 extra topics

If you are not sure what to write, how about looking back at William's autobiography below. Remember, because this book is about yourself, you will need to use the pronouns: I   my   we

Task 2: is super duper exciting because it is time to START YOUR BOOK!

Today the Churchill publishing house would like you to be in charge of creating your:

• Front Cover (remember the features you must include? Title and author)
• Contents Page (use the planning sheet to help work out the headings for each page + page numbers)

• Who am I? page (you might be able to think of a better heading than me!) Don't forget pictures!

Year 1: How about writing the paragraph for your first page in your exercise book, then copying it out in neat once you are 200% sure you are happy with it. 

Reception: We are NOT expecting you to write every page - how about taking turns writing with a grown up? I bet you could EASILY write all the simple words (and probably a super tricky one too ). You could write all the labels for the pictures and photographs?

Welcome to Tuesday and let's jump straight back in! Yesterday's efforts were INCREDIBLE . 

I am going to make a couple of Class Dojo posts to share these wonders with you all to give a little inspiration to others.

TASK: Now your autobiography books are well underway, it is time to add in your next TWO PAGES, about:

• family
• interests

(or something completely different, depending on your planning sheet and Contents Page!)

A HUGE well done to all those Reception publishers who took the plunge and shared the writing with their grown ups. You have the most wonderful sounding, spelling and formation skills now - you CAN DO this!

Wednesday welcome to all you wonderful workers!

Your autobiographies are looking so full and fabulous already. Huge big up to all those who have completed a tremendous Front Cover + 4 inside pages ALREADY, you are on target and OVER halfway through .

TASK: Today we are writing the next 2 pages from the planning sheet which means:

• friends
• your topic choice

So, what did YOU choose? Will you be diving into past holidays, describing the deep blue sea and soft sand you played in? As this page is about holidays in the PAST, could you use some of the sequencing words included in the document below? Have a look at this paragraph and see what a difference they make:

"A long time ago when I was three years old we went to France on holiday. I loved playing in the soft sand. My daddy taught me how to swim in the deep blue sea. Then we had an ice cream and mine was as big as my head! Last year we went back to the same beach and I could swim all on my own."

It wouldn't make sense if we wrote this paragraph like the holiday was now, would it? Sequencing words are very powerful because they help the reader to understand where in time the information is talking about. I challenge you to try and include AT LEAST 4 sequencing words/phrases in your book from now on. Perhaps you have already used some without even knowing!

Thursday Think Day! How do YOU think your autobiography is looking?

Take a moment to pause with your book and have a leaf through William's. What do you notice is the same about the two books? What is different? Now repeat with a real non-fiction book from home or on OxfordOwl. Which features have you included? Are there any exciting ways that the authors have made their information STAND OUT that you would like to copy in your final pages?

Two most important questions: 

• Is your autobiography filled with the pronouns - I   we   my?
• Have you included vocabulary that shows you are talking about the past? Sequencing words like - then     last year   a long time ago?

TASK: Today, Year 1 are adding two final paragraph pages:

• topic choice 2
• topic choice 3

This is the last personal information we are going to be including so we definitely want it to look SPECIAL. How about using a computer or tablet to TYPE today? Even if you don't have a printer at home, you could still ask a grown up to Dojo upload your typed page so I can see how incredible it is. 

Reception, would you like to add another 1 or 2 pages? You could stretch yourself to include just a little more OR use the time today to check back through your book and add extra details. Could you make a short Quizmaster video of you explaining each of the features you have included in your non-fiction book??

Today is THE DAY! Friday Finish! You are almost there 

After all your INCREDIBLE efforts, focus and determination, this is the very last session we are going to spend on our autobiographies. In a change from normal Literacy routine (Fridays usually belong to BIG WRITE), we are going to be spending today completing the final pages of this huge HOT WRITE. Can you guess what they are? Which non-fiction features are still missing?

• Glossary
• Back Cover, including:
• Blurb

TASK: To remember what should be included in each page HUNT OUT William's book AND your skeleton non-fiction book. What does it say the GLOSSARY is for and full of? Take a look at my example below too, does that give you a clue?

Now I have seen your front covers, I know the BACK COVER will be SUPER COOL. Check a real non-fiction book to remind yourself what the BLURB looks like. What is its purpose? I wonder which PRONOUNS you will use in your blurb? What else will be added to your back cover to make it STAND OUT.

For Year 1s who are seeking an extra tricky challenge, you could also attempt an

• index page

This will be significantly harder to do for an autobiographical book (as a limited number of key words are likely to be repeated), however is quite a fun way to test those beady eyes. I have included an example below to help you.

Double Triple GOOD LUCK today Aspen and Larch publishers. One final push and your AWESOME AUTOBIOGRAPHIES will be complete. Remember, as this is a HOT WRITE task, your books will also be collected in when we return to school so needs to be kept somewhere safe please! (Don't worry parents, they will come home again one day - definitely something for a keepsake box).