KS: Upper KS2
Year Group: Year 6
Literary Theme: Fate vs. Free Will
Author(s): Carol Ann Duffy
This is a three-session spelling seed for the book The Unforgotten Coat by Frank Cottrell Boyce. Below is the coverage from Appendix 1 of the National Curriculum 2014.
Spelling Seeds have been designed to complement Writing Roots by providing weekly, contextualised sequences of sessions for the teaching of spelling that include open-ended investigations and opportunities to practise and apply within meaningful and purposeful contexts, linked (where relevant) to other areas of the curriculum and a suggestion of how to extend the investigation into home learning.
There is a Spelling Seed session for every week of the associated Writing Root.
accompany, determined, excellent, guarantee, marvellous, persuade, suggest
Words with ‘silent’ letters (i.e. letters whose presence cannot be predicted from the pronunciation of the word)
Use of the hyphen
A Writing Root is available for The Princess' Blankets.
Retellings, diary entries, informal letters, descriptions, persuasive adverts, formal speeches
Own version fairytale
15 sessions, 3 weeks
This three-week Writing Root for The Princess’ Blankets by Carol Ann Duffy begins with the class receiving a letter from the King of the imaginary kingdom in the story of The Princess’ Blankets asking for their help to solve the dilemma in the tale. Children will explore the themes and story of The Princess’ Blankets and use it to eventually create their own modern fairy tale. They will also have the opportunity to write in role as the King, Queen and stony-eyed stranger, writing purposeful diary entries, letters and speeches. During the sequence of learning, there is an opportunity to link to a DT project to make the blankets described in the story, to support descriptive writing. Make available other modern fairytales and modern retellings of known tales, for example The Lost Happy Endings, also by Carol Ann Duffy.
A princess cannot get warm, no matter what is done for her. A stranger with cold eyes brings her the earth's blanket, the forest's blanket, the ocean's blanket and more, but nothing can warm the cold princess. Then, one day, a musician wanders into the land, and her heart melts with warmth and love.
Traditional tales, modern fairytales, fairy tales
Date written: August 2014
View The Princess' Blankets Writing Root
KS: Upper KS2
Year Group: Year 6
