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Summary for lesson 1:
What did we cover
– Discussed how the book group will work
– Introduced ourselves to each other
– Discussed our initial thoughts on The Twits
– Did a character study (using illustrations of the characters)
– Worked through the questions for the first half of The TwitsClass report
I was so delighted to meet the new students today; they all were incredibly enthusiastic and lively, which made for such a warm and welcoming environment, and a great start to our
sessions together!
We began by going through how the sessions will work (i.e. 2 lessons a week, 2 homeworks a week, a different book every week, preparing VIPERS answers before the lessons). Next, we went round to introduce ourselves; it was great to hear what the students favourite books were and see them being so friendly to one another.
After discussing what we thought of The Twits, we looked at some illustrations of the characters and discussed what we could tell about them for the way they were presented. The
students were very attentive and noticed how details such as the characters’ expressions or the colours they wore tell the reader so much about what type of people they are.
We moved onto going through the VIPERS questions next. I was so impressed to see the students get stuck in with confidence, as it can be very daunting to share your ideas with people you have only just met. The answers they gave were all very insightful and well supported. When we spent longer discussing some questions (such as ‘are Mr. and Mrs/ Twit a good match) it was wonderful to hear the personal opinions of different students and see how well they could present their arguments.
All in all this was a hugely encouraging first session, and I am so very excited to continue our work together and see how the students continue to grow in confidence and ability. Each
session the work we do will become slightly more hallenging, so it will be a wonderful opportunity for them to push themselves and also discover a real joy in reading and
discussing these marvellous books!Home work for lesson 1:
Using The Twits as inspiration, write th e first paragraph of a story titled ‘The Darlings’ in the style
of Roald Dahl.
Think about how you will introduce the characters of ‘the darlings’, and how you will capture the
reader’s attention.
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Summarise the first half of the book in 4 sentences. -
Summary for lesson 2:
What did we cover
– Reflected on last lesson
– Recapped the first half of the book
– Created some idea for tricks inspired by The Twits
– Learned some fun facts about the book
– Worked through the questions for the second half of The Twits
Class report
It was wonderful to continue working with the students on The Twits ; the energy and enthusiasm which the students have been showing is marvellous, and I am so impressed by how quickly they have become comfortable with sharing their ideas.
We began the lesson by recapping what happened in the first half of the story, and then we did a fun creative exercise which involved the students coming up with ideas for tricks to play with different objects (i.e. a water gun, a toy mouse). This was such a joyful exercise; it was a delight to see the students have so much fun in coming up with ideas, and it demonstrated
how brilliantly creative they all are.
We then discussed some fun facts about the book; they were very interested to hear that it was 40 years old, and that two of the characters also appear in another of Dahl’s books).
I was hugely impressed by how well the students engaged with the VIPER questions; not only did they provide correct answers, but they also were able to fully explain the reasons behind their thinking. Whenever we spent longer discussing certain questions (such as whether we like the Roly-Poly Bird) the students showed how well they could think on their feet and
demonstrated their ability to lesson to each other.
Many of the students were familiar with the next book ( George’s Marvellous Medicine ) and they all seemed very excited to continue our work together. I cannot wait to read their responses to the homework tasks, and I very much look forward to doing some more fabulous sessions with them next week and in the weeks to come!Homework for lesson 2:
In one paragraph, explain what your favourite part of The Twits was and why.
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The Twits (lesson 2) homework
My favourite favourite part of Twits was when Mrs and mr Twits stand on their head forever and ever & ever then they shrink this is My favourite part of the Twits because they are very silly that maybe they will see those pictures upside down but maybe not quite upside down. Or maybe is The do you carpet maybe phone is off then they cannot see that somebody really made me do this mistake Went outside to shoot those birds at the roof.
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The Twits(lesson 1 homework)
Characters: Mrs twit Mr twit monkeys roll poly bird
First Mrs Twit accidentally dropped his glass eye at Mr Twits mug of beer.then Mr twit put a frog on Mrs twit toes when she sleep. Then she put a lot of worms in Mrs twits spaghetti. For pay back she told her she had shrinks. So he steched mr twit by using balloons. Then Mrs twit came down by chewing the rope and then it went down to the ground the caught Mrs twit. Meanwhile when her wife is away mr twit celebrated by drinking a mug of beer.
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Homework lesson 1 by ChenYou:
« The Darings are the kindest family you may ever meet. Mrs Darling was a helpful lady.She was kind and clever, she had never ever been bad before. Mr Darling was the same thing, though a bit dumber. Their daughter and their son were nice and polite, but sometimes quite bossy. »
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Fab work, Samson!
This is an excellent summary of the first half; you include some really important plot points, and the level of detail you go into is great. Also, you have wonderful handwriting!
To improve, make sure you mention what happens at the end of the first half (i.e. Mrs Twit coming back down).
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Lesson 1 homework
THE DARLINGS
have you ever met these nice and calm and sweet girls walking on the streets? I have. take a look at these three people. Roserain was one of them. she had long black hair and she picks fresh red apples for grandma every morning at six o clock.
Lunastar was another.
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the next day, a man called Zeus came running to their house and shouted “why are you guys not taking care of the monkeys? and als… what the” Zeus had a smooth face and a tiny mustach at his chin.
He took out a sharp sword, swoosh, smash. Zeus cut through the windows. He hopped in. He jumped in. He dashed in. 1 second later…
“Ahhhh! You guys FINALLY got the dreaded shrinks! My plan add, powder with eggs and oil and dreaded n stuff, and some shrinking powder!” Zeus called out.
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Nice work, Andrea!
This is a great continuation. You do a fantastic job of creating excitement and tension. Also, the way you integrate details from The Twits (i.e. talking about the shrinks) is wonderful!
To make it even better, you could explain why Zeus has this plan a bit more (is it to help them or to make things worse)?
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Homework lesson 2 by ChenYou:
« My favourite part is when Mrs Twit was sleeping and Mr Twit went downstairs to put a bit of wood on her walking stick. I like it because it is clever and it is quite funny for me as it shows they are unkind to each other, even they are married. Mrs Twit really thinks that she is shrinking. »
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Great work, Tingkai!
These are really great sections of the book, and the details you give the reader about what happens here really helps them to understand why you might like these parts so much.
To improve, you could write a bit more about how these sections make you feel (i.e. do you find them funny, ironic, tense).
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Excellent work, Tingkai!
This is a wonderful opening to The Darlings; the backstory you give these characters is excellent, as it helps the reader to get a really clear idea of who they are straightaway. Also, the details you give about where they live and what they like to be called is great.
To improve, you could give us a bit more detail about what their different hobbies, habits, and perspectives were.
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Good job, Max!
This is a really fun part that you have selected; it is great that you say why it is your favourite (i.e. because it is funny) and the detail you give about what happens is wonderful. Your explanation of the bird and why she is your favourite is also marvellous.
To improve, you could use some quotes from the text to help illustrate your answer.
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My favorite part is when the twits get the shrinks because
they disappeared on one week. Mr Fred find this on a sunny
afternoon. I think Mr and Mrs Twits were silly
because they did not know that they will get their shrinks.
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My favorite part is when the Roly-Poly bird’s & Muggle-Wump monkey’s glue Mrs Twit & Mr Twit’s furniture upside down.The Roly-Poly bird & Muggle-Wump monkey take the glue and went to Twits home and they glue all the furniture up to the ceiling.When the Twits came home they saw their chairs,tables,and sofa was all on the ceiling!Then Mrs Twit cried out [we are upside down!]Why I like this part because is quite funny and silly and I love funny books so much!
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Wonderful work, Alicia!
Your introduction to The Darlings is excellent; the way you open with is question is wonderful, as it really draws the reader in and gets them wondering who these people are. The details you give about these characters is also excellent; they sound like such a lovely family!
To improve, you could talk a little bit more about what they get up to (i.e. what do they do on their dog walk, what do they talk about around the fire).
You selected a fabulous part of the book as your favorite; the details you give about what happens in the section is great, and the way you describe why it is your favorite section is also fantastic.
To make it even better, you could use quotes from the text to help illustrate your argument.
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Excellent work, Patrick!
You have picked out a really funny chapter as your favourite; it is great that you explain how it made you feel and which aspects of it you found particularly funny.
To improve, you could give a bit more detail about what happens in this part (i.e. how did they get stuck up there).
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Great work, Yunlung!
This is a fantastic summary; you set it out in a really clear and easy-to-follow way, and you have included some very important plot points.
