Dear Diary: Writing a Recount

About This Resource

A complete Grade 4 ESL writing pack on recounts, using a diary entry about a class trip as a model. Students identify the features of a recount (date, opening, events in time order, past tense, feelings and a closing comment), order events with time words, practice irregular past tense verbs and plan and write their own diary entry. Includes slides, a lesson plan, worksheet, quiz, homework, flashcards, a rubric and answer keys.

Overview

A recount tells the reader what happened, in the order it happened. A diary entry is a personal recount: the writer uses I and we, writes in the past tense, and shares feelings as well as events. Students read a model diary entry about a class trip to a science museum, answer questions, put the events in order and find the features of a good recount. They practice time order words (First, Next, After that, Finally) and common past tense verbs, then plan their own entry with who, where, when and what, and write it up with a feeling and a closing comment.

Resource Details

Subject: ESL
Topic: Writing a Recount: A Diary Entry
Category: Writing
File Type: PDF
File Size: 306.6 KB
Published: 12 Nov 2026
Downloads: 0

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Grade 4 ESL (ages 9–10), A2 55 minutes Writing reading past tense sequencing organizing ideas

Learning Objectives

Identify the features of a recount in a diary entry.
Use time order words and past tense verbs to tell events in order.
Plan and write a diary entry about a real event.

How to Use This Resource

Show the slides and ask: "What did you do last weekend?" Write students' answers in the past tense.
Read the model diary entry and do worksheet activities 1 and 2 together.
Students complete activities 3 to 6, then use the quiz and send the homework page home.

Classroom Activity Ideas

Feature hunt: students underline the date, time words, past tense verbs and feelings in the model, each in a different color.
Talk it first: partners tell each other about a day out using First, Next, After that and Finally before they write.
Diary swap: students read a partner's entry and find one event and one feeling.

Differentiation

Support: give a writing frame with the date, Dear Diary and the four time words already written. Challenge: students add a sentence about what they learned and use other time words (Later, In the afternoon, At the end of the day).

Assessment

Use the worksheet and quiz to check understanding of recount features and past tense verbs. Use the rubric to assess the diary entry in activity 6 or the homework.

Teacher Tips

Students often switch between present and past tense in a recount. Ask them to circle every verb after writing and check that each one is in the past. Encourage one feeling or detail for each event so the entry does not become a simple list.

What's Included

11-page printable PDF lesson pack: teacher lesson plan with timings, materials and differentiation
Key vocabulary list (7 words with meanings and examples)
Student worksheet (6 activities)
Quiz / assessment (3 parts)
Homework practice page
Printable flashcards: 7 A5 picture cards (separate PDF)
Assessment rubric (4 levels)
Lesson slides (editable PowerPoint)
Editable Word version of all student pages
Complete answer key (also as a separate PDF)

Additional Files

Lesson Slides (PPTX)
Editable Student Pages and Lesson Plan (DOCX)
A5 Flashcards (PDF)
Answer Key (PDF)

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