Starter quiz
- What features should we include in the first part of our opening of Macbeth?
- a description of the setting, using all of our senses ✓
- figurative language to build atmosphere ✓
- a description of Macbeth
- direct speech to show the dialogue of the characters
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- What tense will we write our opening in?
- present tense
- future tense
- past tense ✓
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- Which of the following words would accurately describe the atmosphere we want to create?
- serene
- eerie ✓
- uplifting
- foreboding ✓
- enchanting
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- Match each feature to the correct example.
- simile⇔Fog wrapped around the heath like a suffocating blanket. ✓
- fronted adverbial⇔Up above, ✓
- alliteration⇔salty sea sprayed ✓
- How will we order our setting description?
- We'll start by describing from the top and work our way down. ✓
- We'll start by describing things on the ground and work our way up.
- It doesn't need to be in any order.
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- Which of these sentences creates the right kind of atmosphere for our opening?
- A chorus of chirping songbirds sang sweetly.
- Dried, withered grasses rustled ominously in the chilling wind. ✓
- Shrouds of mist drenched the shrubs that were trying desperately to survive. ✓
- Graceful deer grazed serenely.
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Exit quiz
- Which sentence starts with a fronted adverbial of place?
- All night long, eerie shadows danced in the wind.
- Beneath the trees, eerie shadows danced in the wind. ✓
- Flittering maniacally, eerie shadows danced in the wind.
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- Which of the following are complex sentences?
- The barren landscape stretched for miles and miles.
- The barren landscape, which showed little sign of life, stretched for miles. ✓
- The barren landscape lay empty, stretching for miles and miles. ✓
- It was a desolate place.
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- What linguistic features can be seen in the following sentence? 'Above the heath, the eerie moon shone, trying with all its might to break through the dense clouds.'
- non-finite (-ing) subordinate clause ✓
- fronted adverbial of place ✓
- alliteration
- relative subordinate clause
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- Which sentence includes a metaphor?
- Battered plants begged for mercy from the raging tempest.
- A thick blanket of mist suffocated the trees. ✓
- The storm raged across the heath like a violent predator on the rampage.
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- Which sentence includes personification?
- Battered plants begged for mercy from the raging tempest. ✓
- The wind whipped wild waves of wilted heather into the salty air.
- The wild heath stretched out like a vast quilt of tangled threads.
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- Which sentence includes alliteration?
- Battered plants begged for mercy from the raging tempest.
- The wind whipped wild waves of wilted heather into the salty air. ✓
- The wild heath stretched out like a vast quilt of tangled threads.
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Worksheet
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Presentation
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Lesson Details
Key learning points
- Writing is most successful when structure, content and vocabulary is planned.
- A narrative opening should engage the reader and describe the setting and any characters who are present.
- Using a wide range of precise, ambitious vocabulary enhances text cohesion.
- The senses can be appealed to when generating ambitious descriptive vocabulary.
- Structuring sentences in a range of ways enhances text cohesion.
Common misconception
Pupils may struggle to convert notes into complete sentences.
Provide lots of time for oral rehearsal at each stage of the lesson and ensure children have access to vocabulary and plans used earlier in the unit.
Keywords
Senses - the physical abilities of sight, smell, hearing, touch and taste
Complex sentence - a sentence formed of at least one main clause and a subordinate clause
Fronted adverbial of place - a sentence starter that tells the reader where something is or happens
Figurative language - the use of simile, metaphor and personification to create vivid imagery
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