Big Writing - w/b Monday 28th June 2021

For this week’s Big Writing, we are going to be describing the Roman city of Pompeii before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

We will be building on our historical  studies of the Roman period, and using the book 'Escape from Pompeii' by Christina Balit as a stimulus.

You can find a recording of the story here: Escape from Pompeii

It would be helpful if you could discuss the following with your child in preparation for Big Writing...

1) This week’s word of the week is bustling

2) Look at the illustrations in the story and discuss what life might have been like in a busy, Roman town like Pompeii. 

Any work brought from home can be used in Big Writing on   Friday.

Many thanks,

Mrs Vaqueiro

 

Big Writing - w/b Monday 21st June 2021

For our Big Writing next week, we will be continuing our Harry Potter theme and writing an information text about caring for a magical creature.  There are a number of exciting different magical creatures in and around Hogwarts from which we will be drawing inspiration for the design of our own magical creature.

In order to support your children at home, you could:

1.    Practise using this week's word of the week, exposing

2.    Think of some ideas for designing a magical creature - will it be friendly or fearsome?  What          will it look like?  What does it eat?  How should someone care for it?

Any work completed at home can be used to support our Big Writing on Friday.

Thank you.

Mrs Vaqueiro

Unaided Writing - w/b Monday 14th June 2021

Next week, we will be completing our ‘Unaided Writing’. We will be writing our own Harry Potter story using the Hogwarts setting description from last week’s Big Writing. The story will be written from your child’s perspective, as though they are a new pupil at Hogwarts.  

It would be helpful if you could discuss the following with your child in preparation for Unaided Writing…

 1) This week’s word of the week is meandering

2) Create an evil character whom they meet at Hogwarts.  It could be a fellow  pupil, a menacing member of staff or a kind of monster such as a troll.

3) Discuss story ideas with your child: what problems might their villain be causing at Hogwarts?  Think about how they might feel and the thoughts running through their head as they struggle to overcome the problem.

4) Discuss what they might do to defeat the evil character and solve the problems they are causing.  How will the story end?

Unfortunately, any work brought from home cannot be used in Unaided Writing on Friday.

Many thanks,

Mrs Vaqueiro

 

The Sorting Hat

After yesterday's long and arduous journey to Hogwarts, today it was time for the children to visit the Great Hall in order to take part in the Sorting Ceremony.  The famous Sorting Hat worked its magic and sorted the children into their Houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin...

Later in the week, the children will be describing their experience as part of their Big Writing!

All Aboard the Hogwarts Express!

Class 3V were asked to bring their imagination with them to school this morning as we kicked off our Harry Potter theme for literacy.  

On arrival at school, the children had to step through to Platform 9 3/4 for an imaginary journey on the Hogwarts Express. We watched film footage of a real-life steam train travelling through the Scottish highlands, before viewing a clip from the first Harry Potter film, in which Harry and the other first years arrive at Hogsmeade Station and travel by moonlight across the loch to Hogwarts Castle. 

The children then wrote the first part of a narrative, describing their first impressions of Hogwarts, using plenty of exciting and ambitious vocabulary.

Tomorrow, we will be moving the action to the Great Hall, where the Sorting Ceremony will take place...