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Year 6 - English

Planning the build-up of 'Beowulf and the dragon'

'Beowulf': narrative writing

Unit Summary

In this unit, pupils rewrite the build-up, climax and resolution of the historical classic 'Beowulf', focusing on interspersing dialogue to convey atmosphere and advance the action. Pupils work to generate vocabulary that is appropriate for each section of the narrative.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to plan the structure and content of the build-up of 'Beowulf and the dragon'.

Key Notes

  • Writing is most successful when it is planned and rehearsed.
  • When we plan, we can use our text map as our basis, breaking it down into key scenes.
  • For each scene, we make notes about the actions, descriptions, dialogue and emotion we might include (where relevant).
  • We also plan to include the rich vocabulary that we have generated in previous lessons.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • build-up: the part of a story where problems are introduced and tension rises
  • text map: a visual representation of a series of events, where pictures represent events
  • rich vocabulary: words chosen intentionally to convey a certain impression to the reader of a place, person or thing
  • narrative elements: the content of a narrative, often including action, description, dialogue and emotions

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Pupils may believe that they can **only** include the narrative elements in their writing.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

Writing is most successful when it is planned and rehearsed. When we plan, we can use our text map as our basis, breaking it down into key scenes.

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

the part of a story where problems are introduced and tension rises.

3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.

Mistake: Pupils may believe that they can **only** include the narrative elements in their writing. Correction: There are other things we can write about - for instance, thoughts the characters have - but the narrative elements are a helpful structure we can use to generate ideas. There is no need to limit pupils to just these categories.

More Lessons In This Unit

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