grammar-for-writing-teaching-narrative.pdf

Grammar for Writing:
Teaching Narrative
Debra Myhill
All art is achieved through the exercise
of a craft, and every craft has its
rudiments that must be taught.
Fairfax and Moat (1998

Aims of the Day
 Revising and extending knowledge of verb phrases;
 Focusing on using grammar to develop settings and character in
narrative writing;
 Emphasising the importance of verbalising the grammar-writing link
 Developing confidence in planning with grammar in mind;
 Communicating this project to your colleagues.
3

REFLECTION ON GAP TASK AND
LEAD PLANNING
4

Linking Grammar and Writing
One way to create a strong visual description of a narrative scene is to use
precisely-chosen prepositional phrases.
One way to create suspense in a narrative is to put the subject after the verb.
One way to create character, and show not tell, is to choose verbs carefully to
make the reader infer.
5

GRAMMAR SUBJECT
KNOWLEDGE: VERBS
6

Verbs: Reprise
7
think
believe
suggest
mumble
leap
crunch
exclaim
dive
These are all infinitives – the base form of the verb.

Verbs: Reprise
With your chosen infinitive form of the verb, can you write:
 The present tense;
 The past tense;
 The present progressive;
 The past progressive;
 The present perfect;
 The past perfect;
 A verb phrase using a modal verb;
 The present participle;
 The past participle.
Use ‘she’ as your pronoun for each one eg She walks
8

Verbs: Reprise
9
FORM SUGGEST THINK MUMBLE
The present tense suggests thinks mumbles
The past tense suggested thought mumbled
The present progressive is suggesting is thinking is mumbling
The past progressive was suggesting was thinking was mumbling
The present perfect has suggested has thought has mumbled
The past perfect had suggested had thought had mumbled
A verb phrase using a modal verb could suggest might think would mumble
The present participle suggesting thinking mumbling
The past participle suggested thought mumbled

Finite Verbs
Knowing the difference between finite and non finite verbs is helpful, especially
for teachers, as it helps with understanding clauses and what makes a
complete (regular sentence).
 The finite verb is the verb which shows past or present tense
 This is often a single verb
eg I dance; I danced
 In a verb phrase, the finite verb is always the first one in the phrase
eg I was dancing; I am dancing; I could have danced; I had been dancing
 Notice that the present participle, which always ends with –ing is never finite
 The past participle is also never finite, but in many verbs it is the same as
the past tense form which makes it tricky
eg I danced (past tense); I had danced (past participle)
 Now you see why knowing about a verb phrase is very important!
 A complete (regular) sentence must have finite verb.
10

Verbs: Finite Verbs
11
Where are the finite verbs in this list of verbs and verb phrases?

Verbs: Finite Verbs
12
The finite verbs in this list of verbs and verb phrases.

Verbs: Finite and non-Finite
The boy stood to one side. He looked nervous. He knew very well he wasn’t up
there to be presented with a prize. He was watching the Headmistress with an
exceedingly wary eye and he kept edging farther and farther away from her
with little shuffles of his feet, rather as a rat might edge away from a terrier that
is watching it from across the room. His plump flabby face had turned grey with
fearful apprehension. His stockings hung about his ankles.
‘This clot’ boomed the Headmistress, pointing the riding-crop at him like a
rapier, ‘this blackhead, this foul carbuncle, this poisonous pustule that you see
before you is none other than a disgusting criminal, a denizen of the
underworld, a member of the Mafia!’
Matilda – Roald Dahl
13
Can you find the finite verbs in this extract?

