Drafting the Review

Overview

Students draft their YouTube-style novel review, focusing on how language features and literary devices shape meaning and tone, while also strengthening intertextual understanding through key quotes and references. This builds on earlier lessons in analysing style choices and planning a review structure.

Learning intentions

WALT: Draft the YouTube review that communicates ideas clearly using key quotes and visuals to support viewers’ understanding of tone and effect.

Success criteria

Students can:

• incorporate 2–4 well-chosen quotes and explain what they reveal about meaning and tone
• match their sentence patterns and vocabulary to the purpose (informative/analytical) of a review
• organise ideas in a logical YouTube sequence (hook, summary, analysis, recommendation)
• plan visuals (images, text overlays, scene stills, diagrams) that connect directly to their quotes and claims

Curriculum links

• Analyse how language features such as sentence patterns create tone, and how imagery creates meaning and effect - Identify intertextual references in literary texts and explain how references enable new understanding of aesthetic quality through discussion of how references/quotations strengthen interpretation
• Plan, create, rehearse and deliver spoken and multimodal presentations by selecting language features, literary devices, and organising ideas for audience and purpose ## Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Retrieval warm-up (tone + quote). Teacher displays 2 example sentences from a previous analysis and asks: “Which sounds more formal/tense, and why?” Students do a quick partner discussion, then share one observation about sentence pattern or word choice.

2. 5–10 min · Model: review structure + visual cue. Teacher shows a short storyboard template (not a full video) with sections: Hook → Quick summary → Quote 1 analysis → Quote 2 analysis → Intertextual link (if any) → Verdict/recommendation. Students underline where visuals should appear and label each with a purpose (e.g., “show quote on screen”, “show image that matches imagery”).

3. 10–25 min · Drafting: script + quote integration. Teacher instructs students to draft their review script in writing, using sentence starters provided on the board (e.g., “This suggests a tone of…”, “The imagery of… makes the reader feel…”, “This reference connects to…”). Students write their script, ensuring each chosen quote includes:

• what the quote says (brief)
• what it reveals (meaning)
• how the language creates tone/effect (analysis)

4. 25–35 min · Visual planning: multimodal matching. Teacher demonstrates how to plan a visual to sit beside a quote (e.g., quote displayed + colour/scene image that reflects tone; diagram of cause-effect for imagery). Students add 1–2 visuals per main analysis point and write a one-sentence caption explaining how the visual supports their claim.

5. 35–42 min · Micro-rehearsal in pairs (voice + pacing). Students practise delivering only their introduction and Quote 1 analysis (about 45–60 seconds). Teacher circulates with a checklist: clarity, quote explanation, and tone. Students give one “glow” and one “grow” comment to their partner.

6. 42–45 min · Exit ticket: next draft step. Students submit a short response: “One quote I will definitely keep is… because… One improvement to my tone explanation is…” Teacher checks quickly for misconceptions before the next lesson.

Resources

• Review storyboard template (Hook/Summary/Quote analyses/Verdict)
• Script drafting sheet with sentence starters
• Quote bank handout (class text excerpts or students’ selected quotes)
• Storyboard icons for visuals (image, text overlay, diagram, symbol)
• Coloured pencils/highlighters (for tone words and key analysis sections)
• Dyslexia-friendly reading options: pre-printed, spaced script lines; audio read-aloud available; larger font extracts; alternative spelling aids (speaker notes cards)
• Laptops/tablets or offline devices for drafting (optional)

Assessment

• Formative: teacher checklist during pair micro-rehearsal (quote integration, tone/effect explanation, clarity)
• Formative: review script/visual plan collected at lesson end (meets success criteria or needs support)
• Exit ticket to identify which students need additional scaffolding with tone analysis or visual alignment

Differentiation

• Support (scaffolds): sentence starters for analysis of tone/imagery; quote integration frames (“Language feature → Tone/Effect → Meaning for audience”); reduced requirement of 2 quotes instead of 4 if needed
• Support (structure): provide a partially completed storyboard with headings and suggested time per section
• EAL support: word bank for tone (e.g., ominous, hopeful, critical), and connectives (however, therefore, similarly) plus sentence stems
• SEN/dyslexia-friendly options: large-font templates, text-to-speech for extracts, audio recording of the model script for reference, and “chunked” drafting (one section at a time)
• Extension (advanced learners): include an intertextual reference link (allusion/quotation) and analyse how it changes aesthetic quality for the audience; add an extra sentence explaining how imagery (e.g., metaphor/personification) works alongside sentence pattern to shape tone
• Challenge for high flyers: revise one paragraph to switch between two sentence patterns (e.g., active vs passive) and note the change in tone, then apply it in their own script

Extension (optional)

• Students rehearse and record a 30–45 second take for Quote 1 analysis, then write one refinement target (pace, volume, or where the visual appears).