To make it even better, you could mention the other characters that appear in this first half (i.e. the boys, the monkey, the roly-poly bird).
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Summary for lesson 3:
What did we cover
– Reviewed our last lessons on The Twits
– Discussed our first impressions of George’s Marvellous Medicine
– Did character studies (using illustrations)
– Worked through the questions for the first half of George’s Marvellous Medicine
Class report
It was so lovely to meet the students again and begin our work on the second Dahl book,
George’s Marvellous Medicine. Many of the students were clearly very excited to begin this
book, and their enthusiasm showed throughout the lesson.
The initial nerves that some students had have mostly worn off; there was a fantastic increase
in the number of students offering up answers, and it is great to see so many of them keen to
share their thoughts.
We began the session by discussing our initial impressions of the book. The students gave
some wonderful answers, and it was clear that the humour and cheekiness which is so central
to GMM was a huge factor contributing to the students’ enjoyment of it.
We moved on to do a character study using illustrations from the book. The students were
able to infer many details about the characters from these drawings, and also were incredibly
attentive to the details in the scenes depicted (i.e. the variety of different ingredients, the fact
that George was looking particularly closely at one bottle). These are great skills to develop,
so we will continue with these kinds of exercises throughout the program.
After doing the ‘before reading’ questions and discussing the front/back covers, we got to
work on the VIPERS. The answers provided were both accurate and well explained. As we
progress through the lessons and the class confidence builds, we will continue to push
ourselves to think about more difficult questions. The students will be continually encouraged
to think further (i.e. find good evidence to support their answers, or come up with
multiple/alternative answers). We will continue this progression over the next few weeks; this
will enable the children to build their analytical and creative skills, rather than just exercising
them.
I would like to finish by mentioning how pleased I have been with the homeworks produced so
far; many of the students have clearly put in a lot of effort, and it is evident through their
descriptions of what they enjoyed about The Twits and their wonderfully creative pieces that
they are really getting stuck in and finding joy in reading/writing (which is so encouraging to
see)!Homework for lesson 3:
Come up with your own marvellous medicine! Write a short story about how you make it and what happens when someone takes it.
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Summarise the first half of the book in 4 sentences (one short paragraph). -
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Wonderful work, Patrick!
This is a really fun idea for a medicine. The detail you include about the ingredients, the method, and who you give it to is fantastic. Also, the pictures are great!
To make it even better, you could and a little more detail when you speak about what happens when someone takes it.
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GEORGE’S MARVELLOUS MEDICINE(Lesson 3 homework)
My medicine is going to be awesome. First I add a cat’s whisker then add two soup spoons of shampoo afterwards you put 12 pieces of fur ( from cat ) then mix it for 7 minutes. Soon it is purple.and then put 10 pieces of hair ( from brush ) and pour 9 scoops of baking powder and drop 5 squashed pepper but first remove the strait line and remove the skin then drop it into the pot. Then mix it for 15 minutes then it becomes brown. Often that you get a little spoon and then you place your mixture in the oven to make it look like a cat food. Soon when it is time for you to let your cat eat the medicine then if the cat eats it….. it can talk,listen to you, and never get sick and understand what you say..-
Fantastic work, Daniel!
This is a wonderful idea for a medicine. The detail you go into about the amount of each ingredient you put in and how you make it is excellent. The effect it has on the cat is also really fun!
To make it even better, you could write about why you would want to make this medicine in the first place.
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HW of Lesson 3 by Max:
George’s grandma was a selfish and ugly person. George makes a new medicine it was called the marvellous medicine.George gave the medicine to grandma when it was time.Grandma thought she had magic and George gave some medicine to the hen to tell grandma it was the medicine to help grandma grow taller.
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Great work, Max!
This is a really clear and concise summary of the first half. You introduce the character of grandma really well, and you have done a great job of covering all the key plot points.
To improve, you could also use some adjectives to describe what George is like (i.e. cheeky, bored, naughty).
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One day my grandma need some medicine.But I don’t know where my mother put the medicine so I make it by my self.I use shower gel,toothpaste,oil and potato peel.But my grandma said[my medicine should be red!] So I put some red paint in the medicine and give to my grandma,after my grandma drink this medicine and she was getting smaller and smaller,and when she get smaller then an ant,I pick her up and put her into Barbie’s little room.
The End
By Rita Huang
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Great work, Rita!
This is a really fun idea for a medicine. I love the way you mention why you had to make the medicine, and the details you give about what happens after grandma takes it is wonderful!
To make it even better, you could write a little more about how you make it (i.e. do you boil it, mix it).
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Summary for lesson 4
What did we cover
– Recapped the first half of the book
– Devised our own ‘marvellous medicines’
– Worked through the questions for the second half of George’s Marvellous Medicine
– Discussed what a ‘moral’ is and whether there is a moral to the story
– Did a character interrogation of George and Grandma
– Discussed the importance of considered multiple characters’ perspectives
Class report
We began our lesson by recapping the last session, and having the students refresh our
memories of what has happened in GMM so far.
As a creative task, we spent some time coming up with ideas for our own marvellous
medicines. The students were incredibly inventive and devised some wonderful ideas for
ingredients, methods, and effects. We also considered why someone might want to make a
medicine and who they would give it to.
We continued working through the VIPERS questions today, many of which were quite a bit
more challenging than those done previously. I was impressed by how the students were
willing to have an educated guess at answers which they were unsure about, and the way in
which they contributed to some more complex discussions.
As well as working on the VIPERS questions, we worked through some additional exercises
and debates in the lesson. We discussed the idea of ‘ethics’ and ‘morals’; I was very
impressed by how engaged the students were, and many of them made some very
sophisticated and thoughtful contributions to the discussion.
We then did a character interrogation of George and Grandma, and imagined what kinds of
questions and answers they would be faced with by an interrogator trying to work out whether
George’s actions were fair and right. This exercise proved really useful, as it encouraged the
students to think about different characters’ viewpoints and discover a deeper level of
complexity in regards to the ‘lessons’ of the story.
The students seemed really excited by the homework tasks (particularly the option to write an
introduction to the sequel of GMM). I am very much looking forward to reading what they
come up with and starting the next book, Esio Trot, next week.Homework for lesson 4
Come up with a title for the sequel of George’s Marvellous Medicine and write the
introduction.
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Write a paragraph on your favourite part of the book and explain why you choose it. -
Lesson 3
ugh! I am always left ALONE at home, I have to get revenge. I thought and suddenly looked at my grandpa’s colorful medicine. Maybe I should make a medicine myself!
I went to the beach. Sands fill a cup and sea water fills another! I go back.
I want it to be extra salty and sour. people hate it especially my grandpa! I add a whole bottle ful of vinagar and a whole carton of salt.
I have a pet bird, Tweety and a pet dog, Muffin. So, I use a clip and pull a feather off Tweety and a fur off Muffin. I pop it in, and boiled it and fried it.
Finally, just to play tricks on him, I put a drop of chilli sauce in.
Soon, they come back and I give the medicine to grandpa. He immediatley turns to a half amethyst stone, half saphire stone statue. My silly sister cuts it in half and golden sparks bursted out of the stone. Suddenly, my sister, grandma, mommy and daddy and most important me, crazily touched grandpa and every single member of the family becomes two mixable, pretty colored stones, we are all different.
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Great work, Andrea!
This is a really fun story and a very exciting medicine. I love the way you set up the story by stating that the character is bored and gets inspiration from looking at the medicine cupboard. Also, the details you include about the different characters is excellent.
To make it even better, you could add in some speech; what would grandpa say when he tastes the medicine?
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Lesson 4
Title: Revenge AND revenge!
Intro: George and his father worked hard on the medicine and never stopped. before they finished, a man called Silly O’ made the exact same medicine George made the first time. he gets rich and see how George gets his revenge!
Roald Dahl type intro:
EVERYBODY LOVED THIS,
REVENGE, REVENGE, REVENGE AND REVENGE! “CHAAARGE!”
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Homework lesson 3 by ChenYou:
I will put some stuff like some poop and a bit of paint and toothpaste and sea water and then I will put boiling water and then I will put it in the oven for a while
And if someone drinks it, he (or she) turns all brown, then he vomits and becomes dumb!
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Homework of lesson3:
One day , a annoying man said he need a medicine to help so I diside to make it. My marvellous medicine is made of gold diamond and iron. It is very blue and pink. It looks like that is a blueberry juice and a pink paint mixed into the pot! The medicine is also funny. Because it made people excited when they saw it. The medicine was very silly too. Because it falls in one second when you get it so we need to hold it on our hand all the time.
