Non-fiction

English Year 2 Summer Recounts

Reading and Writing Recounts

Inspire children to write creative recounts by reading great imaginative texts, including The Velveteen Rabbit. Grammar includes subordinate clauses, present and past progressive verbs.

Start with the core unit to introduce key texts. Then select from comprehension, SPAG and composition units.

Core
Unit 1 Core: Exploring a recount of a sequence of imaginary events
(suggested as 4 days)

Animated Tale

Maisie's Dragon

A whimsical fantasy story with repeating patterns. Maisie awakens to find her pet dragon has disappeared. She goes on a hunt to find him and on the way encounters characters with alliterative names, such as the tall teacher, short shopkeeper and bossy builder! Exhausted and seemingly out of luck, she returns home, only to find him curled up on his bed in her room. The final slide shows a story map of Maisie’s hunt, giving children a perfect opportunity to recount the story in their own words.

You Will Need

Essential Text
Maisie’s Dragon by Philippa Danvers (provided below)

Optional Text
Dogger by Shirley Hughes

SPAG
Unit 2 SPAG: Subordination and Coordination: Conjunctions
(suggested as 3 days)

Animated Tale

Maisie's Dragon

A whimsical fantasy story with repeating patterns. Maisie awakens to find her pet dragon has disappeared. She goes on a hunt to find him and on the way encounters characters with alliterative names, such as the tall teacher, short shopkeeper and bossy builder! Exhausted and seemingly out of luck, she returns home, only to find him curled up on his bed in her room. The final slide shows a story map of Maisie’s hunt, giving children a perfect opportunity to recount the story in their own words.

You Will Need

Essential Texts
I Love You, Blue Kangaroo! by Emma Chichester Clark
Maisie’s Dragon by Philippa Danvers (provided below)

Comprehension
Unit 3 Comprehension: Reading and discussing recounts
(suggested as 4 days)

Group Readers

Boris and Sid go camping

This gives an account, told from a child’s perspective, of a fun camping trip where it rains – and rains! Many children will empathise with the familiar context while reading this simple recount.

You Will Need

Essential Text
The Dragon Machine by Helen Ward

Group Reader
Boris and Sid go camping by Ruth Merttens

SPAG
Unit 4 SPAG: Present and past progressive verb forms
(suggested as 3 days)

SPaG: Grammar and Punctuation

There is no spelling and grammar presentation for this unit.

You Will Need

Essential Text
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

Composition
Unit 5 Composition: Writing recounts
(suggested as 4 days)

Animated Tale

Maisie's Dragon

A whimsical fantasy story with repeating patterns. Maisie awakens to find her pet dragon has disappeared. She goes on a hunt to find him and on the way encounters characters with alliterative names, such as the tall teacher, short shopkeeper and bossy builder! Exhausted and seemingly out of luck, she returns home, only to find him curled up on his bed in her room. The final slide shows a story map of Maisie’s hunt, giving children a perfect opportunity to recount the story in their own words.

You Will Need

Essential Text
Maisie’s Dragon by Philippa Danvers (provided below)