Writers as movie makers...
Zooming in!!
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What do you notice?
• Watch the slide show
• In talking partners/groups can you list all
the things you know about the story so far
just from these first few images?
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2
The tricks of the trade
• How does the illustrator introduce us to the
story, its setting and its characters?
• How do you feel when you watch the
opening images?
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3
Storytelling tools
• Film makers use the same tools
when they make films.
• When we work as writers we can also use
these tools to introduce our stories.
• Why might we want to use these tools?
Think about how the slide show made you feel…
How do you think we could create the
same effects in our writing?
4
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Let’s investigate...
• Let’s raid our reading
• How does the writing make us think and
feel?
• Let’s find out what other authors use to
create these effects…
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5
Try these:
Chapter 2 of Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl
Opening pages of Funnybones by Allan
Ahlberg
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6
Beside the River of Dreams was a dark
mysterious wood. At the edge of the wood was the
start of an overgrown path leading deep within the
darkness. Between the towering trees the path
meandered towards a clearing. In the middle of the
clearing stood a small wooden cottage with a bright
red front door which seemed to light up the
surrounding gloom. Through the heart-shaped
cottage windows, a roaring fire was burning and
beside the fire stood a lone figure dressed all in
green ...
7
‘Zooming in’ with words
• In all the examples there are lots of great writer’s
tools used
• What is the effect of zooming in like this?
• Do you think it is a good tool to use and when
might you use it?
8
Beside the River of Dreams was a dark
mysterious wood. At the edge of the wood was the
start of an overgrown path leading deep within the
darkness. Between the towering trees the path
meandered towards a clearing. In the middle of the
clearing stood a small wooden cottage with a bright
red front door which seemed to light up the
surrounding gloom. Through the heart-shaped
cottage windows, a roaring fire was burning and
beside the fire stood a lone figure dressed all in
green...
9
Prepositions
A great writer’s tool!
There are lots of prepositions - can you
think of any others you know?
There are different types of prepositions but
one of their jobs is to show where or which
position or direction something or
someone is in.
at the hospital / in the woods/ under the tree
/ over the fence / to the shops
10
Word collectors
Collect as many ‘place’ prepositions as
possible and create a poster to help you
remember them...
Eg.
down
underneath
11
The saddest house in the
world...
James entered the house cautiously.
Before his very eyes...
Across the room, ...
Under the...
Hanging from...
Beside the ...
Underneath…
12
Find the mini egg
•
•
•
•
Choose a ‘preposition player’
Send them outside (!) the door
Hide a mini egg
The player must return and ask preposition
questions to try and find the egg.
Is it under the desk? Near the whiteboard?...
13
Using our preposition tool
• It’s no good just knowing about
prepositions, remember what is important
is how we use them.
• Yes, we can use them to add detail to help
our readers build a clear picture in their
minds of our story, setting and characters
but we can also use the movie maker’s
skill of zooming in for our story openings
by using our prepositions.
14
Zooming in...
15
National Literacy Trust
• One in six people in the UK struggle to read,
write and communicate
• We believe that society will only be fair when
everyone can communicate as well as they need
• We deliver projects, campaign, investigate and
innovate, share knowledge and work in
partnership to transform lives through literacy
• We are an independent charity
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