You'll remember that we supported the charity Kids Kidney Research at the Alpha Plus Prom. We're proud to announce that one of the patrons of Kids Kidney Research, actress Julia Watson, together with the award-winner poet and writer David Harsent, will be guest judges at next Thursday's Poetry Competition Final.
Task: Write a dialogue between two girls getting ready for a big party. They are nice to each other in what they say...but what are they really thinking? Include lots of shown feelings and thoughts that reveal the 'real feelings' of these characters.
Write 1/2 side of A4.
Feeling clever? Include the 'Messi wiggle' (embedded subordinate clauses)
Due: Monday
P.S. Don't forget to learn your poem perfectly for the competition on Monday!
P.P.S. Don't forget to congratulate Year Six on their brilliant 11+ results!
L.O. To revise the use of shown feelings in a dialogue
One of the key rules of comedy is to puncture pomposity. There is little funnier than a pompous person being made to look silly:
We love to see the pompous get their comeuppance!
Task: In class, we used role play to act like a 'pompous twit'. Write a dialogue - using lots of shown feelings - where a pompous person is being pompous in a cafe, e.g.
"Waiter! Waiter!" bellowed Sir Reginald Pullover, tapping his folk and knife against his plate. "Waiter!"
"Could you keep your voice down, dear," whispered Lady Pullover.
Sir Reginald's cheeks turned even more purple: "We have been sat in this cafe for over thirty seconds and we still have not been served!"
Write 1/2 side of A4. Don't forget to vary your dialogue and include plenty of those oh-so-important shown feelings.
Feeling clever? Include the 'Messi Wiggle' (embedded subordinate clauses)
Due: Friday
(Image by Ben Sutherland; used under Creative Commons agreement)
Have you: * Learnt your poem 'by heart' for Monday? * Made your Book Week costume for next Friday? * Saved your pocket money for our fab Scholastic Book Fair?
Isn't Lionel Messi, Barcelona FC's Argentine football genius, brilliant? He is the best dribbler in the world. A wiggle of his hips - and he's away!
The subordinate clause is like the Messi wiggle - it is the little 'wiggle' that sends the sentence in a different direction, if only for a moment. Subordinate clauses make your writing more interesting!
Task: Write about a family party. Include a 'Messi wiggle' (an embedded clause) in every sentence, e.g.
Dad, aged fifty, decided to throw a surprise birthday party for my Uncle William. My Uncle, known to his friends as Bill, looked shocked when he walked into the room! The party, which must have cost thousands of pounds, was a complete success! My Mum, aged fifty-two, said it was the best party she had ever attended!
Feeling clever? Include a bracket, too!
Write ten-twelve lines
Lost your worksheet? Doh! Download another copy of our first 'Messi Wiggle' task from my box at box.net.
P.S. Your spellings for next Tuesday are here at Spelling City; we'll look at this tomorrow!
We are going to be learning about comedy and comic fiction.
One of the key rules of comedy is to exaggerate. We’ll be seeing how you can use exaggeration to make your readers laugh their socks off! You can learn more on our pupil wiki here.
Homework: We're going to begin to study 11+ past papers as we begin our formal prep. for the 2010 11+ exams. Please complete the 'Baked Beans' past paper.
One of the best ways for some learners to remember facts or information is by turning it into a song or rap. Rhythm Rhyme Results is a brilliant site that teaches what can seem 'dull' facts through rap music!
Year 5 have recorded some fab podcasts where they use rhetorical techniques in a radio advert. Listen to them here.
Holiday homework.
Year 5: Write a non-linear story using your suspense skills. You can download another copy of the prompt here from my area at box.net.
Year 6: Last 'audition' challenge; learn Lady Capulet's long speech from Act 1 Scene 3 (page 10). This is your chance to show off your comedic skills. We'll 'audition' (in the loosest sense of the word) on the 27th Feb. Have fun!
P.S. Don't forget to pick out a poem for Book Week - our theme is comic poems, but you may choose anything that you'd love to perform for the class. Listen to the '2008 Poetry Competition Winners Podcast' for inspiration.
We love using digital video & blogs to share our creativity and learning with the world! Two of our brilliant Year Six have created a video of a scene (Act 1 Scene 5) from our school play, Romeo and Juliet, that they created using Lego and our fab new Flip video cameras.
Please note that they recorded this having learnt the words 'by heart'.
In class, we began to look at clauses in complex sentences. To write complex sentences you'll need to use conjunctions.
Tasks:
1. Please revise the role of conjunctions by completing the 'starting point' questions in your book.
2. Please learn the letter string spellings by playing the educational games at Spelling City; the test will be on the Tuesday after half-term. Be careful with those 'ie' spellings!
Photo by Velo Steve; used under Creative Commons agreement
Please complete the design for the product you would like to advertise; then write a paragraph of 10 lines that combines our rhetorical techniques to 'sell' your product, like this:
Crazy, cool and creative - the new Bald Worm trainer is the hottest shoe in town.
Due: Wednesday
Photo by KevinV33, licensed under the Creative Commons.
Last year one of our Falcons parents asked us to take part in helping to judge short stories that were written to promote internet safety. One of these stories has been turned into a book - Who wnts 2 no? by Steve Barlow & Steve Skidmore. Look out for it in school soon! Learn more here.
Task: Write 10-12 lines persuading someone to purchase Falcons Toothpaste. Your audience is an adult. Try to include as many of our rhetorical techniques as you can!
Next week we'll be writing some adverts for the radio, so please try and listen to a commercial radio station like Capital or Heart and pay attention to the tricks they use during the ad breaks.
Please learn the Friar's part in Act 2 Scene 3, from the line 'Benedicite!' down to the end of the scene. Don't forget to visit the Shakespeare annotated text for hints on how to play the scene.
We are learning about the persuasive techniques used to persuade us to buy a product. There is lots of advice - and a game - about persuasive writing here.
Task: In class you attempted to create a draft for a poster persuading someone to buy 'Falcons Chocolate'. Please produce a 'best' copy of that poster, using as many of our persuasive techniques as you can fit in!
Due: Friday.
Photograph by Net_Effct; used under creative commons fair use agreement.
In class we had a brief look at the brilliant - I think it is one of the most exciting educational sites I've ever seen! - Romeo and Juliet annotated text.
Homework: Spend 15 minutes exploring the text, learning new vocab, listening to brief performances & watching some of the videos!
We are going to be learning about the use of rhetorical techniques in adverts.
Homework: Please look in newspapers & magazines and bring in at least one advert - and try to think which of our rhetorical skills is being used in the advert.
Due: Thursday.
(Note: Photo by Net_effect; used under Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic)
Congratulations, Year 6! You've completed your 11+ exams - what an achievement! You should all be very proud of how hard you've worked & your ability to cope with pressure.
And now for Romeo & Juliet!
Homework: Your first Romeo & Juliet audition is on Friday, but we'll have a read through - without the script! - tomorrow, so make sure you know your lines!
Photo by Johnriv; used under Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic.
1. Learn the spellings for next week - words that use a 'hard c'; don't forget you can make this learning fun by using the games at Spelling City. We love Spelling City: it makes something that can be a bit of a chore into an enjoyble learning experience!
2. Write a short dialogue - 1/2 side of A4 - between two Snow Men (or Snow Girls), focusing on your use of the bracketing comma, like this:
"Brrr, I'm cold, Jack," shivered Bob, wishing he was wearing a hat.
Due: Thursday
Note: photo by Antony Pranata under Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic
