He into the hallway and looked around.There were pictures of
on the walls and in the centre of the room
was a small round table.
Creepy house
The walls were made of . Five windows
. As Simon
along the path the
door . He heard the
of . He stopped and looked
around the garden.
filled the flowerbeds
and .
Soon Simon reached the step.
He into the hallway and looked
around.There were pictures of
on the walls and in the centre of the room was
a small round table.
NOW TRY THIS!
100% New Developing Literacy Creating and Shaping Texts:
Ages 8–9
© A & C BLACK Teachers’ note The children could first compare passages from stories in which a character is
introduced. Ask them what the character is like and how they can tell. They could identify the key words. Discuss why it is difficult to tell what Charles Porterhouse is like and how the description can be altered.
22
Good and evil character builder
• Can you tell whether the character in the passage is good or evil?
• Explain your answer.
• Rewrite the passage to make the character good.
• Rewrite the passage to make the character evil.
Word-bank
Nouns eyes fingernails glance hair hands Verbs fiddled gazed glared hissed looked shifted smiled sniffed stepped shuffled sidled strode twitched Adjectives clear grimy
mean-looking open
scruffy shifty shuffled sly still Adverbs briskly brusquely sideways slyly A man came into the room and sat at the table. He was about 30 years old and
wore a blue tweed jacket, dark blue trousers, a light blue shirt and a navy blue tie with tiny white spots. He sat in the armchair and turned to face me.
“Hello,” he said. “My name is Charles Porterhouse. I have some important news for you.”
NTT a/w
You could change some of
the words or add new ones
• Try to improve each passage by adding other words of your own.
NOW TRY THIS!
100% New Developing Literacy Creating and Shaping Texts:
Ages 8–9
© A & C BLACK Teachers’ note The children could begin by imagining the alien arriving in their classroom – or you
could help them to enact the scene (with another adult disguised as the alien) and to improvise on it. If necessary, introduce a problem, for example, a misunderstanding caused by the alien’s lack of
understanding of the children’s culture and customs. 23
• Plan the rest of the story.
What problems might there be?
How could they be resolved?
How might the story end?
• Write in note form.
An alien came to school
• Write the opening of the story.
Opening
Problem
Resolution
Ending
Monday morning. Children seated at tables.Teacher checks register. Door opens. In walks alien.Teacher greets her & shows her where to sit.Teacher doesn’t seem to notice alien looks different from other children.
Think about the alien’s culture.
How might it be different from the children’s culture?
You could first act this with your group.
NOW TRY THIS!
100% New Developing Literacy Creating and Shaping Texts:
Ages 8–9
© A & C BLACK Teachers’ note It is useful if the children have first completed page 23. They could first spend five
minutes or so talking to a partner about the alien. Ask them to write three questions to ask, in order to find out more about the alien and his or her home. They could pass them to a partner to answer or make up their own answers.
24
Ask the alien
What do the children want to know about the alien’s culture?
• Write their questions.
• Write the answers.
• Write the part of the story where the alien faces a problem.
NOW TRY THIS!
100% New Developing Literacy Creating and Shaping Texts:
Ages 8–9
© A & C BLACK Teachers’ note The children should first complete page 24. They could begin by making sketches of
the alien at home and, in groups, enact the journey to the alien’s home and the meeting with his or her family. Encourage them to describe the alien’s home. They could enact the scene in which they
arrive there and meet the alien’s family. 25
Going home with the alien
An alien invites some children from Earth to her home.
• Imagine the scene when they arrive.
• Write notes about the scene.
• Write what happens: narrative and dialogue.
• Check the connectives in your story.
• See if you can improve them.
Notes
Think about . . . . . . home life . . . . . . customs . . . . . . beliefs . . .
What other connectives could you use?
NOW TRY THIS!
100% New Developing Literacy Creating and Shaping Texts:
Ages 8–9
© A & C BLACK Teachers’ note The children should first complete pages 24–25. Reread their notes and recount of
their journey to the alien’s home and compare them with the opening passage on this page. Discuss how this helps the reader to picture the scene; focus on details that describe what can be seen and heard and encourage them to continue in the same way.
26
The alien: scene setter
Continue the opening scene of the story.
What problem might the visitors face?
