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Year 4

Writing a section of a narrative based on 'The Borrowers'

I can write a section of the build-up of 'The Borrowers'.

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New
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Year 4

Writing a section of a narrative based on 'The Borrowers'

I can write a section of the build-up of 'The Borrowers'.

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Share activities with pupils
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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. In this section of the build-up, suspense is built around Arrietty setting off on her first borrowing expedition.
  2. The use of precise and ambitious vocabulary, including ‘show and tell’ language supports the building of suspense.
  3. Using a range of sentence types, including adverbial complex sentences, supports text flow.
  4. An adverbial clause begins with a subordinating conjunction.
  5. An adverbial clause is joined with a main clause to form an adverbial complex sentence.

Keywords

  • Suspense - when you are feeling anxious or excited about what may happen

  • 'show and tell' - a writing technique for showing a character’s feelings with description of their actions and expressions

  • Subordinating conjunction - a word that starts an adverbial clause

  • Adverbial clause - a type of subordinate clause that starts with a subordinating conjunction

  • Adverbial complex sentence - a sentence formed of a main clause and an adverbial subordinate clause

Common misconception

Pupils may use repetitive language choices.

Exposing pupils to a range of synonyms and ambitious vocabulary in the teacher model will support with language variation.

Give pupils opportunities to say their sentences aloud to themselves or their partner before writing. Sentences are most successfully written when they have been orally rehearsed.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You need a copy of the 2014 Puffin Books edition of ‘The Borrowers’ by Mary Norton for this lesson.

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).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What are the purposes of a build-up?
to describe the setting
to describe how a problem is resolved
Correct answer: to develop the plot and characters
Correct answer: to build up suspense and excitement
Q2.
True or false? You can copy out the notes from your plan exactly as they are.
Correct Answer: false, False
Q3.
Which of the following is a simple sentence?
Correct answer: Arrietty spent weeks doing chores.
Arrietty spent weeks doing chores so she could prove she was ready to borrow.
Arrietty spent weeks doing chores as her mother watched.
Q4.
What is a compound sentence?
a sentence formed of one main clause
a sentence formed of one main clause and an adverbial subordinate clause
Correct answer: a sentence formed of two main clauses joined by a co-ordinating conjunction
Q5.
Order the four key moments of the build-up chronologically.
1 - Arrietty spent weeks doing chores until Homily told Pod to take her borrowing.
2 - Pod protested but Homily remained firm.
3 - Arrietty excitedly followed her father along the passages to the clock.
4 - She climbed in and gazed up in awe.
Q6.
Select the example of 'show and tell' language.
Correct answer: Arrietty’s heart pounded.
Arrietty followed her father.
Arrietty looked around.

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the keyword to the correct definition.
Correct Answer:subordinating conjunction,a word that starts an adverbial clause

a word that starts an adverbial clause

Correct Answer:adverbial clause,a type of subordinate clause starting with a subordinating conjunction

a type of subordinate clause starting with a subordinating conjunction

Correct Answer:adverbial complex sentence,a sentence formed of a main clause and an adverbial subordinate clause

a sentence formed of a main clause and an adverbial subordinate clause

Q2.
True or false? The purpose of the build-up is to bring the suspense to its highest point.
Correct Answer: false, False
Q3.
Which of the following linguistic features should be included in the build-up?
Correct answer: precise and ambitious vocabulary
Correct answer: ‘show and tell’ language that builds suspense
formal fronted adverbials
subheadings
Correct answer: a range of sentence types to support text flow
Q4.
Match the sentence types to their definition.
Correct Answer:simple sentence,a sentence made of just one main clause with just one idea

a sentence made of just one main clause with just one idea

Correct Answer:compound sentence,a sentence formed of two main clauses and a coordinating conjunction

a sentence formed of two main clauses and a coordinating conjunction

Correct Answer:adverbial complex sentence,a sentence formed of a main clause and an adverbial subordinate clause

a sentence formed of a main clause and an adverbial subordinate clause

Q5.
Match the subordinating conjunction to its meaning / purpose.
Correct Answer:when,at that time

at that time

Correct Answer:as,at the same time

at the same time

Correct Answer:so,to show effect

to show effect

Q6.
When we write, we always try to do which of these things?
Correct answer: Plan and say each sentence before we write it.
Correct answer: Vary our sentence types.
Use as much punctuation as possible.
Correct answer: Use punctuation where we know the rules.
Write in capital letters.