Designing Warning Posters

Overview

Year Group: 4
Duration: 60 minutes
Class Size: 18 students
Unit: Tomb Warning Posters (Lesson 4 of 5)
Subject: English

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National Curriculum Links

Writing - Composition:

• Use and understand the grammatical terminology accurately and appropriately when discussing their writing and reading (Y4)
• Plan, draft and write by organising paragraphs around a theme
• Evaluate and edit by assessing the effectiveness of their own and others’ writing and suggesting improvements

Vocabulary, Grammar and Punctuation:

• Use of adverbs, prepositions and expanded noun phrases to add detail, description and specification
• Using the perfect form of verbs to mark relationships of time and cause
• Use of superlative and comparative forms of adjectives and adverbs to create effect

Spoken Language:

• Consider and evaluate different viewpoints, attending to and building on the contributions of others
• Articulate and justify answers, arguments and opinions

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Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

1. Generate and organise ideas relevant to their tomb warning posters, using brainstorming techniques.
2. Use superlatives effectively to enhance persuasive language in their drafts.
3. Consider tone and audience to make their poster messages clear and impactful.
4. Produce a first draft of their warning poster text using planning materials.

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Resources Needed

• Whiteboard and markers
• Large mind-mapping paper
• Post-it notes (various colours)
• Examples of persuasive posters or warnings (age-appropriate)
• Sentence starter prompts focused on superlatives ("The most dangerous...", "The scariest...")
• Worksheets for drafting (with sections for tone, superlatives, and message)
• Pencils and coloured pens
• Projector (optional for showing examples)

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Lesson Structure

1. Starter Activity – Brainstorming: What Makes a Warning Poster Effective? (10 minutes)

• Begin by reminding students about the purpose of their tomb warning posters — to persuade people to stay safe and heed warnings.
• Display a few simple examples of warning posters (e.g., “Danger: Deep Water”, “Beware: Slippery Floor”). Discuss what makes them eye-catching and convincing.
• On the whiteboard, create a mind map with the heading “Key Features of Warning Posters.”
• Invite students to contribute ideas around words, tone, images, superlatives, and persuasive phrases. Write all contributions visibly.
• Emphasise the importance of the tone and powerful language (especially superlatives) in persuasion—e.g., “the deadliest trap!”, “the darkest curse!”

2. Teaching Input – Using Superlatives for Impact (10 minutes)

• Explain that superlatives are used to highlight the extreme degree of something, which makes warnings feel more urgent and serious.
• Write examples of adjectives on the board: “dangerous”, “scary”, “evil”. Then demonstrate forming superlatives: “most dangerous”, “scariest”, “evillest” (discuss - correct form: “most evil”).
• Give multiple examples of sentences using superlatives effectively in the context of tomb warnings.
• Together, create a bank of powerful superlative phrases for the posters, e.g., “the scariest curse,” “the hottest flames,” “the deadliest trap.”
• Discuss tone: How can superlatives make the message serious but not too frightening, or even mysterious?

3. Guided Group Activity – Brainstorming Poster Ideas (15 minutes)

• Divide students into 3 groups of 6 (maintain manageable discussion sizes).
• Give each group a large sheet of paper and coloured post-its.
• Task: Brainstorm ideas for their warning poster message — focusing on what the warning is about (trap, curse, etc.), which superlatives fit best, and the tone they want to use (e.g., scary, mysterious, urgent).
• Encourage students to write one idea per post-it and cluster similar ideas to organise their thoughts.
• Circulate to prompt rich vocabulary and support superlative use.

4. Individual Drafting – Planning the Poster Text (20 minutes)

• Hand out draft worksheets with prompts:
  • What is your tomb warning about?
  • What superlatives will you use?
  • What tone do you want your poster to have?
  • Write your first draft of the text here.
• Students independently write their draft paragraph on the worksheet, integrating superlatives and persuasive language. Encourage neat handwriting and use of descriptive phrases.
• Teacher to walk around, prompting refinement and helping students deepen their tone and word choice.

5. Plenary – Share and Reflect (5 minutes)

• Ask 3-4 volunteers to read aloud their draft warnings.
• As a class, discuss: Which superlatives made the message more persuasive? How did tone come across?
• Summarise key points about using superlatives and tone effectively in persuasive writing.
• Set expectations for the next lesson (final poster creation with images and layout).

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Assessment

• Formative:
  • Observations during group brainstorming to assess understanding of superlatives and tone.
  • Review of draft worksheets to check for appropriate use of superlatives, clarity of message, and tone consistency.
• Peer Feedback:
  • During plenary, classmates give constructive feedback on how the message and tone came over, focusing on the impact of superlative language.

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Extension Ideas

• Challenge more able writers to include varied sentence openers and expanded noun phrases alongside superlatives to make their draft even more detailed.
• Incorporate drama: have pairs deliver their warnings as short spoken adverts to practise persuasive language orally.

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Differentiation

Support:

• Provide sentence starters on prompt sheets.
• Allow paired work during drafting for those who need help organising ideas.
• Use word banks with superlatives and descriptive adjectives.

Challenge:

• Encourage use of comparative and superlative adverbs (e.g., “more dangerously”, “most fiercely”).
• Ask higher-attaining pupils to explain the effect of their word choices in a short written reflection.

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Reflection Notes for Teacher

• Were students able to confidently use superlatives in their drafts?
• Did the brainstorming activity generate rich vocabulary as intended?
• Was there balance in persuasive tone without becoming too intimidating?
• Monitor whether group work maintained on-task behaviour and engagement for full use of lesson time.

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This lesson engages Year 4 students with creative language use aligned with the National Curriculum’s emphasis on composition, vocabulary development, and audience awareness, while fostering collaboration and reflection. The use of brainstorming with tangible tools (post-its, mind-maps) and direct teaching of superlatives underpins structured writing development that supports their upcoming final poster design.