Lesson video

Hi, everyone, my name is Ms. Voyle and welcome to this lesson where you are going to be planning the opening of "A Christmas Carol." During this lesson, you need to be listening and looking carefully.

There'll be tasks where you need somebody to talk to and you'll need a piece of paper and pen or pencil for writing your plan.

I hope you are feeling excited and ready to learn.

Let's get started.

The learning outcome for today's lesson is, I can generate precise vocabulary to plan a narrative opening.

Here are the keywords for today's lesson.

Let's practise saying them.

My turn, your turn.

Opening, contrast, show and tell, direct speech, plan.

Great job.

Well done.

Let's take a look at their definitions.

The opening is the first section of a story where the writer describes the setting and main characters.

Contrast is the comparison of two or more elements that are strikingly different.

Show and tell is a writing technique for showing a character's feelings with description of their actions and expressions.

Direct speech is the term used for a character speaking out loud in a text.

And a plan is a framework that writers create before they write a section or whole text.

There are two parts to today's lesson.

In the first part, we will be preparing to plan, and in the second part you will be writing the plan.

So let's begin with preparing to plan.

"A Christmas Carol" can be structured like this.

Opening, build-up, climax, resolution.

The opening of a narrative sets the scene and introduces the main characters.

You have already set the scene for the reader.

Today you will generate vocabulary to describe the main character, Ebenezer Scrooge within the setting.

Let's take a look at a model of a setting description for "A Christmas Carol." Consider the following question as I read it to you.

What kind of atmosphere is created in this writing? "Across the crisp, wintery skies of London, fluffy snowflakes twirled as they delicately made their way to the cobbled streets below.

Entire streets proudly donned festive, vibrant decorations.

The sweet sound of carols echoed and Christmas joy was spread all around." I'd like you to pause the video and consider that question again.

What kind of atmosphere is created in this writing? You may describe the atmosphere as magical, vibrant, joyous, bustling, excitable.

This setting description really conveys a joyous Christmas atmosphere to the reader.

The introduction and description of Ebenezer Scrooge will show a great contrast between the atmosphere and his character.

Contrast involves the comparison of two or more elements that are strikingly different, highlighting their disparities to create emphasis.

Let's remind ourselves about the setting.

The atmosphere in the setting is one of vibrance and Christmas joy.

We are now going to introduce the character of Ebenezer Scrooge.

Ebenezer Scrooge is a miser who holds disdain for Christmas.

His character shows a great contrast to the joyous setting.

Let's understand a bit more about Scrooge's character.

Ebenezer Scrooge is a miser who holds disdain for Christmas.

A miser is a person who hoards wealth and spends as little money as possible.

Disdain is the feeling that someone or something is not worth thinking about or respecting.

So Christmas is traditionally a time at which people show generosity to others.

Scrooge, however, is introduced as a cold and selfish character, who is not interested in being generous.

He does not respect Christmas and he believes that it is a waste of time and money.

The use of precise adjectives to form expanded noun phrases will help us describe Scrooge's character and feelings.

Here are some examples.

Solitary, cold individual, dark, ominous figure, grumpy, elderly miser, joyless man with a constant scowl.

You may notice that I have used different nouns to refer to Scrooge here.

Using a range of nouns as well as adjectives to refer to Scrooge will help avoid repetition and support text flow.

Let's check your understanding.

True or false? The only noun I can use to refer to Scrooge is "man." Pause the video and select your answer.

That is false.

Well done.

Now it's time to justify your answer.

A, I can also use the noun "person." B, I can use a variety of nouns to refer to Scrooge, which avoids repetition and supports text flow.

Pause the video and select the correct justification.

The answer is b, well done.

You can use a variety of nouns to refer to Scrooge and this will avoid repetition and it supports text flow.

We can also show and tell the reader about Scrooge's character and feelings by describing his actions, body language, and facial expressions.

Here are some examples.

Eerily made his way.

Here the adverb eerily has been used to describe how Scrooge made his way.

Scowled cruelly, aggressively barged, unapologetically stomped, the verbs here describe Scrooge's expressions and actions in a very precise manner, and the use of adverbs have been used to provide extra detail about how Scrooge did those actions.

Using precise verbs and adverbs shows and tells the reader how Scrooge is feeling.

Let's check your understanding.

How can I show and tell the reader how Scrooge is feeling when describing his movements? A, through the use of precise nouns.

B, through the use of alliteration, or c, through the use of precise verbs and adverbs.

Pause the video and select your answer.

The answer is c, well done.

Using precise verbs and adverbs when describing Scrooge's movements shows and tells the reader how he is feeling.

The use of direct speech and the verb and adverb used in the reporting clause can also convey Scrooge's character and feelings.

Here are some examples.

"Utter nonsense," Scrooge grumbled bitterly.

"Humbug!" Scrooge snapped.

