This
version of an Inuit myth is another beautiful book by Jackie Morris. As always, her illustrations are stunning and
the story is captivating; however, as a teaching and learning text, it can be used
in many different ways. The rich
language will help children improve their description and widen their vocabulary,
the story provides opportunities for book talk on many different levels and the variation in sentence structures make
this a valuable text for developing different aspects of writing, dependent on
the children’s needs.
Below are
some of the grammatical elements you could teach from this book, together with
the relevant Sentence Toolkit tools which you can use with
these. Under each element, I have listed a few examples from the
text. Which element you choose to teach
will depend on what aspect of writing you want the children to develop, based
on their identified next steps.
Expanded
noun phrases which provide wonderful description (Sentence Toolkit: tape measure)
There are many examples in this text of noun phrases
using pre-modification only (where the main noun is in final position in the
phrase).
- his bone-tipped spear
- thin powder snow
- her golden white fur
The text is very rich in expanded noun phrases which
are post-modified with prepositional phrases.
I have emboldened the main verb in the following examples:
- the scent of snow
- a pale shard of shining light
- the smooth beads of amber
- a hiss of hot breath
There are also examples of noun phrases expanded
with relative clauses. Some of these are
introduced by the relative pronoun; however in some examples the relative
pronoun is elided and the clause starts with a past participle.
- the great white bear who had held them close in
the blue ice cave (relative pronoun ‘who’)
- the place where the boy had sunk to his knees (relative pronoun ‘where’)
- the bear that had taken the life of his child (relative pronoun ‘that’)
- a bundle wrapped in a scrap of white fur (the main noun ‘bundle’
is post-modified by a subordinate structure ‘wrapped in a scrap of white
fur’. This non-finite past
participle is in relative clause position and could have been written ‘which
was wrapped …’)
- fingers, clawed by the cold (the subordinate relative
clause could have been written ‘which were clawed by the cold’)
Similes
(Sentence Toolkit: medium size paintbrush)
- like a raven’s wing
- like a fragment of fire
Adverbial
phrases of where, how and when (Sentence
Toolkit: saw)
- high into the darkness of
winter, over the frozen sea (this could be considered as 3 where
adverbials together: high, into the darkness of winter, over the frozen
sea)
- on the hard-packed snow
(where)
- over his footprints (where)
- with a mittened hand (how)
- like a flame on the cold
white (how)
- in the beginning of time
(when)
- in the dark months (when)
Compound
sentences (Sentence Toolkit: glue gun)
Compound sentences in this text vary the sentence
structures used and create different effects.
For example, the first sentence of the book is a compound structure
which links two main points, both of equal importance:
- In the beginning of time people and animals lived
together on the earth and there was no difference between them.
Other compound sentences vary pace or build tension
in the text:
- The storm came in fast but his dogs moved
faster.
- She dropped the treasure and it lay like a
flame on the cold white. The boy moved
to take it, and in flew the bird.
- He walked over ice ridges and down into
valleys.
- The cold clung to him, it gnawed at him and
fear began to suck at his bones. (a list of main clauses in a compound
structure)
Subordinate
clauses. There are examples in this text of the four subordinate
structures used to create complex sentences (underlined). (Sentence Toolkit: all four spanners and also
the comma screwdriver where the subordinate clause starts the sentence)
- Into this
world they were born, in the dark months, when
the cold and the wind turned water to stone.
- As he reached out a hand to the
biggest of the bears(,) the
amber treasure fell to the snow.
(Although authors do not always punctuate according to the convention we
are teaching in schools, children should learn to use a comma when the sentence
starts with a subordinate clause.)
- As he stooped to pick up the
brightest and best, in flew
the raven and snatched it away. (As with many of the sentences in this book,
sentence structures are complicated with a mix of compound and complex. I would be using these with more able writers
to vary their compositions.)
- Maddened by grief(,) he followed the trail of the
running bears, a river of paw prints on the frozen sea. (The subordinate clause
starts the sentence and is introduced by the non-finite past participle. Again when innovating sentences like these,
children will need to demarcate the clause boundary with a comma where the
subordinate clause starts the sentence.)
- He
followed the trail, picking
up each shining piece, cupping
them in his mittens. (2 subordinate clauses introduced by the non-finite
present participle.)
- She held
them close to keep them
warm in the blue ice cave that was their world. (Infinitive used to
introduce subordinate clause.)
With
level 5 and 6 writers I would also use this text to explore the way authors use
structures that are not complete sentences to create effects. Although the phrases used have a capital
letter at the start and a full stop at the end, unless they have a finite verb,
they are not complete sentences in English.
However, many examples can be found that ‘break the rule’ and Jackie
Morris uses these to great effect.
- So
small. (Adjective phrase)
- His last
hunt before true winter. (Expanded noun
phrase)
- Two eyes,
black as midwinter. (Expanded noun phrase)
- Dark hair
like a raven’s wing. (Expanded noun phrase)
- Two
hands, fingers clawed by the cold. (Expanded noun phrase)
- A child.
(Noun phrase)
- A piece
of amber, smoothed by the oceans, coloured, clear and beautiful, like a
fragment of fire, washed ashore from a far-off place. (Amber is the main noun and this is
post-modified by the three relative clauses starting with past participles ‘smoothed’,
‘coloured’ and ‘washed’. Although these
three verbs are used, since they are non-finite, there is no main clause and
the whole structure is an expanded noun phrase.
With support, more able writers will be able to see the pattern of
participles and use this structure themselves with an element of understanding
about how it is formed. Others will be
able to imitate the pattern.)
To see other texts recommended on this blog, click here. And for more Texts that Teach, check
out this link.
