Year 3 Unit 5 Dialogue and Plays - Schools



Year 3 Unit 5 Dialogue and Plays | |

|Teaching sequences |

|Teaching Sequence |

|Phase 1: Reading, responding and exploring; familiarisation with the text-type |

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|Suggested timing - Seven days |

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|Resources |

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|A suitable fiction text for shared reading, with strong characterisation and several examples of dialogue written within the text as direct speech. |

|Text used in the examples: The Battle of Bubble and Squeak by Philippa Pearce (Puffin) |

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|A selection of similar narrative fiction texts (stories or short novels) appropriate for guided and independent reading. |

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|A suitable playscript for use as a shared text. |

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|A selection of playscripts for two or more voices, appropriate for guided and independent reading. |

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|Teaching content |

|Begin reading a shared text that provides examples of strong characterisation and use of dialogue as direct speech. Plan sessions so that children |

|reach the penultimate scene, episode or chapter during the last session of Phase 2 and complete their reading of the text during shared reading in |

|Phase 3, after they have completed their own writing. |

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|Choose a suitable extract from the beginning of the text for shared reading, to focus on the introduction of main characters. Draw children’s |

|attention to the strategies an author uses to develop character and move a plot forward. Discuss vocabulary choice, length of sentences, style of |

|language and use, or absence of, verbs to convey how words were spoken (shouted, whispered, yelled). Mark the text or use a highlighting tool to |

|focus on the way that dialogue provides clues to character and motivation as well as contributing to the plot. |

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|For example: After reading Chapter 1 of The Battle of Bubble and Squeak, use an extract from pages 2-5 to focus on the dialogue. Ask children what |

|is revealed or implied about each of the main characters and how readers might gather this information. How do Sid, Bill and Alice Sparrow each |

|reveal their character in the things they say and the way they say them? What is the effect of the short sentences that Bill and Alice speak to one |

|another when they first hear strange noises downstairs? |

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|Read a little further with the class and use this second extract to explore the dialogue further in guided and independent, paired reading. Ask |

|children to find any more evidence about characters to add to the information they have already found. In a plenary, create a ‘role on the wall’ |

|hyperlink to drama page in Talk for Writing? for one character and add text-specific examples of the words spoken by that character that tell a |

|reader something about the kind of person they might be. |

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|For example: after reading Chapter 1, create a ‘role on the wall’ for Bill Sparrow. Note anything the text reveals about his character so far and |

|add words and phrases from the text as examples, including dialogue: Brave: ‘I’m going to find out about that row downstairs.’ Stays calm – doesn’t|

|seem to be in charge: Bill Sparrow mumbled again. Sense of humour: P4 ‘Like me.’ |

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|Continue reading through the class text at a suitable pace to promote enjoyment of the whole story, for example by alternating sessions of shared, |

|guided and independent reading with other opportunities to listen to the next part of the story being read aloud. |

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|Select an extract that has just been read, to use as a shared text and discriminate between narrative and direct speech. Use the text as a model to |

|revisit and consolidate children’s prior knowledge of speech marks, if necessary. Model by reading aloud to demonstrate their purpose in clarifying |

|meaning and their usefulness to readers. For example, model the way speech marks support the use of different voices for different characters and |

|help to clarify what is narrated and what is conversation. Read aloud using different voices if appropriate for the direct speech. |

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|For example: Model reading aloud from the first two pages of Chapter 2 in Bubble and Squeak (to “Bill went.”). Use two different voices for the |

|dialogue spoken by Bill and Alice to differentiate their spoken words from the rest of the narrative. |

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|In guided and independent reading, either individually or in pairs/small groups, children read other appropriate examples of narrative texts that |

|include direct speech, reading aloud to check that they understand how to use the punctuation of direct speech to support their reading for meaning.|

|Encourage them to make use of voices for characters and provide additional support for them if necessary, for example by using puppets. In a |

|plenary, discuss children’s developing preferences from among the range of texts read. Which authors do they think make the best use of dialogue to |

|develop character and plot? What kinds of strategies do skilled authors use to bring characters to life for a reader through the things they say? |

|Ask them to give examples from the texts. |

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|Continue reading the text as a class novel and use a third extract as a shared text to isolate the dialogue from the narrative. Read aloud as |

|dialogue only, missing out the narrative. Children apply the same technique to read aloud only the dialogue from other examples. |