"Frivolous, foolish," Scrooge muttered resentfully.

Using synonyms for said in the reporting clause tells the reader more about how Scrooge spoke and felt.

When we use words like grumbled, snapped, or muttered, the reader can imagine how the character is speaking.

Let's check your understanding, true or false? When writing direct speech, we only use the verb "said." Pause the video and select your answer.

That is false, well done.

Now it's time to justify your answer.

A, synonyms for said and adverbs provide greater detail about how characters spoke and felt, or B, precise verbs and adverbs form expanded noun phrases.

Pause the video and select the correct justification.

The answer is a, well done.

Synonyms for said and adverbs provide greater detail about how characters spoke and felt.

It's now time for your first task and it is a talk task.

Fill in the blanks with precise and ambitious vocabulary.

I will read this to you now, listen carefully.

"In the midst of London's shared merriment, there was one sour individual who despised everything about the festive season.

Ebenezer Scrooge was a grumpy, elderly and he did not hide his resentment for Christmas and its celebrations.

As he made his way down the snow-covered streets, he cruelly at all those he passed.

'Painful to the ears!' He at cheerful carollers." The pieces of vocabulary for filling in the blanks are, miser, scowled, cold-hearted, sneered, eerily, utterly.

Pause the video and discuss with your partner now to fill in the blanks.

Welcome back.

Let's take a look at the answers together.

"In the midst of London's shared merriment, there was one cold-hearted, sour individual who utterly despised everything about the festive season.

Ebenezer Scrooge was a grumpy, elderly miser, and he did not hide his resentment for Christmas and its celebrations.

As he eerily made his way down the snow-covered streets, he scowled cruelly at all those he passed.

"Painful to the ears!" He sneered at cheerful carollers." Well done for demonstrating your understanding of this precise and ambitious vocabulary to fill in the blanks.

It's now time for the second part of our lesson where you are going to be writing your plan.

When we write a plan, we use notes.

Notes are concise and capture key vocabulary and information.

The purpose of notes is to help the writer to organise information easily for future use.

We use bullet points when note taking, they look like this.

For the opening, it'll be important to include the following in your plan, precise and descriptive vocabulary that shows and tells the reader about Scrooge's character, feelings and movements.

Ideas for direct speech and precise verbs and adverbs for how the speech is said.

Let's check your understanding.

What should your plan include? A, full sentences with capital letters and full stops.

B, precise and descriptive vocabulary.

C, rhyming words.

D, ideas for direct speech.

Pause the video and select your answers now.

The answers are b and d, well done.

Your plan should include precise and descriptive vocabulary and ideas for direct speech.

It's now time for you to write the first part of your plan.

Fill in the plan for Scrooge's character and feelings.

You have a section for recording adjectives to describe nouns.

You may develop phrases to describe Scrooge's entire character.

You may also develop phrases that describe a specific part of his character.

You then have another section where you should record verbs and adverbs, that show and tell the reader how Scrooge is feeling through precise description of his movements.

Pause the video and do the task now.

Welcome back.

I have loved reading over the precise and ambitious vocabulary you have generated to describe Scrooge's character and feelings.

Let's take a look at some of the examples I have seen, for adjectives to describe nouns.

I saw solitary, cold man, grumpy, elderly miser, slow, deliberate steps, and menacing scowl.

For verbs and adverbs that show and tell the reader how Scrooge is feeling.

I saw angrily trudged, scowled cruelly, utterly despised and openly resented.

These were just some of the wonderful examples I have seen.

It's now time for you to complete the second part of your plan.

Fill in the plan with ideas for Scrooge's direct speech.

You have a section for recording the speech ideas.

This is where you will write the words that he says, and remember to use inverted commas when writing these words down.

You then have another section for verbs and adverbs.

Here you should use synonyms for "said" to describe how Scrooge spoke his words.

Pause the video and do the task now.

Welcome back.

It was really great to see you getting into character as Scrooge to develop ideas for his speech and imagine how he would say it.

Let's take a look at some of the examples I have seen, for speech ideas I saw, "Bah humbug!" "Utter nonsense." "A waste of money!" and "Out of my way." For verbs and adverbs, synonyms for said, I saw, bitterly muttered, grumbled irritably, cruelly snarled, and snapped with disgust.

Well done for completing your plan for the opening of "A Christmas Carol." We've now come to the end of our lesson, so let's go over a summary together.

The purpose of the opening is to set the scene and introduce the main characters.

Ebenezer Scrooge is a miser who holds disdain for Christmas, and this contrasts the general atmosphere in the setting.

The use of precise and descriptive vocabulary shows and tells the reader about Scrooge's character.

Direct speech is an effective way to convey a character's thoughts and feelings, and an effective plan captures key vocabulary and is organised concisely.

I have really enjoyed teaching you this lesson.

Well done for your hard work planning your opening.