This Diary Entries KS2 English planning pack is inspired by the events of the dyslexia-friendly book, 'White Feather' by Catherine and David MacPhail. The story is set at the end of World War 1, and is an engaging thriller with intertwining perspectives. (Please note: it is assumed that children have read the book prior to beginning this scheme of work.)

Your Year 5 children will first develop their skills of deduction and inference, as well as exploring characters' differing viewpoints of an event, before moving on to identifying the features of a diary entry. Armed with this knowledge and their understanding of the events in 'White Feather', children will then gather ideas for, and write a series of, diary entries from a character's point of view.

Each of the lessons within this Diary Entries KS2 planning pack contains everything you need for a successful English session - a detailed, easy-to-follow plan, a set of slides for the teaching input, and differentiated worksheets and activity ideas.

You might be interested in our World War 1 Topic Bundle, which includes this English scheme in addition to History and Art schemes. 

Please be aware that, for copyright purposes, we are unable to provide the full text for this scheme of work. Extracts are provided where appropriate.

Inference and Deduction

Using this first Inference and Deduction KS2 lesson pack, children will briefly summarise the main events within 'White Feather' before focusing in more detail on the characters in the book.

Your class will be challenged to define, discuss, and apply their skills of inference and deduction in order to further explore a character's thoughts and feelings through their words and actions. They will then use extracts from the text to write character descriptions, or work in groups to find supporting evidence to agree or disagree with statements about different characters.

This Inference and Deduction KS2 lesson pack contains everything you need for a successful English session - a detailed plan, an engaging set of slides for the teaching input, as well as differentiated worksheets and activity ideas.

View Lesson 1

Different Points of View

In this Different Points of View KS2 English lesson, your Year 5 class will focus on a specific event within 'White Feather', and explore it from various characters' perspectives.

After a whole-class discussion, children will create a written account of the event from one or more of the characters' viewpoints. Alternatively, children are challenged to use role-play, thought bubbles and freeze frames to express the different points of view of each character.

Develop your KS2 class's understanding of perspective with this Different Points of View KS2 English lesson, complete with an easy-to-follow plan, an engaging and informative slideshow, as well as differentiated worksheets and activity ideas.

View Lesson 2

Features of a Diary

This Features of a Diary KS2 lesson will refresh your Year 5 class's knowledge and understanding of this particular genre of writing.

Children will identify and explore the features of a diary entry - in particular, they will focus on the use of rhetorical questions, hyperbole and idioms, and how they can be used to make a diary entry more informal and revealing about the writer. Children will then be challenged to identify the features in a given diary entry. In the alternative activity, they are challenged to work in groups to discuss how and why different features have been used in a given diary entry.

Everything for a successful English lesson is included in this Features of a Diary KS2 pack - a detailed plan, an informative set of slides for the teaching input, and differentiated worksheets to suit a range of ability levels.

View Lesson 3

Gathering Ideas for Writing

In this Gathering Ideas for Writing KS2 English lesson, children will begin to make notes for a series of diary entries from the viewpoint of one of the characters from 'White Feather'.

The lesson begins by refreshing the children's understanding of the purpose of diary writing and challenging them to recall the main features of this genre. In their independent activities, children are challenged to make notes for a series of diary entries from Lieutenant Fortune's point of view, spanning the events in the book. In the alternative activity, children will make notes for a diary entry from Charlie's viewpoint, using Lieutenant Fortune's confession as a basis.

A detailed lesson plan, a slideshow for the teaching input, and differentiated worksheets are all included in this Gathering Ideas for Writing KS2 English planning pack!

View Lesson 4

Writing a Diary Entry

Your Year 5 class will be given the opportunity to apply everything they have learnt over the last few lessons with this Writing a Diary Entry KS2 lesson pack, based on the characters and events from 'White Feather'.

As a class, children will first learn about and discuss emotive language, and how it can be used to show and create empathy for a character. Then, in their independent activities, they will write their diary entries from the viewpoint of their character, using their notes from the previous lesson and a given, differentiated checklist. An 'Evaluating and Editing' activity is also included.

This Writing a Diary Entry KS2 English pack includes a detailed lesson plan, an engaging set of slides for the teaching input, and differentiated resources.

View Lesson 5