When annoying man took my medicine he went crazy then he begin to shout about money. At last, the annoying man became a diamond!
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Wonderful work, Kevin!
This is a really fun idea for a medicine. It is great that you state who you make the medicine for and why. Also, the details about what the medicine looks like and why it is so funny are marvelous.
To improve, you could add a little more detail about the measurements you use (i.e. made of 100 pounds of gold, and mixed for 2 hours).
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George’s marvellous medicine ( lesson 4)
My favourite part of this book is that the chicken was soooooooooo big and that his dad was going crazy. It is my favourite part of the book because it says that Georges daddy was going to be a famous person for making a big factory of making a lot of food to let people eat and to play food fight a lot of times!!!!!!!
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Great job, Daniel!
You have picked a really fun part of the book as your favorite. It is great that you include details about what George’s dad aspires to and why he wants to build the factory.
To make it even better, you could mention how this part makes you feel (i.e. does it make you laugh, feel excited)?
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Homework of lesson 4 by Max:
My favorite part is the chapter of the pig,the bullocks,the sheep,the pony and the nanny goat.I like that part because all the animals grew bigger. George’s father wants to sell the animals for money.That part was funny.
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Fab work, Max!
This chapter is certainly a very funny one. You have done a great job of giving details of what happens in this section and mentioning that you find it funny.
To improve, you could go into some more details about why you find it funny (i.e. is it because of how the characters react, or because it is so silly).
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Homework lesson 4 by ChenYou:
GEORGE’S HELPING MEDICINE
George’s dad sold some of the farm animals but people have gone sick. And some people have become very tall or very small because of George’s medicine.
So George decided to help them.
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Fab work, Yunlung!
You have picked a really fun part of the book as your favourite and given some great detail about what happens in it.
To improve, you could mention why it is your favourite (i.e do you find it funny?).
Your summary of the first half is great! You have really concisely covered the main events that occur.
To make it even better, try giving a bit more detail about what the characters are like (i.e. nasty grandma, cheeky George).
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Great work, Alicia!
You have picked a fab aspect of the book as your favourite. It is wonderful that you use a quote to support your answer and explain why you think it is good that she gets annoyed.
To improve, try identifying a specific part of the book where this happens (i.e. when she is being ignored by the family).
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Wonderful work, Alicia!
This is both a wonderful story and a great idea for a medicine. Opening with ‘BOOM!’ is fantastic, as it immediately grabs the reader’s attention and throws them straight into the action. I also love how you take inspiration from Esio Trot.
To make it even better, you could include a bit more detail about how you make it (i.e do you boil the ingredients, steam them).
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My favourite part is when George’s grandma drunk the medicine and grow taller and taller and taller.I like that part because is funny and silly,And I really like this funny chapter,so that’s the reason for why Iike this part.
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Excellent work, Tingkai!
This is certainly a really interesting part of the book. You describe why you like this part wonderfully; you really clearly explain what the reader feels and what makes them feel that way. It is also fab that you include little details about what happens in these sections.
To make it even better, you could take some quotations from the text to support your argument.
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My favourite bit was when George gave his marvellous medicine to grandma. I liked it because it was funny when grandma grew taller and I liked when grandma got fire in her tummy. I liked it so so much ! I can’t believe it when grandma broke the layers of the floors and roofs , that might mean that the medicine made grandma really strong to break through otherwise how would she break through the house ?????????????
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Summary for lesson 5
What did we cover
– Discussed the homework tasks and what we did well on/could improve
– Reflected on last week’s lesson
– Discussed initial thoughts on the book
– Did characters studies (using illustrations)
– Did ‘before reading’ tasks
– Worked through the questions for the first half of Esio Trot
– Discussed the notion of liesClass report
Today we began work on our third book, Esio Trot. Many of the students expressed their excitement to start this book last week, so I am very keen to see how they get stuck in.
We began the lesson by reflecting on the books we have studied so far and then shared our first impressions of Esio Trot. It was great to hear the students’ thoughts and it will be wonderful for them to dive even deeper into the book as we study it together.
Next, we did a character study of the key characters using illustrations from the book. This,again, proved to be a very helpful exercise; the students inferred lots of great detail about the characters from these images and were able to use the details in answering the later questions.
Before doing the VIPERS, we did the ‘before reading’ tasks. The students performed really well here; not only were they able to give some predictions about the plot and discuss what we can learn from the front cover/blurb, they also spoke well about how the book attracts its
audience.
We next worked through the VIPERS for the first half of the book. I was really impressed by the level of detail the students included in their answers; they had clearly paid great attention
to the story when preparing for the lesson. It was also fantastic to see them so engaged in each other; students would frequently build on someone else’s idea and develop it.
We finished by having a debate about whether Mr Hoppy was right doing what he did. Again, the students engaged in a really interesting and sophisticated discussion.
I would like to add how impressed I was by the homework that was produced last week. The creativity shown in the composition tasks was wonderful, and I was particularly pleased to see that students had taken on board my feedback from the week before and implemented it in their work.Homework for lesson 5:
Imagine you are Mr Hoppy and write a love letter to Mrs Silver.
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Summarise the first half of the book in 4 sentences (one short paragraph). -
Dear Mrs Silver
Who Do You Love ?
Will You Love Me?
Will You Marry ME ?
Would You Become Mrs Hoppy ?
Kiss Me , Marry Me , Become My Beautiful , Lovely Queen!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love , From , Your Charming Knight / King , Mr Hoppy
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Nice work, Chloe!
This is a lovely letter; the simplicity of it is really charming, and you have done an excellent job at portraying just how much Mr. Hoppy adores Mrs. Silver.
To improve, you could maybe try to get across how shy Mr. Hoppy is too (i.e. he could begin by saying, ‘I can’t find the guts to tell you this in person’).
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Lesson 6
What did we cover
– Reflected on last lesson
– Went over some facts about the book
– Came up with alternative titles for the booked
– Summarised the second half of the book
– Worked through the questions for the first half of Esio Trot
– Discussed whether the ending is happy and if we consider Mr Hoppy to be a ‘good
man’
Class report
It was lovely to continue our work on Esio Trot today. We began by recapping what we covered in the last lesson and what had happened so far in the book, and then went over some ‘fun facts’ about Esio Trot.
Following on from the fact that Esio Trot wasn’t the first choice for the book’s title, we spent
some time coming up with our own ideas for titles and explaining why we would call the story that. Some of the ideas were really fun, and it was interesting to discuss how the title of a book colours the way we read it/perceive certain characters.
We then moved on to work through the rest of the VIPER questions. The students continued to provide some really fabulous answers, and I was especially pleased to see how much they engaged in our longer debates over certain questions (such as ‘how would Mrs. Silver feel about Alfie growing’ and ‘is Mr. Hoppy a clever man’).
We spent the final section of the lesson discussing some important points, mainly whether we thought Mr Hoppy was a ‘good man’ or not. The way the students discussed the morality of lying was impressively sophisticated; they engaged with both sides of the argument, and came to some very interesting conclusions. It was a wonderfully lively debate, and a really fantastic way to finish off our work on this book.
I was glad to see how excited the students were when they heard that Matilda will be our next book; it will be very interesting to see how they deal with this text, as it is quite a bit longer and more complex than those that we have studied so far.Homework for Lesson 6 :
Write the prequel to the story.
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Describe your favourite part of the story and why it was your favourite. -
Homework lesson5 by Samson
The first half book is mostly about an introduction of the characters and about Mr Hoppy’s two loves. Since his secret love was Mrs Silver and heard that Mrs Silver would be willing to do anything if anyone could make her tortoise beloved tortoise Alfie grow. So Mr Hoppy came up with a cheeky plan; he told Mrs Silver that tortoises were backward creatures, wort a spell and told Mrs Silver to read it every morning, noon and night. He actually brought all the tortoises in the city’s pet shops( 140 tortoises ). Every seven days, he would change a tortoise that is two ounces more when Mrs silver is working ( every weekday 12 pm to 5 pm).
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Great work, Samson!
This is an excellent summary of the first half; your opening sentence is fab as it clearly and concisely describes what the first half does, and then you go on to cover the key plot points and introduce the characters wonderfully. Also, the details you include here are great!
To improve, you could add a little more info about what the characters are like (i.e. shy Mr. Hoppy, bubbly Mrs. Silver).
