Lesson video

Hi everybody, it's Ms. Gardner.

Welcome to the next lesson from our unit, The BFG Reading and Narrative Writing.

Thank you so much for joining me on today's lesson.

Today, you will need access to the 1989 film edition of "The BFG".

So if you need to, you can pause the video now to make sure you have it.

Great, hopefully we all have access to the film, which means we are ready to get started with today's lesson.

Off we go! In today's lesson from our unit The BFG Reading and Narrative Writing, we are going to be doing small planning and we are planning part one of our buildup.

So your learning outcome is I can plan the first part of a buildup of a narrative based on "The BFG".

Here are your key words for today's lesson.

So there are two sections of our lesson today.

In the first, we'll be preparing to plan.

So we'll be generating vocabulary that we want to include when describing these moments of the buildup.

And then, we'll be writing the plan.

So let's start with preparing to plan.

"The BFG" can be structured like this: an opening, a buildup, a climax, and a resolution.

We've written the opening.

In today's lesson, we are planning part one of the buildup.

The purpose of the buildup is to do all of these: to develop the plot and the characters, to build up suspense and excitement.

In the buildup of "The BFG", suspense is built up.

Suspense is a noun, and it means when you are feeling anxious or excited about what may happen.

So think about this question: How do you act if you are watching a film and there is a scene that is full of suspense? You're feeling really anxious or scared, but also maybe excited because you don't know what's gonna happen next.

How do you act? What do you do? Pause video now and discuss it with your partner or whoever you're with.

Okay, so here are some possible responses.

"My eyes are glued to the screen." You can't look away because you're so captivated by what you're watching.

"I'm biting my fingernails!" "I'm holding my breath." You can't breathe, and "I can't look away! My eyes are glued." So this is what happens when people are watching a film that is full of suspense and we want our reader to feel that as well when they're reading our narrative version of the buildup.

So checking for understanding, true or false? If a scene builds up suspense, it makes the viewer feel sad.

Pause the video now.

That is false.

Can you use A or B to justify your answer? A, suspense is when you are feeling anxious or excited about what may happen.

Or B, suspense is when you are feeling really happy.

Pause the video now.

It is A, suspense is when you're feeling really scared and anxious or maybe excited 'cause you don't know what's gonna happen next, well done! So you now need to watch part one of the buildup so that we know what this section of "The BFG" contains.

So you need to watch from when Sophie ducks below the window to the moment where Sophie peaked her head above the windowsill.

So pause the video now and off you go.

Welcome back, I hope you enjoyed watching part one of the buildup.

Let's review the key moments in the order in which they happened so that we are really clear about what we need to be writing.

Firstly, number one, Sophie ducked down and she hid.

Two, the hooded figure started walking down the street.

Three, Sophie nervously peered through the window again.

So check for understanding, put these key moments of the buildup part one in order.

Here are the three moments and you need to number them one, two, and three.

Pause the video now.

So number one, Sophie ducked down and she hid.

Two, the hooded figure started walking down the street.

Three, Sophie nervously peered through the window, well done! In the buildup of "The BFG", suspense is built up.

The film created suspense in different ways.

For example, the music got louder and faster.

Slow then fast character movements, so it starts by walking, the BFG's walking really slowly and then starts to get quicker and quicker.

So that's building that suspense.

There's pauses, dramatic pauses.

The colours are really dark which creates a quite scary atmosphere.

And it ends on a cliffhanger where we don't know what's going to happen next.

As writers, we can create suspense in different ways.

For example, we can use show-not-tell language to describe the emotions of the characters.

We can use rhetorical questions, exclamation marks, ellipses, so dot dot dot.

That creates that what's-gonna-happen-next effect.

And also, short, snappy sentences, especially if they're in a row, that can really help to build suspense.

So check for understanding, which linguistic devices can writers use to build suspense? A, full stops; B, ellipses; C, conjunctions; or D, short, snappy sentences.

Pause the video now.

They can use, writers B, ellipses and D, short, snappy sentences, well done! So we need to generate precise and ambitious vocabulary to describe each moment in vivid detail.

So this includes nouns which are people, places, or things; adjectives which describe the nouns; verbs which are doing, being, having words; and adverbs which describe the verbs.

We also want to include show-not-tell language which describes the character's emotions by describing their body language and their facial expressions.

