Sentence Control And Drafting

Overview

This is lesson 3 of 4 in Informative Paragraph Power for 25 Year 5–6 learners. Students improve a flawed model, practise sentence control, then plan and draft an information text for a chosen audience using research or curated notes.

Learning intentions

• WALT use accurate, varied sentences and essential punctuation.
• WALT identify a clear purpose and audience for an information text.
• WALT group related ideas logically and create a plan.
• WALT draft an introduction and logically organised paragraphs.
• WALT use precise vocabulary and information from notes responsibly.

Success criteria

• I can state my purpose and audience and plan grouped ideas.
• I can write complete sentences using consistent tense and subject–verb agreement.
• I can vary sentence structures by combining and expanding ideas.
• I can use capitals, full stops, commas and other essential punctuation accurately.

Curriculum links

• English: creating and presenting texts for specific purposes and audiences.
• English: selecting, organising and communicating ideas clearly in written texts.
• English: using language features, sentence structures, punctuation and vocabulary for effect.
• English: reading and using information from sources, including paraphrasing rather than copying.

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–5 minutes – Hook and learning focus Display the question, “How can one small punctuation mark change meaning?” on the opening hook slide. Read two short examples aloud, such as “Let’s eat, Grandma!” and “Let’s eat Grandma!” Invite students to explain the difference, then share the WALT and success criteria.

2. 5–15 minutes – Edit a flawed model Provide pairs with the sentence control and drafting worksheet and show the flawed information paragraph on the flawed model slide. Students underline incomplete or repeated sentences, circle punctuation errors, and identify inconsistent tense or subject–verb agreement. Co-construct a corrected version, asking: “What makes this sentence easy to understand?” and “Which ideas belong together?”

3. 15–25 minutes – Build and vary sentences In mixed-ability pairs, students use sentence cards or teacher-written strips to combine short ideas. Model joining ideas with conjunctions, adding a prepositional phrase, and varying openings; for example, “Bees collect pollen. Bees visit flowers.” becomes “When bees visit flowers, they collect pollen.” Students complete the sentence-building section of the sentence control and drafting worksheet, then share one improved sentence. Year 5 focuses on complete sentences and two useful sentence patterns; Year 6 experiments with cohesion and more purposeful variation.

4. 25–35 minutes – Plan grouped ideas Introduce the planning process on the purpose, audience and paragraph-planning slides. Students choose a manageable information topic from the provided research materials or curated notes, then complete the planning organiser in the sentence control and drafting worksheet: purpose, audience, introduction, and grouped key ideas. Year 5 plans an introduction and two or three paragraphs; Year 6 plans an introduction and at least three paragraphs, including where paraphrased information will be used. Briefly approve plans before drafting.

5. 35–52 minutes – Draft the information text Students draft independently, using their approved plans, notes, dictionaries and devices. Remind them to write an engaging opening, one main idea per paragraph, linking words such as also, because, as a result and for example, and a concluding sentence where appropriate. Year 5 drafts a shorter text with two or three paragraphs; Year 6 develops three or more paragraphs and paraphrases information in their own words. Circulate for brief conferences: praise one strength, identify one next step, and record each learner’s personal writing goal.

6. 52–60 minutes – Review and share Students reread their draft quietly and complete the editing check on the sentence control and drafting worksheet. They check purpose and audience, paragraph grouping, tense, subject–verb agreement, sentence variety and punctuation. Partners read one paragraph aloud to check whether it sounds clear, then students write one personal writing goal to carry into lesson 4. Invite two volunteers to share an effective sentence and explain why it works.

Resources

• the sentence control and drafting slide deck
• the sentence control and drafting worksheet
• Flawed model information paragraph
• Sentence strips or cards for combining and expanding sentences
• Curated, age-appropriate research notes and accessible print sources
• Classroom books, dictionaries and topic vocabulary
• Devices with audio, text-to-speech and speech-to-text enabled
• Planning templates, word banks and editing checklist
• Highlighters, pencils and writing books

Assessment

• Listen to pair explanations and inspect sentence-building responses for complete sentences, accurate punctuation and appropriate joining words.
• Approve each plan by checking that ideas are grouped logically and match the stated audience and purpose.
• Use draft conferences and the personal writing goal to record one achievement and one next step for each learner.

Differentiation

• Support learners with a reduced-choice topic bank, chunked curated notes, a paragraph frame, colour-coded planning boxes, word banks and individual grammar targets such as “check every sentence has a subject and verb”.
• Provide audio versions of sources, text-to-speech, speech-to-text, enlarged text, frequent teacher check-ins and scribing where needed. Pair EAL learners with supportive peers and pre-teach key topic vocabulary with simple definitions.
• Confer with learners who need support before drafting; allow them to dictate ideas, rehearse sentences orally, or draft two strong paragraphs rather than prioritising length.
• Extend confident writers by asking them to add an effective subheading, glossary, diagram or statistic, ensuring the addition supports rather than disrupts the text’s flow. Year 6 writers can strengthen cohesion by linking ideas across paragraphs.