OxBridge Centre Year 4 Essay Writing & Reading Comprehension Sample Workbook

Year 4

Week 6

Name

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Essay Writing

Week 6

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A: Story writing- story openings : dialogue - Dialogue (or speech) is good, because it tells us about the characters.

- We can immediately see what kind of person someone is, or how they are feeling at a particular time.

- Speech makes a story more realistic and it breaks up the narrative to add variety to your writing.

- Don’t forget to punctuate speech correctly, though. (See section E).

Read the following opening to a story called ‘The gang’ – it mainly, although not entirely, consists of dialogue. Remember that you should start a new paragraph every time a new speaker speaks and when the narrative continues after speech.

“There’s no way I’m joining that gang. They are trouble. Big trouble. They go around bullying the younger kids and taking their things,” Chaz declared.

Dave had come round to his best friend, Chaz’s house after school to persuade him to join the coolest gang in the school.

“So what!” Dave replied. “At least we won’t get bullied if we join them. It will be fun watching the look of fear on people’s faces. I’ve always wanted to be a member of a gang.

Think of the respect we would get from everyone.”

“I don’t know. My parents will kill me if they find out. And I’m not joking. My dad is so strict you wouldn’t believe it. No, you go ahead if you want. I just can’t take the risk.”

The two boys sat on the bed in silence for a while, the tension growing between them.

Notes : (i) Notice the use of paragraphs. It is so important for making your writing clear and professional-looking. (ii) Although there is a lot of speech, the scene is described clearly as well as who is in the scene. (iii) There is a definite contrast in the characters, which is always more interesting than making them too similar.

Again, answer these W questions on the opening you have just read: 1. Who (is in the scene)?

_________________________________

2. Where (does the opening take place)?

_________________________________

3. When (does the action take place)?

_________________________________

4. What (basically is going on)?

_________________________________

5. Why (are the characters talking)?

_________________________________

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Essay Writing

Some stories present the character and the reader with a choice. This acts as a dilemma and climax.

Look at the dilemma and circle the right choice.

Dilemma 1: Sophie has found an old ring in her mum’s jewellery box.“Mum never wears it so she won’t even miss it,” says Sophie to herself. Sophie thinks it might make some money for the Charity Auction and she really wants to impress her teacher.

What should Sophie do?

A

Take the ring to the auction and make lots of money

B

Ask her younger brother if she should take the ring.

C

Ask mum if she can take the ring for the auction

D

Something else

Which answer is the right answer and why?

Dilemma 2: Sophie and her mum are at the Charity Auction. Her mum spots the ring on the table and says “Ooh Sophie, that ring looks just like your grandma’s old ring... I wonder who brought that ring?”

Sophie already knows who the ring belongs to.

What should Sophie do?

A

Tell her mum the truth about the ring

B

Keep quiet and say nothing

C

Try to get back the ring and hope mum doesn’t find out

D

Something else

Which answer is the right answer and why?

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Essay Writing

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Dilemma 3: Sophie’s mum realises that the ring IS grandma’s old ring, and it is about to be sold in the auction! “Oh No!” gasps Mum. “How did the ring get there?”

Everyone is waiting to start the auction.

What should Mum do?

A

Tell the auctioneer she didn’t give the ring to the auction

B

Buy the ring back and talk to Sophie about it later

C

Let someone else buy the ring for charity

D

Something else

Which answer is the right answer and why?

Dilemmas come in all shapes and sizes so...

When planning a story as we have been learning, it is so important to structure your story well. We have been discussing the five stages of story planning over the last few weeks. We are going to visualise the stages of planning today by using a story mountain.

Climax (What is going to happen?)

Resolution(What is going to happen?)

The build up

The beginning (who, what, when, where? Use a good opener!)

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Ending (How does your story finish?)

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Essay Writing

Essay Writing

Write a story about a character who is keen (eager) to join a gang at school. But to join the gang, he or she is forced to do something bad (disobey a teacher or graffiti a wall maybe). They get into trouble, their parents are told and they are sorry afterwards.

Stories where the character learns a lesson are more interesting. You can write in the 1st or 3rd person, and use the past tense. Again, you must plan your writing and include the five stages and put a title.

