Back to the lesson plan builder
Lesson length30 min45 min60 min
Questions🔀 New questions

Print the plan for yourself; the student sheet prints on its own page after it.

English lesson plan · 12th grade (Year 13 in England) · 30 minutes

Cleft sentences for focus: It was… who…, What… is…

Grammar

CCSS L.11-12.3.AEngland: A-level English LanguageEngland: AP LanguageEngland: GCSE English Language (AO5 crafting)

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Cleft sentences for focus: It was… who…, What… is….

  • I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
  • I can explain each step and say why it works.
  • I can check my answer and spot a mistake.

Before and after

Needs first: Inversion for emphasis: Never have I…, Not only did she…; Syntax for effect (GCSE/AP)

Leads to: the next skill in this area.

Materials: Sentence strips, Highlighters, Mini whiteboards, Mini whiteboards, A short model text on the board, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 4 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Inversion for emphasis: Never have I…, Not only did she…; Syntax for effect (GCSE/AP)). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. Choose the correct form to complete the emphatic sentence. No sooner ___ the stage than the lights went out. (had she stepped onto / stepped she onto / she stepped onto / she had stepped onto) → had she stepped ontoPrompt: Does the sentence start with a negative or limiting word (never, rarely, not only, only then, little, hardly)?
  2. Is this sentence correct in formal written English? Rarely it snow in this part of Spain. (correct / incorrect) → incorrectPrompt: Does the sentence start with a negative or limiting word (never, rarely, not only, only then, little, hardly)?
  3. The city never sleeps; its lights burn, its engines growl, its people hurry. What is the effect of the three parallel clauses after the semicolon? (The rule-of-three rhythm conveys the city's constant energy. / They make the city seem empty and calm. / They change the tense to the future. / They suggest the writer dislikes lists.) → The rule-of-three rhythm conveys the city's constant energy.Prompt: Think about how the sentence makes you read: faster, slower, with more emphasis?

Hook · 3 min

  • Show a sentence with the grammar point used wrongly and ask what sounds odd.
  • Share the objective: Cleft sentences for focus: It was… who…, What… is…. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 7 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: Which part of this sentence is being emphasised by its structure? It was not the price but the quality that worried us.
  • Step 1: Cleft sentences split a simple sentence into two parts to spotlight one element: It was Maya who… / What we need is…
  • Step 2: The cleft contrasts and focuses on 'the quality'.
  • Step 3: So the answer is: the quality
  • Answer: the quality
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 6 min

  • Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
  • Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
  1. Which part of this sentence is being emphasised by its structure? The person who deserves the credit is Leo. (the credit / Leo / deserves / the person) → LeoPrompt: In 'It was X who/that…', X is the focus.
  2. Read the question and choose. Emphasise WHEN the shop opens: "The shop opens at nine." • It is at nine that the shop opens. • The shop, it opens at nine. • It is the shop that opens at nine. • What opens at nine is the shop. (It is at nine that the shop opens. / The shop, it opens at nine. / It is the shop that opens at nine. / What opens at nine is the shop.) → It is at nine that the shop opens.Prompt: Put the element you want to emphasise straight after 'It is/was…', or at the end after 'What… is/was'.

You do: independent practice · 7 min

  • Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
  • Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 6 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 3 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. Which part of this sentence is being emphasised by its structure? The person who deserves the credit is Leo. (the credit / Leo / the person / deserves) → LeoPrompt: In 'It was X who/that…', X is the focus.
  2. Read the question and choose. Emphasise WHAT annoys you: "His constant lateness annoys me." • His constant lateness, it annoys me. • Me, his lateness annoys. • It is me whom his lateness annoys. • What annoys me is his constant lateness. (His constant lateness, it annoys me. / Me, his lateness annoys. / It is me whom his lateness annoys. / What annoys me is his constant lateness.) → What annoys me is his constant lateness.Prompt: Put the element you want to emphasise straight after 'It is/was…', or at the end after 'What… is/was'.

Watch out for

  • Naming the feature but not using it in their own sentences.
  • Thinking a sentence is right because it sounds right when spoken casually.

Support and stretch

Support

  • Review first: Inversion for emphasis: Never have I…, Not only did she….
  • Use concrete materials: sentence strips.
  • Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
  • Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.

Stretch

  • Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
  • Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.

Homework and more practice

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-12.

Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder

eurekami

Cleft sentences for focus: It was… who…, What… is…

Name

Date

Score/ 6

  1. Question 1

    Which part of this sentence is being emphasised by its structure? It was Maya who broke the school record.

    • A. broke
    • B. the school record
    • C. Maya
    • D. It

  2. Question 2

    Read the question and choose. Emphasise WHEN the shop opens: "The shop opens at nine." • What opens at nine is the shop. • It is the shop that opens at nine. • The shop, it opens at nine. • It is at nine that the shop opens.

    • A. What opens at nine is the shop.
    • B. It is the shop that opens at nine.
    • C. The shop, it opens at nine.
    • D. It is at nine that the shop opens.

  3. Question 3

    Which part of this sentence is being emphasised by its structure? What surprised me was how calm she stayed.

    • A. how calm she stayed
    • B. what
    • C. me
    • D. surprised

  4. Question 4

    Read the question and choose. Emphasise WHEN the shop opens: "The shop opens at nine." • What opens at nine is the shop. • The shop, it opens at nine. • It is the shop that opens at nine. • It is at nine that the shop opens.

    • A. What opens at nine is the shop.
    • B. The shop, it opens at nine.
    • C. It is the shop that opens at nine.
    • D. It is at nine that the shop opens.

  5. Question 5

    Which part of this sentence is being emphasised by its structure? What we need is more time.

    • A. more time
    • B. what
    • C. we
    • D. need

  6. Question 6

    Read the question and choose. Emphasise WHERE they met: "They met in Lisbon." • Lisbon, they met there it. • It was they who met in Lisbon. • What they met was Lisbon. • It was in Lisbon that they met.

    • A. Lisbon, they met there it.
    • B. It was they who met in Lisbon.
    • C. What they met was Lisbon.
    • D. It was in Lisbon that they met.

Free from eurekami.com

for the adult only

Answer key: Cleft sentences for focus: It was… who…, What… is…

  1. 1. C. Maya

  2. 2. D. It is at nine that the shop opens.

  3. 3. A. how calm she stayed

  4. 4. D. It is at nine that the shop opens.

  5. 5. A. more time

  6. 6. D. It was in Lisbon that they met.