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|For example: Use the last three pages of Chapter 3 as a shared text. (from ‘She dragged him into the living room... ‘ to ‘She would listen to no |

|more from any of them.’ Reading as Alice Sparrow yourself, ask children to take the roles of Peggy, Bill and Sid. Read aloud speaking only the |

|direct speech, to create the conversation that took place. |

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|Compare the reading aloud to reading a playscript and discuss the differences between reading a story, reading the dialogue aloud and watching a |

|play. Refer to plays the children have watched as a live audience or viewed on screen. Does the dialogue alone tell the story as well without the |

|additional narrative around it in the book? |

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|Find out what children already know and understand about the way a written playscript differs from a written narrative. Use collaborative reading to|

|read a playscript aloud as a class, ideally one based on a familiar story. Note the absence of narrative but the addition of stage directions. |

|Compare children’s responses to the narrative text and the play. Draw attention to the layout and organisational conventions of a playscript and |

|discuss why these particular features of the text-type might be helpful to actors or directors. If available, you could use a narrative version and |

|a playscript version of the same story for comparison. |

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|For example: Using the first scene of a shared text, ask children to collect information about the characters from the dialogue in Scene 1. Is |

|additional information about their characters and behaviour provided in any other ways, such as by their names or in the stage directions? (Children|

|should refer to the text only and not use the pictures.) How can you tell that this is a playscript and not a story? What’s missing and what is |

|added? (If the narrative book of the same story is available, you could use this for direct comparison.) |

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|Children complete their own reading of the same play during independent or guided reading, or they read alternative playscripts at more appropriate |

|levels for their independent reading. Support children in identifying and creating a checklist of the conventions used when writing a script. For |

|example, ask them to notice the way each speaker’s words are laid out on the page with their name to identify which character is speaking. Share |

|their findings during a plenary session and create a class checklist for the conventions of writing a script. Children will use this to support |

|their independent writing in Phase 3. |

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|Continue reading the class novel stopping just before the final chapter or scene. Choose a suitable extract as a shared text to focus on the |

|narrative that surrounds the dialogue. Investigate the additional information about character, plot and setting provided by the narrative. How could|

|this important information be added to a playscript of the same scene? Demonstrate how to write stage directions that could supplement the dialogue |

|in a script by drafting a playscript script of the same scene, using shared writing strategies. |

|Discuss with the children how to add stage directions that convey any additional action, background, setting or ‘soundtrack’ such as ambient noise. |

|Ask children to apply the same strategies and complete a draft of the same scene in their independent writing. |

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|For example, stop reading Bubble and Squeak at the end of Chapter 10: ‘I’d like my gerbils back again’. Use the earlier scene in the same chapter, |

|where the children take Bubble to the vet, as a starting point for teacher demonstration: from p72 ‘They were called into the surgery itself.’ to |

|p73 ‘I’m afraid his chances of survival are poor. Very poor.’ |

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|After creating the dialogue in the playscript from the direct speech in the text, model the way you draw on the narrative to create stage |

|directions, for example by adding the ‘setting’ at the beginning of the scene (The Vet’s surgery: DAY) and adding a stage direction for the vet: The|

|vet picks up the gerbil and turns it around. Draw attention to the grammatical differences, such as past tense narrative and present tense stage |

|directions. Move from modelled writing to collaborative writing. Encourage children to write with you and offer their suggestions. Stop at a |

|suitable point, when they understand how to use this strategy, and ask them to complete a draft of the scene during guided and independent writing. |

|Select one completed example and invite a group to dramatise this short scene as a plenary. Ask the ‘actors’ to tell the class how helpful they |

|found the stage directions. What does this information tell us about how to write stage directions in a playscript? |

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|Learning outcomes |

|Children can discuss the way that characters are introduced and developed in a narrative through dialogue, description and action. |

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|Children can read a play aloud with suitable expression and can discuss their responses to the characters involved. |

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|Children can draft the introduction to an original story using their own ideas for strong characterisation through dialogue. |

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|Phase 2: From reading to writing; capturing ideas and applying strategies |

|Suggested timing - Five days |

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|Teaching content |

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|Remind the children about the last few words of the penultimate chapter and ask them how they think the story might end. If they were the author, |

|what would happen in the final scene? Children discuss in small groups their own version of the story’s ending. Ask them to consider the ways each |

|character is likely to behave. Will the main characters behave true to type or will someone act in a surprising way? As a class, use ‘forum theatre’|

|hyperlink to drama page in Talk for Writing? to improvise a possible final scene, beginning with the last words of the previous chapter. When the |

|class has settled on a version of the scene, discuss the ways that each character has developed or changed since the beginning of the story and the |

|way their dialogue in this final scene contributes to that. Tell the children they will now begin writing their own play and they should remember |

|that the characters they create through the dialogue should be just as interesting and detailed as any they might create by writing a story. |

