English

Writing in Year 5

Creative writing includes writing stories, poems and plays. It can help children develop their grammar and punctuation skills as well as their stamina for writing, i.e. how long they can sustain a piece of writing for.

In year 5, your child should be planning and structuring their creative writing so that it has a clear beginning, middle and end as well as a sound storyline (plot). Your child will also be creating detailed settings, setting the mood, tone and atmosphere of the piece of writing. Character descriptions should be detailed and dialogue (speech) between characters should advance the action and help the story ‘flow’.

By year 5, children will be writing longer pieces of creative writing using a broad vocabulary and literary devices to enhance the effectiveness of their writing on the reader. For example, they are likely to use figurative languages (words that create an image in the reader’s mind), such as similes, metaphors and personification.

Similes are comparisons between two things using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’. For example:

• He was as sly as a fox.
• The star twinkled like a diamond.

Metaphors are also comparisons between two things but instead of using ‘like’ or ‘as’, they infer that something is something else. For example:

• My teacher is a dragon.
• The snow was a white blanket.

Personification is where you give an object human characteristics. For example:

• The tree waved its branches.
• The wind whistled down the chimney.

Click below to see the Year 5 writing objectives

NLPS Year 5 Writing Objectives

Writing in Year 6

In Year 6, your child will continue to develop develop as a writer, becoming more independent and creative. Read on to discover the National Curriculum expectations for writing in Year 6, and to find out how you can support your child at home.

What your child will learn

In Year 6 (age 10–11), your child will be aiming to build upon the goals and expectations they were first set in Year 5. They will be expected to:

• plan their writing by:
  • identifying the audience for and purpose of the writing
  • noting and developing initial ideas, drawing on reading and research where necessary.
• draft and write by:
  • selecting appropriate grammar and vocabulary, understanding how such choices can change and enhance meaning
  • in narratives, describing settings, characters and atmosphere and integrating dialogue to convey character and advance the action
  • using a wide range of devices to build cohesion within and across paragraphs
  • using further organisational and presentational devices to structure text and to guide the reader (for example, headings, bullet points, and underlining).
• evaluate and edit by:
  • assessing the effectiveness of their own and others’ writing
  • proposing changes to vocabulary, grammar and punctuation to enhance effects and clarify meaning
  • ensuring the consistent and correct use of tense throughout a piece of writing
  • ensuring correct subject and verb agreement when using singular and plural, distinguishing between the language of speech and writing and choosing the appropriate register.
• proof-read for spelling and punctuation errors.

Click below to see the year 6 writing objectives

NLPS Year 6 Writing Objectives

Old John Writing Overview

Old John Writing Year 5