Write your essay below. (homework)

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Essay Writing

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The Secret Garden

Frances Hodgson Burnett Mary is a child who has just come from India to stay with her uncle in Yorkshire. The day before, she found a key to a secret garden and now she is about to discover the way in…

The skipping-rope was a wonderful thing. The sun was shining and a little wind was blowing—not a rough wind, but one which came in delightful little gusts. Mary skipped round the fountain garden, and up and down the paths. She skipped at last into the kitchen-garden and saw the gardener, Ben Weatherstaff, digging and talking to his robin, which was hopping about.

Mary skipped round all the gardens and round the orchard, resting every few minutes. At last she went to her own special walk and made up her mind to try if she could skip the whole length of it. It was a good long skip and she began slowly, but before she had gone half-way down the path she was so hot and breathless that she had to stop. And there, lo and behold, was the robin swaying on a long branch of ivy.

He had followed her and he greeted her with a chirp. As Mary had skipped towards him she felt something heavy in her pocket strike against her at each jump, and when she saw the robin she laughed again.

“You showed me where the key was yesterday,” she said. “You ought to show me the door today, but I don’t believe you know!”

The robin flew from the top of the wall and he opened his beak and sang a loud, lovely trill, merely to show off.

Mary Lennox had heard a great deal about Magic in India, and she always said that what happened almost at that moment was Magic.

One of the nice little gusts of wind rushed down the path, and it was a stronger one than the rest. It was strong enough to wave the branches of the trees, and it was more than strong enough to sway the trailing sprays of untrimmed ivy hanging from the wall. Mary jumped towards the ivy and caught it in her hand. This she did because she had seen something under it—a round knob which had been covered by the leaves hanging over it. It was the knob of a door.

She put her hands under the leaves and began to pull and push them aside.

Thick as the ivy hung, it nearly all was a loose and swinging curtain. Mary’s heart began to thump and her hands to shake a little in her delight and excitement. The robin kept singing and twittering away and tilting his head on one side, as if he were as excited as she was. What was this under her hands which was square and made of iron and which her fingers found a hole in?

It was the lock of the door which had been closed ten years and she put her hand in her pocket, drew out the key and found it fitted the keyhole. She put the key in and turned it. It took two hands to do it, but it did turn.

And then she took a long breath, held back the swinging curtain of ivy and

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pushed back the door which opened slowly.

Then she slipped through it, and shut it behind her, and stood with her back against it, looking about her and breathing quite fast with excitement, and wonder, and delight.

She was standing inside the secret garden.

B: Vocabulary The words below appear in the text in bold, but written in their basic form. Write in the box provided the synonym for each word. You must find the word in the text and see how it is used; this will help you work out its meaning. boast

lean

sway

rock

knock

show off

strike

untrimmed

overgrown

tilt

C: Multiple Choice - Underline the correct answer from the options A-D. 1. What is the weather like in the passage?

A

It is raining heavily.

B

It is sunny and blowing a gale.

C

It is dark and gloomy.

D

It is sunny and windy.

2. What was the robin doing in the first paragraph?

A

hopping about

B

chirping beautifully

C

flying in circles

D

sitting on a fence, talking to the gardener

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3. Why did Mary stop skipping half way down her favourite walk (path)?

A

She had seen something interesting

B

She wanted to smell colourful flowers.

C

She was out of breath and hot.

D

She decided to go down another path.

4. What was the heavy item in her pocket that kept banging against her?

A

a key

B

a coin

C

a stone

D

a mobile phone

5. The words ‘put’, ‘drew’ and ‘found’ (written in italics in the text) are what type of words?

A

nouns

B

adjectives

C

adverbs

D

verbs

D: Longer Comprehension Questions Please answer the following questions using FULL SENTENCES (unless you are asked for one word or to just quote a word or phrase from the text). However, you do not need to repeat words from the question in your answer.

