a jump to a time or event that happened earlier in the narrative

saying the words you plan to write out loud in order to make the writing process easier

Writing the final sections of the climax, including a flashback

English

In this unit, pupils finesse writing a build-up and climax with a focus on switching between the past and present tense to highlight a jump in perspective. In 'When The Sky Falls’: Narrative and Diary Writing', pupils will write a narrative climax and use it as the stimulus for writing a diary entry from a character's perspective.

In 'Beowulf’, pupils rewrote the build-up and climax of a scene from the end of ’Beowulf’, focusing on interspersing dialogue to convey atmosphere and advance the action. In this unit, pupils will finesse writing a build-up and climax with a focus on switching between the past and present tense to highlight a jump in perspective.

In this unit, pupils write a build-up and climax based on the text, 'A Kind of Spark'. They learn to switch tense to highlight a jump in perspective from narrative prose to an internal monologue and from present to past tense to indicate a flashback. These outcomes can be used for KS2 SATS writing.

'A Kind of Spark': narrative writing

As Mr Macintosh stands up, the room falls quiet and I feel a lump in my throat.

Maggie woke with a start to a loud banging on her door.

“Hi everyone,” I say, trying to give off a confidence I don’t feel.

“I confess!” she croaked, “I confess …”

As I rush back to my seat, more and more people begin to clap.

Put these sentences in the order they would appear in our narrative. 

“We owe these women an apology - and a memorial” I finish.

“We owe these women an apology - and a memorial!” I finish.

“We owe these women an apology - and a memorial I finish.

We owe these women an apology - and a memorial!” I finish.

In which sentence is the direct speech correctly punctuated? 

Which features below can be seen in the following passage? 'I can see it’s working; they’re starting to understand. I see them looking up at me intently.' 

Which informal language features below can be seen in the following passage? 'I can see it’s working; they’re starting to understand. I see them looking up at me intently.' 

Which language features below are included in the following passage? '“You’re the devil’s wife! You cursed our children!” they bellowed, shaking their fists angrily.'

We still need to write another flashback. 

We still need to edit and improve our work. 

We may wish to publish our work for an audience.

We haven't yet completed what we planned to write. 

Sofia says, 'We've reached the end of the writing process!'. Why is she wrong? 

first person perspective on first part of Addie's speech

flashback to first part of Maggie's story

first person perspective on second part of Addie's speech

flashback to second part of Maggie's story

first person perspective on final part of Addie's speech

Put these sections of our narrative in order. 

Instantly, she is pushed down to the ground.

Instantly, she was pushed down to the ground.

Instantly, I am pushed down to the ground.

Instantly, I was pushed down to the ground.

Which of these sentences is appropriate for the flashback in our narrative? 

The room falls quiet and I feel a lump in my throat.

The room fell quiet and I felt a lump in my throat.

The room falls quiet and she feels a lump in my throat.

The room falls quiet and she felt a lump in my throat.

Which of these sentences is appropriate for the first person section of our text? 

Which of the features below are shown in the following first person passage? 'Out of the corner of my eye, I see Mr Macintosh look down at his feet. I grit my teeth.'

“Because of that” I continue, “I see the world a bit differently."

“Because of that,” I continue “I see the world a bit differently."

“Because of that,” I continue, “I see the world a bit differently."

“Because of that,” I continue, “I see the world a bit differently"

Which of these pieces of direct speech is correctly punctuated? 

Which informal language features can be seen in the following first person passage? 'I clear my throat and look out at the expectant faces. I can do this. I can do it for Maggie.'

Starter Quiz