By the End of This Lesson, the Students Should Be Able To

3.7 Lesson 7

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this lesson, the students should be able to:

analyse the meaning of a climax in a plot; and
develop a climax to enrich a story

Stage / Objectives / Learning Activities/Procedure / Materials
Warm-up and review / l To construct the meaning of the chapter “Claire’s Worry” based on students’ understanding / 1. Come and share: theme and plot
l Review briefly “Greg’s Worry,” “Holly’s Worry,” “Samantha’s Worry,” and “Claire’s Worry.”
l Find the themes and discuss its meaning in a plot (i.e., the theme of a story is the goal that its plot aims to achieve). See P. 13 for the suggested themes from the chapters.
l Play the game, Red Rover, to let the students experience the stages of plot development. Debrief.
/ Board
Red Rover (Notes to Teachers)
Learning by experience/ discovery / To analyse the different elements of plot
To experience how climax builds tension and intensity for a story / 2. Experience how a plot and the climax develop by mini drama
l The students work in groups of three. Each group has a set of jumbled snapshot cards of the story “Claire’s Worry” and a plot graph. Based on their understanding of the story, the students organise the cards to demonstrate how the plot progress from the beginning, conflicts, climax to the resolution.
l When it is done, all walk around and evaluate which is the best sequenced plot. Leave the class judgment later.
l The students sit in a big circle and read Scene One (a simple description without climax). Have two volunteers assume the role of Claire and another the Monster. Have the two students stand outside the circle to act out their roles with the cues provided. Encourage the students’ invention as long as they echo what is presented on the cue cards. The rest of the class focus on Cue Card 3 to discuss what they will do to produce the sound effect to enhance the meaning of the scene.
l When the acting is done, ask the actors (Claire and the Monster), and the sound effect designers the following:
i. Are the cue cards helpful to you? Can they give you any useful instructions of what you should feel, look, as you act? (To the actors)
ii. Are there any clear, obvious changes in the mood described on your cue card, so you will have some hints to think about how to enrich the scene with sound? (To the sound effect designers)
l After the students have expressed all the problems, start the drama again with Scene Two.
l Ask for feelings and views as previously. Compare and contrast the differences in the descriptions in Scenes One and Two. Conclude the discussion by highlighting that an effective climax hinges on whether the writer is able to develop tension, suspend it to delay curiosity, and lead it to a satisfied end, like the game of Red Rover. Use Scene Two as an example to discuss possible techniques that can be used to create a successful climax, e.g., action verbs, metaphor, contrast, surprises, etc.
l Return to the plot graphs on the board and discuss which is the best as a whole, and ask why. / Snapshot Cards (Student’s copy)
(Teacher’s copy)
Plot Graph
Scene One of mini drama
Scene Two of mini drama
l To learn to develop a simple climax to enhance the plot of a story / 3. Group Writing--Develop the climax
l Select a few writing pieces which the students wrote earlier. The students choose one and develop the climax to enrich the work.
l Give feedback and encourage peer commenting.
Reading / ● To make meaning from reading / 4. Take-home job:
l Read “Once Upon a Fairy Tale.”
Have the students:
- focus on words in brackets (stage directions); and
- prepare at least 10 questions to ask the playwright.
Assessment for Learning
Student questionnaire
Teacher’s observation
Teacher’s oral feedback

Lesson 7

Red Rover

Notes to Teachers

The Game

l One student/the teacher (T) is in the centre of the room as the Rover while the others line up against one wall.

l At ‘Go’, the students make different postures and hop from one wall to the wall opposite, evading being touched by the player hopping in the centre.

l If caught, they join the player in the middle and the game continues until no one is free.

l After the game, invite students to talk about how they feel.

Debriefing
Teachers debrief with a balloon demonstration/a lemon tea metaphor, or any metaphors teachers consider appropriate to conclude that a story, like the Red Rover game, needs different stages for the plot to develop into the peak (the climax) before it reaches a satisfied end.
For more details of the balloon demonstration, see P. 64 of the Booklet on English Pull-out Programme--The Young Writers’ Society (Junior Primary) 2009.

