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English
English
For English this week, we are going to focus on non-fiction writing, specifically a non-chronological report. We will be using the The Butterfly Conservation ‘Garden Butterfly Survey’ as our focus for our writing.
Throughout the week you will take notes and draft paragraphs for different subheadings. Hopefully you will also be able to complete some observations of butterflies in your garden or an outside space, which you will be able to write about this in your penultimate paragraph.
The structure of your non-chronological report will include the following subheadings:
- Introduction
- The Butterfly Conservation
- Why butterflies matter
- Types of butterfly
- Attracting butterflies
- My Garden Butterfly Survey
- Conclusion
First, please register for the Garden Butterfly Survey
To start this sequence of work, first of all we are going to register to participate in the Garden Butterfly Survey. You will need an email address to do this, so ask an adult for permission and for help in doing this. This link https://gardenbutterflysurvey.org/index.php takes you to the Garden Butterfly Survey homepage. You will need to click ‘create account’ on the left hand side and follow the steps (you may wish to ask an adult to help you with this).
Once you have clicked the activation link in the email they send you, you will be able to log in and see this screen:
If you click on ‘enter butterfly sightings’ you will be able to enter information about the butterflies you see in your garden (see the image below). Try and spend a few minutes each day looking in your garden or outside space to spot butterflies. Take a note of what you see and the date, you can then record it using the link above. We will be using information on any butterflies you do see for a paragraph towards the end of our report.
Now we have registered as part of the survey, we will start on our report…
Monday
Today we will be focussing on planning and writing our introduction.
Use this link https://butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies to read about butterflies in the UK. As you read, bullet point any information that you think would be useful to include in your introduction. Remember that when you take notes you do not have to write in full sentences.
Now you have your notes, you can write your introduction. Aim on between 2 and 4 sentences and provide an overview of the information you have read. Think about what you will tell the reader first.
Extra help: the document below has notes organised in the order in which I would write them.
Tuesday
Did you spot any butterflies yesterday? Remember to log onto the website and upload your sightings if you did!
Today we are going to take notes and then write out next two paragraphs: ‘The Butterfly Conservation’ and ‘Why butterflies matter’. Click the link next to each subheading to find the webpage with the information you need for you notes. You can take your notes in bullet points or as a mind map.
The Butterfly Conservation https://butterfly-conservation.org/about-us
As you take your notes, think about:
- What is it?
- What do they do? Why?
- What is their vision?
- What is their mission?
- How are they helping butterflies?
Why butterflies matter https://butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies/why-butterflies-matter
As you take your notes, think about:
- Why do butterflies matter?
- Look at the list of values, can you summarise them?
Extra help: just like last lesson, the document below has notes organised and colour coded notes in the order in which I would write them.
Once you have completed your notes, you may begin writing your paragraphs. Within these paragraphs try to include:
- Parenthesis for extra information https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/supermovers/ks2-english-commas-brackets-dashes-with-ben-shires/zh32cqt
- Fronted adverbials https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zwwp8mn/articles/zp937p3
- A complex list (using a colon and semi colons) https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zr6bxyc/articles/zhntng8
Click on the links to help reactivate your knowledge of these grammatical devices.
Wednesday
Hopefully you have spotted some butterflies, even with this rainy weather we’ve been having! Yesterday, I saw one big white one and a small blue one which I have entered as sightings already – Miss Underwood J
Hopefully your report is starting to come together. Today we are going to follow the same process as before to write our next paragraphs: types of butterfly and attracting butterflies.
Types of butterfly
- Start this paragraph with notes from this link https://butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies
- Next, identify two butterflies that you like and write a brief overview/ description of them. Choose your butterflies from the identification poster below and then find more information about it using this link https://butterfly-conservation.org/uk-butterflies/a-to-z
Attracting butterflies
- Use this link and write about all of the different ways you can attract butterflies and help them https://butterfly-conservation.org/how-you-can-help/get-involved/gardening/gardening-for-butterflies
Continue to include parenthesis and fronted adverbials within your writing.
*If you want to browse the website and write another paragraph of your choice based on what you find interesting you can add this to your report too!*
Extra help: find notes I have organised using the link below.
Thursday
Hopefully you have managed to spot a few more butterflies when it hasn’t been raining. Remember to continue uploading your sightings to you survey.
Today we are going to plan and draft our penultimate paragraph of our report. Use the links to write information about the Garden Butterfly survey, think about: what is its purpose? Who takes part? How do people record butterflies? You can find more notes about this on the notes document below.
After writing about the survey in general, you can write about your own experience of taking part. If you have managed to spot any butterflies in your garden this week, you can write about this. You could also mention how many you’ve seen, what species they are and where and when you saw them. If you haven’t managed to spot any, could you suggest why? Is it to do with the lack of plants in your outside space? Or could it be due to the rainy weather? Add any extra information about the survey that you wish too
The Garden Butterfly Survey
- https://gardenbutterflysurvey.org/faq.php and https://gardenbutterflysurvey.org/custom_page.php?id=1
Tomorrow we will be writing a concluding paragraph, checking over our work and writing it up in neat.
Friday
It’s Friday! The plan for today is:
- Write a concluding paragraph (see the document below)
- Finish off any paragraphs that you need to
- Check through your work using the checklist and edit as needed
- Write up in neat (on a computer or by hand)
Non-chronological report checklist:
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Correct spellings |
Use a dictionary to check your spellings: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/ |
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Ambitious vocabulary |
Use a thesaurus to choose more ambitious synonyms for your word choices: https://www.thesaurus.com/ |
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Capital letters and full stops |
Capital letters at the start of a sentence or when referring to the Butterfly Conservation (as this is the name of the charity). Full stops at the end of a sentence |
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Correct use of commas |
After fronted adverbials and to break up clauses |
|
A list or complex list |
Using a colon to start and commas or semi-colons |
|
Parenthesis using ( ) - - , , |
To add extra information. Remember, if your parenthesis is removed the sentence should still make sense. |
|
Range of punctuation, - ! ? ( ) : ; |
|
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Title and subheadings |
Your title should be specific and simple, such as Garden Butterflies |
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Neat, legible handwriting |
If you are writing by hand |
Once you have finished, you can illustrate your work if you wish. We would love to see your finished work! Email a copy to the office if you would like.
