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Year 4 - English

Writing a section of a narrative based on 'The Borrowers'

'The Borrowers': narrative writing and reading

Unit Summary

In this unit, pupils explore 'The Borrowers' through reading and writing activities. They sequence key events, analyse the setting and characters and write a descriptive setting piece. Pupils also plan, write, and edit sections of the build-up, developing their narrative writing skills.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to write a section of the build-up of 'The Borrowers'.

Key Notes

  • In this section of the build-up, suspense is built around Arrietty setting off on her first borrowing expedition.
  • The use of precise and ambitious vocabulary, including 'show and tell' language supports the building of suspense.
  • Using a range of sentence types, including adverbial complex sentences, supports text flow.
  • An adverbial clause begins with a subordinating conjunction.
  • An adverbial clause is joined with a main clause to form an adverbial complex sentence.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • suspense: when you are feeling anxious or excited about what may happen
  • 'show and tell': a writing technique for showing a character's feelings with description of their actions and expressions
  • subordinating conjunction: a word that starts an adverbial clause
  • adverbial clause: a type of subordinate clause that starts with a subordinating conjunction
  • adverbial complex sentence: a sentence formed of a main clause and an adverbial subordinate clause

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Pupils may use repetitive language choices.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

In this section of the build-up, suspense is built around Arrietty setting off on her first borrowing expedition. The use of precise and ambitious vocabulary, including 'show and tell' language supports the building of suspense.

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

when you are feeling anxious or excited about what may happen.

3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.

Mistake: Pupils may use repetitive language choices. Correction: Exposing pupils to a range of synonyms and ambitious vocabulary in the teacher model will support with language variation.

More Lessons In This Unit

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