Hello, my name is Ms. Grant.

I'm so glad you decided to learn with me today.

We're in the unit "Myths, legends, and stories that inspire." Today, you are going to write a full narrative piece, a full story.

I cannot wait to hear the characters that are involved and what they get up to.

I'm looking forward to seeing you beautifully structure these using the five-part narrative structure.

I'm gonna be your support and guide as we work through today's lesson together.

I cannot wait to hear all of your fantastic ideas.

Let's get started.

So, by the end of today's lesson, you are going to have written a well-structured and developed piece of narrative writing.

We're gonna focus on the structure of your narrative writing, the first learning cycle.

So, you've got really good foundations on which to build your plot and character.

And then in the second learning cycle, we're gonna think, well, how do we show that our story is coming to a conclusion? How do we give it a sense of finality by linking our first and final paragraphs? As I say, you're gonna be so proud of what you produced in today's lesson.

I can't wait to get started.

There are some key words, which are gonna help unlock our learning today.

They're gonna help us achieve our objective.

They're gonna come up throughout today's lesson.

If you'd like to spend more time with these words now, then you can pause the video and go through them, make a note of any if you wish.

I'm just gonna draw your attention to two.

And the first is methods, which is the penultimate word.

So, the second to last word on the slide, methods.

And these are the tools a writer uses to create their work.

Now, methods is a word that's used a lot in English.

We analyse methods and we use methods in our own writing.

And really it's just talking about things like alliteration, plosives, flashback, all the different methods, all the different techniques that a writer might use in order to create their work.

And in today's lesson, you are gonna be that writer.

You're gonna think about what methods do I want to include in my writing? And the second word I'd like you to draw your attention to is the final word, which is dejected.

That is how you pronounce that word, dejected, and it means unhappy.

Now, as I say, if you'd like to pause the video and spend a bit more time with these key words, then you can, otherwise they're gonna come up in today's lesson.

So, our lesson outlined for today, we're gonna start off by writing parts 1 to 4 of your narrative.

So, a big opening and learning cycle where we really get to grips with your story.

And then in the second learning cycle, we are going to link your first and final paragraphs.

We're gonna consider what that looks like and why it is such an effective technique.

So, let's get started with writing parts 1 to 4 of your narrative.

Now, today you're gonna write a piece of narrative writing inspired by a character from a story that you have read.

Now, Laura has decided to write a narrative about a character called the Miller from Jeffrey Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales".

So, that is a story, a poem that she has read.

She was really inspired by the character of the miller.

He's quite a memorable character in the way that he looks and the way that he acts.

So, it's nice that Laura has selected him.

And you can select any character from a story that you have read, and I'd like you to discuss now, who will your narrative focus on? Pause a video and discuss the question now.

Welcome back, what fantastic discussions.

I heard so many amazing different characters, all as memorable as Laura's the miller who she has selected to focus on.

Can't wait to hear what they get up to in these stories.

Next, Laura considers the overall structure for her narrative for her story about the miller, and she relies on the five part narrative structure to organise our plot.

So, let's remind ourselves of that and see Laura's plan for the miller for her story.

So, you start off with exposition that establishes your character and setting and introduces some sort of problem or conflict.

So, Laura's going to introduce the miller.

She's decided that he's wily, which means cunning and strong.

He needs money to fix his bagpipes as he broke them when he was angry.

Now, I can see here that Laura is relying on some of her reading of "The Canterbury Tales".

If you have read it, that's great.

You'll recognise some of the characteristics of the miller.

If not, don't worry.

But the miller is indeed very strong in "The Canterbury Tales".

And yeah, he plays the bagpipes.

So, really like what Laura has done here, she's used the story, but she's also interpreted it in her own way and decided that in this case, the bagpipes will be broken.

In "The Canterbury Tales", the miller plays the bagpipes.

But in her story, in her reinterpretation, the bagpipes are gonna be broken, because the miller broke them when he was angry.

And Jeffrey Chaucer in "The Canterbury Tales" makes it very clear that the miller has quite a short temper.

So, I like this reinterpretation of this character from Laura.

It's very convincing.

Now, after the exposition, we have the rising action.

The story builds towards the climax and the characters and plot are developed.

So, what does Laura have? She says that the miller disguises the himself as weak and challenges somewhat in the next village to a wrestling match to win money.

So again, using a detail from "The Canterbury Tales", which Laura has read, that the miller is really good at wrestling, but using it for her own end.

So, you can be inspired by a character, but you can also be inspired by things in the story that you have read about them and you can twist them and turn them so that you can use them for your own story.

Now, after the rising action, we have the climax.

It's a moment of drama and emotional intensity.

It's often short.

One or more of the character's lives change in some way.

So, what happens to the miller? Well, Laura has decided that the person he challenges has the same disguise.

So, when they fight that the miller loses.

I really like this twist for the climax.

I was prepared for the idea that the miller was going to win, because I know he's very, very strong.

I know he's very, very cunning.

But actually, here he gets a bit of comeuppance and the person that he fights has the same disguise, he loses.

So, that is the moment of emotional intensity in the story.

After the climax, we have the falling action.

It's the aftermath of the climax and one at more characters move towards resolution.

So, what does Laura have? Well, she says the miller watches his opponent celebrating his victory.

And I can imagine that paragraph will be great.

The bitter miller, the confused miller, the dejected miller.

So, the unhappy miller looking at his opponent who is victorious.

And then finally, we move towards resolution.

So, the stories end.

Now, just to be clear, it does not need to be happy, simple or conclusive.

There just needs to be a sense of finality.

So, you don't need to tie everything up at the end of your story, you just need to show that there is some sort of finality.

And in learning cycle two today, we will look at some tips and tricks to help you do that.

What is Laura's resolution? Whether miller returns home, he's bruised and still with broken bagpipes.

So, in some ways we end where we began with the miller.

He's unhappy and he has got some broken bagpipes.

He needs to come up with a new plan in order to fix them.

So, really nice clear structure there for Laura's story.

It follows the five part narrative structure.

And she's still carefully about the plot and how it will relate to her character.

Can't wait to read that story.

Now, I'd like you to discuss using the table on the board.

You can see the five part narrative structure.

What is gonna happen in your narrative? Now, spend some time on this discussion so you've got a really clear plot outline so that then you can come to write it.

You know exactly where your story is headed.

Pause the video and discuss the question now.

Welcome back.

Some fantastic stories are going to come through.

Cannot wait to see these down on paper.

Some really intricate, interesting plots, some with happy endings, some with sad endings, some with more ambiguous endings.

And really nice to see people relying on things they know about these characters just as Laura did in order to embellish their story.

Well done.

You've now got a great structure for your narrative.

Now, Laura uses single paragraph outlines to plan each paragraph.

Really sensible thing to do.

So, she's got a clear outline of what she's going to do.

Now, single paragraph outline starts with a topic sentence, which introduces the main ideas in your paragraph.

And you should write this in a full sentence so you've got a really clear idea of where the paragraph is going.

Then you're supporting details, three to four ideas.

These are ideas that you will use in your writing along with key vocabulary and methods.

So, that being one of our keyword there methods.

So, the tools that you want to use in that paragraph, you might want to use alliteration, more than one word beginning with the same letter.

And that was also one of our keywords there.

You might want to use a flashback.

So, a transition to an earlier point in the story.

Again, one of our keywords, but whatever method you want to use to convey your ideas, whatever techniques you want to rely on.

And then you will finish your single paragraph outlined with a concluding sentence concludes the main ideas in your paragraph.

And again, you should write this in a full sentence.

So, it's just the supporting details that are in note form.

So, this is the plan that the outline that Laura's gonna use to plan each of her paragraphs.

Now, here is Laura's first single paragraph outline.

We've got the miller looked at his bagpipes ruefully, so kind of unhappily, a bit confused.

