This year 5/6 Environment themed unit of work is based on The Brilliant Deep by Kate Messner, and also requires Coral Reefs by Jason Chin.

The Brilliant Deep is a beautifully illustrated biography telling the story of Ken Nedimyer and his brilliant idea to save coral reefs. It shares the power of one: one person, one plan to make a difference in the world. This unit uses an additional text to share a second viewpoint on the theme – Coral Reefs by Jason Chin, a bold and beautiful picture storybook filled to the brim with fascinating facts about the coral reefs.

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.

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.

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

Mastery skills:

Year 5:

• Use modal verbs to indicate degrees of possibility
• Use devices to build cohesion within a paragraph
• Choose the appropriate register
• Use brackets, dashes or commas to indicate parenthesis (recap)
• Enhance meaning through selecting appropriate grammar and vocabulary

Year 6:

• Recognise vocabulary and structures for formal speech and writing, including subjunctive forms
• Use a wider range of devices to build cohesion
• Use a colon to introduce a list and use semi-colons within lists
• Punctuate bullet points consistently

Short writing opportunities:

• Fact file
• Information paragraph
• Pledge
• First person paragraph
• Infographic

Resources: PowerPoints, lesson planning, abridged methodology.

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.