Animal Report Conclusions

Overview

In this lesson, students draft the conclusion for their animal information report. They will practise summarising the report’s main ideas and sharing a final thought about the animal.

Learning intentions

Students will be able to:

• draft a conclusion that links back to the report’s topic and key ideas
• write clear sentences that summarise information from the report
• add a final sentence that offers an age-appropriate closing thought
• use appropriate punctuation and reread to improve their writing

Success criteria

• I can write a conclusion with a clear summary of the main ideas.
• I can include a final sentence that sounds like a closing thought, not a new fact.
• I can use full stops and capital letters correctly.
• I can reread my conclusion and fix simple errors.

Curriculum links

• Creating texts: plan, draft and refine texts for a familiar purpose and audience.
• Language choices: use simple grammar and punctuation to support meaning.
• Interacting with others: use feedback to improve writing.
• Literacy capability: comprehend and compose written texts with support.

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 1–5 mins: Warm-up—What makes a good ending? Teacher shows an example conclusion (short and age-appropriate) and asks: “What is the author doing at the end—summarising, closing, or adding new information?” Students turn-and-talk, then share.

2. 6–12 mins: Model—Unpacking a conclusion Teacher displays a student-friendly conclusion structure:

• Summary: “In the end, …” (restates the main ideas from earlier sections)
• Closing thought: “Overall, …” or “This animal is important because …” Teacher highlights that conclusions should mostly avoid introducing brand-new facts. Students identify the sentences that summarise versus those that close.

3. 13–18 mins: Plan—Sticky-note conclusion Students use their report notes to create two sticky-note sentences:

• Sentence 1: a summary of the report’s main ideas (2–3 ideas max)
• Sentence 2: a final closing thought linked to the animal (a personal response, importance, or interesting overall idea already in the report) Teacher circulates and prompts students to reuse key words from their report (e.g., habitat, diet, features).

4. 19–30 mins: Draft—Write your conclusion Students write their conclusion in their draft book. Teacher reminds them to:

• start with a clear concluding sentence stem (“Overall…”, “In the end…”, “To conclude…”)
• keep it short (2–4 sentences for Year 3; 3–5 sentences for Year 4)
• reread as they write to check punctuation (full stops, capital letters).

5. 31–37 mins: Editing check—Think, Check, Improve Students swap drafts with a partner. Using a simple checklist, partners give one “Glow” (what works) and one “Grow” (one improvement). Checklist focus:

• Summary of main ideas is clear
• Final sentence feels like a closing thought
• Capital letters and full stops are used

6. 38–44 mins: Revise—Make your final changes Students revise their conclusion based on feedback. Teacher prompts common fixes: split run-on sentences, add a missing capital letter, replace a vague word with a specific one from the report.

7. 45 mins: Exit reflection—One success Students complete a quick oral or written reflection: “My conclusion summarises… and my closing thought is…” Teacher collects for formative assessment.

Resources

• Teacher example of a strong and a weak conclusion (short model text)
• Students’ animal information report plan and note cards
• Writing books or draft templates for conclusions
• Sentence stems for Year 3/4 (e.g., “In the end…”, “Overall…”, “To conclude…”, “This means…”)
• Partner editing checklist (summary, closing thought, punctuation)
• Highlighters/colour pencils for sentence identification (summary vs closing)
• Timer and visual agenda on the board

Assessment

• Teacher observation during planning and drafting: check students can summarise main ideas without adding new facts.
• Partner feedback notes or quick checklist ticks: identify punctuation and clarity issues.
• Exit reflection: confirm students understand the purpose of a conclusion (summary + closing thought).

Differentiation

• Support:
• Provide a partially completed conclusion frame for students who need it (two sentence starters with blanks).
• Offer a word bank from each student’s report notes (habitat, diet, body features, lifecycle).
• Confer in small groups using guiding questions: “What was the most important idea in each section?”
• Extension:
• Encourage students to make the closing thought specific and linked to a detail already in the report (e.g., an adaptation that helps it survive).
• Invite students to vary sentence openings (not always “In the end…”).
• EAL learners:
• Use sentence stems and model examples, plus allow oral rehearsals before writing.
• Provide a simple “must include” list (summary sentence + closing sentence).
• SEN (learning support needs):
• Offer reduced writing targets (2–3 sentences) with emphasis on correct punctuation and clear meaning.
• Provide extra time and a one-to-one editing conference focusing on one goal at a time (e.g., capital letters and full stops).