Study type: Genre Study |
Status: Exemplar
Concepts
This study delivers 1 primary concept and 3 secondary concepts.
Primary concept: Writing for different purposes (EN-KS1-C047)
Type: Skill |
Teaching weight: 3/6
Adapting writing for different text types (narrative, recount, poetry)
Teaching guidance: Introduce different text types through reading before asking children to write them. Cover key purposes: narrative (stories), recount (retelling events), instruction (how to do something), information (facts about a topic), letters, and poetry. Discuss the features of each text type explicitly: 'Instructions use numbered steps and bossy verbs.' Provide model texts and writing frames to scaffold early attempts. Ensure children understand that the purpose of writing determines its form and language choices.
Key vocabulary: purpose, story, recount, instructions, information, letter, poem, audience, text type, for
Common misconceptions: Children may default to narrative structure for all writing, including instructions and information texts. They may not understand that different purposes require different language features (e.g., imperative verbs in instructions, past tense in recounts). Some children focus on content without considering who they are writing for.
Differentiation
| Level | What success looks like | Example task | Common errors |
| Entry | Writing for a single familiar purpose (e.g., a story or a label) with adult support. | Write a sentence to go with this picture of a farm. You are writing a label to tell people about it. | Writing without awareness of the purpose (e.g., writing a story when a label was requested); Not distinguishing between different types of writing |
| Developing | Writing for two or three different purposes (narrative, recount, list) with some awareness that each requires different features. | Write instructions for making a sandwich. Remember to use bossy verbs and number the steps. | Writing in narrative form ('First I got the bread and then I put butter on it') instead of instruction form; Including imperative verbs but forgetting to number or sequence the steps |
| Expected | Writing for a range of purposes — narrative, recount, instruction, information, letter, poetry — using features appropriate to each text type. | Write a letter to a friend telling them about a trip you went on. Use the correct letter layout. | Writing a recount without the letter format (no greeting or sign-off); Mixing up the features of different text types |
| Greater Depth | Adapting writing style and language for different purposes and audiences, explaining why different text types need different features. | Write about the school trip twice: once as a recount for your diary and once as a report for the school newsletter. How are they different? | Writing both pieces in the same style; Explaining that they are different but not articulating how or why |
Model response (Entry): 'This is a farm with cows and sheep.'
Model response (Developing): '1. Get two slices of bread. 2. Spread butter on both slices. 3. Add cheese. 4. Put the slices together.'
Model response (Expected): Child writes with a greeting, recounts the trip in past tense with personal detail, and ends with a sign-off.
Model response (Greater Depth): Diary: 'Today was the best day ever! We went to the museum and I saw a real dinosaur skeleton.' Newsletter: 'Year 2 visited the Natural History Museum on Tuesday. The children particularly enjoyed the dinosaur exhibition.' 'The diary is personal and uses I/we. The newsletter is formal and written for parents.'
Secondary concept: Oral rehearsal (EN-KS1-C043)
Type: Process |
Teaching weight: 2/6
Saying sentences out loud before writing them down
Differentiation
| Level | What success looks like | Common errors |
| Entry | Saying a simple sentence aloud when prompted before attempting to write it. | Starting to write immediately without rehearsing the sentence orally; Saying one or two words rather than a complete sentence |
| Developing | Rehearsing sentences orally with a partner before writing, holding the sentence in memory while writing. | Changing the sentence between rehearsing and writing (e.g., simplifying it); Forgetting the end of the sentence and stopping partway through |
| Expected | Independently rehearsing sentences orally before writing, including multi-clause sentences. | Rehearsing a simple sentence but writing a more complex one (or vice versa); Skipping oral rehearsal entirely because they consider it unnecessary |
| Greater Depth | Using oral rehearsal to experiment with different sentence structures before choosing the most effective one. | Producing two versions that are essentially the same; Choosing between versions but not being able to explain why one is more effective |
Secondary concept: Sentence composition (EN-KS1-C044)
Type: Skill |
Teaching weight: 3/6
Creating complete, meaningful sentences
Differentiation
| Level | What success looks like | Common errors |
