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Thursday 25th February 2021Good morning, we look forward to seeing you all on Teams at 9:30am. As always, do what you can! We are here to help you and we’d love to see your work via Teams or Seesaw.
Mrs Harrison and Miss Rainey
Literacy – Reading
Teaching video: https://youtu.be/ouwFKRAxt-E Twenty-three
Mrs Dando called that morning just after breakfast. She came on her bike on her way to school. She said my mates were looking forward to getting me back again.
‘They say you’re the best tackler in the school,’ she said. Dad showed her all the work we’d done on the house. We showed her the wilderness. She said everything would be bright and new for when the baby came home. She took her bag off her back. She took out a little cuddly black bear for Dad to give to the baby.
‘And there’s this for you,’ she laughed. ‘Sorry!’
It was a folder of homework from Rasputin and Monkey: worksheets with gaps to fill in and questions to answer. There was a note from Miss Clarts: No real homework. Write a story. Get well soon! There were sheets of maths problems and a book called Julius And The Wilderness with a red sticker on the back.
Dad laughed as we watched her cycle away.
‘No rest for the wicked, eh, son?’ he said. ‘I’ll do the decorating. You get on with your work.’
I got a biro and took the work along the street to Mina’s front garden. She was sitting with her mum on the blanket undemeath the tree. Her mum was reading, Mina was scribbling fast in a black book. She grinned, and beckoned me over the wall when she saw me standing there.
Mina looked at the worksheets.
This is the Theory E________.
This theory was developed by Charles D________. There was sentence after sentence like that. Mina read the sentences out loud.
She said, ‘Blank blank blank,’ in a singsong voice when she came to the dashes. She stopped after the first three sentences and just looked at me.
‘Is this really the kind of thing you do all day?’ she said. ‘Mina,’ said her mum.
Mina giggled. She flicked through the book. It was about a boy who tells magical tales that turn out to be true.
‘Yeah, looks good,’ she said. ‘But what’s the red sticker for?’ ‘It’s for confident readers,’ I said. ‘It’s to do with reading age.’ ‘And what if other readers want to read it?’
‘Mina,’ said her mum.
‘And where would William Blake fit in?’ said Mina.
‘ “Tyger! Tyger! burning bright/In the forests of the night”. Is that for the best readers or the worst readers? Does that need a good reading age?
I stared back at her. I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to get back over the wall and go home again.
‘And if it was for the worst readers would the best readers not bother with it because it would be too stupid for them? she said.
‘Mina,’ said her mum. She was smiling gently at me. ‘Take no notice,’ she said. ‘She’s a madam sometimes.’
‘Well,’ said Mina.
She looked up at me.
‘Go on, then,’ she said. ‘Do your homework, like a good schoolboy.’ Her mum smiled again.
‘I’ll get on inside,’ she said. ‘You tell her to shut up if she starts getting at you again. OK?
‘OK,’ I said.
After she’d gone we said nothing for ages. I pretended to read Julius And The Wilderness, but it was like the words were dead and meaningless.
‘What you writing? I said at last.
‘My diary. About me and you and Skellig,’ she said. She didn’t look up.
‘What if somebody reads it? I said.
‘Why would they read it? They know it’s mine and it’s private.’ She scribbled again.
I thought about our diaries at school. We filled them in every week. Every so often, Miss Clarts checked that they were neat and the punctuation was right and the
spellings were right. She gave us marks for them, just like we got marks for attendance and punctuality and attitude and everything else we did. I said nothing about this to Mina. I went on pretending to read the book. I felt tears in my eyes. That made me think about the baby and doing that just made the tears worse.
‘I’m sorry,’ said Mina. ‘I really am. One of the things we hate about schools is the sarcasm that’s in them. And I’m being sarcastic.’
She squeezed my hand.
‘It’s so exciting,’ she whispered. ‘You, me, Skellig. We’ll have to go to him. He’ll be waiting for us. What shall we take for him?’
Twenty-four
‘What is this place?’ I asked her as she opened the gate and we stepped into the long back garden. We ducked down and hurried to the DANGER door.
‘It was my grandfather’s,’ she said. ‘He died last year. He left it t0 me in his will. It’ll be mine when I’m eighteen.’ She turned the key in the lock. ‘We’re having it repaired soon. Then we’ll rent it out.’
