Improving the style of a letter: sentence structure and rhythm
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can improve a letter which recounts an imagined experience in the trenches by using a range of sentence lengths and fronted adverbials.
Key learning points
- Rhythm is the beat, flow, or pattern of a piece of music or writing.
- Writers create rhythm by using a variety of sentence types and punctuation.
- Fronted adverbials are words or phrases at the beginning of a sentence which describe the action that follows.
- Fronted adverbials can help organise writing by explaining how, when or why something happens.
- Fronted adverbials can help create tension.
Keywords
Rhythm - the beat, flow, or pattern of a piece of music or writing
Recount - to describe something that happened, to tell its story
Tension - the mental strain a reader is put under because of their suspicion that something bad is about to happen
Fronted adverbials - words or phrases at the beginning of a sentence which describe the action that follows
Variety - a range of different forms, types, things
Common misconception
Word choice is more important than rhythm.
Word choice and powerful literary methods (for example metaphor) are hard things to craft and deserve time and attention. But so too does your sentence construction. Consider if you heard one of your favourite songs but there was no rhythm to it.
Teacher tip
If your own pupils have written drafts of their recount letters, consider if using their work as the models would be more powerful than the pre-written ones in both learning cycles.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Pupils were tasked to write a letter recounting an imagined experience in the trenches of WW1. What does it mean to recount?
Q2.A pupil was tasked to write a letter recounting an imagined experience in the trenches of WW1. They start their letter with a greeting. Which greeting is accurate?
Q3.Wilfred Owen (1893-1918) was a British soldier. He is most famous for his about the realities of trench warfare in World War One.
Q4.Wilfred Owen (1893-1918) was a soldier and poet. His poem about a gas attack in WW1 sees a speaker recount, "Dim through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him ."
Q5.Wilfred Owen (1893-1918) was a soldier and poet. His poem about a gas attack in WW1 sees a speaker recount the death of another soldier: "I saw him drowning." What type of clause is this?
Q6.In one of his 1917 letters to his mother, the poet and soldier Wilfred Owen describes a trench he was stuck in for 50 hours. “One entrance had been blown in and blocked. , the other remained.”
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Often, writers try to create rhythm in their writing to engage their readers. What are the two main ways to create rhythm in writing?
Q2.A pupil wrote a sentence pretending to be a soldier on the frontline of WW1: "Gently crying, I tried to extricate myself from the wire." Which is the fronted adverbial?
Q3.A pupil wrote a sentence pretending to be a soldier on the frontline of WW1: "Looking left and right, I made a mad dash for the trench." Which is the fronted adverbial?
Q4.A pupil wrote a sentence pretending to be a soldier on the frontline of WW1. Which sentence contains a correctly punctuated fronted adverbial?
Q5.Starting with the first, put these words and punctuation marks in order to create a sentence with a fronted adverbial. The first word of the sentence has not been given a capital letter.
Q6.Starting with the first, put these words and punctuation marks in order to create a sentence with a fronted adverbial. The first word of the sentence has not been given a capital letter.
To help you plan your 9 English lesson on: Improving the style of a letter: sentence structure and rhythm, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 9 English lesson on: Improving the style of a letter: sentence structure and rhythm, 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 3 English lessons from the Literary perspectives from the First World War unit, dive into the full secondary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.