Writing a letter as a soldier in the trenches of World War One
I can write a letter which recounts an imagined experience from the trenches of World War One, using Wilfred Owen’s 1917 letter to his mother as stimulus.
Writing a letter as a soldier in the trenches of World War One
I can write a letter which recounts an imagined experience from the trenches of World War One, using Wilfred Owen’s 1917 letter to his mother as stimulus.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- The date, address and greeting are important features of letters.
- A recount could balance precise facts with atmospheric details.
- A letter concludes with a sign off which could signal your relationship with the person the letter is to.
Keywords
Recount - to describe something that happened, to tell its story
Balance - an equal distribution of two or more things
Metaphor - a literary technique in which you compare one thing to another; Owen compares mud to an octopus in his letter
Atmospheric - creating a distinctive mood
Resentment - a complex emotion in which you feel anger, disappointment, bitterness
Common misconception
People don't use literary methods in nonfiction writing.
Whenever you write any thing - even a shopping list - you are employing methods. Every word is a choice, thus every choice can be evaluated. In nonfiction writing (even nonfiction writing by people who aren't writers) methods will be used for effect.
To help you plan your year 9 english lesson on: Writing a letter as a soldier in the trenches of World War One, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 9 english lesson on: Writing a letter as a soldier in the trenches of World War One, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 english lessons from the Literary perspectives from the First World War unit, dive into the full secondary english curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
- Depiction or discussion of mental health issues
Supervision
Adult supervision required
Licence
Lesson video
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Starter quiz
6 Questions
It was of course dark, too dark [.]
The seeng-seeng-seeng of the bullets reminded me of Mary's canary.
Water filled it to a depth of 1 or 2 feet, leaving say 4 feet of air.
Every ten minutes on Sunday afternoon seemed an hour.
[I had to] crawl, wade, climb and flounder over No Man's Land [.]