14

15

Writing Time
Think of a piece of footwear: high heeled sparkly shoes; leather boots; school
shoes; fluorescent orange trainers; ballet shoes … and who might wear them.
16

Freewrite for 5 minutes about the
character who might wear these shoes.
Let your pen take your imagination for a
walk.
17

KS2 Assessment Framework
Working at the Expected Standard - The pupil can:
 write effectively for a range of purposes and audiences, selecting language
that shows good awareness of the reader (e.g. the use of the first person in
a diary; direct address in instructions and persuasive writing)
 in narratives, describe settings, characters and atmosphere
 integrate dialogue in narratives to convey character and advance the action
 select vocabulary and grammatical structures that reflect what the writing
requires, doing this mostly appropriately (e.g. using contracted forms in
dialogues in narrative; using passive verbs to affect how information is
presented; using modal verbs to suggest degrees of possibility)
 use a range of devices to build cohesion (e.g. conjunctions, adverbials of
time and place, pronouns, synonyms) within and across paragraphs
 use verb tenses consistently and correctly throughout their writing
 use the range of punctuation taught at key stage 2 mostly correctly (e.g.
inverted commas and other punctuation to indicate direct speech) 18

ESTABLISHING A SETTING IN
NARRATIVE
19

A kangaroo
sits in the hot
sun in the
evening.
Rewrite this as a short
narrative paragraph about a
particular kangaroo, conveying
a sense of place and climate.
Setting in Narrative

Far inland, where ocean is a dim
memory, the sun floats on the waves of
another bake-earth day. In the long
shadows, a big red kangaroo licks his
forearms and lets the early evening
breeze wash over him.
Adverbials positioned at the front of
the sentence foreground a sense of
location and time.

Nouns and noun phrases provide
specific detail and evoke a sense of
heat and dryness.

Action verbs extend the metaphor of
desert as ocean.

Verbalising the grammar-writing link
The writer uses adverbials at the start of
the sentence to foreground and locate
the place where the kangaroo lives.
The writer uses nouns and noun
phrases to evoke the sense of heat and
dryness.
The writer uses action verbs to extend
the metaphor of desert as ocean.
What grammatical choices have you made in your description?
Metalinguistic thinking

Detail in Setting for Inference
Beyond the alley they came to a warren of grimy streets, where old women
stood in the doorways, wearing sacks for aprons, and men in carpet slippers
sat on the steps. Dogs nosed among crumpled paper in the gutter; a rusty
bicycle wheel lay on the cobbles. A group of boys at the corner talked to a girl
whose hair was rolled in brightly coloured plastic curlers.
Elidor – Alan Garner
25
What do you infer from this description of the setting?
What language choices are creating that inference?

26
Long (expanded) noun phrases with lots of additional detail after the verb

27
Long (expanded) noun phrases with lots of additional detail after the verb
Prepositional phrases to show details about the place
These help us infer this is not a rich area, but that it is a community.

Establishing Mood and Atmosphere
The island looked perhaps two or three miles in length, no more. It was shaped
a bit like an elongated peanut, but longer at one end than another. There was
a long swathe of brilliant white beach on both sides of the island, and at the far
end another hill, the slopes steeper and thickly wooded, but not so high as
mine. With the exception of these twin peaks the entire island seemed to be
covered with forest. So far as I could see there was no sign of any human life. ..
I sat down in the shadow of a great rock. The gibbons set up a renewed
chorus of howling and hooting in the forest, and a flock of raucous birds
clattered up out of the canopy of the trees below us and flew off across the
island to settle in the trees on the hillside opposite.
Kensuke’s Kingdom – Michael Morpurgo
28

Establishing Mood and Atmosphere
The island looked perhaps two or three miles in length, no more. It was
shaped a bit like an elongated peanut, but longer at one end than another.
There was a long swathe of brilliant white beach on both sides of the island,
and at the far end another hill, the slopes steeper and thickly wooded, but not
so high as mine. With the exception of these twin peaks/ the entire island
seemed to be covered with forest. So far as I could see there was no sign of
any human life... I sat down in the shadow of a great rock. The gibbons set up
a renewed chorus of howling and hooting in the forest, and a flock of raucous
birds clattered up out of the canopy of the trees below us and flew off across
the island to settle in the trees on the hillside opposite.
29

Setting in KS1
Once there was a lighthouse keeper called Mr Grinling. At night time he lived
in a small white cottage perched high on the cliffs. In the day time he rowed
out to his lighthouse on the rocks to clean and polish the light.
The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch
30
Expanded noun phrases provide visual detail of the setting.