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|For example, use the drama convention of ‘forum theatre’ to improvise a possible final scene for Bubble and Squeak, beginning with the words from |

|the end of Chapter 10: “Please, I’d like my gerbils back again.” Use the drama to rerun what each character says until the class decides on a final |

|version. Ask children to explain how and why Bill, Sid, Alice and Peggy have developed or changed since the beginning of the book. Are there any |

|clues in the words they use in this final scene? Tell the children they are going to write their own playscripts by developing and adding to the |

|ideas they have already drafted using ICT. They should remember how the characters in Bubble and Squeak were brought to life and made interesting |

|to the audience through what they said, when they said it and how they spoke the words, in both the narrative story and the scripts the children |

|read aloud or enacted. |

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|Use ICT to begin adapting the narrative to change the text type and create a playscript. Edit the narrative to playscript format by changing layout,|

|presenting direct speech as a script for named characters, adapting narrative to create stage directions and deleting any superfluous text. Read |

|aloud and reinforce the differences between a script and a narrative regarding the ways the action, setting and characterisation are conveyed. |

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|Children use word-processing to apply independently the same strategies for changing text type, with their own saved texts and original writing. |

|Provide support at the point of writing to help them make decisions about the correct layout for playscripts and to make authorial choices about |

|which words from their draft narrative should be retained and rewritten as stage directions, what can be removed and what needs to be added. |

|Encourage them to refer to the checklist created earlier on the conventions of playscripts. When they have completed the draft of their introductory|

|scene, children perform their first scenes in small groups by reading aloud. |

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|Use whole class discussion to reflect on children’s views and preferences so far. Which tells a story more effectively, a written narrative, a |

|playscript that is read or a play that is enacted ? Ask children to be specific in the reasons they give for preferences and to refer to examples |

|from the texts they have read, the scripts they have been writing and enacting or plays they have watched. If there are common areas of difficulty, |

|for example if children are finding it difficult to move from the familiar extended narrative of story-writing to the brevity of stage directions, |

|address these through guided writing or through modelled writing with the class if necessary. Children will need to apply these strategies |

|independently during Phase 3. |

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|Learning outcomes: |

|Children can use their knowledge of characterisation through dialogue and their understanding of plot structures to predict a possible ending for a |

|familiar story |

|Children can apply what they know about the conventions of playscripts to edit the narrative text for a short scene and adapt it to a script |

|Children can explain and justify their personal preferences by comparing and contrasting narrative stories and playscripts, referring to specific |

|examples to support their opinions. |

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|Phase 3: Writing; planning and presentation |

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|Suggested timing - Eight days |

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|Teaching content |

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|Use ‘boxing up’ to support planning for their own play, breaking the story into different scenes. Children could write the play directly linked to |

|the story of ‘The Battle of Bubble and Squeak’, or they could innovate, developing, extending and changing elements of the story and create amended |

|scenes, or they could invent their own story. |

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|Children individually write a playscript using their planned ideas. |

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|At a suitable point during the writing process, at a stage where children are close to completing their first drafts, demonstrate how to edit to |

|improve the text. Think aloud as you make changes to explain why you are changing words, rewriting phrases, adding text or removing it. Emphasise |

|the way that the edited dialogue moves the story on in terms of action or provides better insight into character. Demonstrate how to delete |

|superfluous dialogue, for example by asking yourself aloud what it adds and whether it is needed at all. Use guided writing to model one or more of|

|the strategies you demonstrated in shared writing and support children in editing to improve the quality of their writing and its effectiveness for |

|purpose. |

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|Provide time for children to read their drafts aloud in pairs or groups to check not only accuracy but also how clearly they have conveyed character|

|through the dialogue. Use peer feedback to help children reflect critically on the writing of others and on their own drafts so far. What will make |

|this a successful playscript? You may wish to agree a short list of success criteria for children to use in their paired reflection and to provide a|

|tighter focus for self- assessment. Remind children of the purpose of their writing and any potential audience that you may have already arranged |

|for their plays when performed. |

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|Children complete the writing process. They amend, edit and improve their writing and then present it in its final format, editing layout where |

|necessary, though this may not be necessary if they have been using a playscript template that you have provided. They work with a writing partner |

|to check the layout and playscript conventions they have used and also the balance between dialogue and stage directions. |

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|In groups, children read aloud together the plays they have written. Together they select one play to enact and they prepare it for performance. |

|Arrange a time to film each group performing their play and save the digital files together as a collection of plays which demonstrate how to |

|develop characterisation using dialogue. Provide time for all children to view the recorded plays at suitable times and ask them to think |

|particularly about how each play ends. Is the last scene suitably exciting, surprising, rewarding and satisfying or does the story ‘fizzle out’? |