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Esio trot ( lesson 5 )
Dear Mrs silver
Could I have a tea and have some bread? thanks. I like you Mrs silver and could we be a family and then buy a pet like a dog,cat,birds or even snakes??? Please can I marry you please??
Best wishes
Mr hoppy
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Lovely work, Daniel!
This is a really sweet and charming letter. The way you open by asking for some tea is great, as it shows how nervous Mr. Hoppy is about telling Mrs. Silver how he feels. The word ‘please’ and all the questions also highlight how anxious Mr. Hoppy is, which is fab!
To improve, you could maybe end with a sentence that stresses that he is still nervous about what he is asking (i.e. ‘you can say no if you do not feel the same’).
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Esio trot( lesson 6 )
My most favourite part of this story is that the page Mr Hoppy comes to grab Alfie and when the tortoise catcher crabbed Alfie, Alfie’s eye just go out like bold witch looks like the white eye goes a little bit big and same as the black dot of the eye. This is very very very funny,scary and silly for me.
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Nice work, Daniel!
This is a fab part of the book, and the detail you give about what happens to Alfie here is wonderful. It is also great that you mention how you find it ‘funny, scary, and silly’.
To improve, you could explain why it is ‘funny, scary, and silly’ (i.e. ‘because it is such a risky plan’ or ‘because it is so bizarre’).
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Homework of Lesson 5 by Max:
Mr Hoppy live upstairs of Mrs Silver. Mrs Silver have tortoise called Alfie. Mrs Silver wants Alfie to grow bigger. Then Mr Hoppy had an idea. Mr Hoppy went to the pet shop, and he bought a lot of tortoises. He made a tortoise grabber, and he lowered the grabber. Then he grab Alfie, and he put a new tortoise with just a little bigger size.
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Esio Trot (lesson 5)
Dear Mrs Silver
I love you so much but I’m very shy to tell you.I hope you have seen this messages,I really want to stay in your home and be your husband.I want to drink tea with you and eat lunch with you,so please would you merry me?
Love From Mr Hoppy
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Lovely work, Rita!
This letter is very sweet and certainly captures the nervousness of Mr. Hoppy. The details about what Mr. Hoppy wants is wonderful, as it shows how much he has fantasized about marrying Mrs. Silver.
To improve, you could add a sentence before ‘I love you’ which shows how anxious he is to tell her (i.e. ‘I feel very scared mentioning this, but…’).
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Lesson 5 (love letter to Mrs Silver)
Dearest Mrs Silver, once I set eyes on you, I feel warm deep in my body, maybe sometimes, we could come to each others homes or go out to a restaraunt? Thanks, you are welcome, by the way. here is a speech for you “I love you each day”
PS. will you marry me??
Love,
Mr Hoppy-
Lovely work, Andrea!
This letter is charming and very touching. It is wonderfully poetic and really emphasizes how romantic Mr. Hoppy is and how deeply he feels for Mrs. Silver.
To improve, you could try to capture the fact that Mr. Hoppy is very shy a little more (i.e. he could open by saying ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t even know who I am, but…’).
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Lesson 6, Esiotrot, prequel
Mr Hoppy was a man that loved sweet people and he lived alone lonelily in the tall concrete building. no one sweet was above or below him. Every day, he’d peer down to check if anyone movedin. he would also look down into the garden and enjoy the sunlight. “Ah, how I wish to be loved.” He said.
One still and bright day, no cold colours flowers were planted in the bushes. He looked sad and acted grateful. Then he saw her. a woman with an apron on and a big smile on her face. she had eyes so watery no one could bear it. she also held a tortoise.
Mr Hoppy looked down and asked “which room are you in?” he loved her.
“eighteenth floor, room 26. 18, 26. ” Mr Hoppy thought “I am in 19, 26… she is below me!!” He quickly asked for her name and she was Mrs Silver. He wanted to help her clean the place and design her room but he did not have the courage to ask. They just met and it was like one kilometer away!
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Fantastic work, Andrea!
This is a wonderful prequel; it is great that you have woven in details from Esi Trot and your imagery, character detail, and the storyline are excellent. It leads in really smoothly and naturally to ET, which is always key in a prequel!
To improve, you could end with a cliffhanger or a problem that will be resolved in ET.
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Homework of Lesson 6 by Max:
My favorite part is Mr Hoppy used the grabber to grab the tortoises. Mr Hoppy grab the tortoises, and put a new tortoise on Mrs Silver’s balcony every week. When Mr Hoppy put the tortoise on her balcony, the tortoise is only weigh two ounces more. Mr Hoppy is smart. That part was fun.
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Good job, Max!
You have picked a wonderful section as your favourite, and the detail you give about what happens in this part is fab. Also, it is great that you mention how this part is ‘fun’.
To improve, you could speak a little bit more about what emotions this part made you feel (i.e. excited, energised, tense).
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Hi, homework lesson 5 by ChenYou:
”Dear Mrs Silver did you have a good day?
Well I was wondering if you would like to have tea with me, then we will, I mean, if you wish we could go for a little walk together.
I would be the happiest man on earth if you accept.
Signed: Mr Hoppy”
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Lovely work, Youyou!
This letter is really sweet and you have done a marvellous job at getting across how anxious Mr. Hoppy is about telling Mrs. Silver his feelings. Phrases like ‘well’ and ‘I mean’ are also great at showing how nervous he is as a person.
To improve, you could end with a comment that stresses his nervousness even more (i.e. ‘I won’t be surprised if you decline, that is, of course, absolutely fine’).
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Hi, homework lesson by ChenYou:
“My favourite part is when Mr Hoppy changes the different tortoises, Alfie’s weight is 13 ounces, the other tortoises are 15,17,19,21,23,25 and finally 27ounces.
From 13 to 27 ounces, for me it is very surprising. “
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I think in the prequel to esio tort(tortoise):Mr Hoppy lived in a farm with a lot of foods and lots of tortoise in his backyard. One day, Mrs Silver came to Mr hoppy’s farm and taked one tortoise called Alfie. When Alfie arrived Mrs silver’s home, He want to have a nice nap. The end.
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Great job, Kevin!
This is a lovely idea for a prequel. I love how you have woven in details and characters from Esio Trot, and it is a really interesting idea to have Mr.Hoppy be a tortoise owner!
To improve, you could end by leading into Esio Trot (i.e. could Mr. Hoppy be packing up to move house?).
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ESIO TROT ( Lesson 6 )
My favourite is part when Mr Hoppy change Alfie to another tortoise and another and another.First Alfie weight 13 ounces and Mr Hoppy change the tortoise to 15,17,19,21,23,25 and finally 27 ounces.Why I like this part is because crazy and smart,and it’s a bit funny and silly and I like lovely and silly book,so that’s the reason for why I like this part!
Rita Huang
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Lovely work, Rita!
This is a really fun part and you have included some excellent details that help the reader understand what happens in this section. It is great that you explain how you find it ‘crazy, smart, funny, and silly’, too.
To improve, you could mention why you find it ‘crazy, smart’ etc. (i.e. is it because it is such a bold plan, or because Mrs. Silver is illy for not noticing).
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Esio Trot (Lesson 6)
Mr Hoppy had a crush on Mrs Silver for a desperately long time. He met her at South Africa in the 1980s, where she was a tourist. Mr Hoppy was a guide back then, he adored, had a big crush on her ever since he looked at her for the first time. She was adorable and gave a crush to every man. Mr Hoppy always gathered the courage to tell Mrs Silver that he loved her, and scribbled a script every time, but when he opened his mouth, it seemed like someone stole all the courage of Mr Hoppy. Mr Hoppy was also willing to mary Mrs Silver because he had a sad, boring. His father and mother divorced when Mr Hoppy was nine, poor Mrs Hoppy, he ran away by himself and never ever saw his relatives. He started off as being a taxi driver in Northern Ireland, then went to South Africa on an exhibition trip, settled there and became a guide and at last, he went to Leeds, became a bus mechanic and retired.
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Excellent work, Samson!
This is a magnificent prequel! You have done a great job of picking out lots of details from Esio Trot and weaving them into your story. It is also brilliant that you build on and develop the idea of Mr. Hoppy loving Mrs. Silver; not only does this enrich your story, but also the story in Esio Trot! Your inventiveness is also fantastic; some of your ideas about Mr. Hoppy’s former life are so entertaining.
To improve, you could end by leading into the story of Esio Trot (i.e. could Mr. Hoppy be sat in his flat alone, without a job for the first time).
