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Year 4 - English

Editing the build-up of 'A Christmas Carol'

'A Christmas Carol': narrative writing and reading

Unit Summary

In this unit, pupils explore A Christmas Carol, learning about its context and developing comprehension through targeted questions. They analyse characterisation, themes, and the story's ending. Pupils then plan and write a setting description, along with the opening, build-up and climax.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to edit the build-up of your story based on 'A Christmas Carol'.

Key Notes

  • Editing is the process of making changes to improve writing.
  • The job of an editor is to check punctuation and to make improvements to sentence structure and language choices.
  • When editing punctuation, missing or incorrectly used capital letters, full stops and commas are checked.
  • When editing sentence structure, changes to the way sentences are constructed to improve text flow are made.
  • When editing vocabulary, reviews of word and phrase choice are made to ensure appropriate tone is achieved.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • editing: the process of improving writing to improve text flow and overall quality
  • punctuation: a set of standardised symbols and marks used in written language to structure sentences
  • sentence structure: the way words are arranged and organised within sentences to convey meaning
  • vocabulary: the language choices made by the writer

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Children may think that the editing process is just about correcting mistakes.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

Editing is the process of making changes to improve writing. The job of an editor is to check punctuation and to make improvements to sentence structure and language choices.

2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'editing'

the process of improving writing to improve text flow and overall quality.

3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.

Mistake: Children may think that the editing process is just about correcting mistakes. Correction: Explain to the children that all writers use editing as opportunity to improve their work as well as correcting mistakes. Even renowned authors make changes to their writing (vocabulary choice/sentence structure) in order to improve it.

More Lessons In This Unit

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