Skip to content
Oak National Academy
Oak National Academy
Teachers
Pupils
New
New
Year 4

Writing paragraph one of an emotive narrative scene in 'Whale Rider'

I can write paragraph one of an emotive narrative scene in the climax of ‘Whale Rider’.

Download all resources
arrow-right
Share activities with pupils
arrow-right
New
New
Year 4

Writing paragraph one of an emotive narrative scene in 'Whale Rider'

I can write paragraph one of an emotive narrative scene in the climax of ‘Whale Rider’.

Download all resources
arrow-right
Share activities with pupils
arrow-right
warning

These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.
View new resources
arrow-right

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. This emotive scene is written over two paragraphs and it is important to demonstrate a change in atmosphere across them.
  2. Using a range of sentence types (simple, compound and complex) improves text flow and cohesion.
  3. Precise and ambitious vocabulary, including 'show-not-tell' language, is used to convey an emotive atmosphere.
  4. ‘Show-not-tell’ shows a character’s feelings with description of their actions, body language and facial expressions.
  5. Oral rehearsal before writing helps to structure grammatically correct sentences and check for sense.

Keywords

  • Emotive - evoking intense feelings or emotions

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

  • Cohesion - how a text flows in order to maintain the interest of the reader and achieve the purpose

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

Common misconception

Internal thoughts are rhetorical questions only.

Internal thoughts can be questions and statements. Ensure pupils use their plans with ideas for Paikea's internal thoughts and model how to write these in the third person.

Pupils should be given lots of opportunities to say sentences aloud or to write sentences on whiteboards, paying particular attention to internal thoughts, using the notes from their plan.
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

Skip lesson video

Loading...

Starter quiz

Download starter quiz

6 Questions

Q1.
How do you use a plan to write part of a narrative?
copy it out word for word
Correct answer: use the notes to form a range of full sentences
follow the sequence of events
Q2.
What is a fronted adverbial?
a word used to describe a verb
Correct answer: a sentence starter
a conjunction
a type of subordinate clause
Q3.
What are the different sentence types that you can use in your writing?
Correct answer: complex
fronted adverbial
Correct answer: simple
subordinate clause
Correct answer: compound
Q4.
Put the four key moments of the climax in chronological order.
1 - One night, some whales become stranded on a beach.
2 - Members of the tribe arrive to try to save the whales, but they are not able to.
3 - The villagers start to leave the beach.
4 - Paikea communicates with the lead whale and they start moving.
Q5.
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 and a co-ordinating conjunction
Q6.
Which of the following is an example of 'show-not-tell' language?
The villagers were terrified.
The villagers ran towards the whales.
Correct answer: Their eyes widened in fear and their jaws dropped.
The villagers tried to help the whales.

Exit quiz

Download exit quiz

6 Questions

Q1.
True or false? We should use a range of sentence types (like simple, compound and complex) in our writing.
Correct Answer: true, True
Q2.
Match the sentence type to its example.
Correct Answer:simple,The villagers ran frantically towards the shore.

The villagers ran frantically towards the shore.

Correct Answer:compound,There was an urgent cry and the villagers looked up in shock.

There was an urgent cry and the villagers looked up in shock.

Correct Answer:complex,As she reached the shore, the helpless whales broke her heart.

As she reached the shore, the helpless whales broke her heart.

Q3.
What linguistic device is this an example of? 'How could she just watch these symbols of her heritage ebb away?'
metaphor
Correct answer: rhetorical question
direct speech
show-not-tell language
Q4.
Complete the following sentence with an appropriate fronted adverbial: '__________ an urgent, sudden cry from the beach interrupted the ocean’s rhythmic motion.'
Happily,
Correct answer: In the dead of night,
In addition,
Quietly,
Q5.
Which of the following uses 'show-not-tell' language to describe how the villagers felt when they saw the stranded whales?
The villagers ran frantically towards the sea.
Correct answer: The villagers ran frantically towards the sea with eyes widened in alarm.
''We're really scared!'' exclaimed the villagers.
The villagers were scared.
Q6.
Select all that apply to complete this sentence: 'When writing, we should...'
only showcase one type of sentence.
Correct answer: plan and say each sentence before we write it.
Correct answer: make edits and improvements if needed.
copy our plan exactly, word-for-word.
Correct answer: read back our sentences out loud to check they make sense.