This year 5/6 SMSC (spiritual, moral, social and cultural development) Refugee themed unit of work is based on Malala’s Magic Pencil by Malala Yousafzai. It also requires For the Right to Learn – Malala Yousafzai’s Story by Rebecca Langston-George.

Malala’s Magic Pencil is a beautifully illustrated and inspiring picture book that tells Malala’s story, in her own words. As a child, Malala wished for a magic pencil that could redraw reality and make the world a better place. When she got older, Malala saw the world needed fixing and how she needed to make her voice heard even in the most challenging of times. The second text tells the true story of Malala Yousafzai.

Our mixed age planning was written to support a variety of school settings.  From one mixed age class to a school with several mixed age classes, the planning can be flexibly adapted using a range of cycles to suit. Cycles of mixed age planning are available for years 1/2, 3 /4, 4/5 and 5/6. They have been carefully thought out to ensure progression and coverage of skills for each of the year groups whilst retaining high quality texts suitable for the age range. We are always happy to advise on different configurations of classes and how Pathways to Write can be adapted to suit any circumstance.

The unit comprises 15 sessions of English planning and focuses on mastering key writing skills (grammar, vocabulary and punctuation) from the national curriculum. Opportunities to develop reading comprehension, writing composition and spoken language skills are also woven throughout the unit.

Mastery skills:

Year 5:

• Variety of verb forms used correctly and consistently
• Use commas to clarify meaning or avoid ambiguity in writing
• Link ideas across paragraphs using adverbials of time, place and number
• Use brackets, dashes or commas to indicate parenthesis
• Extend the range of sentences with more than one clause by using a wider range of conjunctions (Y4)

Year 6:

• Recognise vocabulary and structures for formal speech and writing, including subjunctive forms
• Use a wider range of devices to build cohesion (synonyms)
• Variety of verb forms used correctly and consistently including the present perfect form
• Use colons or dashes to mark boundaries between independent clauses

Short writing opportunities:

• Description
• Diary
• Blog
• Letter
• Speech

Resources: PowerPoints, lesson planning and abridged methodology.

This unit can be used individually or as part of a whole-school themed project with our other units on this theme.

The supporting texts for the units of work can be purchased at Peters Ltd at 30% off the RRP price of the books*:
Please contact Oonagh Towse oonagh.towse@peters.co.uk 07815 557646
Or, place your order online using discount code ‘LITCO30’ Click here for details
*You will receive 30% discount off the RRP on the vast majority of books ordered for the Pathways to Read and Pathways to Write programmes. Items excluded from this offer: book packs, plus short discount items (a small number of academic titles, big books, and audio titles). This offer may not be used in conjunction with any other promotion.

If you are an existing Pathways to Write school and wish to order any additional units, please download and complete the order form to access your Pathways Literacy discounted prices.