| Entry | Writing a simple sentence with a subject and verb that communicates one idea, with scaffold support. | Writing a phrase rather than a complete sentence (e.g., 'big dog'); Not including a verb ('The dog brown.') |
| Developing | Writing simple sentences independently with a capital letter and full stop, adding some detail. | Forgetting the capital letter or full stop; Writing a sentence that is very short and lacks detail |
| Expected | Writing varied sentences including compound sentences using 'and', 'but', 'or', 'so' and beginning to use subordination. | Using 'and' for every compound sentence instead of varying conjunctions; Writing a fragment after the conjunction ('Because it was raining.') |
| Greater Depth | Writing varied sentence types with deliberate choices about length, structure and word order for effect. | Writing all sentences with the same structure and length; Varying structure but losing grammatical accuracy |
Secondary concept: Present and past tense (EN-KS1-C061)
Type: Knowledge |
Teaching weight: 3/6
Using correct verb forms to indicate when something happens
Differentiation
| Level | What success looks like | Common errors |
| Entry | Using the present tense to describe what is happening now, with oral practice. | Using past tense ('The boy was running') when the picture shows current action; Omitting the auxiliary verb ('The boy running') |
| Developing | Using regular past tense -ed forms in recounts and narratives. | Switching between past and present tense in the same piece; Over-generalising -ed to irregular verbs: 'I goed', 'I runned' |
| Expected | Using present and past tense consistently and correctly, including common irregular past tense forms. | Using 'goed' instead of 'went' or 'seed' instead of 'saw'; Correctly converting some verbs but not others |
| Greater Depth | Maintaining consistent tense throughout an extended piece and explaining why tense shifts should be deliberate. | Identifying obvious tense shifts but missing subtle ones; Fixing the shift but not explaining why consistency matters |
Thinking lens: Evidence and Argument (primary)
Key question: What is the evidence, how reliable is it, and what conclusions can it support?
Why this lens fits: Evaluating and proof-reading require pupils to read their own writing as a text to be assessed — they use the evidence of what they have written to judge whether it meets the criteria of sense, accuracy and effect.
Question stems for KS1:
How do you know that?
What clues can you see?
Can you finish: I think... because...?
Is that a guess or do you know for sure?
Secondary lens: Structure and Function — Narrative sequencing and varying text type both involve understanding how different structural arrangements serve different communicative purposes — chronology serves storytelling while instruction serves direction.
Session structure: Writer's Workshop
Writer's Workshop
A process-writing sequence that develops pupils as independent writers. Studies a mentor text to identify craft techniques, practises those techniques in isolation, plans an original piece, drafts with attention to audience and purpose, engages in peer review for feedback, revises and edits, and publishes the final piece.
mentor_text →
technique_identification →
planning →
drafting →
peer_review →
editing →
publication
Assessment: Final published piece demonstrating identified craft techniques, with writing portfolio showing development through the drafting and revision process.
Teacher note: Use the WRITER'S WORKSHOP template: read a short, exciting mentor text together and help children notice one special thing the writer did — a sound word, a repeated phrase, or a describing word. Let them have a go at using the same idea in their own writing. Support them in reading their work aloud to a partner and making one improvement with help.
KS1 question stems:
What special thing did the writer do?
Can you try that in your own writing?
Can you read your writing to your partner?
What is one thing you could make even better?
Text type and features
Text type: Non Fiction
Features to teach: chronological order, past tense, time words (first, then, after that), specific detail (who, what, when, where)
Writing outcome: Write a personal recount (4-6 sentences) in chronological order using past tense and time words
Grammar focus: past tense (regular: played, walked; irregular: went, saw), time words, capital letters and full stops
(from Y1 Appendix 2)
Suggested texts
Model recount (teacher-written) by Teacher — Teacher models writing own recount on the board, thinking aloud about time words and past tense
Genre
Recount: Texts that retell events in chronological order with specific detail. The simplest non-fiction form at KS1, progressing from 'what I did at the weekend' personal recounts to historical recounts, diary entries from characters' perspectives, and biographical writing at KS2. Develops into literary non-fiction at KS3-KS4.
