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Year 3 - English

Planning part 1 of the build-up of 'The Firework Maker's Daughter'

'The Firework Maker's Daughter': reading and narrative writing

Unit Summary

In this unit, pupils develop their ability to summarise key events from the text, exploring Lila's feelings in the build-up to these. Pupils plan and write both the build-up and the climax of the story, focusing on developing their use of complex sentences, precise vocabulary and speech.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to plan a well-structured paragraph for part 1 of the build-up.

Key Notes

  • The purpose of a build-up is to move the main character's journey forward and build tension.
  • Precise and ambitious vocabulary creates vivid images for the reader for each key moment of the build-up.
  • An effective plan has vocabulary organised concisely and neatly.
  • Careful verb and adverb selection can convey characters' feelings through show and tell.
  • The emotions of the character change through the key moments of the build-up.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • build-up: the building of action and suspense that leads up to the climax in a narrative
  • ambitious vocabulary: high-level language in writing that meets the text's purpose
  • 'show and tell': a writing technique for showing a character's feelings with description of their actions, body language and facial expressions
  • plan: a framework that writers create before they write a section of whole text

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Children may find it difficult to generate some of their own ideas for precise and ambitious vocabulary.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.

The purpose of a build-up is to move the main character's journey forward and build tension. Precise and ambitious vocabulary creates vivid images for the reader for each key moment of the build-up.

2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'build-up'

the building of action and suspense that leads up to the climax in a narrative.

3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.

Mistake: Children may find it difficult to generate some of their own ideas for precise and ambitious vocabulary. Correction: Model use of a thesaurus to up level simple pieces of vocabulary. For example, instead of 'tired', children might use 'exhausted', 'fatigued' or 'worn out'.

More Lessons In This Unit

Browse all guides in the Year 3 English guide library.