To practise conveying character through verb and adverb choices

Key Stage 2

English

Oliver - Narrative writing

﻿Hello, my name's Ms. Vincent. And I'm teaching you today for this English lesson. In today's lesson, we're going to continue to think about the characters in the story of Oliver Twist. We're going to be thinking about verbs and adverbs today. So we're going to be thinking about the action and how we can describe characters movements. But in addition today, we're going to think about how verbs and adverbs can actually tell us a lot about the characters in the story. So the way that the characters move and the way that we describe their movements and their actions can tell our reader a lot about them, can give them clues. So for example, if we were to say that a character cackled instead of laughed, that tells us that it's all those witch likes. So our read can start to think a little bit about this character and make some assumptions and be a bit of a detective and find the clues that tell them more about the character as a whole. So we're going to practise the skill of choosing precise verbs and adverbs today. So let's get started. So here's our agenda for today. We're going to start with a writing warmup where you get to correct all of the mistakes that I've made in the sentence. Then we'll move on to think about the character Fagin and to review what we know about him and what we've learned about him. Then we're going to think about making precise verb and adverb choices and how they help us actually to get to know more about a character. And then finally, we're going to edit and improve for precision. So to make sure that the picture is as precise as possible. In this lesson, you will need an exercise book or a piece of paper. You will need a pencil or a pen and you'll need your amazing brains switched on and ready for our learning. So if there's anything that you need to go and get then please pause the video to do that and press play when you're ready to move on. Okay, fantastic. So hopefully we are all set and ready for this lesson. So let's start with a writing warmup. So I've written a sentence and I've got lots of mistakes in my sentence, and I need you to pause the video to correct it. So I've written, Fagin who is a character in oliver Twist lives in an dusty cramped house with much boys. So I'd like you to pause the video to correct as many of the mistakes as you combined. So you will need to rewrite the sentence correctly, including correct punctuation, any mistakes in capital letters, full stops, commas and making sure that if there's any words that you need to change, that you write those correctly too. So, pause the video to correct the sentence and press play when you're ready to check. Okay, great. Let's check together. So, the sentence was, Fagin who is a character in oliver Twist lives in an dusty cramped house with much boys. So let's check. First of all, I've got a little bit of extra information. I've got a relative clause there, who is a character in oliver Twist. So that information is extra in my main clause, which without would say, Fagin lives in an dusty cramped house with much boys. And that makes sense on its own but I've adding in some extra information into the middle of my sentence, which is a relative clause, but I need my two commas to show where it starts and where it ends. So Fagan, comma, who is a character in oliver Twist, comma, lives in and so on and so on. But within my relative clause, there is a little mistake, 'cause I've put a capital letter for the name Twist, but I haven't put one for the name Oliver. So that's another change that I needed to make. Oliver needs a capital letter and Twist needs a capital letter. So next, he lives in an dusty cramped house. An, I know that I only use an, when I have a vowel sounds of a, e, i, o, u and the D sound isn't a vowel sound. So, it should say, a dusty cramped house. dusty and cramped are two adjectives. So I need a comma between them. And then the last one is something that we often hear and we might say it, but it's not correct. So it's not with much boys, but it's with many boys, okay? So well done if you spotted any of those mistakes and corrected them, good job. So now let's think about the character of Fagin and what we know about him. So I'd like you just to take a moment to think about what you already know about Fagin. So I'd like you to pause the video and take down any notes that you already know about Fagin. What do you know about him? And press play when you're ready to move on. Okay, well done, fantastic. Well, let's see what some of the things are. I've got some true or false questions where you'll have to do a thumbs up or a thumbs down to tell me your answer. So my first statement is Fagin is the villain in the story of Oliver Twist. Remember villain means the baddie inner story. So if you agree, then it's a thumbs up, if you disagree, it's a thumbs down. Show me your answer in three, two, one. He is, he is the villain in the story of Oliver Twist. Well done. Okay, Fagin looks young and well dressed. Thumbs up, if you agree, thumbs down, if you disagree. Show me your answer in three, two, one. Not true, he does look young. He doesn't look well dressed. He looks quite scruffy and quite old. Okay, next one, he lives in a brand new, well-kept house. Thumbs up, If you agree, thumbs down, if you disagree. Show me your answer in three, two, one. Not true, it's quite a rundown. It's quite broken and it looks a little bit old. Okay, last one, he teaches young boys in London to pick pocket and keeps the stolen items to himself. Thumbs up, if you