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Lesson 7
What did we cover
– Reflected on last week’s lesson
– Shared our thoughts on Matilda
– Did character studies (using illustrations by Quentin Blake)
– Worked through the questions for the first half of MatildaClass report
I was very excited to get started on Matilda with the students, as they had expressed how much they were looking forward to these lessons last week. Matilda is a far longer and more
dense book than those we have studied before, so it will be an interesting challenge for the students.
We began our lesson by reflecting on what we have done so far, and discussed the fact that Matilda is slightly different to the other books we have looked at. After this, we shared our
thoughts on the book, discussing what we liked and found interesting about it. Some of the ideas and opinions the students shared were very interesting indeed, and it was a rewarding experience to see how the students’ could use their opinions to understand what makes a book appealing.
Next, we moved on to look at some illustrations of the characters and discussed what we could infer about them from their pictures; I was delighted to see that the students were far more capable and confident in this exercise than they were the first time they did it (with Esio Trot). This shows that they are really taking onboard the lessons and skills they are learning.
As we worked through the questions, we always had in mind the question ‘is Matilda right to do what she does’. In relation to this, we discussed how it is interesting that many of Dahl’s
books have characters that seek to ‘get revenge’. The students, as always, provided some great answers, and some really intriguing debates arose throughout the lesson.
What really struck me in the lesson today was how confidently the students spoke and how willing they were to challenge the questions and each other. The skills which they are developing are wonderful, and it is great to see them grow in each lesson.Homework for lesson 7
Imagine you are Miss Honey. Write a diary entry from the day she first met Matilda.
OR
Summarise the first half of the book in 4 sentences. -
Lesson 7 homework
Thursday, May 28, 2020 Sunny
I was happier than ever today. I sang songs and hopped while arriving to school. I went up millions of stairs and reached the classroom. Inside was empty so I settled down on the table first! //^L_^\\
Then, a bunch of kids came dashing in. I greeted them and there was an outstanding little child that could tell me what twice four hundred and eighty-seven was. I then realize it was break time.
There, a little newcomer was dressed neatly BUT she had PIGTAILS! The Trunchbull shouted “cut those smelly little brats off or else!!”
“But my mother said they are sweet!” she pleaded. Then, Trunchbull held the pigtails and threw her through the sharp fence. She wasn’t hurt, luckily.
When we went back to the classroom, I gave the smart girl, the one that knew twice four hundred and eighty-seven, Matilda, the SIXTHGRADER’S French textbook. I was fascinated! She is tremendous! 😉
I wonder what happened at her home every day! I met her parents and they were mean, nasty, insane, rude, and horribly terrible.
I hoped every day to see Matilda again.
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Wonderful work, Andrea!
You have captured the sweetness of Miss. Honey incredibly well and the details you include about what she did, saw, and felt on this day are fantastic. The adjectives and adverbs you use are particularly effective.
To make it even better, you could end by stating what she plans to do next to help Matilda (i.e. ‘Tomorrow I will give her some more Charles Dickens books’).
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Hello I’am Miss Honey,today in my class have a good news, the good news is in my class there comes a new student ,her name is Matilda .She was very kind and clever,and she always help someone needs help.So I like this kind little girl.
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Lesson 8
What did we cover
– Reflected on last lesson
– Discussed some ‘fun facts’
– Studied what we can tell about a character from their name
– Worked through the questions for the second half of Matilda
– Debated whether we could want to keep the superpowers or be put in a higher classClass report
We completed our second and last lesson on Matilda today; this has been the longest and most dense book we have studied so far and I have been really impressed by how all the
students managed this change.
We began our session by going over what happened in the story so far, then we spent some time discussing what we can tell about the characters from the names they have (i.e. Miss
Honey being sweet, Miss Trunchbull being bullish). Following this, we learned some fun facts about the book; the students seemed to particularly enjoy the facts about the earlier versions of the book.
The students all provided some wonderful answers to the VIPERS questions we discussed next. I have noticed that some students who were initially more shy have been making a marked effort to volunteer their thoughts; this has been so wonderful to see and it shows how much more comfortable and confident the students are becoming. We spent some extra time with certain questions in order to discuss the students’ different opinions on certain matters
(i.e. what makes a ‘good’ punishment).
We finished off by debating whether, if we were Matilda, we would keep the powers and stay in the lower class or go to the class which challenges us but lose our powers. This was a
really fascinating way to end the lesson, as the students had many different ideas and gave some excellent reasons for their answers.
The students were very excited to start on Fantastic Mr Fox; I too am very much looking forward to continuing our work together.Homework for lesson 8:
Write a story about another magic trick that Matilda does.
OR
Do you think this book is entertaining? Explain why -
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Matilda was a clever girl who had bad parents. She had a good teacher and a mean head master. Her school was cruchem primary school. Miss trunchbull was the head and she was mean. Miss joey was her school teacher and she was kind.
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Esio trot – lesson 2
once there was a man called mr hoppy. He was always very hoppy because he was hoppy. Things were not right in mr hoppy’s life. But one day, a lady named Mrs silver moved in. He wanted to say hi to her but as usual, he was hoppy. He saw her face and he liked her so he wanted to say hi.
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Lovely work, Caleb!
This is a really sweet prequel; you introduce the characters very well and it is wonderful that you lead so nicely into the story of ET.
To improve, you could add some more detail about why Mr. Hoppy was not feeling like things were ‘right’ (i.e. was he lonely, did he not like his job).
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Matilda (Lesson 7)
June 26th, Friday
Today, I was astounded! It was Matilda’s first day of school, but it was like she already graduated from university! She was a total child genius. The Trunchbull told me that Matilda was mean, but I don’t really believe her. After all, Matilda’s dad is the great car dealer which always lies. Matilda was kind and gentle to me, and most of all, she did not show her talents! She was very bored, because the two times table and spelling b-e-e, which others barley know about was too easy for her fascinating brain. So I asked her to read books which I chose for her, and ignore what the class was learning!
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Fantastic work, Samson!
You have captured the voice of MIss. Honey incredibly well. The adjectives and adverbs you use to express the emotions of Miss. Honey is wonderful, and the level of detail regarding what happened over the course of the day is really great.
To improve, you could finish by stating what Miss. Honey hopes to do next (i.e. ‘Tomorrow, I will bring her some science books too’).
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Lesson 6, Story magic
One normal evening, Matilda read a few books and got ready for bed. the next morning, she found a red button on herself. without thinking wisley, she pressd on it
weirdly, nothing happened. The Wormwoods called Matilda and Matilda went down. “Matilda! Matilda! come here right away!” her father screamed. Matilda was invisible!
She pressed that button again and she appeared. she said “I am right here. ”
From that day on, whenever she is embarrassed, mad or sad, she pressed the button. it was awesome.
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Marvellous work, Andrea!
This is such an exciting and gripping story. It is very clever to begin with things being normal, as it emphasizes the shock of the reader when the magic starts to happen.
To improve, you could include a bit more detail about how it felt when Matilda turned invisible (i.e. she felt all tingly, her hair stood on end).
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Matilda (Lesson 8)
Matilda was frustrated! His father was a crook, and earned all his money by poring sawdust inside the speedometer! Matilda was angry as ever, so once she thought, if I can tip things over, why can’t I make cars move? So every afternoon, she practised and at last, she had the brainpower to push a cart forward. On a Wednesday afternoon, when her mother was playing bingo and her father was working, she went to prepare, praying that the result would be the car crashing the garage. She gathered up all. his brainpower, and BOOM! The garage fell to pieces.
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Excellent work, Samson!
This is a wonderful story; your opening immediately alerts the reader of how Matilda feels in this situation, which is great as it gives a solid reason for her actions. I love how you have taken details from the story and used them here, too; it is very clever for Matilda to use her magic to get her own back on her dad.
To make it even better, you could give a few more details about how the car crashed into the garage (i.e. ‘The car slowly began to roll, then gradually picked up speed…).
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Matilda ( lesson 7)
My first time I met Matilda at our classroom I was amazed by the time she said some 2 time table until she reached 2 x 14. I have never seen someone who has a very good practice at home. Also I told their parents that matilda is very good at school.
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Great work, Daniel!
This is a lovely diary entry and the details you include about what Matilda did to impress Miss. Honey is fantastic. It is wonderful that you state why Miss. Honey is so surprised, too.
To improve, you could explain a bit more about what happened when she told Matilda’s parents about her talents.
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Matilda ( lesson 8 )
I think it is not entertaing because when mrs trunchbull heard the wrong answers she idmitidtly make bad punishments when mrs truchbull pull hairs and pull ears it might feel horrible.
