GWR 2024 Look Inside - Manual / Resource - Page 17
Y5 English Lesson Plan: Junior Journalists
Timing
Teaching activity
Teacher notes
Spelling
Spell words with silent letters (e.g., doubt, island, lamb,
solemn, thistle, knight)
Explain to children that they’re going to have a go at a
GWR title: backwards spelling! The world record for most
words spelt backwards in 1 minute is 56, by teacher Pam
Onnen in 2023. We don’t have enough words to try that
out, but we’re going to see who can finish spelling the
following words, backwards, first!
10 mins
Read out the six words on slide 2 of the Lesson
Presentation, as shown by the images:
knight – thistle – solemn – lamb – doubt – island
Then, when children are ready to begin the challenge,
start a timer. The children then spell all six words
backwards (in their books or on whiteboards). Ask
children to check the timer once they are finished, to see
how long it took them to complete all six words.
Some children may need
several reminders of
what the words to spell
backwards are.
Provide support, as
required. You might
suggest that less
confident spellers try
writing the word
forwards first, then
backwards.
Once all children are finished, show the correct spellings
on the board. Ask them to check their spellings against
the correct answers, then reveal the spellings forwards,
too.
Reading:
Continue to learn the conventions of different types
of writing
25 mins
Grammar:
Use of parentheses
Use of speech punctuation
Use of apostrophes
Use of colons before a list
Use four sentence types: statement, command,
exclamation, question
Use the Lesson Presentation to introduce the learning
objectives for this lesson and explain that the class are
going to learn about two fantastic individuals, Preet
Chandi and Dave Walsh. They will be exploring what they
did and how they did it, then writing a biography of a
time in their lives.
© 2024 Guinness World Records Limited
Prompt children to
encourage them to
identify the key
features, if necessary, by
using hints or targeted
questions.
Some children may need
further explanation and
examples of some of the
features mentioned.
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