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|Complete the class text by reading the final chapter with the class. How does the story ending compare with the endings of the class plays they have|

|viewed, and how does it compare with the last scene the children improvised for themselves using drama? As they complete the unit, discuss |

|children’s wider reading preferences including not only narrative, plays and film adaptations of books but also poetry and any other texts they have|

|read recently at school or at home. |

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|For example, read Chapter 11 of Bubble and Squeak. How easy was it to predict what would happen at the end of the story? Make links between the |

|children’s predictions about plot and their expectations of the main characters. Ask them to be specific about the reasons for any clues they refer |

|to. For example, “What did Alice Sparrow do or say earlier in the book that made you think she might actually refuse to give the gerbils back in the|

|end?” |

|Compare and contrast the story ending with the endings of the plays children have written and viewed. What makes the last few pages of Bubble and |

|Squeak so good? Do writers of plays and writers of stories use any of the same strategies to create ‘good endings’ for their readers or viewers? |

|You could encourage children to refer to : surprise behaviour (character), a twist in the action (plot) a good character getting their revenge on a |

|villain or a happy ending using humour rather than a sad conclusion. For example, in the last two pages of Bubble and Squeak, Mrs Sparrow shows |

|that she has completely changed her views about gerbils from the story beginning (character development), the gerbils are safe and can stay with the|

|Sparrow family (a happy ending) and humour is used to lighten the whole mood (Amy’s misunderstanding of the phrase ‘bubble and squeak for tea’). |

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|Learning outcomes |

|Children can use familiar planning techniques to create an outline of an original play that includes strong characterisation through dialogue, based|

|on a model they have read. |

|Children can manage the writing process independently from planning, through drafting of their playscript to its final presentation. |

|Children can apply what they know about the conventions of playscripts to orchestrate characterisation, setting and plot effectively with |

|appropriate support. |

|Assessment |

|These are suggested strategies for assessing learning in an additional text-based unit on dialogue and plays: ‘The Battle of Bubble and Squeak’. |

|This resource includes assessment focuses and examples of opportunities for assessment that link to the learning outcomes for this unit. |

|Evidence against a variety of assessment focuses will be collected at many points during the teaching sequences. It will be important to collect |

|evidence of achievement against the assessment focuses from occasions where children can demonstrate some independence and choice away from direct |

|teaching. This is particularly important when making a judgment against reading assessment focuses 2 and 3, and writing assessment focuses 1 and 2. |

|In this exemplified unit the 'main' assessment focuses for reading and writing are identified but you can interpret and adapt the teaching sequence |

|to meet the needs of your class. This may affect the types of evidence it is desirable and possible to gather. |

|Assessment Focuses |

|The teaching of this unit should particularly support the collection of evidence against: |

|Reading assessment focus 4 (Identify and comment on the structure and organisation of texts, including grammatical and presentational features at |

|text level) |

|Writing assessment focus 1 (Write imaginative, interesting and thoughtful texts) and Writing assessment focus 3 (Organise and present whole texts |

|effectively, sequencing and structuring information, ideas and events) |

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|Learning outcomes |

|The suggested outcomes for this unit are: |

|Phase 1 |

|Children can discuss the way that characters are introduced and developed in a narrative through dialogue, description and action. |

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|Children can read a play aloud with suitable expression and can discuss their responses to the characters involved. |

| |

|Children can draft the introduction to an original story using their own ideas for strong characterisation through dialogue. |

|Phase 2 |

|Children can use their knowledge of characterisation through dialogue and their understanding of plot structures to predict a possible ending for a |

|familiar story |

|Children can apply what they know about the conventions of playscripts to edit the narrative text for a short scene and adapt it to a script |

|Children can explain and justify their personal preferences by comparing and contrasting narrative stories and playscripts, referring to specific |

|examples to support their opinions. |

|Phase 3 |

|Children can use familiar planning techniques to create an outline of an original play that includes strong characterisation through dialogue, based|

|on a model they have read. |

|Children can manage the writing process independently from planning, through drafting of their playscript to its final presentation. |

|Children can apply what they know about the conventions of playscripts to orchestrate characterisation, setting and plot effectively with |

|appropriate support. |

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|Opportunities for assessment |

|The following are examples selected from the teaching sequence for this exemplified unit of work . These will support planning for effective |

|assessment as an integrated part of the teaching and learning process. |

|Learning outcomes |

|Example of teaching content and assessment opportunities |

|Evidence |

|Approach to assessment |

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|Children can discuss the way that characters are introduced and developed in a narrative through dialogue, description and action. |

