Hello.

Welcome to this lesson with me, Ms. Chu.

And in this lesson, we are going to be planning the opening scene of "Whale Rider." In order to do this effectively, we need to think of really ambitious vocabulary that will engage the reader.

So when you are ready, let's get started.

Today's lesson outcome is I can plan precise and ambitious vocabulary for the opening of "Whale Rider." These are the keywords that you'll need for this lesson.

The opening of "Whale Rider" is split into two parts.

First, you're going to prepare to plan.

And then you're going to actually write the plan.

So let's start preparing to plan.

In this lesson, we are planning the opening.

The opening is the first part of the story structure.

We have the opening, build-up, climax, and resolution.

This is the opening.

The purpose of the opening is to do all of these things: engage the reader, introduce the characters, and introduce the setting.

In the opening, we are introduced to all of these.

The setting.

It is set in a coastal village on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island.

It has natural surroundings, including the ocean and the landscapes.

It introduces the main characters: Paikea and Koro, her grandfather.

The purpose of the opening is to describe an action scene, to introduce the characters, to jump into dialogue, or to introduce the setting.

Pause the video and have a think about what the answers could be.

So the opening is to introduce the characters, and it is to introduce their setting.

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

We must include precise verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and a range of nouns.

In the opening, we are setting the scene.

We can use fronted adverbials of place, time, and manner to help us do this.

Let's review the key moments of the opening.

In the opening, Paikea and her grandfather are on a bicycle.

Her grandfather is cycling whilst Paikea looks up at him.

The third key moment is Paikea is holding onto Koro's Maori necklace.

We need to generate ambitious and precise vocabulary to describe each moment in vivid detail.

We need to use nouns.

Nouns are people, places, or things.

We need to use adjectives to describe our nouns.

And we need to use verbs.

Verbs are doing, being or having words.

And adverbs, adverbs describe verbs.

Let's look at each moment in more detail.

The first key moment is Paikea and her grandfather are riding on the bicycle.

Let's use our senses to generate adjectives to describe the nouns in this moment.

Paikea is a young girl and she's cycling on a quiet road.

It's a bright sunny day.

Behind them are tall mountains, and they have wind in their hair.

And they are riding towards the sparkling sea.

We need to generate verbs and adverbs to describe the action in this moment.

Her grandfather is cycling whilst Paikea looks up at him.

Again, we're going to use our senses to help us.

She's looking at the breathtaking landscape while he gazed out to the sea contently, as the bicycle rolled down the hill.

She stared up lovingly at her grandfather.

Which adjectives would you use to describe the atmosphere in the opening scene? Would you say that it was dreary, content, tense, or peaceful? Pause the video and have a think about which adjectives would be useful to describe the atmosphere.

Okay, hopefully you said that the atmosphere was content and peaceful.

Good job.

Let's look at the next moment in more detail.

Paikea is holding onto Koro's Maori necklace.

Again, we're going to use our senses to generate adjectives, verbs, and adverbs to describe this moment.

We could describe the necklace as being smooth, curved, and it's a shell.

She felt secure and safe.

She was clasping gently onto his necklace.

And she let the ancestors guide her.

Which verb and adverb would you use to describe how Paikea looked at her grandfather? Would you say that she glanced curiously, stared lovingly, or glared angrily? Pause the video and have a think about which verb and matching adverb would be most suitable.

Okay, hopefully you said it was stared lovingly.

Well done.

We can use fronted adverbials to describe each of the moments in detail and add extra information for the reader.

In narrative writing, we can use these types of fronted adverbials: fronted adverbials of time, fronted adverbials of place, and fronted adverbials of manner.

Fronted adverbials of time tell the reader when an action is taking place.

For example, you might want to use: just after school, in the late afternoon, or before dinner.

Fronted adverbials of place tell the reader where an action is taking place: from the crest of the hill, towards the sea, or at the edge of the village.

And fronted adverbials of manner tell the reader how an action is taking place.

For example, with the wind in her hair, joyfully, without a care in the world.

Which fronted adverbial is mostly likely to be found in narrative writing? Would it be as a result, with a joyful laugh, consequently, or in addition to this? Pause the video and have a think.

So hopefully you said with a joyful laugh.

Well done.

Task A requires you to fill in the blanks with the precise and ambitious vocabulary listed below.

As I read the paragraph two, I'd like you to think about which of the words at the bottom would best fit these blank spaces.

From the crest of a hill, a young girl named Paikea and her grandfather rode on their bike down towards the, mm, sea.

The, mm, mountains were behind them.

With the wind in her hair, she stared up, mm, at him as he, mm, out contently and he took in the breathtaking landscape.

Pause the video now and have a think about which words would best fit those spaces.

Okay, let's have a look to see what I have put in those blank spaces.

From the crest of a hill, a young girl named Paikea and her grandfather rode on their bike down towards the sparkling sea.

The towering mountains were behind them.

So we can cross out sparkling and towering.

With the wind in her hair, she stared up lovingly at him as he gazed out contently and he took in the breathtaking landscape.

We can cross out lovingly, and then finally gazed.

Now, we are on to part two of this lesson.

We are now going to write our 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.

What is in a plan? Full sentences with capital letters and full stops, bullet points for notes, ambitious vocabulary, or unnecessary information.

Pause the video and have a think.

Bullet points for notes is one.

And ambitious vocabulary.

Well done.

Task B requires you to fill in the plan with fronted adverbials and precise and ambitious vocabulary to describe each moment in detail.

The first key moment is Paikea and her grandfather were riding on a bicycle.

There is one fronted adverbial that you can use as a scaffold, and then you just need to think of two other fronted adverbials and list the ambitious vocabulary that would be suitable for this key moment.

Off you go.

Okay, let's look at my plan.

In the late afternoon, over the crest of the hill, and a one bright sunny day would be suitable fronted adverbials for this key moment.

Young girl, sparkling sea, towering mountains, and wind in her hair would be also great for this scene too.

For part two, the second key moment, her grandfather was cycling whilst Paikea looked up at him.

The fronted adverbials for this key moment could be down towards the sea, and then two other ones that you can think of when you come to planet, and then some ambitious vocabulary.

Pause the video and have a go.

Okay, so what have you got for your fronted adverbials? So we've got down towards the sea, happily, and without a care in the world.

Stared up lovingly, breathtaking landscape, and gazed out to sea.

In the third key moment, Paikea was holding onto Koro's Maori necklace.

We could use carefully as our fronted adverbial.

Can you think of two other fronted adverbials and some ambitious vocabulary that would be good for this key moment.

Pause the video and have a go.

Okay, let's look at my answers.

So I have carefully, gently, at the edge of the village.

And then I have ancestors guiding; secure and safe; smooth, curved shell; and contented girl.

To summarise, planning the opening of "Whale Rider," the purpose of the opening is to engage the reader and to introduce the setting and characters.

The opening of the story introduces Paikea, her grandfather, and their family context.

Precise and ambitious vocabulary helps paint vivid pictures for a reader.

A fronted adverbial of time, place, or manner indicates when, where, or how action in the rest of a sentence takes place.

And finally, a plan includes notes, a sequence of events, and precise vocabulary.

I hope you enjoyed planning the opening of "Whale Rider" with me today.

Goodbye.