Year Five Composition: Second Draft of your Suspense Story

In class, we looked at 'setting the scene': describing the location at the beginning of a short story:

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You need to complete your redraft, including plenty of suspense techniques to make sure your readers feel scared. This work is due on Monday.


P.P.S. Don't forget to think about your 'Improving Your Writing' target before next Wednesday, girls!

Year 6 Fiction: 'Femme Fatale' Rewrite

We've been writing 'Noir' stories. Listen to one of the first drafts, and keep your ears peeled for some brilliant use of personification:


Task: We've been thinking about creating atmosphere in our stories. Please redraft your 'Femme Fatale' timed writing piece, adding additional Noir slang, developing the atmosphere and working towards the target on your card. Write 1 1/2 sides of A4.

Feeling clever? Next week we are going to focus on the semi-colon. Try throwing in one or two into your story!

Due: Monday

And just for fun:


(Image by bogenfreud; used under Creative Commons agreement)

Year 6 Fiction: Noir Suspense

Please write the homework suspense scene, using as many of our suspense techniques as possible. Don't forget, try to avoid cliché!

Due: Friday

Year 5 Composition: Bring in Your Spy Base & Create Poster of Suspense Techniques

Your homework comes in two parts:
(1) Try to bring in your Spy base tomorrow. If it isn't finished, bring it in on Monday.

(2) Please create a neat, colourful poster showing all of our suspense techniques. You can use coloured pencils, textures, pictures from a magazine...but no felt tips, please. This is an example of visual learning.

You can find the full list here, at baldworm.co.uk

The poster is due tomorrow (Thursday).

Year Five Composition: Build a Spy Base!

We are going to write suspense scenes set in your secret spy base. Learn more about suspense here.



Novelists often use models to help them 'picture' a location in their imagination (a bit like playing in a doll house!); I would like you to design and build a secret hq for a bad guy.





Build a model of a secret hq. Here are some of the things you could include:

* Banks of computer screens
* A giant map of the world
* Secret doors or compartments
* Torture chamber (yuck!)
* Sharks!
* Henchmen/goons
* Evil pets
* Rockets
* Dwarf servant
* Desk
* Armchair with buttons

How you build the model is up to you! Here are some of the materials you might choose to use:
* Cardboard boxes painted over
* Sticky-back plastic
* Wood
* Paper mashed and glued
* Washing up bottles
* Model Paint

This video will give you some ideas (don't make Tracy Island, though! Just use the same techniques!)



Hint: Design the hq on paper before you start to construct it!

Be as imaginative as you can! Bring your model into class next Thursday! We are going to base a series of stories in this location, so do a great job! There will be a small prize for the best model!

We'll photograph the models and stick them on the pupil wiki for the world to enjoy, and then write scenes and stories set in this location!

Due: Try to bring in next Wednesday, but if you need until a week on Monday that will be fine.

Here is one of the bases from last year.

P.S. Learn all about our suspense techniques:

Year 5 & 6 Holiday Homework

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.

Year 5: Suspense-skills Comprehension

//L.O. To understand the techniques a writer uses to create suspense or tension//

We're looking at 'spooky stories' in class. Why not read the brilliant Mapmaker's Monster by Rob Stevens.

Task: Please complete the 'Mapmakers' comprehension, paying particular attention to the 8 mark question at the end!

Don't forget you can revise suspense techniques at http://www.baldworm.co.uk; there is information - and useful podcasts - on the P-E-E approach to answering comprehension questions at http://bit.ly/comprehension

Due: Wednesday.

Year 5 Comprehension - Analysing the Author's Use of Suspense Techniques

Welcome back, Year 5!

We are going to revise suspense and story structure by looking at child-friendly Horror stories.

Please complete the 'Parliament of Blood' comprehension.

Don't forget that you can revise suspense techniques here.

You can revise P-E-E at http://bit.ly/comprehension

Due: Tomorrow