He's unhappy that they are broken.

They lay in a broken jumble in a corner of his mill, silent and useless.

So, she's got two sentences there for a topic sentence really carefully constructed.

We've got the flashback and alliteration that Laura wants to use in her notes, in her supporting detail.

And then we've got this final concluding sentence.

There was no point glaring at the bagpipes that would get him nowhere.

A plan.

He needed a plan.

So, we've got a really clear idea of the paragraph that Laura is going to write.

She's used the single paragraph outline really well.

So, you can see we've got the topic sentence.

The focus is on the bagpipes.

So, that is the focus for this paragraph.

We've got vocabulary and methods selected in her supporting details.

She's focused on flashback and alliteration.

She's gonna repeat a B sound to describe the bagpipes breaking.

And you can see that she wants to use a flashback and she's used the sentence to get her into the flashback, ease her into the flashback.

He close his eyes and clenched his fists.

And we get the sense that when he closes his eyes, he's going to have this memory of when he broke them.

And then we've got this concluding sentence.

Now, I just want to draw attention to this concluding sentence.

It's a lovely sentence.

Well, we've got three sentences there.

I really like that use of repetition.

A plan.

He needed a plan.

We seem to really get into the head of the miller there, but this concluding sentence crucially links to Laura's next paragraph.

So, we've got her first single paragraph outline here.

We can imagine her second one, Because her second topic sentence is gonna begin, "He flung open the door of his mill and strode out into the open air where he could think." And we know he needs to think, because he wants to think of his plan.

That's how the last paragraph ended.

So, Laura has created a really, really nice transition between paragraph one and paragraph two by just making sure that they're connected in some way.

At the end of paragraph one, the miller needed to think of the plan, and at the start of paragraph two, he's going outside so that he can think.

And that's a really, really nice way to help structure your story and help your reader go on the journey with you and understand where the character is going, where the plot is developing.

So, Laura uses this plan, a really great plan, to write her first paragraph.

And let's have a look at it and we'll see if she's got all the elements from her single paragraph outline in that plan.

"The miller looked at his bagpipes ruefully.

They lay in a broken jumble in a corner of his mill, silent and useless.

He nudged them with his foot and they gently belched out a broken beat.

The noise brought back a bitter memory.

He closed his eyes and clenched his fists.

He saw himself bashing them to bits on the floor, scowling angrily at the crowd jeering at his music.

He shook himself out of the past.

There was no point glaring at the bagpipes that would get him nowhere.

A plan.

He needed a plan." Now, you can see that in the middle of her paragraph, Laura just as she planned to in her single paragraph outline, she has used a flashback to develop her character.

Now, she's chosen to do this in the exposition in the opening of a story, but it could come at any point.

There are no rules about when a flashback should come.

And you can see she's introduced her flashback by saying the noise brought back a bitter memory, and he closed his eyes and clenched his fists.

So, we get the idea that when he's closing his eyes, he's thinking of this memory.

And then we see he saw himself bashing them to bits on the floor.

So, really nice evocation of what happened to these bagpipes, which is the focus of Laura's paragraph.

And she signalled that in her topic sentence.

Now, I'd like you to discuss, would you like to use flashback in your piece? When and why? The answer does not have be yes.

But if you would like to use it in your piece, then you should think, when do I want to use it? Do I want to use it in the exposition, the rising action, the climax, the falling action, or the resolution.

Pause the video and discuss this question now, Welcome back, a really lovely discussion there.

What was really nice is people really considering, would flashback enhance my story? Is it something that I want to include? Is it something that's necessary for my story? Will it add something to my story? Some people saying, "Yes, I really want to develop my character by using flashback." And others saying, "No, it's actually not appropriate for this particular story.

I'm gonna develop my character in another way, either through a dialogue with another character or another method that they want to rely on in order to develop their character." You don't have to use flashback.

The important thing is to consider, do I want to use it and make those decisions? That's a writerly thing to do, to consider do I want to use it and how will I use it? Now, the next thing I'd like you to discuss is Laura has used flashbacks.

