Lesson video

Hello it is Mrs Smart.

Welcome back to this English unit.

Today's learning objective is to plan a narrative buildup.

We are going to be using a clip from the film Whale Rider to write a build up in a few lessons time.

But of course, before we write, we must plan.

If you're ready, let's get started.

In this lesson, you will need an exercise book or some lined paper, a pen or pencil to write with and your character analysis from our previous lesson.

You should have two.

One for Paikea and one for Koro.

If you haven't gotten any of those things right now, or you're not quite ready for your learning, just pause the recording and get yourself sorted.

In today's lesson We're going to start with a recap of what we've learned so far about Whale Rider and about Maori culture and traditions.

Then we're going to think about narrative build up features because of course that's what we're going to be writing, and we're going to plan for it today.

Next we'll pan on narrative build up together in sections using the clip from whale rider.

And lastly, I will set you your independent task.

This unit is all about the film Whale Rider, which you can see on the left hand side of the screen and it is based on a book called the Whale Rider.

Let's see what you can remember about Whale Rider that we've learned so far in this unit.

I've got a few questions with multiple choice answers, and I want you to decide which answer you think is correct and point to it.

Where is Whale Rider set? United Kingdom, Hawaii, Australia, or New Zealand.

I'm going to count down from three and I want you to point to the correct answer.

Ready? Three, two, one, point, New Zealand.

Well done if you got that right.

Who are the main characters? A young girl and her grandfather, Ruatapu and kahutia, Paikea and Koro, Paikea and Hemi.

Point to the correct answer in three.

Two, one, point.

Oh, I tricked you.

There were actually two correct answers there.

The option three Paikey and Koro are the names of the main characters and Paikey is the young girl and her grandfather is called Koro.

Well done if you spotted my trick.

What is the name of the indigenous group the characters are part of? So all of the characters that we've not met in Whale Rider so far are part of this group.

Indigenous remember means the first people to live in an area.

Is it Aborigine, Kiwis, Maori, or New Zealand.

Point to the correct answer in three, two, one, point.

Of course, it's Maori.

That's the name of the indigenous group of people that live in New Zealand.

Well done if you remembered that.

Let's remind ourselves of the story of Whale Rider.

Remember, this is just a summary.

In the opening, a girl was born and named Paikea.

That's our main character that we looked at in one of our previous lessons.

Her brother and mother died during childbirth.

The baby's father moved away and the girl grew up with her grandparents.

In the buildup, which is what we're going to be focusing on today, Koro, that's Paikea's grandfather remember, decided to find the next chief.

He started a club to teach the firstborn boys to be leaders.

Paikea was desperate for her grandfather to see that she could be chief.

Koro Wouldn't let her join in because she was a girl.

In the climax, one night, some whales beached themselves on a local beach.

Remember that means the whales got stuck on the beach and they couldn't get back into the water.

All the villagers tried to save the whales, but the whales started to die.

The villagers were upset and devastated.

In the resolution, Paikea climbed onto the whales, on to the largest whale's back and she encouraged it back into the water.

She coaxed it back in.

All the other whales followed and swam away to safety.

What can you remember about our two main characters, Paikea and Koro? You might want to have a look at your notes from our previous lesson.

Pause the recording and remind yourself now.

Today we're going to be planning for a narrative buildup.

Let's just be really clear on what the word narrative actually means.

Repeat after me, narrative, narrative and narrative is a noun.

It's a spoken or written accounts of a series of connected events, true or fictitious.

Synonyms can be a story or a tale.

So we often think of narratives as a type of story but actually a narrative could be an accounts of something that's actually happened in your real life.

Which it would be nonfiction.

In this instance, we are writing a fiction narrative.

So it's not real.

In a sentence we could use it like this, Maori legends are a type of narrative.

What is the purpose of a buildup? It's really important when we write something that we understand the purpose of it.

Pause the recording now, and have a think about that question or write down your answer.

I think the purpose of a narrative is to develop the plot or develop the storyline.

It's also an opportunity to develop the characters and for the audience or the reader to get to know the characters in a bit more detail.

Often it can introduce a problem.

I wonder what the problem is in Whale Rider? What do you think? I agree.

I think the problem we've come across in the buildup, is that Paikea really wants to be treated like one of the boys and wants to join in with the boys and be given the opportunity to become a chief and she's not allowed to be.

That's the problem that she is facing.

Can you remember the clip we watched in our previous lesson? Have a look at the stills on the screen.

Can you retell the events by saying one sentence for each picture? Pause the recording and have a go now.

Can you remember this clip? Again, have another go at retelling the events.

Say one sentence for each picture.

Off you go.

In today's lesson, we're just going to focus on this clip.

Although we watched two clips in our previous lesson of the buildup to get to know our characters in a bit more detail, in today's lesson, we're just going to be planning for this section.

