English

Autumn 2

🐅 Year 6 English: Can We Save the Tiger?

This term, Year 6 will be exploring the thought-provoking non-fiction book Can We Save the Tiger? by Martin Jenkins as part of our Pathways to Write learning.

Through this fascinating and informative text, we will discover more about tigers, their habitats and the threats they face in the wild. We will use the book to develop our reading and writing skills while thinking carefully about endangered animals, conservation, biodiversity and the importance of protecting our natural world.

📖 What will we be learning?

Throughout the unit, we will:

• Explore the features and structure of non-fiction texts.

• Develop our understanding of tigers, their habitats and their place in the natural world.

• Retrieve, record and organise key information from a range of sources.

• Make inferences and use evidence from the text to support our ideas.

• Explore how the author uses language and illustrations to engage the reader.

• Identify and use ambitious and precise vocabulary to inform and interest an audience.

• Develop our understanding of formal and persuasive language.

• Use a range of sentence structures to make our writing engaging and effective.

• Practise using punctuation accurately, including commas, brackets, dashes, colons and semi-colons.

• Develop our use of cohesive devices to link ideas and paragraphs.

• Organise information into clear paragraphs, using appropriate headings and subheadings.

• Consider how we can use writing to raise awareness and encourage others to take action.

✍️ Our writing outcomes

By the end of the unit, we will have created a range of different pieces of writing. These may include:

📰 An information report

We will produce an informative report about tigers, exploring their physical characteristics, habitats, diets and the challenges they face in the wild. We will use technical vocabulary and organise information clearly to engage our readers.

📢 A persuasive piece of writing

We will develop persuasive arguments to encourage people to protect endangered animals and their habitats. We will use emotive language, rhetorical questions, powerful vocabulary and evidence to influence our audience.

💌 A formal letter

We may write a letter to an organisation or influential figure, explaining why tiger conservation is important and suggesting ways in which people can help protect these magnificent animals.

📖 A longer piece of non-fiction writing

We will bring together our learning to create an engaging and informative piece of writing, using carefully selected facts, effective paragraphing and a range of sentence structures.

🔎 Reading like a writer

We will look closely at Martin Jenkins' writing choices and explore how authors make non-fiction texts both informative and engaging.

We will ask questions such as:

• Why has the author chosen to include this particular fact?

• How does the author help us understand the threats facing tigers?

• Which words and phrases make the information interesting and memorable?

• How do the illustrations support our understanding of the text?

• How has the author organised the information to help the reader?

• How could we use similar techniques to inform and persuade our own readers?

🎯 Our Year 6 English skills

We will be working towards becoming confident, independent Year 6 writers by developing our ability to:

Vocabulary – select precise, ambitious and subject-specific vocabulary to inform, engage and persuade the reader.

Sentence structure – use a variety of sentence structures, including complex sentences, to communicate ideas effectively.

Punctuation – use a range of punctuation accurately and confidently to clarify meaning and add impact.

Cohesion – use conjunctions, adverbials and other cohesive devices to link ideas within and across paragraphs.

Organisation – structure our writing appropriately, using paragraphs, headings and other organisational features to guide the reader.

Audience and purpose – adapt our language and writing style depending on whether we are informing, explaining or persuading.

Editing – reread, evaluate and improve our work, making thoughtful choices to ensure our writing is clear, accurate and effective.

🌍 Our big question: Can we save the tiger?

Throughout this unit, we will explore why tigers are endangered and what can be done to protect them. We will consider the impact humans have on wildlife and the environment and think about how even small actions can make a difference.

By combining our reading, research and writing skills, we hope to become not only more confident writers but also more informed and responsible global citizens who understand the importance of protecting endangered species.