• Write the next part of the story.
Write some short and some
long sentences.
“Look! There it is,” called Jellina. “My home.”
All Simon and Hasanna could see were miles and miles of dust and rocks. No houses, no buildings of any kind.Then they noticed a few humps among the rocks – dome- shaped humps, but still no buildings.
There was a whirring sound, then a judder and a slight bump.The hatch of the
spaceship slid back. A flight of steps slid down on to the dust and Jellina led the way.
Include dialogue.
Use connectives.
Use interesting
verbs.
Oh!
NOW TRY THIS!
100% New Developing Literacy Creating and Shaping Texts:
Ages 8–9
© A & C BLACK Teachers’ note You could ask the children to read a card aloud for the others to identify the issue. A
different card could be given to each group for them to discuss what might happen next or to enact and develop the scene for the others to watch. Ask them about the choice the character made, and
the consequences of the choice. See also page 28. 27
The issue: cards
Salim sees his friend Rohan deliberately break the mirror of a car parked in a quiet road.The car cannot be seen easily from the houses
nearby and no one else is around. Rohan runs off and does not notice Salim.The owner of the car is a friend of Salim’s mother. He hears them talking about the broken mirror.
On her way to the shops Rachel sees her next-door neighbour walking his dog.
He does not clean up when his dog fouls the pavement.
Rachel has seen this happen several times and the
pavement is becoming very dirty. She sees him in the shop and they say hello.
Anna and Gemma take Gemma’s dog, Brock, for a walk. Gemma tries to teach Brock some tricks but he does not understand what she wants him to do.
Gemma says he is being naughty and hits him with a stick.
James has been telling his friends that a famous
footballer is his uncle.This is not true. His friends are very impressed because James tells them all kinds of things they did not know about the footballer. One day they see that the footballer is signing books in a local shop. They ask James to introduce them to him.
Lee does not want to go to school on Monday because two older boys have told him to bring £5 for them every Monday, or they will
‘get him’.This Monday he has no money, so he is scared.
He pretends to be ill.
Three of Leah’s friends have new iPods. Leah wants one but she knows her mother cannot afford it. She sees one on a bench in the park.
The owner left it with a friend while he played football, but the friend has gone off and forgotten about it. No one would notice if Leah took it.
Asma has said that she will go to her best friend Nina’s party.Then she has the chance to go to watch a ballet with her auntie on the same day. She loves ballet and really wants to go. Her auntie cannot get tickets for another day.
Ben’s dad said that he will pay him £10 for delivering leaflets to houses in the neighbourhood. His friend Jack asks him to join his football team. Ben says he can’t because he has promised to deliver the leaflets. Jack says,“Just dump them.Your dad won’t know.”
Janine has borrowed her mum’s favourite bag without asking her. She takes it to her friend’s house. On the way home she leaves it in a shop. She goes back and searches for it but cannot find it.The next day, Janine hears her mum saying to her dad,“I have to find it.There is £300 hidden in the lining.”
100% New Developing Literacy Creating and Shaping Texts:
Ages 8–9
© A & C BLACK Teachers’ note The children should first have chosen and discussed or enacted a scene from a card
from page 27. They can then use this ‘story mountain’ to make notes on the main events of the story so far and to plan their own story in a way that builds up to a climax and resolves a problem. They then compare their ideas.
28
• Write notes about each par t of the story.
Title The issue: story mountain
• T ell the story. Recor d yourself telling the story. Opening Climax + pr oblem
Build-up Resolution
Ending
NOW TRY THIS!
100% New Developing Literacy Creating and Shaping Texts:
Ages 8–9
© A & C BLACK Teachers’ note Read the passage with the children and discuss the problem James has caused for
himself. Ask why his hands felt very hot and damp and what he could choose to do. Identify the past tense verbs and the pronouns that indicate that the story is narrated in the third person. Ask
them to continue it in the same way. 29
The issue: story dialogue
• Continue the dialogue for the start of the story.
Use the past tense.
What happened next?
• Write about a problem in the story.
James tells his friends that a famous footballer is his uncle.This is not true.
“Any swaps?” Runa asked James, as they came into the playground. She had a box of football stickers. James opened his schoolbag and pulled out a fat envelope. Harry and Emma picked up the ball they were kicking about and came to look.
