Hi everyone!

For writing this week, your teachers would like you to write a

character description. Here’s the plan for the week ahead.

Mon - Reading character descriptions, answering qs and making a glossary of vocab.

Tues - Expanded noun phrases

Wed - Planning your character description using a character from the books we have read at

school

Thurs- Writing your description and editing it/proof reading

Fri- Writing another description on a character of your choice or of yourself or a family member!

Can your teacher guess the character?

Monday

QFL: Can I explain what’s included in a good character description?

To know what good character descriptions include we

need to remind ourselves by looking at a few examples.

1. Read the descriptions and answer the questions.

2. Make a glossary of vocabulary you could magpie from them.

Remember to include a definition of the words as well as putting

them into a sentence to show you understand how and when to

use them. You could also include a synonyms and antonyms

section to really help you increase your vocabulary.

But first, you will need to remind yourselves what these words/phrases mean before you

can answer the questions…

• Personification

• Show not tell

• Synonyms

• Antonyms

• Adjectives

• Adverbs

• Alliteration

• Metaphor

Try to explain what

they mean and give

an example?

Were you correct?

Personification – using human qualities to describe something nonhuman. The angry clouds marched across the sky.

Show not tell – to say a character is “tall” is TELLING the reader. You could SHOW the reader your character is tall by

mentioning others looking up when they talk with him, or that he has to duck to get through a door.

Synonyms – words or phrases that means exactly or nearly the same as another word. A synonym for confused could be

baffled.

Antonyms – words or phrases that meant the opposite to another. Fast is an antonym of slow.

Adjectives – words used to describe a noun. The old man.

Adverbs – words used to describe a verb. The old man walked recklessly.

Alliteration – when the same sound is repeated at the beginning of words. The trees swayed shyly in the summer breeze.

Metaphor - A comparison in which one thing is said to be another. He was a tornado, blasting his way through the

opposing team.

1. Why was she smiling?

2. Where does the author use ‘show not tell’ to convey to the reader

how the character is feeling?

3. What does coarse mean? Can you think of a synonym to replace it?

4. How do we know she has been successful before this incident?

Character Description 1

1. How do you think Tara was feeling as she watched

the other children?

2. What powerful adjectives/adverbs has the author used?

3. Where does the author use ‘show not tell’ to convey to the reader how the

character is feeling?

4. Can you find where the author has used personification?

Character Description 2

1. Can you find any metaphors?

2. Can you find any personification?

3. What powerful adjectives has the author used?

4. Can you find any alliteration?

Character Description 3

1. What does menacing mean? Can you think of an antonym for it?

2. What powerful adjectives and adverbs has the author used?

3. Draw and label a picture of what you imagine this figure to look like.

Character Description 4

So now that you’ve read some

examples, what do you think needs to

be included in a good character

description?

Think about the content as well as the

techniques and grammar that should

be included…

Success criteria

Character descriptions can tell the reader about a characters …AppearanceActions and behavioursPersonality traitsSpeech and thoughtsOther people’s perceptions of them/relationships with othersAchievements

The grammar and techniques that could be included are…Expanded noun phrasesPowerful verbs and adverbsShow not tell Metaphors and similesEmbedded clauses to give more information to the reader

If you still have time…

Don’t forget to make a ‘magpie’ book so you

can start collecting some ambitious vocabulary!

GREAT WORK TODAY, SEE YOU TOMORROW!

Tuesday

QFL: Can I write effective expanded noun phrases?

Did you notice how the character descriptions

you looked at yesterday included lots of

expanded noun phrases?

Well that’s what we’re going to work on today!

Expanded noun phrases provide the

reader with extra information about

the noun.

We can use powerful adjectives to do

this and prepositional phrases to make

our ideas even better.

Let’s have a go…

Follow these four instructions to create an expanded noun phrase…

1. 2. 3.

4.

Now I’ve read the instructions, I’m going to have a go at writing an expanded noun phrase for this picture

1. Noun = house

2. Adjectives = spooky, mysterious, creepy, ancient, unstable (I won’t need them all)

3. Prepositional phrase = underneath the moon

4. Up level my word choices = The mysterious, eerie and rickety house underneath the moon lit sky

Now I can experiment putting my expanded noun phrase and my prepositional phrase into a sentence…

Standing proud underneath the moonlit sky, the mysterious, eerie and rickety

house sent shivers up spine.

Expanded noun phrase Prepositional phrase

Now it’s your turn…

Write some expanded noun phrases about the following nouns. Remember to try and add prepositional phrases too!

