Tea Staining and Treasure!

Good morning MATRS folk!  


Here's a great  upper KS2/KS3 lesson for you on Writing To Instruct which is the third in our Island Unit.


Please note that this lesson will take 2 lessons to complete, maybe more for lower ability or younger learners as there's a lot to get through so there's a lot of bang for you non-existent buck here!  And, most brilliant of all, it includes tea staining a treasure map!  Wooo!  Obviously that's one for a homework unless you want your classroom to stink of Tetley for weeks on end and incur the wrath of your cleaning staff (not that I've ever done that of course...).  Also be aware that it's worth warning your pupils that if - under parent/carer supervision of course - they want to singe their maps, setting the whole bloody thing on fire and handing in a pile of ash is not acceptable...


OK, so here's your SQLP and a few ideas for how to get the best out of the lesson.


Have fun!


Marty x

P.S. - you'll notice that the instructions pupils need to follow in Main Task 1 refer to the 'Quaswocki' - pupils will undoubtedly ask about this which can disrupt the flow of your lesson; head them off by informing them of the Quaskwocki at the start of the lesson; all they need to know is that he's a strange monster that lives on the island - they'll encounter him in more detail in future lessons...  Check the resources and hopefully all will make sense!

ISLAND LESSON 3 PRESENTATION - WRITING TO INSTRUCT
MAP ACTIVITY (Print and blow up to A3)
INSTRUCTIONS FOR MAIN TASK 1

SQLP

Learning Objective

To develop writing to instruct skills.

Key Words

Clarity
Structure

Starter - Word unscramble of a few words that pupils may need to use later in the lesson; press space and visual clues will appear; press space again to reveal the answers for pupils to check their spellings.

Main task 1 - Pupils to follow the instructions on their instruction sheet to complete their treasure map (make sure that you copy this onto A3); when they've finished they should have a map filled with lots of drawings and labels - obviously they can add to these as they wish.

When they've finished, have a quick chat about whether the instructions were easy to follow - they will mostly say yes but they'll pick out a couple of points that weren't as clear as they could have been.  Some instructions will have been interpreted slightly differently by different pupils so comparing maps is a useful lead-in for the plenary...

Plenary 1 - Discuss what is needed for an effective set of instructions; guide towards clarity, good structure and varied sentence starters (this is so you avoid the 'then you do this... And then you go here... Next you do this... Then you do this' and your pupils don't send you to sleep when they come to write their own instructions later).

* Before you start the next bit, get pupils to tea stain and individualise their maps at home - this activity remains the only time I have had 100% homework completion from one of my classes; apparently tea is inspiring... *

Main task 2a) - Pupils pick a spot on their map where they want to hide  the treasure; make sure they pick somewhere away from the start point 'S'. 

The next bit is up to you - for lower ability pupils it's a good idea to have them mark the spot with an 'X' and draw a dotted line from the start point to the treasure (making sure they make the route challenging e.g. crossing volcanoes, mountains etc).  This means that when they come to write their instructions for how to find the treasure they can follow their dotted line to help them structure things. 

However, if your class is more able, they can keep the treasure spot secret and, later, have a partner read their instructions and draw the dotted line and the 'X' according to what they have read and see if they have worked out the right spot and route.

Main task 2b) - This is the big bit - pupils need to write a set of instructions to direct any explorers to their treasure.  There is a model example with a Language Toolkit for pupils to use in the Powerpoint. 

It's a good idea to give lower ability pupils a list of sentence starters e.g. 'First of all.../The next thing.../Following this.../Once you have...' to help them avoid the painful over use of 'Then you...'

Also note that the model on the Powerpoint doesn't include any really exciting events even though this is in the Language Toolkit - use this as a point to get pupils thinking of some cool things to include e.g. piranha infested rivers, a magical riddle bridge, pirate ghosts etc etc - you'll find they come up with some really original ideas and this helps them understand that, even when writing instructions, you can still use exciting ideas.

For lazier pupils, a minimum of 10 instructions gives them something to aim for.  Also up to you if you want to have them use bullet points or fluent prose.

It's fun to have them start with an 'Equipment You Will Need' list too as this opens up a few more possibilities e.g. the explorer should take swimming goggles if their treasure is buried at the bottom of a lake etc...

Plenary - Depends a bit on what you did for Main task2a) but basically, whatever you want to do to reinforce the key aspects of good instructions; paired AfL is good - there are questions to help structure this on the final slide of the Powerpoint.