Writing the Body: Threats

Overview

Today students continue drafting the “body” section of an informative text for the Endangered Animals Expedition unit. They will write about key threats to the animal’s survival, using researched facts, and practise simple and compound sentences with topic-specific vocabulary.

Learning intentions

• Students will write the next part of an informative text about threats to an animal’s survival using researched notes.
• Students will use simple punctuation (full stops) and at least some conjunctions to join ideas in simple/compound sentences.
• Students will check and improve their writing by adding or swapping vocabulary for topic-specific words.
• Students will read their draft aloud to monitor meaning and self-correct.

Success criteria

• I can write 2–3 sentences about threats using my notes.
• I can use topic vocabulary (e.g. habitat, pollution, hunting, climate, disease, traps).
• I can use full stops and read my sentences so they make sense.
• I can improve my writing by changing one everyday word for a more specific word.

Curriculum links

• Literacy: Create and edit short informative texts using appropriate structure, simple/compound sentences, noun and verb groups, topic vocabulary, and simple punctuation.
• Literacy: Use comprehension strategies to support meaning from researched information.
• Literacy: Identify how similar topics are presented in different text types (brief mentor comparison during warm-up).
• Language: Make conscious choices of vocabulary to suit the topic.

Lesson structure (30 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Focus & model. Teacher displays a partially completed “Threats” paragraph frame and reads it aloud, pointing to threats words and full stops. Students repeat the key sentence structure and underline one threat word.

2. 5–12 min · Note sort (research to sentences). Teacher provides a short set of threat fact cards from the class research (e.g. “habitat loss”, “pollution”, “fewer animals”, “traps”). Students choose 2–3 facts that match the animal and place them into a “My threats” box (with picture support if needed).

3. 12–20 min · Shared writing: sentence builder. Teacher uses a sentence builder on the board: “One threat is ___.” “This happens when ___.” “People can help by ___.” Students help create one or two sentences using the chosen facts; teacher writes the final class sentences for a model.

4. 20–27 min · Independent drafting (write your body part). Teacher gives each student a draft page: “Threats to my animal” with 2–3 sentence lines and a word bank. Students write their next section, then read it once to themselves (or teacher checks one sentence at a time).

5. 27–30 min · Quick editing & share. Teacher uses a checklist: “Did I add 2+ sentences? Did I use full stops? Did I use a topic word?” Students do one improvement: replace one everyday word (e.g. “bad”) with a topic word (e.g. “danger”, “pollution”, “traps”), then share with a partner.

Resources

• Student draft sheets for “Threats” (2–3 sentence lines) with picture prompts
• Threat fact cards (laminated) for the specific animal researched in this unit
• Topic word bank cards (habitat, pollution, hunting, climate, traps, fewer food, disease, breeding)
• Highlighters or sticky notes for underlining threat words
• Sentence builder strip (One threat is…, This happens when…, People can help by…)
• Alphabet/word reference chart and a small conjunction list (and, because, so)
• Pencil, erasers, and individual folders for writing

Assessment

• Teacher observation during drafting: listens for correct sentence boundaries (full stops) and use of at least one topic word.
• Quick checklist at the end: 2+ sentences, full stops, topic vocabulary, and one edited improvement.
• Exit mini-conference: each student reads one sentence aloud to confirm meaning.

Differentiation

• Sentence starters and frames: provide all students with the sentence builder; reduce to one sentence for students needing maximum support (e.g. only “One threat is ___.”).
• Scaffolding for low reading/writing ability: allow students to copy a sentence template from the board and replace only one content word from the fact cards.
• Vocabulary support: pre-highlight topic words on each fact card; students choose from highlighted words rather than generating from scratch.
• Reading monitoring: for struggling students, teacher conducts a “tap and read” check—student reads one line while teacher listens and prompts self-correction if meaning is unclear.
• Extension for capable students: add a third sentence using a conjunction (because/so) to explain a threat or give a simple action to help.