Year 2 School trip: recount writing worksheet

“Spotting a recount” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 2 English unit “School trip: recount 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 29 to 30 of the year, 3 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

Spotting a recount

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

Today I can spot the features that make a piece of writing a recount.

A Look back3 min

1.
Yesterday we ___ to the shop. Circle the right word.
walkedwalkswalkingwalk
2.
Which line starts and ends correctly? Circle one.
the bus was late.The bus was lateThe bus was late.the bus was late
3.
Write this with a capital letter and a full stop: we went to the farm

B Watch me, then you4 min

Read this. Mia wrote it about a farm visit: “Yesterday I patted a soft rabbit. Then we ate lunch. Last we got on the bus home.”

Watch me

“I” and “we” show that it happened to the writer.

“Patted” and “ate” are past tense words.

“Then” and “last” show the order things happened in.

Now you

1.
Read this line: “Ben fed the hens before break.” Circle the word in the past tense.
Benfedhensbefore

C Your turn8 min

Read each question about the farm trip, then answer.

A wooden farm gate by a grassy field with a few goats grazing

1.
Yesterday we ___ the goats. Circle the right word.
feedfedfeedingfeeds
2.
Circle the words that tell us the order things happened.
firstunderthenbluelast
3.
Write 1, 2 or 3 in each box to show the order these happened.
1. We went home on the bus.
2. We walked to the farm.
3. We fed the goats.
4.
Which sentence is a statement from a recount? Circle one.
We saw a goat.Did you see the goat?Look at that goat!Feed the goat.

Say it out loud: Which word tells you when it happened? Which words tell you the order?

D Spot the mistake3 min

An empty bus seat by a window with a rucksack resting on it

Kit says: “A recount needs every detail, so I will write about the bus seat.”

1.
Write one small detail Kit could leave out.

E Think deeper4 min

1.
Write two sentences about a trip you have been on. Use I or we, a past verb, and an order word.

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

Spotting a recount · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. walked Walks, walking and walk do not tell us about the past. Ask your child: did it happen before today?

2. The bus was late. Check the first letter and the last mark. A sentence needs a capital letter at the start and a full stop at the end.

3. Look for: Writes We went to the farm. with a capital W at the start and a full stop at the end. If your child starts with a small w, point to the first letter and ask: how does every sentence begin?

B

1. fed Ben, hens and before are not doing words. Ask your child: which word tells what happened already?

C

1. fed Feed, feeding and feeds are not past tense. Ask your child: did the feeding happen before today?

2. first, then, last Under and blue do not tell us when. Ask your child: which word says what came first, next or last?

3. 1 We walked to the farm. · 2 We fed the goats. · 3 We went home on the bus. If the bus ride is numbered first, the day has been told backwards. Ask your child: how did the day begin?

4. We saw a goat.

D

1. Look for: One small detail that does not change the main events, such as the colour of a seat, not a main event of the trip. If the child names a main event, ask your child: would the story still make sense without this detail? Then explain the most important moments.

E

1. Look for: Two sentences about a real trip, with I or we, a past tense verb such as went or saw, and an order word such as first, then or last.

Words to use

Say“Which bit happened first, and which bit happened last? Which words told you that?”

Instead of“Just tell me it was good, and skip the questions.”

After the sheet

Ask your child to tell you about your last trip to the shops. Listen for I or we, past tense words and order words. Give a cheer for each one.

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

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

Planning a Trip Recount(with a plan)
Retelling our trip in order(with a plan)

Every Year 2 English worksheet

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