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Year 3

Planning the climax of 'The Iron Man'

I can plan the climax of 'The Iron Man'.

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Year 3

Planning the climax of 'The Iron Man'

I can plan the climax of 'The Iron Man'.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The purpose of the climax is to describe the main action and take the suspense to its highest point.
  2. In the climax, the Iron Man resurfaces from the earth and Hogarth persuades the farmers not to harm him.
  3. Precise and ambitious vocabulary, as well as ‘show and tell’, help take the suspense to its highest point in the climax.
  4. Direct speech is used to convey Hogarth’s intentions to the Iron Man.
  5. A plan includes notes, a sequence of events and ambitious vocabulary.

Keywords

  • Climax - the point in the narrative that describes the main action and takes the suspense to its highest point

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

  • Ambitious vocabulary - high-level language in writing that meets the text purpose

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

  • Direct speech - the term used for a character speaking out loud in a text

Common misconception

Pupils may find it hard to generate varied speech ideas for Hogarth and ambitious vocabulary for the reporting clause that conveys the appropriate tone.

Get children to hot seat as Hogarth and imagine what they would say to the Iron Man in order to persuade him and win his trust. Ask children to consider how they said it in order to generate ideas for the reporting clause. Create a shared bank.


To help you plan your year 3 english lesson on: Planning the climax of 'The Iron Man', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Ensure children have thoroughly recapped the build-up and ask them to recall how Hogarth felt after the Iron Man was buried. Highlight that the focus of the climax as the Iron Man resurfaces is how Hogarth tries to persuade humanity to respond differently.
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Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), 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 is a plan?
Correct answer: a framework that writers create before they write a section or whole text
a finished piece of writing
the way a text is structured
Q2.
Which of the following should be included in a plan?
Correct answer: bullet point notes
Correct answer: key vocabulary
compound sentences
paragraphs
Q3.
Put the key parts of a narrative story structure in order.
1 - opening
2 - build-up
3 - climax
4 - resolution
Q4.
Put the following events from the story, 'The Iron Man', in the correct order.
1 - The mysterious Iron Man fell off a cliff and his body broke apart.
2 - He gradually pieced himself back together and went into the sea.
3 - The Iron Man ate all of the farmers’ machinery and they trapped him.
4 - The Iron Man resurfaced.
5 - Hogarth befriended the Iron Man and led him to a scrapyard full of metal.
Q5.
What is the purpose of the build-up?
it describes the main action and takes the suspense to its highest point
Correct answer: it builds suspense for the reader leading up to the climax
it introduces the main character and sets the scene
it resolves the problem encountered in the story
Q6.
What is the purpose of the climax?
Correct answer: it describes the main action and takes the suspense to its highest point
it builds suspense for the reader leading up to the climax
it introduces the main character and sets the scene
it resolves the problem encountered in the story

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
True or false? At the end of the build-up, everyone was happy with the solution of burying the Iron Man.
Correct Answer: false, False
Q2.
What is the purpose of the climax?
to resolve the problem
to describe the characters and setting
Correct answer: to describe the main action and take the suspense to its highest point
Q3.
Put these key moments of the climax in order.
1 - By spring the following year, the mound over the Iron Man was covered in grass.
2 - Suddenly, the ground began to shake and then the earth split open.
3 - The ravenous Iron Man rose out of the ground.
4 - The farmers wanted to respond by calling in the army to destroy the Iron Man.
5 - Hogarth protested and said he had a different idea.
6 - Hogarth apologised to the Iron Man and offered him unlimited metal.
Q4.
Match each word class to the appropriate vocabulary.
Correct Answer:nouns,grass, earth, hand
tick

grass, earth, hand

Correct Answer:adjectives,fresh, monstrous, wide
tick

fresh, monstrous, wide

Correct Answer:verbs,shook, roared, thrust
tick

shook, roared, thrust

Correct Answer:adverbs,happily, violently
tick

happily, violently

Q5.
What is the adverb in the following sentence? 'As a family happily ate their picnic on the hill, they felt the earth beneath them tremble.'
family
Correct answer: happily
ate
picnic
earth
Q6.
When we write a plan, we use ...
full sentences.
paragraphs.
Correct answer: notes.
drawings.