Creating Settings
Verbalising the grammar-writing link:
 Using expanded noun phrases can provide visual detail about the setting;
 Expanding noun phrases with prepositional phrases can provide detail about
the setting;
 Choosing your noun phrases and prepositional phrases carefully can make
your reader infer about the kind of place that your setting is;
 Choosing your noun phrases and prepositional phrases carefully can create
a particular mood or atmosphere in your setting.
31

CREATING CHARACTERS IN
NARRATIVE
32

Creating Characters in Narrative
 Show not tell: reveal your character through showing what they are like, not
just telling the reader;
 Use specific, concrete detail to describe characters to make your readers
believe in them - generic not specific: this man not any man;
 Create strong visual descriptions which allow your reader to see the
character in their own mind’s eye;
 Reveal inner reflections so your readers know what your characters are
thinking and feeling;
 Think about how you name your characters;
 Use dialogue to suggest character.

Show, not Tell: make your reader infer
Show not tell: Dahl doesn’t tell us that Mr Wormwood is a nasty
little man, he tells us he is ‘ratty-looking’ and so shows us he is a
nasty little man. We have to work this out for ourselves (or infer
this).
When we write, sometimes we do tell our readers about
characters, but good writers also make the reader infer what the
character is like.
‘Mr Wormwood was a small ratty-looking man whose front teeth
stuck out underneath a thin ratty moustache’.

Use Verbs to Show not Tell
When she marched – Miss Trunchbull never walked, she always marched like
a Stormtrooper with long strides and arms aswinging –when she marched
along a corridor you could actually hear her snorting as she went, and if a
group of children happened to be in her path, she ploughed through them like a
tank, bouncing off her to left and right.
35
What do the verb choices here make us infer about Miss Trunchbull?

When she marched – Miss Trunchbull never walked, she always marched like
a Stormtrooper with long strides and arms aswinging –when she marched
along a corridor you could actually hear her snorting as she went, and if a
group of children happened to be in her path, she ploughed through them like a
tank, bouncing off her to left and right.
36
What do the verb choices here make us infer about Miss Trunchbull?
What is the effect of choosing the verb ‘happened’ to describe the children?
Use Verbs to Show not Tell

Give Specific, Concrete Details
(about a pigeon)
I felt its small heart racing underneath my finger
And the push and power of its wings.
Its head was whiter than a splash of milk. Its eye blazed fire.
“Name him he’s yours”, the old man said.
I didn’t have to think. “Re del cielo!” I replied
“King of the sky!”
Make your characters believable by giving specific,
concrete details.
Noun phrases provide the concrete detail here: this is not any pigeon, but it is
this pigeon.

He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of
all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose. The only thing Harry
liked about his appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead which
was shaped like a bolt of lightning.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K.Rowling
What concrete details about Harry Potter are given here to help us
understand this character and believe in him?
What grammatical choices does J.K Rowling use to achieve this?

He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of
all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose. The only thing Harry
liked about his appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead which
was shaped like a bolt of lightning.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K.Rowling
Long extended noun phrases provide the concrete detail.

Writing Time
 Re-read your freewriting about a character who wears the shoes you
chose.
 Now visualise him or her – what do they look like? What are they
wearing? How do they feel? Imagine you are filming your character
from every angle.
 Now write one paragraph describing your character: thinking about how
you can show not tell to make your reader infer, and about how you
select specific concrete details to make your character specific and
believable.

Create Strong Visual Images
He has terrible tusks, and terrible claws, and terrible teeth in his terrible
jaws.
He has knobbly knees, and turned-out toes, and a poisonous wart at the
end of his nose.
His eyes are orange, his tongue is black; he has purple prickles all over his
back.