She's used it really well, but she does have some other methods that she's relied on to make her writing really powerful.

So, what are those methods, and will you use any of these methods in your own writing? Why and how? So again, considering those writerly decisions and what methods do I want to use to create a really engaging story for my reader? Pause the video and discuss these two questions now.

welcome back.

Really, really lovely discussion.

They're lovely to hear.

Praise of Laura's work.

And then also those lovely considerations.

Will I include this in my own story? So, let's draw attention to some of the things that Laura has included.

Lots of people said, "Well, I know she wanted to include alliteration, because she noted it down in her single paragraph outline, and she has used it to really, really good effect." We've got the bagpipes beginning with that letter B, and they gently belch out a broken beat.

So, we've got that B, B, B, that repeated sound, and it actually, comes back with the word bitter and then bashing.

So, she's used it alliteration throughout her paragraph, and it really evokes a sense of these bagpipes breaking, being crushed to the floor.

There's some lovely vocabulary choices from the word ruefully from the word nudged to the word jeering.

So, we get a really evocative memory when Laura has used this flashback.

Another saying, "Well, I can see that we've got repetition at the end of the paragraph as well, "A plan.

He needed a plan." So that repetition there, I said before, it really helps us get inside the miller's head.

So, even though Laura is using the third person, so she's not using I, but she's instead using he, we get a sense of the miller's character.

"A plan.

He needed a plan." He seems very confident that he will be able to think of a plan and get his bagpipes mended.

So, lots and lots of different techniques and they might notice some other things that Laura did and things that you want to include in your own writing to write a really paragraph, just like Laura has.

I cannot wait to read the rest of her story.

And that shows that it's a really powerful exposition, if you've got readers thinking, what happens next? I really wanna find out what happens next.

Now, we check for understanding before we get to you writing your own narrative with these fantastic plots that you have come up with in this learning cycle.

So, true or false? You can use a flashback at any point in your narrative.

Pause the video and select your response now.

Well done, if you selected true.

Now, I'd like you to justify your ideas.

Is it A, flashbacks provide insight into the past one or more characters and can be used at any appropriate moment in your story, or B, flashbacks give an indication that something bad will happen in the future and could be used at any appropriate moment in your story.

Pause the video and select your justification now.

Well done, if you selected A.

Flashbacks provide an insight into the past of one or more characters.

Well done, if you notice that.

B, this is a different method, not a flashback, but instead foreshadowing.

Foreshadowing gives an indication that something bad will happen in the future and can be used at any appropriate moment in your story.

So, flashback is providing insight into the past, but foreshadowing is giving an indication that something bad will happen in the future.

Two really, really good methods, which some of you might want to use in your own narrative.

So, let's take it away.

Here is the prompt.

Write a narrative inspired by a character or story you have read.

The first thing you're gonna do is create single paragraph outlines for each section of your narrative.

And we've got the single paragraph outline, just a diagram there in order to remind you what a single paragraph outline looks like.

And then I would like you to write.

So, the second thing, is to write the first four sections of your narrative.

So, not the full thing, but the exposition, the rising action, climax, and falling action.

The first four sections of your narrative.

And the five part narrative structure is there just to remind you of the structure that you will need to follow.

One final note before you begin.

Each section of the five part narrative structure does not have to equal a paragraph.

You don't need one paragraph for exposition, one for rising action, one for climax, one for falling action.

You might have many more paragraphs for your exposition than you do for your climax, for example.

You need to decide, you need to make those decisions.

So, it does need to follow this structure, but it's not about writing five paragraphs.

You need to decide which bits of your story need more time and which bits of your story need a little bit less time.

So, you've got two prompts there on the board.

First step, creating those single paragraph outlines.

Second step, writing the first four sections of your narrative.

Give this activity, these two activities, the time that they deserve.

So, you've got a story that you can be really, really proud of.

