Planning the opening of 'The BFG' (part one) | English

Starter quiz

Put the sections of a narrative in chronological order.
- 1
  
  ⇔
  
  opening
- 2
  
  ⇔
  
  build-up
- 3
  
  ⇔
  
  climax
- 4
  
  ⇔
  
  resolution
The main characters in 'The BFG' are the BFG and ______.
- 'Sophie' ✓
Which of these punctuation marks is a fronted adverbial followed by?
- full stop
- exclamation mark
- comma ✓
- question mark
What does a full sentence need to include?
- a comma
- a capital letter ✓
- a verb ✓
- a full stop (or other closing punctuation) ✓
Match the word classes to their definitions.
- adjective
  
  ⇔
  
  a word that describes a noun ✓
- noun
  
  ⇔
  
  a person, place or thing ✓
- adverb
  
  ⇔
  
  a word that describes a verb ✓
- verb
  
  ⇔
  
  a doing, being or having word ✓
Match each word class to the correct example.
- adjective
  
  ⇔
  
  brave ✓
- noun
  
  ⇔
  
  owl ✓
- adverb
  
  ⇔
  
  nervously ✓
- verb
  
  ⇔
  
  stared ✓

Exit quiz

What are the purposes of the opening of a narrative?
- to build up tension
- to engage the reader so that they carry on reading or watching ✓
- to entertain the reader with characters' spoken words
- to introduce the setting and characters ✓
A fronted adverbial of __________ tells the reader when the action in the main clause takes place.
- time ✓
- place
- manner
Put the three key moments of part one of the opening in chronological order.
- 1
  
  ⇔
  
  Sophie awoke and she sat up.
- 2
  
  ⇔
  
  Sophie looked at the owl.
- 3
  
  ⇔
  
  Sophie got out of bed.
Choose an appropriate fronted adverbial to start this sentence: '__________ Sophie put on her tattered shoes.'
- As a result,
- Interestingly,
- In the night sky,
- Cautiously, ✓
What is included in a plan?
- notes that can be written in bullet points ✓
- full sentences
- ambitious vocabulary ✓
- paragraphs
Which word is the verb in the following sentence? 'Nervously, Sophie stared at the brown owl.'
- nervously
- Sophie
- stared ✓
- brown

Worksheet

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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.
Precise and ambitious vocabulary is logged on a plan for future use.
Notes should not be written in full sentences and bullet points can be used to make notes clear.
Fronted adverbials of time, place and manner indicate when, where and how action takes place.
Ambitious and precise adverbs, adjectives and verbs are used to create a vivid picture for the reader.

Common misconception

Pupils may think that all words are ambitious vocabulary.

Teach pupils that there can be many options when selecting vocabulary and they need to carefully choose the most precise words for each part of their writing.

Keywords

Plan - a framework that writers create before they write a section or whole text
Notes - written out of full sentences
Ambitious vocabulary - high-level language in writing that meets the text purpose
Fronted adverbial - a sentence starter followed by a comma