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|After paired reading aloud from example texts that include dialogue, children discuss their preferences in a plenary. The teacher uses questioning |

|to support them in focusing on the way authors develop characterisation, for example through dialogue. |

|Contributions to discussion |

|Oral responses |

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|Teacher observation |

|Questioning |

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|Children can read a play aloud with suitable expression and can discuss their responses to the characters involved. |

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|In small groups, children finish reading a short play that was started during shared reading. They each read one part and read aloud, using |

|appropriate expression. |

|Children’s reading aloud |

|Observation of children’s reading accuracy, fluency and comprehension (as indicated by use of expression) |

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|Children can draft the introduction to an original story using their own ideas for strong characterisation through dialogue. |

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|After telling a writing partner their ideas for a story introduction, children independently draft an original story beginning. They apply the |

|modelled strategy of using dialogue for characterisation. The teacher supports them if necessary in managing consistency of punctuation and layout |

|of direct speech. |

|Children’s oral summary of their ideas during paired discussion |

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|Children’s writing |

|Teacher observation |

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|Marking children’s writing |

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|Children can use their knowledge of characterisation through dialogue and their understanding of plot structures to predict a possible ending for a |

|familiar story |

| |

|After shared reading to the penultimate chapter of the text, children discuss in groups how they think the story will end. The teacher asks them to |

|explain their predictions, for example by discussing how a character is likely to behave and why, or by referring to textual clues in the dialogue. |

|Children’s individual oral contributions to group discussion |

|Teacher observation |

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|Focused, follow-on questioning to elicit children’s reasons for their comments |

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|Children can apply what they know about the conventions of playscripts to edit the narrative text for a short scene and adapt it to a script |

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|Children independently edit their word-processed story beginnings to change the text type to a playscript. They identify direct speech, change |

|layout, add character names and stage directions. The teacher reminds them to refer to the checklist of playscript conventions that was created |

|earlier. The teacher supports a guided writing group in the same activity, focusing on their identification of direct speech. |

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|Children’s writing |

|Questioning and discussion |

|Marking children’s writing |

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|Children can explain and justify their personal preferences by comparing and contrasting narrative stories and playscripts, referring to specific |

|examples to support their opinions. |

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|In a whole class discussion, children share and justify their preferences from the range of texts and text types read so far. The teacher uses open |

|questions and then focused questions to elicit children’s reasons for choices and to encourage them to refer specifically to texts, including the |

|narrative story, the playscripts they have read aloud from and plays they have enacted or watched as performances on stage or screen. |

|Children’s contributions to discussion, including the reasons and examples they give to justify their preferences |

|Oral responses to questions |

|Whole class discussion |

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|Teacher questioning |

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|Children can use familiar planning techniques to create an outline of an original play that includes strong characterisation through dialogue, based|

|on a model they have read. |

| |

|Children plan their own play, by creating a flow chart that allows them to show what will happen in each scene and the chronology of plot. They add |

|notes about characters beneath the flow chart, to help them create suitable dialogue for each character when they write the play. |

|Children’s writing. |

|Discussion with individual children during the writing process |

|Marking children’s writing |

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|Children can manage the writing process independently from planning, through drafting of their playscript to its final presentation. |

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|Children write their own play. They are given appropriate levels of independence to manage the complete writing process. The teacher provides |

|scaffolding for the extended writing to help individuals to orchestrate a range of different strategies for planning and drafting at the same time |

|as they manage composition and consistency in playscript conventions. Fore example, some children work with a writing partner to create their |

|planning. Some use a provided script template to word process the text. In guided writing, the teacher supports children who need guiding through a|

|particular stage or strategy, such as re-reading to identify errors for editing. |

|Children’s writing at each stage of the process |

|Individual contributions during paired or small group discussion |

|Oral responses to questions |

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|Teacher observation of children at the point of writing |

|Marking children’s writing |

|Discussion |

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|Questioning |

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|Children can apply what they know about the conventions of playscripts to orchestrate characterisation, setting and plot effectively with |

|appropriate support. |

|When their playscript drafts are complete, children work with a writing partner to read and discuss one another’s writing. They look for |

|inconsistencies in layout and presentation. The teacher asks them to discuss how effectively they have shown character through the dialogue, action |

|and stage directions. Pairs provide peer support for making final improvements to their text. |

|Children’s contributions as a writing partner including the suggestions they make for changes to their partner’s text and also their responses to |

|suggestions for improving their own text |

|Children’s writing, particularly the differences between this and the previous draft. |

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|Observation of children’s oral contributions during discussion with a writing partner |

|Observation of the writing strategies children apply during editing |

|Marking children’s writing |

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