Planning the climax of a 'A Christmas Carol'
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can generate precise vocabulary to plan the climax of ‘A Christmas Carol’.
Key learning points
- The purpose of the climax is to describe the main action and take the suspense to its highest point.
- The climax of ‘A Christmas Carol’ describes Scrooge’s encounter with the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (Future).
- Scrooge feels great regret and sorrow upon seeing the future visions and realises he must change his ways.
- Precise and descriptive vocabulary, including 'show and tell' is used to convey an ominous atmosphere.
- Direct speech and Scrooge’s inner thoughts are used to convey Scrooge’s fraught emotions.
Keywords
Climax - the point in the narrative that describes the main action and takes the suspense to its highest point
Suspense - a state of feeling excited or anxious uncertainty about what may happen
Ominous - an adjective used to describe something showing a sign of misfortune to come
Fraught - an adjective used to describe something that causes anxiety and stress
Common misconception
Children may find it difficult to understand some of the vocabulary modelled (e.g. indifference) and they may struggle to generate their own vocabulary ideas to convey an ominous atmosphere.
Model the use of a thesaurus to up level simple pieces of vocabulary. For example, instead of 'lonely', children might use 'isolated' or 'deserted'.
Teacher tip
Providing a visual of an appropriate cemetery that conveys an ominous scene will support children in generating precise and descriptive vocabulary.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Put the key events from the build-up of the story 'A Christmas Carol' in the correct order.
Q2.Which part of a narrative follows the build-up?
Q3.What are the names of the three ghosts that visit Scrooge after Marley?
Q4.What does an expanded noun phrase often consist of?
Q5.What type of word is used to describe a verb?
Q6.What is a paragraph?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is the purpose of the climax?
Q2.To show the chronology of events, put these key events from when Scrooge receives his visit from the Ghost of Christmas Future in the climax of the story in the correct order.
Q3.What does 'ominous' mean?
Q4.Which of the following phrases create an ominous atmosphere?
Q5.What does 'fraught' mean?
Q6.Which of the following convey Scrooge's fraught emotions?
To help you plan your 4 English lesson on: Planning the climax of a 'A Christmas Carol', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 4 English lesson on: Planning the climax of a 'A Christmas Carol', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 English lessons from the 'A Christmas Carol': narrative writing and reading unit, dive into the full primary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.