Wednesday 25th June
LC: to note and develop new ideas drawing on reading
Retelling - The Killing of King Duncan Marcia Williams
Let's look again at the retelling of the murder of King Duncan.
We are going to chunk the plot and put some details about what happens in each section.
This will be used by your teacher for her model write.
LC: To be able to find the perimeter of rectilinear shapes.
Complete the RIC.
LC: to know how the author's choice of language affects the reader and builds suspense
Tension is something that writers use to create a problem in their stories. Tension means feeling worry, fear, nerves or pressure. You can also create tension between characters if they argue.
Suspense is something used in stories to make them mysterious or scary. Suspense means waiting for something to happen or being uncertain about what will happen.
Alice couldn’t move and she was scared. Then, a man started to walk down the stairs towards her.
Is this scary? Why or why not?
Tell your talk partner what you think.
Now let's read the real story - as you are reading, think about how it makes you feel and why.
Nothing moved. Cogston House was as silent as the grave. Perhaps the only thing worse than hearing her best friend desperately calling her name was being alone in this endless quiet. Alice’s eyes searched through the darkness, scouring the corridor which faded into more murky gloom. She could make out the hallway right in front of her, the door opposite, and beyond it, the enormous winding staircase. As she looked, blinking through the tears which had begun to stream hopelessly down her face, she was met with a sight at the top of the staircase which all but turned her to stone... Something was moving.
Alice watched. Her heart was in her mouth and her breath came in sharp, rattling gasps. Descending the stairs one careful, agonising, creaking step at a time, a hunched silhouette shuffled out from the darkness...
How did it make you feel?
Today, we are going to
identify the devices the writer has used
to create suspense.
1. What is happening to Alice in this paragraph above? What is the purpose of the paragraph?
Descending the stairs one careful, agonising, creaking step at a time, a hunched silhouette shuffled out from the darkness...
Even at the end of this extract, the reader still doesn’t know who is coming down the stairs.
2. Why do you think the writer has chosen not to tell the reader yet?
a) he forgot what the story was about
b) because he hasn't decided who it will be yet
c) to build suspense by making the reader wait to find out?
Look at the highlighted sentences below.
3. What kind of sentences are they? What effect do they have on the reader?
Nothing moved. Cogston House was as silent as the grave. Perhaps the only thing worse than hearing her best friend desperately calling her name was being alone in this endless quiet. Alice’s eyes searched through the darkness, scouring the corridor which faded into more murky gloom. She could make out the hallway right in front of her, the door opposite, and beyond it, the enormous winding staircase. As she looked, blinking through the tears which had begun to stream hopelessly down her face, she was met with a sight at the top of the staircase which all but turned her to stone... Something was moving.
Alice watched. Her heart was in her mouth and her breath came in sharp, rattling gasps. Descending the stairs one careful, agonising, creaking step at a time, a hunched silhouette shuffled out from the darkness
Look at the highlighted sentences below.
4. What kind of sentences are they? What effect do they have on the reader?
Nothing moved. Cogston House was as silent as the grave. Perhaps the only thing worse than hearing her best friend desperately calling her name was being alone in this endless quiet. Alice’s eyes searched through the darkness, scouring the corridor which faded into more murky gloom. She could make out the hallway right in front of her, the door opposite, and beyond it, the enormous winding staircase. As she looked, blinking through the tears which had begun to stream hopelessly down her face, she was met with a sight at the top of the staircase which all but turned her to stone... Something was moving.
Alice watched numbly. Her heart was in her mouth and her breath came in sharp, rattling gasps. Descending the stairs one careful, agonising, creaking step at a time, a hunched silhouette shuffled out from the darkness…
5. What can you see after the words darkness and stone? What is this punctation called?
6. What is its purpose?
Let's create a checklist for building tension and suspense:
LC: To demonstrate how materials can be separated (filtering).
