Volcanoes - Unit 4 - Write a First Person Recount PowerPoint

The teaching resource from Online Teaching Resources Ltd is designed to guide students through the process of writing a first-person recount of a historical event, specifically the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD. The lesson encourages students to immerse themselves in the experience of the Pompeii disaster, using a detailed account by a young observer named Pliny. Pliny, who witnessed the eruption from a safe distance in Misenum, provides a vivid description of the catastrophe that unfolded. Students are tasked with reading about the event, extracting powerful descriptive vocabulary, and using these words to craft their own sentences. This exercise aims to help students picture the scene and convey the struggles of the Pompeii residents and those nearby.

Following the vocabulary exercise, students delve deeper into the context by researching the various inhabitants of Pompeii, such as senators, merchants, and farmers, to select a character whose perspective they will adopt in their writing. They are prompted to consider where their character was during the eruption, their feelings, what they saw, and whether they fled or returned for belongings. These reflections form the basis for a diary entry that recounts the personal experience of the disaster. The lesson concludes with a checklist to ensure the diary entry includes specific details, emotive vocabulary, and personal reflections, as well as an opportunity for students to share their work and listen to the powerful language choices and expressions of emotion from their peers.