Why this study matters
Personal recount is the simplest non-fiction form because children write about their own experience — they already know the content and sequence. This makes it ideal for teaching text structure (chronological order) and grammar (past tense) without the cognitive load of inventing content. Oral rehearsal (Tell your partner about your weekend) precedes writing.
Sequencing
Leads to: Recount: Diary of a Killer Cat
Pitfalls to avoid
Every sentence begins with 'Then I...' without varying openings
Recount is a list of events without specific detail or personal response
Past tense inconsistency (mixing went and go within the same piece)
Reading and writing skills (KS1)
These disciplinary skills should be woven through teaching, not taught in isolation:
Structural and organisational analysis — Analyse how authors structure and organise texts at macro and micro levels — including genre conventions, narrative or argumentative architecture, paragraph organisation and sentence-level choices — and evaluate the effect of those structural decisions on the reader.
Noticing interesting words and phrases — Identify and discuss words and phrases that capture attention or create an effect, beginning to explain what makes them interesting, surprising or effective in the context of the text.
Prediction and hypothesis about texts — Form and evaluate hypotheses about a text's development, themes and intentions, revising those hypotheses in light of subsequent reading and explaining how earlier predictions were confirmed, complicated or subverted.
Critical summarising of extended texts — Summarise and distil ideas and arguments from substantial and challenging texts, exercising critical judgement about which information is central to the author's purpose and which is peripheral.
Word meaning from context — Understand the meaning of unfamiliar words encountered in simple texts by using the surrounding context, including pictures and sentence sense, to make a reasonable guess at what the word means.
Vocabulary in context — Give or explain the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, drawing on understanding of the surrounding passage, knowledge of similar words, and awareness of how context shapes word meaning.
Vocabulary word mat
| -ed |
| audience |
| capital letter |
| compose |
| finger space |
| for |
| full stop |
| happened |
| information |
| instructions |
| is happening |
| letter |
| now |
| out loud |
| past tense |
| plan |
| poem |
| practise |
| present tense |
| purpose |
| recount |
| rehearse |
| say |
| say it first |
| say your sentence |
| sentence |
| story |
| tell |
| tell me |
| tense |
| text type |
| today |
| verb |
| word |
| write |
| yesterday |
| chronological |
| event |
| detail |
Prior knowledge (retrieval plan)
Pupils should already know the following from earlier units:
| Prior knowledge needed | For concept | Description |
| Sentence boundaries | Sentence composition | Understanding where sentences begin and end |
| Word classes: verbs | Present and past tense | Understanding that verbs are action or being words |
Scaffolding and inclusion (Y1)
| Reading level | Pre-reader / Emergent |
| Text-to-speech | Required |
| Max sentence length | 8 words |
| Vocabulary | Concrete nouns and action verbs only. No abstract concepts without physical anchor. Examples: dog, apple, jump, big, one more. |
| Scaffolding level | Maximum |
| Hint tiers | 2 tiers |
| Session length | 5–12 minutes |
| Worked examples | Required — Animated, narrated walkthrough with no text. Character models the thinking aloud. |
| Feedback tone | Warm Nurturing |
| Normalize struggle | Yes |
| Example correct feedback | The frog jumped exactly four spaces — you counted perfectly! |
| Example error feedback | Oh, let us count again together! [animation demonstrates] |
Knowledge organiser
Key terms:
recount
past tense
chronological
event
detail
Core facts (expected standard):
Writing for different purposes: Writing for a range of purposes — narrative, recount, instruction, information, letter, poetry — using features appropriate to each text type.
Graph context
Node type: EnglishUnit |
Study ID: EU-EN-KS1-005
Concept IDs:
EN-KS1-C047: Writing for different purposes (primary)
EN-KS1-C043: Oral rehearsal
EN-KS1-C044: Sentence composition
EN-KS1-C061: Present and past tense
Cypher query:
``cypher
MATCH (ts:EnglishUnit {unit_id: 'EU-EN-KS1-005'})
-[:DELIVERS_VIA]->(c:Concept)
-[:HAS_DIFFICULTY_LEVEL]->(dl)
RETURN c.name, dl.label, dl.description
``
Generated from the UK Curriculum Knowledge Graph — zero LLM generation.