Year 2 Florence Nightingale: diary writing worksheet

“What makes a diary?” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 2 English unit “Florence Nightingale: diary writing”, for children aged 6 to 7, and takes about 20 minutes.

Print it on A4. The child's pages come first; the answers, and what each wrong answer tells you, are on the grown-up page that follows. Weeks 32 to 33 of the year, 5 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

What makes a diary?

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 2 · English · about 20 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can spot the features of a diary entry and use past tense words.

A Look back3 min

1.
Which sentence is written correctly? Circle one.
the bus is red.The bus is red.bus is red
2.
Which word tells us the colour of the butterfly? Circle one.
bluebutterflyflew
3.
Yesterday I ___ in the garden. Circle the right word.
playplayedplays

B Watch me, then you4 min

Florence writes in her diary about her first morning. Look at how the entry is built.

A long hospital ward with rows of iron beds and one lamp lit

Watch me

Sunday 5 November 1854

Dear Diary,

I walked into the ward. The floors were dirty. I felt very sad.

Now you

1.
Which line goes at the very top of a diary entry? Circle one.
Dear Diary,Monday 2 OctoberI felt very sad.
2.
Florence had a long day on the ward. Which word shows how she felt? Circle the feeling word.
exhaustedwalkedunder

C Your turn6 min

Choose the right word for each diary line. Only one thing changes in each line.

1.
Last night I ___ past every bed. Circle one.
walkwalkedwalks
2.
Yesterday I ___ a long row of beds. Circle one.
seesawseen
3.
Yesterday I ___ very tired. Circle one.
feelfeltfeels
4.
Which sentence is written in the first person? Circle one.
I walked to the ward.The nurse walked to the ward.She walked to the ward.

Say it out loud: Which word in each line tells you it already happened?

D Spot the mistake3 min

A wooden desk by a window with an open blank notebook and a pen

Kit says: “Yesterday I walk to the ward.”

1.
Which word fixes Kit's sentence? Circle one.
walkwalkedwalks

E Think deeper3 min

1.
Write two sentences about your morning, as a diary entry. Use I and a past tense word.

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

What makes a diary? · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. The bus is red. If your child circles the first sentence, the capital letter is missing. Ask them to touch the first letter and say what it needs.

2. blue If your child circles butterfly, that word names the thing. Ask: which word says what colour it is?

3. played If your child circles play, the sentence sounds like now. Ask: did this happen before today?

B

1. Monday 2 October If your child circles Dear Diary, that is the greeting, and it comes second. Ask: what does the top line tell the reader?

2. exhausted If your child circles walked, that is something the writer did, not a feeling. Ask: how did the writer feel inside?

C

1. walked If your child circles walk, the sentence is about now. Ask: is this something that already happened?

2. saw If your child circles see, the sentence is still about now. Ask: what word would you use for yesterday?

3. felt If your child circles feel, check the time word. Yesterday needs the past tense.

4. I walked to the ward. If your child circles the nurse sentence, it is written about someone else. Ask: whose words are these?

D

1. walked If your child circles walks, the word is still present tense. Ask: did this happen yesterday, or does it happen now?

E

1. Look for: Two sentences about a morning, each starting with a capital letter and ending with a full stop, using I and a past tense verb such as walked, ate or saw.

Words to use

Say“Which word tells us this happened before today? Read the sentence again with that word.”

Instead of“Just tell them the answer is walked and move on.”

After the sheet

Together, write today's date at the top of a page, then write Dear Diary, under it. Add one sentence about breakfast using a past tense word, such as ate or had.

Tick what your child got right in StudyDen. Anything missed comes back in a later Look back box, so there's no need to redo the sheet.

The rest of this unit

4 more sheets come with a StudyDen plan, in teaching order:

Planning Florence's diary(with a plan)
Keeping the past tense(with a plan)
Planning with short notes(with a plan)
Short words with apostrophes(with a plan)

Every Year 2 English worksheet

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