I hope you were able to retell the events and remember the clip really well.

But just in case, let's watch that clip again.

Pai, you are a girl, go to the back.

What did I say? What did I say? Then leave.

Go on.

To plan your narrative build up, you are going to need to create a very simple table on your piece of lined paper.

If you've got a ruler or a straight edge handy, that might be useful, but otherwise you can just fold your page to create your two columns.

You're going to need two columns and you can see on the screen, one column on the left is much smaller than the one on the right.

The column on the left is where you're going to write down the sections of the clip that we're looking at and on the right is where you're going to make all your notes about the character's actions.

Pause the recording and make your table now.

Right.

Hopefully you are all set up and ready to start planning.

The first section of the clip we're going to look at is where Paikea led the boys into the welcome ceremony, outside the marae.

On the right hand side of your table, You're going to write down all of Paikea's actions.

So movements, things that she does, any facial expressions that are important, any speech.

She doesn't actually speak in this clip, but she does sing.

So maybe you could think about how she is singing.

Pause the recording and write yourself some notes now.

I've written down a few ideas that I'm going to share with you.

If you want to copy any of them down, please do so.

Paikea sang expressively or confidently.

So that tells me that she's singing with real expression in her voice.

She led the group with pride.

I can tell that she's really proud of her Maori culture.

She's filled with passionate.

Again, she's really passionate about being Maori and being part of this welcoming ceremony.

Her head is held high, which is another clue that tells me that she is confident.

If you want to write down any of those ideas on your plan, please do so now.

It's time to plan the second section of this buildup.

This is the part where Paikea sat down on the front row even though Koro told her to go to the back.

Again, I want you to write down any character actions for Paikea.

So any movements, any facial expressions, any speech.

Now hang on, I know that she doesn't actually speak in this section, but she does say a lot with her eyes.

I wonder how you could describe her looking at her grandfather.

Pause the recording and write some notes now.

I've got some ideas that I'm going to share with you now, if you want to copy any of them down, then please do so.

She hesitantly lowered herself onto the bench.

That means she was a little bit unsure or she paused slightly if she's hesitant.

Determination coursed through her veins.

That's a really good way to describe a very strong emotion.

Coursed through her veins means travelling through her veins a little bit like blood travels through your veins.

Sat on the front row.

Defiantly ignored Koro's warning.

Defiantly means going against a rule or going against something that you've been told to do or not to do.

Scared Koro with steely eyes.

That's the way I described how she looked at her grandfather.

If you want to write down any of those ideas, please pause the recording and do that now.

Time for the last section of our build up.

This is the part where Koro instructed Paikea to leave the welcoming ceremony and Paikea left the ceremony and walked off into the distance.

In this section, we're going to focus on both Koro and Paikea.

So thinking about their actions, any movements, any facial expressions or any speech.

I wonder how you could describe how Koro speaks to Paikea.

A synonym for said, Hmm, I wonder what you'll use.

Pause the recording and write some notes now.

I've had a few ideas that I'm going to include in my buildup.

Let me share them with you now and if you want to, you can copy some down.

sternly, Koro raised his body.

So that's the part where he stands up and sternly means that he's obviously very strict or being very serious.

We know he's not happy at all with Paikea, at that part.

Barked his order or demanded firmly.

Those were my two synonyms for said to show that he's really angry at her.

Furrowed brow.

That's to show those lines on your forehead or your eyebrows, tilting inwards to show that you are not happy at all.

A bit like a frown.

a livid expression etched on his worn face.

So if you're livid, that means you're really angry.

If something's etched on your face, etched means drawn or scratch.

So it's a way of describing an emotion on your face.

And I've described face has worn because I know he's quite old.

Paikea reluctantly stood up.

Reluctantly tells me that she didn't really want to, but she knew she had to.

She slunk away defeated.

So slunk is a good word to use instead of walks, describe her movements as she moved away from the welcoming ceremony.

If you want to pause the recording and write down any of those ideas now, please do so.

For your task today, I would like you to finish your plan of the narrative buildup.

Remember the more ideas you have on your plan, the easier it will be to write your narrative build up.

Once you've got all of your ideas under those three sections, I want you to write a sentence for each picture using your ideas.

This will really help you when you come to write your narrative build up because you can just take your sentence and put it straight into your buildup.

I've written an example here where I've taken my ideas and I put them into one sentence.

Let me read it to you.

Paikea sang confidently as she led the group of boys to the wooden morae with her head held high in pride.

You can see I've taken lots of my ideas from my plan and put them into one sentence.

Congratulations.

You've completed your lesson today.

If you would like to, please share your work with your parents or carer.

well done for all of your hard work.

I will see you in your next lesson.

Goodbye.