A castle

A member of your family

A bunch of flowers

A bird

A meal

A present

Your best friend

Your hero

A cave

The next 7 slides have lots of useful adjectives and some prepositional phrases you could use. You might also have some vocab you could use in the ‘magpie’ book you made yesterday.

Can you think of

some of your

own nouns?

Wednesday

QFL: Can I plan a character description?

Now that you have read some examples of

character descriptions and had a go at writing

some expanded noun phrases, you are now

ready to start planning ideas for your own

character description!

Let’s think about some of the characters we have come across in

the books we have read this year (or last year if you’re in year 6)

that we could base our descriptions on….

Joe

Simon

Auggie

Julian

Mom and Dad

Via

Summer

Jack Will

Mr Browne

Mr Tushman

Mr Tumnus

Aslan

Peter

Susan

Lucy

Edmond

Felix

Barney

Zelda

Bradley

Jeff

Mrs Ebbel

Melinda

Carla

Spike

Bubba

Mamma D’Angelo

Once you have chosen a character from the previous page, think about the following questions...

What do you know about them?

How could you describe their appearance?

How do they behave?

What personality traits do they have?

What might they say or think?

What are other people’s perceptions of them?

What have they achieved in their life?

The answers to these questions are going to form the basis of your plan

Here’s my plan! I’ve chosen Spike from the book ‘The Watertower’ and I’ve chosen to focus on these 4 areas

Appearance

Freckles

Short, red spikey hair

Tall

Athletic

Chiseled cheekbones

Strong jawline

Looks old for his age

His relationship with Bubba

Friends with Bubba since reception

Blood brothers

Inseparable

Bubba will do anything Spike tells him to do

Personality

Cool

Witty

Confident

Authoritative

Popular with boys and girls

Boys wanted to be him

Friends call him Spikey

Risk-taker

Dare-devil

Leader

Dominant

Achievements

Captain of soccer team

Long distance runner

Athletics club

Spike Trotter

I can’t forget my noun phrases!

What noun phrases could I include in my writing to give the reader even more

detail about Spike? I must remember to use powerful adjectives and use

prepositional phrases if it’s appropriate to make my writing more interesting.

A shock of red,

closely cropped hair.

He had a broad

confident grin.

A flurry of freckles sat

randomly on the bridge

of his nose.

An accomplished

long-distance runner.

The confident and

charming popular kid

at school.

Now it’s your turn to plan…

Plan your ideas in any way you choose.

Don’t forget to plan some expanded noun

phrases too.

Remember to look at the 7 slides filled with

adjectives and prepositional phrases you used on

Tuesday to help you with ideas and vocabulary

choices.

Thursday

QFL: Can I write a character description?

Now you’re ready to write your own character

description!

I’ve had a go at writing mine, but it’s not the

finished article yet!

Cool and popular, witty and good-looking, Spike Trotter had never been

short of friends. Boys wanted to be him; girls wanted to hang around with

him. His shock of red, closely cropped hair, tall athletic frame and his

broad confident grin gave him an air of difference; an air of authority that

made him stand out from the crowd. A flurry of freckles sat randomly on

the bridge of his nose. His chiseled cheekbones and strong jawline made

him appear older than his 14 years.

Spike (or Spikey for those that were close to him) was the captain of the

soccer team and an accomplished long-distance runner which made his

good friendship with the less athletic Bubba D’Angelo even more of a

mystery. However, the boys had been friends since their first day in

reception class. Since then, they had become inseparable. Blood

brothers they called themselves. You rarely saw one without the other.

If you had to compare the two friends you’d have to say that Spike was

the more confident of the two. He was a risk-taker, a dare-devil – never

one to play by the rules. Spike intended to live life to the full.

Purpose: To describe a character in detailAudience: Children in year 5 and 6

Character descriptions tell the reader about a characters …

AppearanceActions and behavioursPersonality traitsSpeech and thoughts

Other people’s perceptions of them/ relationships with others

Achievements

They grammar and techniques that could be included are…

Expanded noun phrases

Powerful verbs and adverbsShow not tell Metaphors and similesEmbedded clauses to give more information to the reader

I need to check I have included everything I wanted to from my plan and

included the things from our success criteria we made on Monday

Once you’ve written your character description remember to proof read and edit it before you

email it to your teacher.

Friday

QFL: Can I write a character description?Today, I want you to have a go at writing another character

description, but this time using a character of your choice.

It could be from a book you’ve read, a programme or film

you’ve seen. You could even do a character description on

yourself or a member of your family!

I wonder if your teachers could work out who your

description is about this time?

Once you’ve written your character description don’t forget to proof read and edit it before you

email it to your teacher.