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Nice work, Daniel!
It is great that you argue why the book is unentertaining because of the cruelty Miss. Trunchbull demonstrates. The details you take for the story to support your answer is fab, too.
To improve, you could write a little bit about how this makes you feel (i.e. sad, distressed, angry).
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ChenYou (lesson 7):
“Today a new children came. Her name was Matilda.
I was so surprised that she know the 2 time table by heart without help, she is so clever ! I went to the Wormwood house to talk to them about Matilda’s first day at school. After a while (in the house), I was confused because they were not happy about her.“
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Fab work, Youyou!
This is a wonderful diary entry; you capture Miss. Honey’s excitement really well and you have incorporated details from the story wonderfully.
To improve, you could end by stating what shes plans to do next (i.e. ‘I will try to get her a new textbook to work with and give it to her tomorrow’).
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Do you think this book is entertaining? Explain why. Yes, I think the story is entertaining because in real life, if he/she has a lot of brain power, he/she was only very smart! But more than that, Matilda has more magic and more bravery. And in real life, our eyes are for looking! Not for moving things. But in this book Matilda can move whiteboard pen by her eyes because Matilda love to read books. I hope I have magic too just like clever Matilda.
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Great work, Kevin!
You have explained why you find the story entertaining really well. The way you demonstrate how amazing the story is by comparing it to real-life is wonderful.
To improve, you could explain how you feel when you read the book a bi more (i.e. do you feel excited, amazed, intrigued?).
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I think this book was entertaining because is silly and funny and many children like it,and it’s taking about a little girl called Matilda and her bad teacher and her good teacher.And I very sympathetic with her so that’s why I think this book was entertaining.
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Lovely work, Rita!
You have explained why you find the book entertaining really well. The details you give about what happens in the story are great and it is fab that you say how the book makes you feel.
To improve, you could refer to a specific part of the book that you find entertaining (i.e. when Matilda plays the trick on Miss. Trunchbull).
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Homework of Lesson 7 by Max:
I think Matilda is a very clever and smart person. She went to the library and borrowed books every week. She learned how to do math and reading. Matilda’s father and mother did not like Matilda. She played a trick on her father. She put some super glue on his hat. The second trick was Matilda put Mrs Wormwood hair dryer in Mr Wormwood’s bottle.
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Nice work, Max!
You have introduced the character of Matilda really well and given some excellent details about what she gets up to in the book. It is also great that you offer your own opinion on her character.
To improve, you could also mention some of the other characters (i.e. Miss Honey, Miss Trunchbull).
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ChenYou (lesson8):
« One day if it’s raining, I will put some water next to the entry of the school, then I will wait for Mrs Trunchball to come in school. But because of the water she will slip and fall. Then I will lift her up and put her in the rubbish bin. And if she comes back then I will do it again and again until she run away from here. »
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Great job, Youyou!
This is such a fun idea for a trick; you have been very inventive with how you use the objects you discuss and the setting (i.e. the rain). The fact that Matilda would play this trick on Miss. Trunchbull is great, as it would get her back for being such a nasty teacher.
To improve, you could think about how Matilda could use her brainpower in this trick (i.e. could she push the bin towards Miss. Trunchbull with her brainpower).
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reading homework, Boggis’s letter
______________________________________________________
Mr, or rather Mrs,
I am Boggis. If you ask me, I am not impressed or observed with any of this stuff in my garden, home, or path I walk on.
Oh my (*F word*, Me myself Andrea will not use swear words)! I walked in this path. So, I ordered servants to clean the path I walk on, unroll the red, long carpet and when I meet people, they should call out “hey howdy there! This wealthy, nice, kind man shoulda been chosen to be king!”
And you know what happened yesterday? They did not say such thing as that to a fat, cute mouse!
My garden, I told different servants, to clean up every single mark of dirt, bird poo and stuff like that.
And have a wild guess what these servant left me as a good bye gift? They left one mm of dirt on the celing and said they finished, dangling in the air! then they left! YA ROTTEN EGG!
I fired all of em’ and got new ones. they were to clean my home, not one dust corner left with dust.
yesterday, they cleaned my whole house and guess what? not a thing thats horrible! then i looked in the mirror.
It was awesome. I promised to give them one hundred billion dollars a day, half an amount of my usual celary.
I went to the market and the gaurds told me I had hairs that arent tidy so I marched back and looked in the same mirror. AHHHHH! I had lipstick and… wait. they were appearing ink!
THE SERVANTS DID THIS! HOW DARE YOU! YOU MEANIES! I AM LOSING HALF MY CELARY BECAUSE O’ YOU!
I fired em’. And guess what? I’m done, goodbye.
SIGNED,
WITH MADNESS, BOGGIS
______________________________________________________
The letter ended. Here’s what that guy gave back. (not Boggis)
______________________________________________________
Mr Boggis,
I am unhappy of what just happened, but, I personally do not want to lose my temper. so, it is just a mouse, you dont have to be named ‘king’ in front of a mouse.
It is just 1 mm. you can try to clean it yourself.
Finally, you can rubb appearing ink off yourself. What a selfish man you are.
No wonder your name is Boggis. you are kicked out of this country. So are your friends, Bean and Bunce. The servants are hired to be my assistant. LEAVE THIS INSTANT!
SIGNED,
WITH DISAPOINTMENT, (CANT TELL MY NAME)
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reading homework, Boggis’s letter
______________________________________________________
Mr, or rather Mrs,
I am Boggis. If you ask me, I am not impressed or observed with any of this stuff in my garden, home, or path I walk on.
Oh my (*F word*, Me myself Andrea will not use swear words)! I walked in this path. So, I ordered servants to clean the path I walk on, unroll the red, long carpet and when I meet people, they should call out “hey howdy there! This wealthy, nice, kind man shoulda been chosen to be king!”
And you know what happened yesterday? They did not say such thing as that to a fat, cute mouse!
My garden, I told different servants, to clean up every single mark of dirt, bird poo and stuff like that.
And have a wild guess what these servant left me as a good bye gift? They left one mm of dirt on the celing and said they finished, dangling in the air! then they left! YA ROTTEN EGG!
I fired all of em’ and got new ones. they were to clean my home, not one dust corner left with dust.
yesterday, they cleaned my whole house and guess what? not a thing thats horrible! then i looked in the mirror.
It was awesome. I promised to give them one hundred billion dollars a day, half an amount of my usual celary.
I went to the market and the gaurds told me I had hairs that arent tidy so I marched back and looked in the same mirror. AHHHHH! I had lipstick and… wait. they were appearing ink!
THE SERVANTS DID THIS! HOW DARE YOU! YOU MEANIES! I AM LOSING HALF MY CELARY BECAUSE O’ YOU!
I fired em’. And guess what? I’m done, goodbye.
SIGNED,
WITH MADNESS, BOGGIS
______________________________________________________
The letter ended. Here’s what that guy gave back. (not Boggis)
______________________________________________________
Mr Boggis,
I am unhappy of what just happened, but, I personally do not want to lose my temper. so, it is just a mouse, you dont have to be named ‘king’ in front of a mouse.
It is just 1 mm. you can try to clean it yourself.
Finally, you can rubb appearing ink off yourself. What a selfish man you are.
No wonder your name is Boggis. you are kicked out of this country. So are your friends, Bean and Bunce. The servants are hired to be my assistant. LEAVE THIS INSTANT!
SIGNED,
WITH DISAPOINTMENT, (CANT TELL MY NAME)
this may be too long
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Wonderful work, Andrea!
This is a very entertaining and powerful letter, and I love the reply you have come up with too. Your use of capitalisation is great as it really stresses just how furious the farmers are. You have also been incredibly inventive in coming up with the various problems that Boggis has on his farm. The way the sign off differently (i.e. with ‘madness’ and ‘disappointment’ is great as it shows the contrasting feeling that the two have.
To improve, remember to spend a little time looking over your work to double-check the presentation (i.e. always start a sentence with a capital letter).
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To Boggis and Bunce
We will kill that fox. I bet there is a whole family living with Mr Fox.
We can kill the whole fox family.
If you are in, come and meet me at my farm at 2:00 on Friday ready for the plan on Monday
From , Bean
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Nice job, Chloe!
This is a great letter of complaint. Your use of short sentences makes the letter very punchy and impactful. Also, the details you give about when and where they are going to meet are excellent.
To improve, you could describe why they want to kill the fox (i.e. they have been stealing from their farm).
