Learn how to write instructions with titles, command words, time words, headings and diagrams, then test your own steps on Bolt the robot.
Chapter 5: Plan, organise and test your own instructions
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Years 3–4 english · 1
Years 3–4 english · 1
Years 3–4 english · 1
Years 3–4 english · 2
Years 3–4 english · 1 Years 3–4 english · 2
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What the chapters cover in the national curriculum in England:
Writing Instructions is an interactive game that teaches children aged 7–9 how to write clear instructions, matching the Year 3 and 4 English curriculum in England. Players help Bolt, a robot who follows every instruction exactly, so muddled or badly ordered steps go comically wrong.
Children first study model texts, such as a jam sandwich recipe, to see how good instructions are built. They meet command verbs (bossy words like cut and pour that start each step), time words that show the order, and organisational devices: a heading, sub-headings such as 'You will need' and 'What to do', numbered steps and labelled diagrams. Along the way they drag steps into order, sort cards under sub-headings and cut long steps into short ones.
To finish, they plan and build their own set of instructions and watch Bolt try to follow them.
Instructions usually have a title saying what you will make or do, a list of things you need, numbered steps in order, command words, time words and often a labelled diagram. Sub-headings such as 'You will need' and 'What to do' split them into sections.
A bossy verb, also called a command or imperative verb, tells the reader exactly what to do, such as cut, mix or pour. In instructions it usually begins each step, sometimes straight after a time word like 'First'.
Time words show the order of the steps, so the reader always knows what comes next. 'First' begins the instructions, words like 'next' and 'then' link the middle steps, and 'finally' marks the last one.
It is made for children aged 7 to 9, in Years 3 and 4, and follows the English national curriculum for non-fiction writing. A narrator reads out each task, so children who are still building reading confidence can join in too.
The game has five chapters and a 10-question final quiz, and takes about 45 minutes to play all the way through. Children can start any chapter from the workshop menu, and each one takes roughly 8 to 10 minutes.
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