agree, thumbs down, if you disagree. Three, two, one. That's exactly what he does. Well done, fantastic. Okay, so now let's move on to thinking about precise verb and adverb choices. Over the course of the unit, we've used a lot of the verbs and adverbs to describe lots of different parts of the film Oliver. So why do we do that? Why do we aim to choose really precise verbs and adverbs? What do they help us do? So I'd like you just to think about that for a moment. What do they help us do? Can you tell your screen what you think verbs and adverbs help us do? Okay, well, some of the things that they help us do is that they form a clear image in our reader's mind of the action taking place. So if there's an action scene or if there's any movement or if characters aren't moving even, the verbs and adverbs show us what they are doing really, really clearly. But on top of that, so even more, they inform our reader's understanding of the characters and their personalities. That means it tells us a little bit more to inform our understanding, means to give us more information and to help us understand the characters personalities. And that's because when we describe the way somebody moves, we can make them sound kind, we can make them sound happy, we can make them sound unkind. So when we choose verbs and adverbs really precisely, we can also tell the reader a bit more about the character without describing the character. By describing their movements, we can describe them in more detail. So for, for example, let's think about the first example where precise verbs and adverbs help us form a clear image in our head of the action taking place. So I'm going to read two examples to you, and I want you to imagine what you picture for each one. So the first one is, they walked through the busy alleyway and moved out of the way of danger. So they walked through the busy alleyway and moved through the day, way moved out of the way of danger sorry, so imagining what you can see there. Okay, now I'm going to read you a different example. They weaved quickly through the busy alleyway and darted repeatedly out of the way of danger. So, what's the difference between those two examples? Do you think that they describe the same scene? They do describe the same location. So they describe the alleyway and they describe moving out of the way of danger. But in the second example, I don't just see them walking. I can see them having to walk and change direction all of the time because of all the different people, because I've got weaved quickly rather than just walked. Then the first example, I was just picturing two people walking. In the second example, I could see the moving. And then darted repeatedly tells me that they had to keep moving out of the way of danger, not just one time, which is what I pictured in the first example. Now let's think about our second, our second reason for having verbs and adverbs, which is that they inform our reader's understanding of the character and their personalities. So they give us more information about the characters. So I'm going to read you two examples, and I want you to think about what we can infer about the character. And infer means to be a detective and look for clues about the character. So in my first example, it says, he watched the boy as he entered the room and smiled. So what do we think about this character so far? We, we have limited information, but what do we think about him? Well, I think that he seems kind, and he seems welcoming because he smiled when the boy came into the room. But now I'm going to read you a different example. He glared menacingly. So I've changed, watched to glared. So I was even more precise in the way that he watched. And I've added in an adverb, menacingly at the boy as he entered the room and forced out a smile. So he's not smiling in a relaxed way. He's forced it. So what do we think about this character? Is he kind and welcoming? Not really, because if you glare menacingly, that sounds intimidating. So a little bit scary and it sounds a bit cross. And if you force out a smile, that means that it's not, it's not something that you want to do, but it's something that you've made yourself do. So, although in both examples, as a person watching a boy come into a room and smiling, in the second one, I have so much more of an understanding of the character because of the way that he is doing what he's doing. So now I'm going to read you two examples of a description of a section of narrative. And I want you to listen very carefully and to imagine what you can picture while I'm reading. So example number one, and read with me. Oliver entered the strange, dusty room and noticed a small man by a pan. The man faced Oliver and smiled at him. He held out his arms and bent over to welcome Oliver. So that's my first example. And you might recognise that scene from watching it in lesson number one. This is my second example. Oliver entered the strange, dusty room, it's the same so far. Remember, I hope you're reading with me, and noticed a small man hunched over a sizzling pan. The man turned slowly to face Oliver and a thin smile slithered across his face. He flung out his arms widely and bowed excessively to show his hospitality. If you do something excessively, it's a bit over the top. So I'd like you to think about which example helps create a more accurate picture and why? So just take a moment to pause the video and think about which example creates a better picture in your head and why? And press play when you've decided. And you've thought about why? Okay, fantastic. Well, hopefully you thought that example