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Lesson 9
What did we cover
– Reflected on the last lesson
– Discussed what our favourite book so far has been and why
– Did a character study (using illustrations of characters from the book)
– Worked through the questions for the first half of FMFClass report
It was fantastic to begin work on FMF, as many of the students had said last week that they were incredibly excited to start lessons on the book.
We began by reviewing our work so far (as we have been learning together for a whole month now). I remarked how pleased I have been with the wonderful progress the students have made over the last four weeks; it is so clear that they have gained a lot of confidence, insight,and skills over the past 8 sessions, and it is incredibly exciting to think how much further they will progress over the coming weeks.
We went round and discussed which books we had most enjoyed and why. I was pleased that every book we studied was mentioned at least a few times! The reasons the students gave for their answers were also incredibly interesting; it seems that they enjoy the more ‘challenging’
of Dahl’s books, which is good as we move forward to work on his longer and more complex works.
Next, we did a character study of the key characters in FMF. It is great to see how much better the students are at inferring details about characters from drawings of them, and I believe it is a really useful exercise for us to continue doing at the start of each next set of lessons.
The students were wonderful at providing answers to the VIPERS questions. One thing which I noticed was how much the students enjoy elaborating their answers; rather than just stating the answer in its simplest form, many of the students clearly love to go into more detail about how they came to finding their answers and how it links to the rest of the story. This is absolutely wonderful to see and it will certainly help them when they come to doing English assessments in the future.Homework for Lesson 9:
Imagine you are one of the farmers. Write a letter of complaint about the problems you have
been having on your farm.
OR
Summarise the first half of the book in 4 sentences -
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Great job, Patrick!
This is a wonderful piece of writing; you have very clearly expressed the anger that Bean feels towards the foxes, and the details you include from the book are excellent as it really roots his character in the world of FMF.
To improve, you could include some more detail about how Bean feels (i.e. ‘we were still waiting, and I can feel myself getting more and more furious with each day that passes by’).
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Mr and Mrs Fox live in a small beautiful tunnel under a huge tree.They have four little clever hear foxes.But up in the tunnel there are three bad creepy nasty farmers and they called Boggis,Bunce and Bean.They want to kill the smart kind Mr Fox,so they use their plan 1.So they hind in the other side of the tree and waiting for Mr Fox came out, and suddenly Mr Fox came out and they shoot Mr Fox tail !
AND NOW WANT TO SAY IS ( Oh dear my poor Mr Fox )
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Wonderful work, Rita!
This is a great summary of the first half of the book. You have included lots of important details about what happens in this section which is excellent. Also, the vocabulary you use to describe the character is wonderful; it paints a really clear picture of what they are like.
To improve, you could mention why the farmers wanted to kill the foxes (i.e. they were stealing from them).
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Lesson 10:
What did we cover
– Reflected on the last lesson
– Discussed who are favourite character was and why
– Did a character study (using pictures of characters from the film)
– Learned some ‘fun facts’
– Worked through the questions for the second half of FMFClass report
We began the lesson today by discussing who our favourite characters were and why. It was fascinating to hear the students’ views, and very interesting to see that all the characters were
mentioned by at least one student. We developed this discussion to talk about how the central character is often seen as a ‘hero’ and how there are also ‘villains’. From here, we thought about who Mr. Fox would see as the villain and who the farmers would see as the villain.
Next, we looked at some images taken from the film of the characters. Not only did the students infer some excellent character details based on what these images showed, they also made some great comparisons to how they differ in the book and the film.
We spent a little time talking about some ‘fun facts’ about the book and film. I am so glad that the students tend to enjoy learning this trivia, as it proves that they have a genuine interest in the books and in broadening their knowledge.
We then moved onto the VIPERS questions. The students have continued to improve in the quality of their answers to these questions; everytime a student answers they give some fantastic details, and I am so pleased to see the students using quotes from the text more frequently to back up their answers.
We will now be taking a break of one week before we start on the next few books, beginning with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. As these books are longer and more complex, they will confront the students with new and exciting challenges; they will be encouraged to think further and deeper, and this will enable them to discover even more skills and interests.
As we have reached an important stage of the programme (5 weeks in) and we are about to take a short break, I would like to comment on how much I have enjoyed teaching the students over the last five weeks. It has been a real joy to see them develop in skills and confidence, and I am so excited to see how much further they can progress as we embark on the next stage in a week’s time.Homework for Lesson 10:
Write the first paragraph of the prequel to Fantastic Mr Fox.
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Write a short paragraph about your favourite part of the book. -
Fantastic Mr Fox (Lesson 9) – the farmers letter
Fox,
We are the farmers, ya stupid, crazy, nonsense, idiot, z-list creature, and you’d better believe it. You idiot is plumbing to your deaths, and ya stupid little animal friends (I don’t know why they had the crazy urge to make friends with a z-list which in addition is stupid, crazy and also got them trapped in the underground digging helplessly and starving to their deaths)is also trapped, and is starving to their deaths. You and ya puny little idiot friends will die one day, so Happy Starving and Happy Digging.
P.s.
Even if you puny little animals survived, you would live in fear and one day, I will find you puny little z-list creature and kill you.
Happy surviving,
sighed by hate,
Boggis, Bean, Bunce, Govner of Califonia, President of U.S., Her Majesty the Queen, Head of UN, Head of Police force…………blah, blah, blah, blah ( You get the idea, its basically everyone
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Fab work, Samson!
This is an incredibly entertaining letter! You really get across just how furious the farmers are; your listing of insulting names is great as it really emphasises just how awful they consider Mr. Fox to be. Also, the sarcasm and threats you use here very impactful; it makes the farmers sound quite scary indeed.
To improve, you could explain in the letter why they hate the foxes so much (i.e. because they have been stealing from them).
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Fantastic Mr Fox (Lesson 9) – the farmers letter
Fox,
We are the farmers, ya stupid, crazy, nonsense, idiot, z-list creature, and you’d better believe it. You idiot is plumbing to your deaths, and ya stupid little animal friends (I don’t know why they had the crazy urge to make friends with a z-list which in addition is stupid, crazy and also got them trapped in the underground digging helplessly and starving to their deaths)is also trapped, and is starving to their deaths. You and ya puny little idiot friends will die one day, so Happy Starving and Happy Digging.
P.s.
Even if you puny little animals survived, you would live in fear and one day, I will find you puny little z-list creature and kill you.
Happy surviving,
sighed by hate,
Boggis, Bean, Bunce, Govner of Califonia, President of U.S., Her Majesty the Queen, Head of UN, Head of Police force…………blah, blah, blah, blah ( You get the idea, its basically everyone )
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Fantastic Mr Fox (Lesson 10) – the farmers letter
Mr Fox had a really happy childhood, while Mrs Fox didn’t have. Her mom was a nurse, and her father was a pilot in the Navy, he fought in the Fox Revolutionary War. But unfortunately the enemy shot him. That is why she had never lived in the south. Her mom and she fled to the north because of the war. Mrs Fox had a new life there and that was also where she met Mr Fox.
Mr Fox came from the Caribbean. His father was a successful businessman. His mother was a housewife. Eventually, Mr Fox came to the UK to go to university. At the time, Mr Fox was smart, and also kind, so it matched Mrs Fox’s personality.
After they finished university, Mr and Mrs Fox went to California. They were really happy together, so they married. It has been like that since they had a child, stealing Boggis’s chicken and Beans cider.
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Wonderful work, Samson!
This is an excellent start to a prequel. The way you explain the characters’ backstories is wonderful as it gives the reader a greater appreciation of who they are and why they act the way they do in this story and in FMF. You have also added some really wonderful details about what their life was like; it is incredibly creative!
To improve, you could introduce the characters of the farmers a little more in the story.
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Fantastic Mr fox lesson 9
Dear Mr fox
You and your family is sneaky by digging down when we catch you by digging down.
You steal my chickens every evening so we tried to starve to death but you
Survived so we wait outside of your hole. We wait three days and three nights.
Your pal
Bunce.
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Fantastic Mr fox ( lesson 10 )
My favourite part of the book is when one of the farmers go into the hole but he refused. I’m thought it was strange because why can’t they just place a ladder to the bottom then climb down then bring guns???
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Nice work, Daniel!
This is a really great part of the book indeed. You have explained what happens here very well and it is great that you state what you thought of this section (i.e. that it was ‘strange’).
To improve, you could also mention how it made you feel (i.e. it made you feel confused or amused).
