Writing - Unit Three: Novel as Theme

Story Writing

Genre: Adventure -

Kensuke's Kingdom

by Michael Morpurgo 

In this unit we will be learning about adventure fiction - what makes a great adventure/survival story.

The focus of our learning will be Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo - a shipwreck story with echoes of Robinson Crusoe.  We will be learning about settings (specifically what makes a suitable setting for an adventure), plot, techniques used by authors to create specific effects, and developing and enriching vocabulary.

Our writing focus will be fiction with a specific focus on writing style techniques: use of relative clauses, complex sentences, sentence openers, short sentences for effect, use of dialogue (direct and reported speech).

Children will be learning creatively using drama techniques, annotation of text and the use of images/imagery.

Development and enrichment of vocabulary will be a key objective of this unit of learning - using a challenging text to access quality language in order to develop understanding of a wider range of vocabulary to enhance independent writing.

The unit outcome will be a extended adventure story.