English learning tasks for the week commencing 4th May Monday – Vocabulary Lesson This extract from Skellig describes the uncomfortable unfurling of Skellig’s wings. Your child is invited to imagine what it feels like to be Skellig, and to consider synonyms and the best words to describe him. Activity one: synonyms Tell your child that they are going to hear an extract from a story called Skellig by David Almond. It is about a mysterious man found by two children, Michael and Mina. In this extract, the children see Skellig’s wings for the first time.

Read the extract using slides 1, 2 and 3. Use the slide 4 to look at the words release, whimper and quiver using synonyms (words that have similar meanings)

Ask your child to imagine what it would be like to grow their own wings. What word would they use to describe it? Take feedback – they could use the words given on the slide 4 or think of their own.

Remind your child that synonyms are words that have similar meanings. Look at of the meaning of the words quiver and whimper and release, using slide 4.

Ask them to find the words quiver and whimper in the extract and replace them with their synonyms. Ask: Do all the words work? How does it change the meaning of the sentence? Take feedback.

Remind them of the meaning of the word release. Introduce them to the synonyms liberate and unbind

Discuss how each word has a slightly different meaning, and help your child connect a sound to each word. E.g., someone might cheer if they were liberated, or groan with relief when unbound from chains, etc.

Activity two: Act it out

Look at slide 5 which contains other words found within the extract. Three, they have already discussed (released, whimper and quiver). Look at the remaining words and discuss their meanings using slide 6.

Slides 7, 8 and 9 contain the meanings of all the words discussed including synonyms, so it would be useful to just go through those with your child do they are ready for the next activity.

Make sure that you have ample space for this activity. Tell your child that they are going to act out the movements and sounds they have been learning.

Remind them of the meaning of the words: quiver – tremble, shiver, throb; whimper – grizzle, mewl, whine, wail e.t.c

Ask them to make the movement when you read any word outline: use any of the words: unfurl, disentangle, quiver; tremble, shiver, throb, whimper: grizzle, mewl, whine, wail; release: liberate, unbind.

Help them make movements that accurately represent each word; they can make sound effects for the words, too! They can think about the size of the word, e.g. shiver – small and quiet movements, liberate – large and loud movements.

Encourage your child to act out the role of Skellig, with their wings opening and quivering – what sound will they make to show how painful it is?

Activity three: Ordering

Write out some of the words on separate pieces of paper.

Ask the children to think about the size of the movements and the sounds they made for each word. Some of the movements may have been large, like those for liberate. Some may have been small, like those for shiver.

Explain that you want to order the words from ‘small and quiet’ to ‘large and loud’.

Work together to decide where the word should go in order. Make sure that the children get a chance to change the order of the words as they go. They can explain to you why they chose to order them in that particular way.

Final thought:

Tell your child that they have ordered a lot of words that could describe the sounds and movements that Skellig makes when his wings are released, but now they need to think which is the best word to describe his wings unfolding.

Draw a bullseye like the one on slide 10 of the PowerPoint. Read out the focus words and synonyms and ask your child to decide which word they would put in the centre of the bullseye (the best words to describe Skellig at this moment). Repeat for all the words, placing them in an order going from the centre outwards (outwards is the words that do not describe Skellig the best). Take feedback about their choices.

Tuesday – Comprehension Read the following and answer the questions provided by copying the answers to a piece of paper. The answers are provided at the end.

Wednesday – exploring author profiles and planning my own profile.

Activity 1. Read some Author Profiles • Read these three author profiles from their websites: http://jennifergraybooks.com/about-me/ http://www.juliadonaldson.co.uk/about.htm http://www.anthonyhorowitz.com/about • Take notes as you read their profiles. What do you think are the three most important facts about each author? Activity 2. Revise Formal and Informal Register • Use the Revision Cards below to remind yourself about the differences between formal and informal register.

• Which of the three author profiles do you think is written most formally? Which is written least formally? Give reasons for your answers. Activity 3. Plan and write your own profile • Use the Profile Planner to plan an ‘About Me’ for you. Plan to write it an informal style.

You do not need to write your profile today – that will be Thursday’s session. Just plan what you would want

to write today and consider which word choices you would use to keep it an informal style.

Revision Card – Formal and Informal Register

About Me Profile Planner

A greeting or welcome

Vital statistics: your age, who you live with and where

Your interests, hobbies and passions

Any achievements you might have had

Future plans, hopes and ambitions

A sign-off or farewell

Thursday – Writing session Write your profile today using the planning you completed yesterday. Give it a title, and use subheadings if you wish. If you get stuck, go back to the author profiles you looked at yesterday to help you. Extra ideas – You can always look at other author profiles on their website. Choose your favourite author at the moment and see what their profile looks like on their website. It could help you write your own profile about you. Friday – Active/Passive Voice and Formal/Informal Practise.

Activity 1. Read a blog post

Read the blog post: 10 Naughty Things That Dogs Do which is below.

Which of these things would you say is the naughtiest? Which would you say is the least naughty? Which do you think is the most amusingly described? Why?

Activity 2. Revise active and passive voice

Use the PowerPoint on Active/Passive Voice to remind yourself about how the active and passive voice are constructed and used.

