1. Animal survival (part one) Smart English: Survival
Aiming for Levels 6 to 8, Lesson 14

2. To understand how to vary sentence structure for effect (WAF5)
Smart English: Survival – Animal survival (part one)
Learning objective:
To understand how to vary sentence structure for effect (WAF5)
Learning outcome:
To write two paragraphs, using a range of imaginative sentence structures to engage
the reader
Success criteria: AF
Level 6 / All students can …
Level 7 / Most students can …
Level 8 / Some students can …
WAF5
Alternate between simple and complex sentences for purpose
and effect
Deliberately design sentences for purpose and effect
Use a range of imaginative, flexible sentence structures for deliberate effect
Aiming for Levels 6 to 8, Lesson 14

3. Why is a tiger in a boat with a boy?
Smart English: Survival – Animal survival (part one)
Activity:
This is the cover of a novel called Life of Pi. Look closely at the main image and identify five questions you have about what is happening in the image or what might happen next.
Why is a tiger in a boat with a boy?
Aiming for Levels 6 to 8, Lesson 14

4. Smart English: Survival – Animal survival (part one)
Key
Simple
Complex
Short
Parallel structures
The elements allowed me to go on living. The lifeboat did not sink. Richard Parker kept out of sight. The sharks prowled but did not lunge. The waves splashed me but did not pull me off.
I watched the ship as it disappeared with much burbling and belching. Lights flickered and went out. I looked about for my family, for survivors, for another lifeboat, for anything that might bring me hope. There was nothing. Only rain, marauding waves of black ocean and the flotsam of tragedy.
The darkness melted away from the sky. The rain stopped.
Aiming for Levels 6 to 8, Lesson 14

5. Smart English: Survival – Animal survival (part one)
Activity: Write two paragraphs of your own, using a variety of sentence structures imaginatively to create a blend of tension, shock and panic.
Choose one of these scenarios:
Lost in the desert
Lost in a cave
Lost at sea
Try to use some of these structures and devices in your writing:
Several simple sentences followed by a complex sentence
Parallel sentence structures
Added clauses to increase the tension in the sentence
Short sentences at the end of a paragraph
Aiming for Levels 6 to 8, Lesson 14

6. Smart English: Survival – Animal survival (part one)
There was no light. The darkness was complete. Gradually, I started to explore the darkness with my hands, inching myself around the wet, cold walls. I tried to feel a sense of hope, I tried to push away the increasing feelings of panic …
Aiming for Levels 6 to 8, Lesson 14