1. What two types of garden did Mary go into first of all?

2. Where did Mary see the robin in the second paragraph and how did it greet her?

3. What did Mary want the robin to show her today?

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Week 6

Essay Writing

4. Explain in your own words how the door in the wall was revealed to Mary.

5. Mary was a very spoilt and rude child when she first came from India, but gradually, she becomes a more normal child as she gets to know other people in the story. What do we find out about Mary in this passage? Make two points and back them up with evidence from the text. (Your teacher will show you how to do one point with evidence, and you can do another on your own.)

E: Spelling - ‘ie’ and ‘ei’ - Learn this spelling rule : ‘i’ before ‘e’, except after ‘c’, when the sound is ‘ee’.

- It works for quite common words that trip some people up!

Examples : chief - the ‘ie’ make an ‘ee’ sound; there is no ‘c’ directly before the ‘ie’, so the spelling is ‘chief’. conceit - as the two vowels come after a ‘c’, and they make an ‘ee’ sound, the spelling is ‘conceit’. (the word means arrogance, big-headedness.)

- There are two main exceptions to this rule - seize (to grab something) and weird (strange). [The two vowels make an ‘ee’ sound and there is no ‘c’ in front, so they should be spelt ‘ie’ but they are not!]

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(Qus. 1 - 15) Have a go at solving the crossword puzzle below. All the answers follow the above rule. (The first letter has been given to help you for some words.).

Write in CAPITALS.

1

2

3

4

5 6

7 8 9 10

11

12 13 14

15

Clues : ACROSS

DOWN

4. defensive armour used to deflect weapons (S_) 5. an open area where crops are grown or animals graze 7. to get something (like a present) from someone 8. a small part of something larger 10. when something sharp goes through something (P_) 11. to reach your goal (AC_) 14. the good feeling when a worry or pain has gone (R_) 15. savage, ferocious or intense! (F_)

1. someone who steals from others 2. written proof given to you when you buy something (R_) 3. to have faith (B_) 6. opposite of floor (it’s above you!)

9 stop getting into ______ (trouble!)

12. a high-pitched sound, often expressing fear or shock (S_) 13. not lasting for long (B_)

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F: Punctuation - how to write speech

- We will be looking at speech in the story writing section, so it is important you know how to punctuate it.

- Learn the following rules : i) When a new speaker speaks, start a new paragraph (It makes your writing easier to read). ii) Start speech with a capital letter. iii) Put a comma before speech, if there is a lead-up to it. iv) If there are words after the speech ends, put a comma immediately after the speech, or a question mark or an exclamation mark (never a full stop if there are words afterwards). v) If there are words immediately following speech, do not start them with a capital letter.

- It sounds complicated, but as you get used to writing speech, it will become natural to you. Look at the following examples and notes : Ex. 1 “I’m sorry for not telling you where I was going,” mumbled the teenage boy to his mum.

Ex. 2 “Come here at once!” bellowed the teacher.

comma here after the speech ends.

exclamation mark here, followed by a small ‘b’.

Ex. 3 “Can you help me hang this picture?” the man asked his friend. question mark here, followed by a small ‘t’.

Ex. 4. “I was wondering,” said the man, “if you could do me a favour.” commas here if the speech is interrupted briefly.

Have a go at punctuating these sentences which all contain speech, similar to the examples shown above. You will have to add capital letters, commas, exclamation and question marks and full stops. Write the corrected version on the line.

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1. come and have a look at what I’ve found Sharon exclaimed excitedly

2. do you want my help or not the teacher asked

3. i have come today the queen announced to officially open this splendid new school

4. Gillian stop throwing food in the canteen the teacher roared

5. i am about to open the door Deenan whispered to his eager friend

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Published by OxBridge Centre (UK).Ltd Author Myounghi Nam Published by OxBridge Centre (UK).Ltd

ISBN 978-1-78395-466-7 ISBN 978-1-78395-466-7

This material is the property of OxBridge Centre (UK).Ltd. Any use of the content other than for the enrolled student is a violation of our copyright and proprietary COPYRIGHT ACT of this kind will be faced with prosecution. rights. Any incident This material is the property of OxBridge Centre (UK).Ltd. Any use of the content other than for the enrolled student is a violation of our copyright and proprietary rights. Any incident of this kind will be faced with prosecution.

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