A 3-week, fully resourced primary literacy unit based on Explorers Across History by Various (KS1 topic unit). KS1 Fiction. National-Curriculum-aligned grammar, WT/ARE/GD differentiation, and ready to teach.

What’s inside

This complete English unit gives you everything for three weeks of high-quality teaching, designed to match the standard of leading primary schemes (Literacy Tree, Write Stuff, Power of Reading).

• 15 lesson PowerPoints — illustrated cover slides, success criteria, vocabulary previews, modelled writing, “big questions” (Bloom’s-laddered), differentiation tiers, plenary, and reflection.
• 15 differentiated resource sheets — Working Towards, Age-Related Expectations, and Greater Depth, with sentence frames, word banks, and writing frames.
• Complete teacher unit plan — unit overview, key themes, model texts, full session-by-session plans, key questions, assessment focus, and vocabulary focus.
• Child-friendly mark scheme — “I can…” success criteria for the final writing piece, ready for self- and peer-assessment.
• 3 weekly exit tickets — 5 multiple-choice questions per week, with teacher answer keys.

Final writing outcome

An information text about three explorers from different periods of history, followed by a recount imagining yourself as an explorer for a day.

Grammar features (Year 2 NC-aligned)

• Past tense verbs (regular -ed and common irregulars: went, saw, found).
• Subordination using ‘because’ and ‘when’.

Themes explored

The courage to set out into the unknown, exploration across different periods of history, what we know about our world and what we still don’t, the cost of exploration — danger, distance and what is left behind.

Key vocabulary

Explorer, expedition, voyage, discover, continent, compass, courage, unknown.

Format & compatibility

• Editable PowerPoint (.pptx) and Word (.docx) files.
• UK English spelling.
• One printer-friendly A4 page per resource sheet.
• Compatible with Literacy Tree, Write Stuff, and Power of Reading planning approaches.

Year groups & key stage

• Year 2 (KS1).
• 15 sessions over 3 weeks (≈45–60 minutes per lesson).

Tags

KS1, Year 2, English, fiction, Various (KS1 topic unit), reading and writing, complete unit, differentiated, NC-aligned, lesson plans, resources, explorers across history