I can see people grabbing for their pen, their laptop, whatever it is that they're going to be writing on.

As I say, I cannot wait to hear how all of these characters come to life in the plots that you have developed.

Pause the video and complete these two tasks now.

Welcome back, such a beautiful atmosphere to see people writing these stories.

I can see characters who have really come to life on the page.

It was also lovely to see people considering in their single paragraph outlines, well, what methods do I actually want to use? Can see how carefully Laura considered her methods and how that paragraph really came to life on the page.

How am I going to do that as well? So, you've now got the main part of your story, the first four parts of your story there on the page in front of you.

Well done.

Now, a bit of feedback.

Laura reads her work, a really, really important part of the writing process to go back and read through your work.

And she reflects, "I'm pleased with the structure of my piece.

I spent the most time on the rising action so that the reader is held in suspense.

By contrast, the climax of my story is quite short.

I think I've used some powerful methods and powerful techniques too.

For example, the flashback and alliteration in the exposition.

We saw that and celebrated that earlier.

Later, I use plosives," so the repetition of those harsher sounds, those constant sounds, "to describe the wrestling match so the reader can hear the two men fighting each other." Fantastic idea of a place to use plosives.

So, these harsh sounds, K, B, T, to really evoke the idea that the two men are wrestling each other.

So, a nice bit of reflection there just before Laura writes her resolution.

So, I would like you to read your own work now, and if possible, read it aloud.

It's always a really good way to hear what has gone really, really well in your work and any changes that you want to make.

So, read your own work, if possible aloud, and then discuss these questions.

Which section of the five part narrative structure do you spend the most time on and why? And what methods do you think are particularly powerful? Pause the video and complete these tasks now.

Welcome back, really, really lovely to hear some of those stories some people choosing to read their stories aloud to really celebrate some of that work.

And lots and lots of different answers to the idea of the five part narrative structure.

Some people say, "Well, I spent the most time on the exposition.

I really wanted to establish the setting and the character, and I needed to do that through these various means." Others saying, "No, like Laura, I really wanted to create suspense.

So, the rising action went on for quite, quite a long time, whereas like Laura, my climax was very, very short." And then the methods that people use that were particularly powerful, these were so various.

I had some beautiful metaphors, some lovely vocabulary choice, some very powerful use of plosives just like Laura or alliteration, and some really carefully considered use of flashback that were there to really develop the character so that we start to understand them a little bit more.

Just like we did with the miller.

We started to understand that he's quite an angry character, but also that some other characters in the story made fun of him.

And so, we maybe feel a little bit sorry for the miller.

So, just like Laura creating a flashback that really helped us understand the character.

So, to edit, hear lots of flashbacks that did that.

So, you've got most of your story written now, which is fantastic.

We're gonna pay close attention to the resolution now.

So, let's think about our second learning cycle, and what we're gonna focus on is linking first and final paragraphs.

So, Laura prepares to write her final paragraph, but the first thing she does is she rereads her first paragraph and selects the details that she wants to repeat.

And you can see that they are highlighted there on the board.

So, in her final paragraph, she wants to repeat these ideas from her first paragraph.

The idea that the focus is on the bagpipes, the idea that they are a broken jumble, and the idea that then miller needs a plan.

And she's highlighted those in her paragraph.

So, she's reread her first paragraph and thought, this is gonna help me form my final paragraph.

Now, here is Laura's final paragraph, and she writes, "The miller limped home slowly and painfully.

Everything hurt.

As he opened the door to his mill, he once again saw the broken jumble of his bagpipes.

They looked even more dejected, unhappy, and crushed than before.

Overwhelmed with humiliation and frustration, the miller picked them up and prepared to hurl them out the door.

But the feel of them in his hand and their gentle groan reminded him of everything he loved about his pipes.

He placed them carefully on the floor.

He could get them fixed.

All he needed was a plan." So, we've got Laura's final paragraph there as well.

Now, she has repeated ideas from her first paragraph, which gives her a sense of structure and finality.

