When teaching pupils how to write diary entries, there are certain features I expect them to focus on.
Structural/organisational features
- Date
- Dear Diary followed by a comma
- Opening paragraph to sum up the day
- Chronological order of events that occured that day
- Closing paragraph saying what the character is now doing and/or what they plan to do next.
Language features
- Emotions/feelings
- Thoughts/opinions
Grammar features
- First person
- Mainly in past tense
If the above success criteria are included, then the text will do its main job: read like a diary.
Additional features can also be included to make the diary more interesting or readable. These can include:
- Expanded noun phrases
- Similes
- Metaphors
- Fronted adverbials
- Brackets
- Dashes
- Subordinate clauses
Obviously, this list depends upon the age and ability of the pupils in question, as well as what the current focus in class may be.
Check out my diary WAGOLLs and resources.