He has terrible tusks, and terrible claws, and terrible teeth in his terrible
jaws.
He has knobbly knees, and turned-out toes, and a poisonous wart at the
end of his nose.
His eyes are orange, his tongue is black; he has purple prickles all over his
back.
Noun phrases to convey a strong visual image

He was diminutive, no taller than me, and as old a man as I had ever seen. He
wore nothing but a pair of tattered breeches bunched at the waist, and there
was a large knife in his belt. He was thin, too. In places – under his arms,
round his neck and his midriff – his copper brown skin lay in folds about him,
almost as if he’d shrunk inside it. What little hair he had on his head and his
chin was long and wispy and white.
Kensuke’s Kingdom – Michael Morpurgo.
43
What language choices help you see this character? How would you paint him?

He was diminutive, no taller than me, and as old a man as I had ever seen. He
wore nothing but a pair of tattered breeches bunched at the waist, and there
was a large knife in his belt. He was thin, too. In places – under his arms,
round his neck and his midriff – his copper brown skin lay in folds about him,
almost as if he’d shrunk inside it. What little hair he had on his head and his
chin was long and wispy and white.
Kensuke’s Kingdom – Michael Morpurgo.
44
Expanded noun phrases with elaborating detail of his appearance.
Noun phrases which refer to parts of his body so we see the whole man.
Freestanding adjectives which add to the visual images.

Reveal Character’s Inner Reflections
Charlie is taking me by the hand, leading me because he knows I don’t
want to go. I’ve never worn a collar before and it’s choking me. My boots
are strange and heavy on my feet. My heart is heavy too, because I
dread what I am going to. Charlie has told me often how terrible this
school-place is: about Mr Munnings and his raging tempers and the long
whipping cane he hangs on the wall above his desk. I don’t want to go
with Charlie. I don’t want to go to school.
Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo
How does this character feel?
How does Michael Morpurgo convey this?

First person voice shows his thinking: first person pronouns and
determiners emphasise the ‘I’ of this piece.

The use of negative verbs and adjectives convey his sense of fear and
reluctance.
This is reinforced by repetition.

Grandma Poss looked miserable.
‘Don’t worry Grandma,’ said Hush ‘I don’t mind.’
But in her heart of hearts she did.

The island looked perhaps two or three miles in length, no more. It was shaped
a bit like an elongated peanut, but longer at one end than another. There was
a long swathe of brilliant white beach on both sides of the island, and at the far
end another hill, the slopes steeper and thickly wooded, but not so high as
mine. With the exception of these twin peaks the entire island seemed to be
covered with forest. So far as I could see there was no sign of any human life.
Even then, as I stood there, that first morning, filled with apprehension at the
terrifying implications of my dreadful situation, I remember thinking how
wonderful it was, a green jewel of an island framed in white, the sea all about it
a silken shimmering blue.
49
Adding a reflection in the midst of other description such as describing a
character or setting.

A tip from the author, Philip Reeve
Getting the names right is half the battle – you can do a lot of worldbuilding
simply by deciding what people and places are called. In my Mortal Engines
books I went for slightly whimsical, Dickensian-sounding names. When I
started writing the story which became Railhead I tried to make sure the
names sounded different. I called my central characters Zen and Nova
because those were the sorts of names I remember from futuristic stories
and TV shows that were around when I was a child – they’re sci-fi names. I
knew that in German-speaking cities there are often railway lines called the
U-bahn and the S-bahn. My interstellar empire would be linked by the K-
bahn, whose trains would go through K-gates and flash across a dimension
called K-space to reach their far destinations.
Proper Nouns for characterisation

Writing Time
 Re-read your draft paragraph of your character description.
 Think about your description and what you wanted to make your reader
think or feel or know about your character.
 Look at the descriptive detail in your prepositional phrases and noun
phrases: show not tell; visual images; concrete detail; inner reflection;
naming
 Make at least one language/grammatical change which you think improves
your description and achieves what you want it to achieve (your authorial
intention)
 Now explain to your partner the change you made and why.