Complete Active to Passive/Informal to Formal below. Write sentences in the passive voice and think of more formal synonyms for some informal vocabulary. Use the PowerPoint to help if you get stuck.

Activity 3. Now for some writing

Re-write one of the paragraphs from the 10 Naughty Things blogpost much more formally.

Change active to passive and use more formal vocabulary.

Read the Example to see how this might sound. Well done. Share your writing with a grown-up. Show them the formal vocabulary used and any sentences written in the passive voice. Try the Fun-Time Extra Can you write a new blog post about naughty things a different pet does? Can you write it in an informal style with informal vocabulary and active voice sentences?

10 Naughty Things That Dogs Do

Dogs do so many naughty things. All dog owners understand some of the most devious

things that dogs like to do. Some of them are done intentionally and others just because

they seem fun. When you return home and your dog displays their ‘guilty’ face you know

they have probably done something wrong. Dogs can get up to all sorts of mischief yet,

at the end of the day, we still manage to love them.

It’s difficult to resist those puppy dog eyes, even when they have done something really

bad. Perhaps there is something that your dog does that really frustrates you. Feel free to

share your funny stories below. Here are some very naughty things that dogs often do at

least once in their lifetime.

1. Get into the bins

Come home from work and it looks like the rubbish men have tipped the entire street’s

rubbish into your kitchen? Yep, your dog has probably got into the bins and had a huge

feast. In the process they have spread rubbish all over your kitchen.

One of the worst things about your dog getting into the rubbish is worrying about what

they might have eaten. If you are really unlucky they will get a funny tummy from eating

things they really shouldn’t have. If this happens it’s probably best to invest in a doggy

proof bin.

2. Destroy the sofa

Just bought a brand-new sofa? It’s just too tempting for some dogs to resist. Especially

puppies who just love to chew anything in sight. Many dog owners can understand the

frustration of coming home to a sofa that is completely destroyed.

3. Poop on the carpet

OK, so even the best toilet trained dogs can occasionally have an accident. If you own a dog

they will probably poop on the carpet at some point in their lives. Whether it’s when they

are a pup and haven’t quite mastered the whole going to the loo outside thing or when

they are older and just can’t hold it in.

4. Escape

Some dogs are cunning escape artists. No matter what you do they will figure out a way to

escape. Then you have to go searching around the neighbourhood or they eventually come

home after a nice little adventure. If your pooch loves to run away then make sure you have

high fences and a completely enclosed garden to stop them from getting out.

5. Completely ignore owner

So you spend years teaching your dog how to behave properly and teach them all the

important commands. Yet some days they simply just ignore you. You know they know

exactly what you want them to do but they choose denial.

6. Make a scene in public

Has your dog ever made a scene in public? Jumped into a swimming pool, barked really

loudly around lots of people or pooped in a really awkward place? It can be very stressful if

you take your dog out and they decide to embarrass you in public.

7. Chase after things (birds, rabbits, bikes, people, squirrels, deer)

The chase instinct is probably one of the hardest things to train dogs to ignore. Some dogs

in particular such as sighthounds have an extremely strong chase instinct that you may

never be able to prevent. It’s in their DNA to chase things. However, it is really frustrating

when you are out and about and your dog suddenly decides to chase something interesting

and you spend ages running after them.

8. Bark all day long

Have you ever had a day where your dog just won’t be quiet? Something has set them off

and they spend the entire day barking at the smallest things. This can be very frustrating

and also not very pleasant for your neighbours!

9. Pee round friend’s houses

You decide it is now safe, you have spent long enough toilet training that your dog should

be safe to visit a friend’s house. They haven’t peed in your house for months or even years,

yet as soon as you set foot in someone else's house they just can’t help peeing all over the

carpet.

10. Recall failure

You take your dog on a walk and get to the end of your walking route and your dog decides

it’s not time to go yet. They know that you are near the end of the walk so they take

themselves off on another sniffing adventure. They don’t run away completely, they stay

near you but completely ignore your recall commands until they are ready to go.

Active to Passive/Formal to Informal

Active Original Passive version

Someone has tipped the entire street’s rubbish

into your kitchen.

Your dog has got into the bins.

He has spread rubbish all over your kitchen.

He will get a funny tummy.

Even the best toilet trained dogs can

occasionally have an accident.

You own a dog.

Dogs will find a way to escape.

You have to search around the neighbourhood.

Informal Vocabulary Formal Alternative

Yep

Funny tummy

Doggy proof

Poop on the carpet

Going to the loo

Cunning escape artists

Figure out a way

Pooch

Example

Original

Dogs do so many naughty things. All dog owners understand some of

the most devious things that dogs like to do. Some of them are done

intentionally and others just because they seem fun. When you return

home and your dog displays their ‘guilty’ face you know they have

probably done something wrong. Dogs can get up to all sorts of

mischief yet we still manage to love them at the end of the day.

Rewritten

Many naughty things are done by dogs and their devious preferences

are often well understood by their owners. Intentional actions are

sometimes clear, but other acts can be explained merely by the

motivation of ‘fun’. When owners return home and guilty faces are

evident, something naughty has undoubtedly occurred. Much mischief

is caused by dogs; nonetheless, they are loved by their owners.