So let's look at the first moment in more detail.

This was when Sophie hid behind the window.

In a moment, you're going to pause the video and you're going to re-watch the clip and focus on this moment and think about what you can see and what you can hear.

Then with your partner or your class or whoever you're with, you're going to all by yourself, you're going to generate adjectives, verbs, and adverbs and show-not-tell language to describe this moment in more detail.

So pause the video now and off you go.

Okay, so here was some of the ideas that I've come up with.

They've said as quick as a flash.

That's how Sophie moved when she hid behind the window.

She ducked quickly.

Ducked means ducked down, you bend down.

She had shaking legs.

So some show-not-tell language to show how scared she was.

She crouched as low as she could.

She's going down crouching low, so that the figure couldn't see her.

Where was she? She was in the dark, silent dormitory, creating that scary atmosphere.

And more show-not-tell language, her heart was racing.

So checking for understanding, which verbs would you use to describe Sophie in the beginning of the buildup? A, jumped up; B, ducked; C, skipped; or D, crouched.

Pause the video now.

That's right, she ducked or she crouched.

She didn't want to jump up 'cause she didn't want the figure to see her.

And skipped is a really positive, happy verb.

And I don't think Sophie feels that positive at this moment, well done! Now let's look at the next moment in more detail when the figure started walking down street, and this is really when the suspense starts building because this creep, this figure is getting closer and closer and we have no idea who it is or what's gonna happen next.

So watch the clip again and think about what you can see and what you can hear.

And then, you can generate some more adjectives, verbs, and adverbs to describe this figure in this moment.

Pause video now and off you go.

Okay, welcome back.

So here are some of the ideas that I've come up with.

It said the figure was slowly, an adverb there, slowly walking.

It had gargantuan feet.

That means really huge.

It glided silently.

It was the way it was moving.

It wasn't stomping really loudly.

It was almost gliding through the streets, silently, didn't want to wake anyone up.

Described the streets as dim and eerie, again, to create more of a scary atmosphere.

The figure, an expanded noun phrase there, the hooded 'cause it has a black hood over it.

Colossal figure, huge.

And it edged through the darkness.

Again, edged is another verb, which shows that it was moving really quietly.

It wasn't sprinting or stomping really loudly towards her.

It was really quietly moving which again adds to the suspense.

He doesn't want anyone to see him, but why? That makes the viewer feel even more nervous.

So checking for understanding, which verbs and adverbs would you use to describe how the giant moved through the street? A, ran quickly; B, edged silently; C, jumped excitedly; or D, glided quietly.

Pause the video now.

That's right, but you can describe the figure as edged, that it edged silently or D, glided quietly, well done! So now let's look at the third moment of the buildup part one in more detail.

And this was when Sophie nervously peered through the window.

In a moment you can pause the video, re-watch the clip, and think about what you can see and what you can hear.

And then, you can generate some adjectives, verbs, adverbs and show-not-tell language to describe this moment.

Pause the video now, off you go! Okay, so here are some of the ideas that I've come up with.

She hesitantly, so she doesn't really wanna look again.

She's a bit hesitant because she doesn't want to see something more scary.

She peaked cautiously.

Peaked, so she's just putting her eyes over the windowsill so her whole face isn't showing.

Her hands clenched the window.

She's really nervous, a show-not-tell language there.

Her mind was whirring with fear.

Thoughts are running through her brain and really scary thoughts, she's really scared.

Then a rhetorical, whatever could it be? Again, that helps to build suspense.

And so more show-not-tell language.

She was biting her nails.

What we do when we're feeling scared.

So checking for understanding, which show-not-tell language would you use to describe how Sophie felt when she was hiding behind the window? A, her eyes lit up in excitement; B, her heart was racing; C, a smile spread across her face; Or D, her hands tightly grasped at the window.

Pause the video now.

Okay, so we could subscribe Sophie, we could say her heart was racing.

That's what happens when you are really scared.

And also her hands tightly grasped at the window.

That feeling when you just need to hold onto something to make you feel more safe, that's almost what she's doing there, well done! So task A, you need to fill in the blanks with ambitious vocabulary listed below.

Here are your sentences, and then the words in your word bank are: towering, so really, really tall; eerie, crouched, and whirred.

I'm going to read the sentences out loud now and as I'm reading them you could be thinking about which word could go in the missing blanks.