Skellig – Making Connections
 Read the opening chapter of Skellig.
 What links between a grammar choice and a narrative effect can you see in
this opening?
 Write down a sentence which communicates this link clearly to children.
You might find this model helpful:
One way to create a strong visual description of a narrative scene is to use
precisely-chosen prepositional phrases.
53

Skellig – Making Connections
 The use of pronouns to create a sense of mystery/curiosity: I found him in
the garage on a Sunday afternoon.
 The use of Proper Nouns to name characters and prompt inference: Doctor
Death.
 Use of first person voice to communicate how the character feels/inner
reflection: I couldn’t have been more wrong; I didn't want anything to do with
him.
 The use of expanded noun phrases to describe the setting (the garage): a
demolition site; a rubbish dump; one of those ancient warehouses they keep
pulling down at the wharf.
 The use of short verbless sentence to convey the character’s isolation and
loneliness: Just me.
54

LEAD Planning Template
PRINCIPLE IN THE CLASSROOM
LINKS
Make a link between the
grammar being introduced
and how it works in the writing
being taught
How the use of pronouns can to create a sense of
mystery/curiosity:
I found him in the garage on a Sunday afternoon
EXAMPLES
Explain the grammar through
showing examples, not
lengthy explanations
Give out cards with a variety of nouns and pronouns
which could be substituted for I and him and invite pairs to
play with different versions.
AUTHENTIC TEXTS
Use authentic texts as
models to link writers to the
broader community of writers
Skellig by David Almond
DISCUSSION
Build in high-quality
discussion about grammar
and its effects
Show the first sentence of the novel: discuss Almond’s
choice compared with some of the alternative choices.
Discuss how not naming any characters creates a sense
of mystery – who are they? What will happen?
55

LEAD Principles
PRINCIPLE EXPLANATION RATIONALE
LINKS Make a link between the
and how it works in the
writing being taught
To establish a purposeful learning
reason for addressing grammar, and
connect grammar with meaning and
rhetorical effect
EXAMPLES Explain the grammar through
showing examples, not
lengthy explanations
To avoid writing lessons becoming
mini-grammar lessons, and to allow
access to the structure even if the
grammar concept is not fully
understood
AUTHENTIC
TEXTS
broader community of writers
To integrate reading and writing and
show how ‘real’ writers make language
choices
DISCUSSION Build in high-quality
and its effects
To promote deep metalinguistic
learning about why a particular choice
works, and to develop independence
rather than compliance 57

LEAD Principles
PRINCIPLE EXPLANATION CLASSROOM EXAMPLE
LINKS Make a link between the
and how it works in the
writing being taught
Analysing how prepositional phrases
are used to establish the setting in
one scene in Charlotte’s Web by
E.B.White.
EXAMPLES Explain the grammar
through showing examples,
not lengthy explanations
Displaying the relevant paragraph
with all the prepositional phrases
highlighted in colour.
AUTHENTIC
TEXTS
broader community of
writers
Using Charlotte’s Web by E.B.White.
as the model text and understanding
White’s choices.
DISCUSSION Build in high-quality
and its effects
Discussing the effect of the
prepositional phrases; the visual
detail they provide about the setting.
58

Gap Task
1. Revise and use the grammar knowledge we have addressed: nouns and
noun phrases; prepositional phrases; and verbs and verb phrases. Think
about where you still feel ‘wobbly’ about grammar knowledge
2. Plan and teach at least five episodes, preferably in the context of narrative
settings and characterisation, where you use the LEAD principles to draw
young writers’ attention to the link between a grammar choice and its effect
in writing, in . Keep a record of each of these episodes using the LEAD
Planning Template.
3. Focus particularly this time on verbalising the grammar-writing link, sharing
this with children, and helping them understand the effect.
4. Bring the completed planning templates to the next CPD Day (in March) to
use in discussion.
59

Further Resources
Resources for Teachers:
http://socialsciences.exeter.ac.uk/education/research/centres/centreforresear
chinwriting/grammar-teacher-resources/
Cybergrammar: www.cybergrammar.com
No Nonsense Grammar: Babcock LDP Literacy Team, Raintree (2016)
https://babcock-education.co.uk/ldp/grammarandpunctuation
https://babcock-education.co.uk/ldp/textsthatteach
Essential Primary Grammar
http://www.mheducation.co.uk/essential-primary-grammar
60

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