New
New
Year 6

Planning a setting description in 'Sherlock Holmes'

I can plan the structure and content of a setting description in 'Sherlock Holmes'.

New
New
Year 6

Planning a setting description in 'Sherlock Holmes'

I can plan the structure and content of a setting description in 'Sherlock Holmes'.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Writing is most successful when it is planned.
  2. Setting descriptions can start from a bird's eye view and zoom in to a city's streets.
  3. We use adjectives and rich vocabulary and we explore the five senses to set a particular mood when describing a setting.
  4. Fronted adverbials of place and preposition phrases place items in a setting.
  5. We can write a setting description in the third person and the present tense.

Common misconception

Pupils may feel tempted to write in complete sentences in their plan.

Model and encourage note-taking; this gives pupils more flexibility when they come to write and it allows them to jot down more ideas - some of which they can reject later.

Keywords

  • Present tense - shows action happening now

  • Adjective - describes a noun

  • Third person - a perspective where we describe things happening without saying they are happening to us personally

  • Senses - the physical abilities of sight, smell, hearing, touch and taste

  • Mood - the feeling a piece of writing gives the reader or the ideas that it makes them think about

Encourage children to use vocabulary referred to in the previous lesson in their plan. You may also wish to show video clips and more images to encourage vivid description.
Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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6 Questions

Q1.
What does it mean if something is 'anachronistic'?
It is written in time order
Correct answer: It is out of keeping with the time period we're writing about
It is in keeping with the time period we're writing about
Q2.
Which of the following would be good to include in a setting description of Victorian London in order to show the historical context?
Correct answer: open sewers
Correct answer: street urchins
Correct answer: slums
poverty
Q3.
Which of the following were forms of transport in Victorian London?
urchin
smog
Correct answer: penny farthing
Correct answer: omnibus
Q4.
Which of these words means 'impossible to see through'?
imposing
Correct answer: impenetrable
havoc
nauseating
Q5.
Which of these words means 'ruined' or 'broken'?
Correct answer: dilapidated
serene
skulk
stench
Q6.
Which of the following are fronted adverbials of place?
All of a sudden,
Correct answer: On every street corner,
Correct answer: In the serene streets,
Correct answer: Beneath imposing buildings,

6 Questions

Q1.
Which of these sentences are in the present tense?
Correct answer: Dilapidated houses huddle around narrow alleyways
Dilapidated houses huddled around narrow alleyways
Dilapidated houses were huddling around narrow alleyways
Correct answer: Dilapidated houses are huddling around narrow alleyways
Q2.
Which of the following are preposition phrases?
Correct answer: down a crowded, cobbled street
a crowded, cobbled street
Correct answer: across a serene, tree-lined street
a serene, tree-lined street
Q3.
Which words in this sentence are adjectives? 'The nauseating stench of human waste fills the air.'
Correct answer: nauseating
Correct answer: human
stench
waste
Q4.
Which of the following descriptions shows the use of the 'hearing' sense?
The wheels of the omnibus are caked in horse manure
Correct answer: The wheels of the omnibus clatter on the cobbles
The wheels of the omnibus give off the foul stench of horse manure
Q5.
Which description best shows a mood of chaos and misery in describing the slums?
Market vendors chat happily as children play beside them
Correct answer: Market vendors bellow over each other as urchins beg desperately for scraps
Market vendors talk loudly as children feast on bread and cheese
Q6.
Which description best shows a mood of calm and cosiness in describing Holmes' study?
Correct answer: As Watson sits in a plump armchair, the fire crackles gently
As Watson perches on a firm chair, the fire blazes angrily
As Watson stalks around the room, sparks fly from the raging fire