Starter quiz
- Put the key moments of the second part of the opening in the correct order.
- 1⇔Sophie walked towards the window and Mrs Clonkers shouted.
- 2⇔Sophie looked out of the window.
- 3⇔Sophie saw the mysterious figure.
- Which sentence is correctly punctuated?
- bravely, she tiptoed towards the window.
- Bravely, she tiptoed towards the window
- bravely, she tiptoed towards the window
- Bravely, she tiptoed towards the window. ✓
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- Which of these nouns must start with a capital letter?
- mrs clonkers ✓
- window
- curtains
- sophie ✓
- silhouette
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- Which of these sentences is punctuated correctly?
- Slowly, the brave girl, opened the dusty curtains.
- Slowly, the brave girl opened the dusty curtains. ✓
- Slowly the brave girl opened the dusty curtains.
- Slowly the brave girl opened, the dusty curtains.
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- Match the word class to its example.
- noun⇔floorboards ✓
- adjective⇔silent ✓
- verb⇔bellowed ✓
- adverb⇔furiously ✓
- Before writing sentences down, it is helpful to ______ them aloud first.
- 'say' ✓
Exit quiz
- What is the purpose of the opening?
- to build up excitement and tension
- to introduce the characters and setting ✓
- to solve a problem
- to engage the reader ✓
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- When we write, we ...
- showcase the sentence types we know. ✓
- include only one type of sentence.
- do not check back for spelling and punctuation errors.
- say our sentences aloud first. ✓
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- Which of these is an example of a compound sentence?
- She continued towards the window and she hesitantly opened the dusty curtains. ✓
- She continued towards the window.
- She looked out the window as she hesitantly opened the dusty curtains.
- She looked out of the window and curtains.
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- Match these sentence types to their examples.
- simple⇔Sophie froze in fear. ✓
- compound⇔Sophie’s jaw dropped and she shrieked in horror. ✓
- complex⇔As she edged across the floorboards, Mrs Clonkers bellowed furiously. ✓
- Which sentence is written in the past tense?
- She continues towards the window and she hesitantly opens the dusty curtains.
- She will continue towards the window and she will open the dusty curtains.
- She continued towards the window and she hesitantly opened the dusty curtains. ✓
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- Complete the following complex sentence with an appropriate subordinate adverbial clause: 'Sophie froze in fear __________.'
- , but she carried on.
- when she heard Mrs Clonkers bellowing from the hallway. ✓
- and her legs began to tremble.
- as she started laughing.
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Worksheet
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Presentation
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Lesson Details
Key learning points
- The purpose of a narrative opening is to introduce the characters and to describe the setting to the reader.
- Saying sentences aloud before they are written helps to check for sense.
- Using the full range of sentence types (simple, compound and complex) improves text flow for the reader.
- Fronted adverbials of time, place and manner add extra detail to the main clause.
- 'Show-not-tell' language shows a character’s feelings by describing their actions, body language and facial expressions.
Common misconception
Pupils might find it challenging when writing in the irregular past tense.
Refer to the Year 3 unit 'Tense forms: simple, progressive and perfect' for opportunities for further discrete grammar teaching around tense.
Keywords
Text flow - how a text is written to keep the reader engaged
Fronted adverbial - a sentence starter followed by a comma
Past tense - shows that the action happened before now
Complex sentence - a sentence formed of at least one main clause and a subordinate clause
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