Lesson 7

Snapshot Cards (Student’s Copy)

Claire got scared watching even cartoons when she was a little kid. Even horses galloping wildly in Beauty and the Beast made her have bad dreams.
One day Claire managed to watch The Monster, the scariest movie ever, with her brother and his friend at home.
Claire had all kinds of bad dreams and nightmares. She dreamt of tumbling down the escalator or bashing her sister with a pillow full of rocks.
The horrifying image (P. 60) of the Monster crept into Claire’s dream and she started to have the worst nightmares ever.
The Monster was intruding into Claire’s life, whether she was having a tea, playing football or watching TV.
Claire’s parents were very picky over what television programmes or movies she could be allowed to watch.
Claire no longer had the nightmare of the Monster but funny dreams and good sleep.
Claire shared her worry about her nightmares on the Worry Website.
Mr Speed thought of a way to help Claire fight against the Monster. Claire defeated the Monster with her skilful football throw in her dream.
Mr Speed discovered Claire’s worry from the dark circles under her eyes.

Lesson 7

Snapshot Cards (Teacher’s Copy)

Claire got scared watching even cartoons when she was a little kid. Even horses galloping wildly in Beauty and the Beast made her have bad dreams.
One day Claire managed to watch The Monster, the scariest movie ever, with her brother and his friend at home.
Claire had all kinds of bad dreams and nightmares. She dreamt of tumbling down the escalator or bashing her sister with a pillow full of rocks.
The horrifying image (P. 60) of the Monster crept into Claire’s dream and she started to have the worst nightmares ever.
The Monster was intruding into Claire’s life, whether she was having a tea, playing football or watching TV.
Claire’s parents were very picky over what television programmes or movies she could be allowed to watch.
Claire no longer had the nightmare of the Monster but funny dreams and good sleep.
Claire shared her worry about her nightmares on the Worry Website.
Mr Speed thought of a way to help Claire fight against the Monster. Claire defeated the Monster with her skilful football throw in her dream. (Climax)
Mr Speed discovered Claire’s worry from the dark circles under her eyes.

Lesson 7

Plot Graph

Plot

Lesson 7

Cue Cards

Scene One

Cue Card 1 – Claire 1
You are Claire. You are now in your dream trying to fight against the monster. You feel so scared because the monster is running after you and is about to eat you up…
Cue Card 2 - Monster
You are the Monster. You are now in Claire’s dream trying to get her and eat her up…
Cue Card 3 – Sound effect
You are the sound or the noise in Claire’s dream. In her dream, the monster is running after her and she feels so scared.
Make the sound effect for the dream!

Scene Two

Cue Card 4 – Claire
You are Claire. You are now in your dream with the horrifying monster. When you are trying to run away, you see a football at your feet. You nudged the football up into the air, caught hold of it, turned, and threw it right at the Monster’s middle (P. 67). It hits the Monster and you are winning…
Cue Card 5 - Monster
You are the Monster. You are now in Claire’s dream trying to get her and eat her up. But suddenly, Claire is throwing a football at you. The ball is getting bigger and you are getting smaller, much, much smaller (P. 67)…
Cue Card 6 – Sound effect
You are the sound or the noise in Claire’s dream. In her dream, she is trying to fight with the Monster. She hits the monster with a football and the monster is defeated.
Make the sound effect for the dream!

Lesson 7

Student Questionnaire

Student’s Name: ______Class: ______Date: ______

These questions are to find out about your English language learning.

Please answer all the questions. Thank you.

Please tick ( ü ) the best box.

In Lesson 7, / Yes / No
Why? / I am not sure
Why?
1. I shared my reading and understanding of “Claire’s Worry.”
No, because… / I am not sure, because… ______
2. I learnt about the theme and plot development of a story.
No, because… / I am not sure, because…
______
3. I learnt about why and how climax matters.
No, because… / I am not sure, because…
______
4. I learnt to re-write a climax to enrich the plot of a story.
No, because… / I am not sure, because…
______

In this lesson, I enjoyed / didn’t enjoy… because…

______