“I’ve got four of Mark MacTier,” he said. “He gives them to my dad for me,” he added with a slight swagger.
“Who – Mark MacTier?” asked Runa, her eyes open wide.
“Yes – he’s my uncle,” said James.There was a slight smile on his face as the others gazed at him with their mouths open.The palms of his hands felt very hot and damp.
NOW TRY THIS!
100% New Developing Literacy Creating and Shaping Texts:
Ages 8–9
© A & C BLACK Teachers’ note The children discuss Rachel’s choices with a partner and make notes about them.
Then ask them to think about the consequences of each choice. They could develop one of these into a story that draws in Rachel’s family, friends and the local community. Page 28 could be used to help to plan the story.
30
What could Rachel do? • Write in the choice bo xes. • Write what the consequences might be . Choices map
• Mak e Rachel’ s choice . • Plan the story. NOW TRY THIS! Consequences
Choices
On her wa y to the shops Rachel sees her next-door neighbour walking his dog. He does not clean up when his dog f ouls the pa vement.
100% New Developing Literacy Creating and Shaping Texts:
Ages 8–9
© A & C BLACK Teachers’ note Encourage the children to imagine a scene in which a teacher turns into a parrot.
Ask them to plan a play that begins with this scene. They should list, and make notes about, the main characters. Ask them to picture the setting and to make notes about what it looks like so that
someone else could set it up on stage. 31
Characters and setting
• Plan a play about the day the teacher turned into a parrot.
• List the characters’ names and write some information about each of them.
• Describe the setting of the play.
The day the teacher turned into a parrot
• Write notes about what might happen in the play.
Character Information
Setting
How are the characters related to one another?
(Children in the same class or from another class, friends, family, teachers, head-teacher,
school inspectors.)
NOW TRY THIS!
100% New Developing Literacy Creating and Shaping Texts:
Ages 8–9
© A & C BLACK Teachers’ note The children should first complete page 31. Make notes about how the problem
grows and how it might be resolved. Which characters might help? The children should refer to their notes to consider the ending and the roles of the other characters (page 31). They might want to alter or remove some of the characters they originally listed.
32
• Contin ue the play plan.
Title: The day the teacher turned into a par ro t Scene planner
• Act the first scene with your gr oup . Opening
Summer term. Monda y morning. Maths lesson in classr oom. Teacher sitting w orking with the gr oup . Others w orking as gr oups. Build-up and pr ob lem
Shriek fr om gr oup w orking with teacher . Teacher has disappear ed Climax and r esolution
Ending
NOW TRY THIS!
100% New Developing Literacy Creating and Shaping Texts:
Ages 8–9
© A & C BLACK Teachers’ note The children should first complete pages 31–32. After they have read and enacted
the picture story, you could hold a plenary session during which they suggest what else might happen and what the characters might say.
33
• Act the scene with a group.
Dialogue planner: 1
What else might happen?
• Continue acting the scene.
Good morning, Sir.
She’s up there.
It’s Miss Grey, Sir.
She’s up there, Sir.
Miss Grey, Sir.
Too many books about magic.
Go out to play now, Class 4.
Good morning, Class 4.Where’s
Miss Grey?
Where did that parrot come from?
You’ve been reading too many books about magic.
You can go out to play now, Class 4.
NOW TRY THIS!
100% New Developing Literacy Creating and Shaping Texts:
Ages 8–9
© A & C BLACK Teachers’ note Use this with page 33. The children first need to have read and discussed playscripts
and to be aware how the action and dialogue are presented in playscripts.
34
Dialogue planner: 2
• Write the script for a scene for
The day the teacher turned into a parrot.
Spoken words
(and stage directions) Character’s
name
• Give your playscript to another group to test.
Do you need to add or change anything?
• Edit the playscript.
Write the stage directions in brackets.
NOW TRY THIS!
100% New Developing Literacy Creating and Shaping Texts:
Ages 8–9
© A & C BLACK Teachers’ note The children should play this board game in groups of three or four. They place their
counter on Start, roll a die and move the counter along the board. They pick up a recount card (from page 36) that matches the section they land on. These are to be retained to use as the basis
for a recount (page 37). 35
Theme park recount route