We stepped inside, carrying our parcels. Whisper slipped in at our heels. ‘Don’t worry, though,’ she whispered. ‘There’s weeks before the builders come.’ I switched my torch on. We went into the room where we’d left him. He wasn’t there. The room was silent and empty, as if he’d never been there at all. Then we saw Mina’s cardigan behind the door, and dead bluebottles on the floor boards, and heard Whisper mewing from the stairs. We went into the hallway, saw the shape of Skellig lying
halfway up the first flight.
‘Knackered,’ he squeaked as we crouched beside him. ‘Sick to death. Aspirin.’
I fiddled in his pocket, took two of the tablets out, popped them in his mouth. ‘You moved,’ I said. ‘All on your own, you moved.’
He winced with pain.
‘You want to go higher,’ said Mina. ‘Yes. Somewhere higher,’ he whispered.
We left our parcels there, lifted him together and carried him to the first landing. He groaned and twisted in agony.
‘Put me down,’ he squeaked.
We took him into a bedroom with high white ceilings and pale wallpapered walls. We rested him against the wall. Thin beams of light pierced the cracks in the boards on the windows and shone on to his pale, dry face.
I hurried back down for the parcels. We unrolled the blankets we had brought. We laid them out with a pillow on the floor. We put down a little plastic dish for his aspirins and cod liver oil. I put an opened bottle of beer beside it. There was a cheese sandwich and half a bar of chocolate.
‘Let us help you,’ I said.
He shook his head. He turned over, on to all fours, started to crawl the short distance towards the blankets. We saw his tears dropping through the beams of light, splashing on to the floor. He knelt by the blankets, panting. Mina went to him, knelt facing him. ‘I’ll make you more comfortable,’ she whispered.
She unfastened the buttons on his jacket. She began to pull his jacket down over his shoulders.
‘No,’ he squeaked.
‘Trust me,’ she whispered.
He didn’t move. She slid the sleeves down over his arms, took the jacket right off him. We saw what both of us had dreamed we might see. Beneath his jacket were wings that grew out through rips in his shirt. When they were released, the wings began to unfurl from his shoulder blades. They were twisted and uneven, they were covered in cracked and crooked feathers. They clicked and trembled as they opened. They were wider than his shoulders, higher than his head. Skellig hung his head towards the floor. His tears continued to fall. He whimpered with pain. Mina reached out to him, stroked his brow. She reached further and touched the feathers with her fingertips.
‘You’re beautiful,’ she whispered.
‘Let me sleep,’ squeaked Skellig. ‘Let me go home.’
He lay face down and his wings continued to quiver into shape above him. We drew the blankets up beneath them, felt his feathers against the skin on the backs of our hands. Soon Skellig’s breathing settled and he slept. Whisper rested against him, purring. We stared at each other. My hand trembled as I reached out towards Skellig’s wings. I touched them with my fingertips. I rested my palms on them. I felt the feathers, and beneath them the bones and sinews and muscles that supported them. I felt the
crackle of Skellig’s breathing.
I tiptoed to the shutters and stared out through the narrow chinks.
Task 1 – ALL GROUPS
LI: To write a critical paragraph about a theme in a novel. SC: I can use the TCQAP format to create my paragraph.
I can write a topic sentence (T), stating a fact about the theme.
I can explain the context (C) – what is happening at this point in the story. I can provide a quote (Q) to back up what I am saying.
I can analyse the quote (A) to give further information. I can include my personal opinion (P).
I can write in one paragraph rather than 5 individual sentences.
Today we continue to develop the skill of ‘critical analysis’. We will be doing this by creating critical paragraphs following a format known as TCQAP. This is short for: T – Topic Sentence (A statement which tells the reader the focus of the paragraph). C – Context (What is happening at this point in the story).
Q – Quotation (Direct quote from the novel to provide evidence). A – Analysis (Explain the quote)
P – Personal Opinion (Include a sentence with personal opinion at the end) Your Task
Write a critical paragraph about the theme of life and death using the TCQAP format. Please make sure you watch the teaching video as this will talk you through it step-by-step. You may wish to create one paragraph focussing on “life” and one paragraph focusing on “death”.