As quick as a flash, Sophie blank as low as she could and her heart pounded in her chest.

Gradually, the blank figure edged silently through the dim, blank streets.

The terrified girl bit her nails as her mind blank with fear.

Pause video now and off you go.

Okay, well done.

I'm going to read them out loud.

And as I'm reading it, I want to be able to hear you say those missing words.

As quick as a flash, Sophie crouched as low as she could and her heart pounded in her chest.

Gradually, the towering figure edged slightly through the dim, eerie streets.

The terrified girl bit her nails as her mind whirred with fear.

Well done, so it's time for the second section of the lesson where we are writing the plan.

When we write a plan, we use notes.

So notes are concise and short and capture the key vocabulary and information, so the events and the order in which they happen.

We don't need to have full sentences on our plan because it's just the key vocabulary.

The purpose of notes is to help the writer to organise their ideas easily in the future.

We use bullet points for note taking and they look like this.

So checking for understanding, what is in a plan? A, full sentences with capital letters and full stops; B, bullet points for notes; C, ambitious vocabulary; or D, unnecessary information.

Pause the video now.

So in a plan, we need B, bullet points for notes; and C, ambitious vocabulary.

We don't need full sentences or any unnecessary information, well done! So it's time for task B.

The first part of task B, you need to fill in the plan to describe the first key moment when Sophie hid behind the window.

In your plan, you need to include fronted adverbials, time, place, or manner, ambitious vocabulary, and show-not-tell language.

I've given you an example of a fronted adverbial to start you off: instantly.

And I've remembered to use a comma after it so that I include it in my writing in the next lesson.

If you want to, you can include any of the vocabulary that we looked at in the first part of the lesson, but I'm sure you've also got loads of amazing ideas yourself.

So pause the video now and off you go, thinking about vocabulary to describe this moment in more detail.

Okay, well done, welcome back.

I'm going to go through some of my ideas and if you'd like to, you can add these to your plan too.

Okay, so some fronted adverbials; instantly, as quick as a flash, in panic to show how she hid.

Ambitious vocabulary: she crouched as low as she could; she sharply ducked; in the dark, silent dormitory.

Then some show-not-tell language to describe Sophie's emotions: her heart was racing; she had shaking legs; she held her breath.

Well done, it's now time to plan the second key moment, which is when the figure started walking down the street.

So this time, we're just thinking about fronted adverbials and some ambitious vocabulary to describe the figure in this moment.

One example of a fronted adverbial could be the fronted adverbial of place: from outside the window.

So now you need to pause the video and add to your plan lots of ambitious vocabulary and fronted adverbials to describe this moment.

Okay, well done, welcome back.

Here's some of the idea that I've come up with.

And just like last time, if you'd like to, you can add them to your plan too.

So fronted adverbial: from outside the window; slowly, that's how he was walking.

He was very slow.

Where was he? In the dim, eerie street.

Ambitious vocabulary: described the figure as the towering, hooded figure.

It edged closer and closer.

It had gargantuan feet and it glided silently through the streets.

Well done, so now we need to describe the third moment when Sophie peered through the window.

Again, fronted adverbials: an example could be nervously, the fronted adverbial of manner.

You need to include ambitious vocabulary and show-not-tell language to describe Sophie at this moment.

So pause video now and if you'd like to, you can include any vocabulary we looked at the first part of the lesson or your own to describe this moment.

Off you go.

Okay, welcome back.

So here are some of my ideas.

Again, if you'd like to, you can add them to your plan.

Nervously, below the window, and with hesitation for my fronted adverbials.

And ambitious vocabulary: she peaked cautiously, her mind was whirring with fear, and then a rhetorical question, whatever could it be? To build suspense.

Then show-not-tell language: she was breathless; she had clenched hands; and she was biting her nails.

So if you need to, you can add these to your plan too.

Make sure you keep these plans really safe 'cause you're going to need them in the next lesson when it comes to writing the first part of our buildup.

Great job today, everybody, well done! Here is a summary of everything we've learned.

The purpose of the buildup is to build up suspense and excitement.

When we plan, we log precise and ambitious vocabulary to help paint vivid pictures for our reader.

A plan includes notes, a sequence of events, and ambitious vocabulary.

And show-not-tell language shows a character's feelings by describing their actions, body language, and facial expressions.

Well done, great job today, everybody.