Anglo-Saxon Information Text Writing Unit | Years 5 & 5 | UKS2

The unit works best alongside a History topic on the Anglo-Saxons, or as a way to revisit prior historical knowledge. Three differentiated model texts about Anglo-Saxon society run throughout, giving pupils a consistent reference point for features, language and register.

Pupils begin by exploring what information texts are and how they work before moving into research. Access to topic books or the internet is needed for the research lesson – pupils need enough detail about two ranks of Anglo-Saxon society to compare and contrast them effectively across a full information text.

The first ten lessons build knowledge of the text type and develop the sentence-level skills pupils need; the final five give pupils time to write, revise and refine their text with access to model examples throughout. Differentiated activities and success criteria are included throughout.

Lessons covered:

• Hook lesson: introducing information texts, their purpose and key characteristics – pupils read texts with key information removed to understand the importance of clarity
• Key features: highlighting and identifying features across the differentiated model texts
• Research: recording findings about Anglo-Saxon society on mind maps using topic books or the internet
• Answering questions: a chatterbox activity to consolidate knowledge of the two ranks pupils are writing about
• Tense: exploring the tense used in information texts and practising writing in both past and present tense
• Writing with conjunctions: exploring conjunctions used to compare and contrast in the model texts, then writing their own sentences
• Using appropriate language: exploring the tone of information texts and rewriting informal extracts in a suitable register
• Relative clauses: exploring how relative clauses are used and practising changing their position within a sentence using cut-out clause cards
• Using parenthesis: exploring examples in the model texts before writing their own sentences
• Planning: structuring the full information text before writing begins
• Five lessons to draft, edit and publish the finished information text, with access to model examples and teacher modelling throughout

All lesson activities are provided as downloadable PDF files.

A fully sequenced UKS2 information text unit – fifteen lessons from hook to published piece, built around pupils’ own research into Anglo-Saxon society.