A literary theme is the main idea or underlying meaning a writer explores in a novel, short story, or other literary work. The theme of a story can be conveyed using characters, setting, dialogue, plot, or a combination of all of
Optional Extension
Write a critical paragraph exploring the theme of home-schooling vs traditional schooling. Here are some points you may wish to consider:
• What does this theme represent/symbolise? (E.g. formal rigour vs natural curiosity)
• Mina’s views on home-schooling.
• Symbolism of ‘Rasputin’ and ‘The Yeti’.
• Mina and Michael’s conversation about evolution.
TASK 2 – ALL GROUPS
LI: To create a visualisation of a character SC: I can draw a detailed image of Skellig I can use quotes from the text as evidence
Throughout chapter 21 – 24 we have learned more about the way Skellig looks. Draw a detailed picture of Skellig using quotes from the text to support your thinking. Share your visualisation on Teams so we can compare our ideas!
SAFE CHALLENGE (Numeracy Part 1)
Today, we will continue to develop our beyond number skills through our weekly SAFE challenge. We have provided the next level up for each challenge level. Please see success criteria for each SAFE on page after SAFE 20.
Teaching Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7Lr6DoXIgg
SAFE 13
(Mild level)
SAFE Success Criteria
SAFE 13
LI: To employ a range of beyond number skills SC: I can identify types of triangle
I can calculate perimeter
I can convert measurements of weight I can write money in decimal form
I can use my knowledge of days in the month to calculate time durations I can convert between digital and analogue time
I can convert between seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years I can add fractions with the same denominator
I can solve fraction addition and subtraction problems
SAFE 18
LI: To employ a range of beyond number skills
SC: I can convert between measurements e.g. g-kg, ml-l, m-km I can calculate perimeter and area
I can calculate time durations I can estimate the size of an angle I can multip0ly a whole number by a fraction I can multiply a whole number by a mixed number I can calculate a percentage of an amount I can write percentages as proper fractions I can continue a sequence involving fractions
I can follow the rules of BODMAS to solve a calculation
SAFE 20
LI: To employ a range of beyond number skills SC: I can identify missing co-ordinates I can calculate the volume of a cuboid I can add negative numbers I can calculate missing angles
I can add and subtract fractions with different denominators I can divide a fraction by a whole number
I can convert a fraction to a decimal I can calculate a percentage of a quantity I can calculate mean, median, mode and range I can follow the rules of BODMAS to solve a calculation
Problem Solving CIRCLES
PENTAGON CHALLENGE
Topic
LI: To increase our knowledge of the Amazon Rainforest. SC:
I can name the four levels of vegetation of the Amazon Rainforest.
I can identify some of the tribes and species that inhabit the Amazon Rainforest. I understand what deforestation is, why it’s happening and its impact.
I can create an information poster that conveys my views.
And so, we have reached the end of our tour of South America, what a week it has been! I hope you’re not too tired though, as we have one more stop…the Amazon Rainforest!
Click on the link below to access all the teaching videos, information and pictures. Work your way through the presentation at your own pace and complete the tasks at the end. https://sway.office.com/m8HPki5WaCQWh3fv
Once you have accessed the Sway presentation, please complete the following tasks:
Task 1. Information Poster
After learning about the Amazon Rainforest and deforestation, we would like to hear your views.
The task today is to create an information poster on deforestation based on your views. You may feel that deforestation is needed, as creating room for farming, new homes and roads is necessary. Or you may take a different view and feel that deforestation is damaging to our planet.
Toady's information poster does not require lots of information, however, aim to include:
• a bold heading
• a few relevant facts
• a sentence summarising your viewpoint
• diagrams or pictures
Please complete your poster in a way that best suits you. Your poster can be completed in your jotter, on a word document or on a powerpoint slide, any way you prefer.
Please upload your work to teams once it is completed.
Task 2. Optional Extension Tasks
These tasks are optional and just for fun. So, if you're in a creative mood why not engage in some of the tasks below!
1. The Amazon rainforest is home to many species of frogs. Why not make your own origami frog? Click on the link to see a step-by-step guide on how to create one.
2. Make your own 'biome in a box.' Have an unused cardboard box at home? Why not turn it into your very own rainforest! Click on this link see how. If don't have all the materials at home, why not get creative and find other alternatives that may be lying about the house. Remember this is just for fun!
3. If you're looking for a simpler task, why not draw your favourite Amazon Rainforest animal?
If you complete any of the optional tasks, I would love to see your finished products, please take a picture and send these to teams as well!
