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Year 6 - English

Retelling the story 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 create a detailed text map of the story of 'Beowulf and the dragon' and you can use this to orally retell the build-up, climax and resolution of this story.

Key Notes

  • We are going to be writing a narrative retelling of most of the story of 'Beowulf and the dragon'.
  • We will be covering the build-up, climax and resolution of this mini-story.
  • To be ready to write, we need to know the events really well. To do this, we can create a text map.
  • We can use the text map to rehearse saying the events we will cover.
  • We can also use it for storytelling - saying the events out loud as if telling a story.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • events: plot points or things that happen in a story or text
  • text map: a visual representation of a series of events, where pictures represent events
  • storytelling: saying an oral version of a story out loud, perhaps using notes or a text map to help

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Pupils may find it difficult to remember the events of the narrative.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

We are going to be writing a narrative retelling of most of the story of 'Beowulf and the dragon'. We will be covering the build-up, climax and resolution of this mini-story.

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

plot points or things that happen in a story or text.

3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.

Mistake: Pupils may find it difficult to remember the events of the narrative. Correction: You may wish to work with a group of pupils to create a shared text map together, meaning it will be easier for you to rehearse with these pupils, modelling the process using a shared text map instead of individual ones.

More Lessons In This Unit

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