New
New
Year 4
Writing the opening of a narrative based on 'Jabberwocky'
I can write the opening of a narrative based on ‘Jabberwocky’.
New
New
Year 4
Writing the opening of a narrative based on 'Jabberwocky'
I can write the opening of a narrative based on ‘Jabberwocky’.
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- The purpose of the opening is to engage the reader and introduce the setting and characters.
- Using a range of sentence types (simple, compound and complex) improves text flow for the reader.
- Direct speech is punctuated using inverted commas; dialogue moves the action forward.
- Notes from the plan can be used to form full sentences.
- A new paragraph is used to signal the start of a new idea or key moment.
Keywords
Text flow - how a text is written to keep the reader engaged
Fronted adverbial - a sentence starter followed by a comma
Relative clause - a type of subordinate clause that starts with a relative pronoun
Direct speech - shows that a character is speaking out loud in a text
Common misconception
Pupils may struggle with using accurate punctuation in direct speech sentences.
Give pupils an opportunity to practise writing speech on mini-whiteboards and provide a visual scaffold to support them.
Refer to the Year 4 Grammar unit 'Apostrophes and speech punctuation' to support pupils with writing direct speech correctly. Remind pupils to start a new line each time there is a new speaker.
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).Lesson video
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Starter quiz
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6 Questions
Q1.
What are the purposes of the opening of a narrative?
to build up tension
to entertain the reader with lots of characters' spoken words
Q2.
Put the four key moments of the opening in chronological order.
Q3.
What is a simple sentence?
a sentence with two main clauses and a co-ordinating conjunction
a sentence with a subordinating conjunction
Q4.
What is a compound sentence?
a sentence formed of two main clauses
a sentence formed of two main clauses joined by a subordinating conjunction
Q5.
Which of the following are true about dialogue?
It gives factual information.
It tells the reader when something happened.
It describes a verb in further detail.
Q6.
Writers start a new to signal the start of a new idea or key moment.
Exit quiz
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6 Questions
Q1.
The __________ is the first section of a story where the writer describes the setting and main characters.
build-up
climax
resolution
Q2.
True or false? 'A complex sentence is a sentence consisting of a main clause and a subordinate clause.'
Q3.
What is the name of the punctuation mark that indicates where the words the character said begin and end?
comma
question mark
exclamation mark
full stop
Q4.
Which direct speech sentence is correctly punctuated?
‘‘Beware of the brutal, savage Jabberwock warned the concerned father.
Beware of the brutal, savage Jabberwock warned the concerned father.
‘‘Beware of the brutal, savage Jabberwock’’ warned the concerned father.
Q5.
Which sentence is correctly punctuated?
In, the shadows, strange creatures were wriggling and writhing.
In the shadows strange creatures were wriggling and writhing.
In the shadows strange, creatures were wriggling and writhing.
Q6.
Which of these relative complex sentences is punctuated correctly?
The young boy who was listening intently, began to tremble nervously.
The young boy who was listening intently began to tremble nervously.
The young boy, who was listening intently began to tremble, nervously.
Additional material
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