So, she repeated that phrase, "the broken jumble of his bagpipes." And we have indeed returned to the bagpipes to the mill where we started the story.

And then she has finished with, "All he needed was a plan." So, she's actually repeated one of the ideas, the final sentence from that first paragraph.

So, I really get the sense that the story is coming to a close, because of that repetition from that first paragraph.

So, this table shows the ideas that Laura has repeated.

So, the first paragraph, the focus is on the bagpipes, the final paragraph, the focus is on the bagpipes.

In the first paragraph, the miller comes up with a plan and the final paragraph, the miller comes up with a plan.

So, two ideas that she's carefully selected from that first paragraph included in her final paragraph to give that final paragraph a sense of finality.

Now, I would like you to reread your first paragraph and discuss what details you would like to repeat in your final paragraph.

Two or three details is probably enough.

It might be a word or phrase, it might be a focus, it might be a particular idea.

Pause the video, reread your first paragraph, and then discuss what details you would like to repeat in your final paragraph.

Pause the video and complete these tasks now.

Welcome back.

It was lovely to hear those first paragraphs again, and really nice to see people thinking hard and thinking, what am I gonna select to include in my final paragraph? I can see we're all prepared to have a full narrative where we've got a sense of finality at the end of your story.

It doesn't just trail off, but instead, it finishes with a really, really powerful beat.

Now, check for understanding before we write those final paragraphs.

True or false? To give your writing a sense of finality, you should repeat most of your first paragraph in your final paragraph.

Is this true or false? Pause the video and select your response now.

Well done, if you selected false.

Now, I'd like you to justify your answer.

Is it A, to give your writing a sense of finality you should repeat selected ideas from your first paragraph in your final paragraph, or B, to give your writing a sense of finality, you should repeat all the methods you've used from your first paragraph in your final paragraph? Pause the video and select your response now.

Well done, if you selected A.

So, repeat selected ideas, two or three is probably enough.

It's not about repeating methods, you might repeat a word or phrase, and you might repeat a method, but it's not about repeating all of your methods.

It's not about the first and final paragraphs being exact matches, but just echoes selected details so that you get the idea, I can see that this story is coming to its conclusion.

So, our final practise task and the bit where you're gonna finish your story with a flourish.

Remember, the prompt was write a narrative inspired by a character or story you have read.

You're gonna write your final paragraph.

So, you're gonna select the details from your first paragraph you wish to reuse, and then write your final paragraph incorporating these details.

Remember, the resolution is the ending of your story.

Really focus on completing your story so that you can feel really, really proud of the narrative that you have created, and we can celebrate your work afterwards.

Pause the video and complete this task now.

Welcome back.

Wow, look at these stories in front of us.

So, so exciting to have these beautifully crafted stories where you've made some fantastic writerly decisions about what your character is going to do.

You followed a fantastic structure, and of course, you've given your story that sense of an ending by really thinking, what details am I gonna include from my first paragraph in that final paragraph.

Let's do some feedback before we celebrate your work.

So, Laura matched details from her first paragraph to her final paragraph.

You'll remember that from earlier in this learning cycle.

So, the focus on the bagpipes and the miller coming up with a plan.

I'd like you to reread your first and final paragraphs and discuss what ideas did you repeat.

Pause the video and complete this task now.

Welcome back.

Lovely to hear those first and final paragraphs being read aloud.

And there you could really hear the echoes from those first paragraphs in those final paragraphs and really got the sense, ah, I can see this story is coming to a close now.

Well, well done.

You should be so proud of the story that you have in front of you.

In summary, the five part narrative structure divides a story into exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.

Each section of the narrative does not have to have the same number of paragraphs.

You can engage your reader by using interesting methods in each paragraph.

To structure your piece, you could link the concluding sentence of paragraphs to the next topic sentence.

To further structure your piece, your first and final paragraph could repeat selected ideas or images.

It has been such a privilege to see you building these stories today, and I look forward to seeing you next time.