number two creates a better picture because we've got a lot more precision in the verbs and adverbs. So, the description is a lot more precise in terms of how the character moves and some adverbs have been added in. So if we're comparing in example number one, we talk about a small man by a pan. I don't know how he's moving. I don't know very much about the pan. Whereas I've changed in example number two, to say that he's hunched over instead of just by the pan, he's hunched over a sizzling pan. In example number one, it says the man faced Oliver and smiled at him. So, I just can imagine somebody facing Oliver and smiling at him. Whereas in the second example, the man turned slowly to face Oliver and a thin smile slithered across his face. What animals slithers? Can you think of an animal that slithers and say it to your screen? Often we think of a snake slithering along. So, although he's got a smile on his face, snakes aren't often associated with kindness in books. So if, if a smile is slithering, it tells me that I'm not sure that it is a kind smile. And then finally, in the last sentence, in example one, it says he held out his arms and bent over to welcome Oliver. Now, why is he bending over? I don't understand. That's not very precise. Is he tying his shoe lace? Who knows? But here, in example number two it says, he flung out his arms widely and bowed excessively to show his hospitality. So I added in a lot more detail. He's not just bending over, he's bowing and I can see that he's flinging out his arms, which tells me that it's a bit exaggerated and a bit over the top. So you can see how real precision can help us to create a better picture in our reader's minds. So it's your turn now to have a go at editing and improving for precision. So, I've got a little text about Fagin. So I'm going to read it once, Fagin smiled warmly at Oliver as he bent over. He laughed, sorry, and ask the boys to move. So I'd like you to pause the video, to identify any verbs and adverbs and press play once you, you found them. Okay, well done. Let's check. So, he smiled warmly, smiled is a verb, warmly is an adverb. He bent over, to bend is an adverb. He laughed and asked and also the boys, but we're going to sorry, and also move, but we're going to focus on the verbs that Fagin is doing. So what I'd like you to do now is those verbs and adverbs that I've got in colour and I've got in bold. I'd like you to pause the video, to improve them, to make them more precise. Can you think of something that is even better than bent over or laughed or asked? And then can you press play when you've thought of an alternative? So a different one for each one. Okay, fantastic. So let's see, here are some of my ideas. I thought that instead of smiled warmly, we could say grimaced sweetly, grimace is a bit of a forced smile. And if you try and do that sweetly, it tells me it's a little bit, perhaps over the top. And instead of bent over, we could have said he bowed over. Instead of laughed, we could say he cackled. Cackled is the way that we often describe witches laughing. So if we tell the reader that he cackled our reader can start to think that maybe he's not so kind. And then instead of asked, which make, which makes us think that he's asking really politely, we can say, Oh, I've added in an adverb loudly for cackled. And then instead of asked, we can say that he instructed the boys to move over. So hopefully you came up with some different ones as well, because there's so much choice as long as the choice is precise and it shows our reader what we're seeing too. So there's a scene in the film where Fagin moves over the pocket handkerchiefs and then he winks at the boys because he's lied to Oliver and he says that he's just got them out, 'cause he's going to wash them all. But actually that they've all, it's they've all been stolen. So they're sorting through them. So he winks at the boys because he's lying to Oliver and they find it really, really funny. So for your task, I'd like you to write a sentence about Fagin winking at the boys, after he lied about washing the handkerchiefs. Make sure that you include really precise verbs and adverbs that will show your reader that he's not a trustworthy character. So we can't trust him straight away, even though he's being welcoming to Oliver. So some example sentences could be, Fagin hurriedly moved the pocket handkerchiefs out of sight and winked deceitfully at the other boys. If you do something deceitfully, it's to do something in a way that can't be trusted. Fagin smircked dishonestly. A smirk is an unkind smile. So, Fagin smrcked dishonestly at the boys who knew the truth. So those are my two examples. So anything from this section of the film, ideally about Fagin winking, but if you're feeling a little bit stuck about that, then you could be, you could write a sentence about him, bowing towards Oliver, something from the section of the film where Oliver meets Fagin. As practising this skill will help us with our writing in upcoming lessons. Once you've written your sentence, you can press play to move on with the lesson. Okay, fantastic. Really well done. We've completed all of the sections of our lesson today. So fantastic job, really well done for all of your hard work. And if you'd like to please share some of your learning with a parent or carer. I will see you soon for more lessons on Oliver Twist. Bye.

To practise conveying character through verb and adverb choices

To practise conveying character through verb and adverb choices

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UnitEnglish / Oliver - Narrative writing

English