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Homework of Lesson 9 Max
There were three farmers. They were called Bean Boggis and Bunce. Up on the hill there was a wood. In the wood there were some foxes. They were called Mr fox Mrs fox and the small foxes. The farmers were angry, because Mr fox keep stealing their food. So the farmers wanted to kill Mr fox. But they just shot of Mr fox tail.
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Good job, Max!
This is a great summary of the first half. You have introduced the characters of the farmers really well and clearly stated the key events in these chapters.
To improve, you could use adjectives to give a bit more detail about what the characters are like (i.e. nasty farmers, clever foxes).
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Hi, homework 9 and 10 by Chen You:
9:”Once upon a time there lived a nasty fox, he lived under a hill. Every day he came out of the hill and come to steel our food. So, one day Boggis, Bunce and me, had enough. So one day we had decided to hide next to the tree with a gun, and we waited until Mr fox appeared so then we shot his tail.”
10:”My favourite part is when Mr fox and the four foxes made a tunnel to go in Boggis, Bunce and Bean. And then they had giant feast, and when I read that part I was beginning to get hungry because of the chicken, geese, and lots of other delicious food. So I liked it because it is a good ending and because it makes me feel.”
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Wonderful work, Youyou!
This is a very good summary of this first half. You have covered the main plot points, which is fab, and it is very interesting to hear from Bean’s point of view.
To improve, you could also mention the other foxes who live under the tree.
You have picked a wonderful part of the book as your favourite. The details you give about what happens in this part are great and it is excellent that you state why you like this ending so much.
To improve, make sure you finish the sentence and state what it makes you feel (i.e. happy, proud, content).
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<p style=”text-align: left;”>Homework of Lesson 10 by Max:</p>
<p style=”text-align: left;”>My favorite part is the animals having a giant feast. I like that part because there are so many chickens, geese, and ducks on the table. All of the animals ate together. Those farmers are still waiting for the foxes to come out of the hole. The ending was good too.</p> -
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Great work, Caleb!
This is a great summary of the first half; you introduce the characters incredibly well and include a strong description of what Mr. Fox does to annoy the farmers.
To improve, you could mention how the farmers react (i.e. that the plan to kill him and shoot off his tail).
You picked a fab part of the book as your favourite. The vocab you use to describe the feast is wonderful as it paints a really clear picture of what it is like. Also, it is great that you mention why you like this section so much.
To improve, you could use quotations from the text to help demonstrate your view.
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Homework of lesson 10
There once was a small fox that was abandoned from his parent, so he had to raise himself until he was a adult, he was brave, courageous and honest. When he was now a adult he had a family. Meanwhile a small, kind, and talented female fox was with its mom learning. They met when hunting, had a family and 4 small foxes.
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My favourite part is when Mrs Fox and Mr Fox and their four children was in the supermarket and want to buy something back to the hall and give their friends.
Film Version -
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Charlie’s personal only shown to family diary
23- 6- 2020 Sunday, Rainy
This was a pretty normal day, I’m telling myself. It soon started to rain and I took my bag and started dashing through the misty peice of earth.
At school, I learnt to spell out the longest word in the world, “Donaudampfschifffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft,”. My teacher said it is actually a real word, you can search on google if you had a phone.
Next up was Math. I curled up in my seat, wishing the teacher would not see me arriving to school.
Then as usual, I walk home.
End of my Diary
6- 7- 2020 Monday Sunny, Snowy
As usual, I come back from school. but this time, I found a shiny fifty pence! I ran to the nearest store and bought a chocolate bar. It was so yummy! I used the change to buy another one. Inside was the shiniest Golden Ticket!
I dropped the chocolate bar and people asked for it and I just dashed home.
Well, bye, I got to go to the chocolate factory now!
end of diary, eod!
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Wonderful work, Andrea!
This is an excellent diary entry! The way you have laid it out makes it look very convincing. You have also created a very vivid image of what a typical day in Charlie’s life is like and have used information from the story wonderfully.
To improve, you could explain how Charlie felt when he found the ticket a little more (i.e. ‘I am so delighted!’).
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Why is Danny’s dad bad?:
1.I think Danny’s dad is bad because he did not tell he is
child(Danny)when he want to go to his car factory.2.He also cannot let Danny stay at the home.
3.If Danny’s dad let Danny stay at his home because Danny will be scard.
4.If Danny’s dad got away from Danny, Danny will go to find his dad
5.If Danny’s dad got away, then no one can take care of Danny!
6.If Danny’s dad want to go to his factory, he can tell Danny or go to his factory when Danny’s mum is not dead.
7.If Danny’s grandma or grandpa is with Danny then Danny’s dad can go to his car factory
26/6/2020 20:34:30 8 pm:34:30
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Sunday, June Sunny
Dear diary,
Daddy went out at the dead of night yesterdy. I got frightend and secretly tip-toed out of bed and went out of the caravan.
I was terrified. The sound of the wind blowing was insanely horrifying. I saw Daddy come back and he told me about a Deep Dark Secret.
He said he hadnt been poaching for a long time. He couldn’t wait to go again so he went that night.
Poaching is like you go out to something like a forest and catch some bird like creature called pheasents.
At first, I was mad at my nice father since I thought it meant he was stealing. But then, I realized is was for our own good! I changed my mind after that.
I wanted to go with him to poach but I couldn’t, I was too young, well atleast that’s what Daddy said…
I slept less to make sure when and what daddy brought with him once he had to go out.
I wanted to try. He said I could go when I get older, he gave me a few tips: the pheasents like raisen.
And also, a way to catch them easier is that I could drop a few raisens in the paper hat thing and put glue in it and some raisens to lead to the paper hat.
I felt sad that I couldn’t go there, what a pity! I don’t know how to mention my feelings to you, diary. Well I’d better go off and sleep, night!
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dear Danny,
I guess I know how you might feel. My dad, called no. 1 diary in the world, once said I wasn’t allowed to write a story or a letter to humans.
He said because I was too little and I’m a diary, so I shouldn’t write until I almost die, which means almost out of pages.
I’m sorry, I am using the last page, perhaps you’ll get a new diary, which are my kids on your tenth birthday and fill it up.
I am tremondously excited to hear from my son about you. It will fill up the last page of your diary too, like me.
Sorry, I am using the last line from your diary. One more minute till I die, I guess it’s a goodbye, then…
Love, Danny’s Diary, named Andrea
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Marvelous work, Andrea!
These are wonderful diary entries. The details you take from the story and use here are excellent, and you have described the emotions of the characters incredibly well. Also, the reply you write is wonderful; it is very inventive!
To improve, you could end Danny’s entry with him stating what he plans to do next (i.e. I hope to be able to help my dad out tomorrow).
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THE STUDENTS OF MALORY TOWERS DISAPPEARED AND FOUNND BONES LYING ON THE WINDOWSILL
REPORTED BY MAYOR OF INTELLEGENCE, ANDREA
The boarding school of malory towers in loveriece (the country)- teachers say that students have been disappearing a long time ago and they are still trying to investigate who the people or rather, monsters, are. More and more bones were discovered in their dormitories, windowsills and under their beds.
in the dark julian forest- a 12 years old man was hunting for the monsters in the dark julian forest for hours. He still couldn’t find them. The other day in the evening, the boy heard loud thumping noises coming from the north. He followed the noise and found a 54 feet tall giant.
in front of the aberdine palace- the boy called out and told the queen. The queen called the whole world and the tallest man to come and save the day. Turns out, the leadership giant was called simpaderous and he looked like this.
in front of the aberdine palace- simpaderous had a darkish brown sunburnt skin. It had black freckles and dots all over. And guess what? His head was bald! The bald head was shone like a bunch of flowers. And plus, how disgusting of simpaderous to wear a flowery bikini in the middle of the road! But this was marvolouslly horrible! He was about 189 feet tall!
simpadarous was dancing around waving his arms in the air, singing this: la, la, la, loo da dee! And the boy was stunned after seeing this fiasco!
in the jaguarisco land in the northern of india- it was a total chaos in the place. Houses were distroyed, trees were chomped, people were mashed and floods of blood and bones were spraying out from tiny weensy holes.
Interview:
Mckayla mcalister from maywood glen: i think that that giant is horrifying and mean, i hate him!
Bryden from maywood glen: i hate them and we’ll definetley win and get our revenge next time!
Andrea from roald dahl reading class: not to be unfair, but… You won’t get away with this, giant!
Muffin the dog of andrea: bark! Ruff, ruff! Grrrr, ruff!
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