New
New
Year 4

Writing a narrative scene with direct speech in 'Whale Rider'

I can write a narrative scene with direct speech in 'Whale Rider'.

New
New
Year 4

Writing a narrative scene with direct speech in 'Whale Rider'

I can write a narrative scene with direct speech in 'Whale Rider'.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The purpose of direct speech in a narrative is to develop characters and advance the plot.
  2. Using a range of sentence types (simple, compound and complex) improves text flow.
  3. Fronted adverbials of time, place or manner add extra detail to a main clause.
  4. This narrative version of 'Whale Rider' is written in the past tense.
  5. Oral rehearsal before writing helps to structure grammatically correct sentences and check for sense.

Keywords

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

  • Fronted adverbial - a sentence starter followed by a comma

  • 'show-not-tell' - shows a character’s feelings by describing their actions, body language and facial expressions

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

Common misconception

Pupils may confuse speech punctuation rules when writing speech first and speech second in a narrative.

At the end of speech first, a full stop must not be used. At the end of speech second, a full stop can be used.

Pupils should be given lots of opportunities to say sentences aloud or to write sentences on whiteboards, paying particular attention to direct speech and to speech second sentences and using the notes from their plan ahead of writing.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You must have access to the film 'Whale Rider' (South Pacific Pictures, 2002) to complete this unit. Images of the characters and scenes from the film will be helpful.

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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6 Questions

Q1.
Which sentence is written in the past tense?
The young girl sings a melodic tune and she holds her head high with pride.
Correct answer: The young girl sang a melodic tune and she held her head high with pride.
The young girl is singing a melodic tune and holding her head high with pride.
The young girl will sing a melodic tune and she will hold her head high.
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?
Paikea's face turned red and she looked down at the ground.
Paikea's face turned red as she looked down at the ground.
Correct answer: Paikea's face turned red.
As she looked down at the ground, Paikea's face turned red.
Q4.
Order the four key moments of the build-up chronologically.
1 - Paikea leads the boys to the Marae by singing.
2 - She sits in the front row with the men.
3 - Koro tells her to move to the back because she is a girl.
4 - Paikea obeys her grandfather.
Q5.
What is the name of the punctuation mark used in direct speech to indicate when the words being spoken start and finish?
exclamation mark
comma
Correct answer: inverted commas
question mark
full stop
Q6.
What is an adverbial complex sentence?
a sentence formed of two main clauses
Correct answer: a sentence formed of one main clause and an adverbial subordinate clause
a sentence formed of two main clauses joined by a co-ordinating conjunction

6 Questions

Q1.
Which of the following is an example of a compound sentence?
The infuriated girl sat on the bench as her face turned red.
Correct answer: The infuriated girl sat on the bench and her face turned red.
As the infuriated girl sat on the bench, her face turned red.
Angrily, the infuriated girl sat on the bench.
Q2.
Which speech first sentence is correctly punctuated?
Go to the back!'' Koro exclaimed.
Correct answer: ''Go to the back!'' Koro exclaimed.
''Go to the back'' Koro exclaimed.
''go to the back!'' Koro exclaimed.
Q3.
Which speech second sentence is correctly punctuated?
Paikea angrily asked, ''what did I say?''
Paikea angrily asked. ''What did I say?''
Correct answer: Paikea angrily asked, ''What did I say?''
Paikea angrily asked, What did I say?
Q4.
True or false? A rhetorical question is meant to be answered by the reader.
Correct Answer: false, False
Q5.
Which of the following is an example of 'show-not-tell' language?
Correct answer: Paikea's face was burning red.
Paikea was angry.
Paikea felt hurt and infuriated.
Paikea obeyed her grandfather.
Q6.
Which sentence is correctly punctuated?
Reluctantly Paikea obeyed her grandfather and she left the Marae.
Reluctantly, Paikea, obeyed her grandfather and she left the Marae.
Correct answer: Reluctantly, Paikea obeyed her grandfather and she left the Marae.
Reluctantly Paikea obeyed, her grandfather, and she left the Marae.