Dear Year Six,

To prepare you for English at St. Alban’s, we are challenging you to write a book for younger children!

You will need to write the story, and illustrate it. You can either handwrite it and take photographs for us, or type it in Word or PowerPoint, and then produce your illustrations either by drawing them or in a drawing programme. Or if you really hate drawing, you can select images online instead.

Here are some example pages for you:

Front page Blurb Page One of the story

Pages 2 and 3 of the story Pages 4 and 5 of the story

Turn over to find your first four tasks.

Week 1: Task One – grammar taskBirds Story

L.O. to punctuate speech correctly. TASK: include dialogue correctly in your own story.

Task 1: watch the video on how to punctuate speech correctly, make sure you complete the activities in the video as you go. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-YFmLctwDY

Task 2: Look at the rules below and then answer the questions.

1. Where should the speech marks be?2. Should the punctuation be inside or outside the speech marks?3. When won’t you use a comma?4. Where should the capital letter go?

Task 3: Practice what you have learnt. Punctuate the story below correctly with speech marks (inverted commas).

Shall I tell you what we are going to do?What? They said.Mr Gregg looked at them and smiled. We are going to build a nest.A nest! They said. Can we do that?We must do it, said Mr Gregg. We’ve got to have somewhere to sleep. Follow me.They flew off to a tall tree, and right at the top of it Mr Gregg chose the place for the nest.Now we want sticks, he said. Lots and lots of little sticks. Off you go, all of you, and find them and bring them back here.But we have no hands! Said Philip.Then use your mouths.Mrs Gregg and the children flew off. Soon they were back carrying sticks in their mouths.

Week 1: Task Two – Choose a title for your story, and plan your first lineLO: Create a title and first line which engage your audience and begin to develop an exposition of a character/setting/normal routine.Here are some titles and first lines to get you going. Choose one of these if you want to, or use your own ideas.Title First lineA Boy and his ____ on a Great Adventure At first, it seemed like just another, boring, ordinary day.A Girl and her ____ Save the World At first, nobody realised how serious things were.The Holiday To begin with, the holiday in _____ was going really well.A Trip to the Moon Mohammed loved to watch the moon from his tiny room

at the top of his grandfather’s house, but little did he dream that one day he would actually land on the moon himself!

River of Adventure When ____ and his/her family set out in their boat for a picnic, little did they realise the adventures they would have, and just how long it would take for them to arrive safely back home.

City of Dreams You might think that Birmingham is just an ordinary, busy, bustling, dirty city, but you’re wrong.

The Day the Monsters Came On the day the monsters came, the sun was shining, and the birds were singing, until they weren’t.

_____ and his/her Time Machine Life in 2020 wasn’t very exciting, just ___, ___ and ____.Your Ideas

Title First line

Week 1: Task Three – Try some similes and metaphors!LO: Demonstrate your awareness that metaphors transform by saying that something is something else, and similes compare by saying that something is as or like something else.Watch the video to remind yourself of the difference between a simile (like/as) and a metaphor.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoSBVNUO2LUDo the quiz to test yourself and see if you are a similes and metaphors champion!https://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=simile-or-metaphor_4VZNow try these challenges! Write a simile to describe your character’s normal routine:Example: This morning was as dreary as a bowl of dirty washing up.

Write a metaphor to describe your character’s normal routine:Example: Boredom hung in the air and cast a pall over everybody in the house.

Write a simile to describe something changing for your character:Example: Suddenly, the sun went out and the morning became as black as a vampire’s cape.

Write a metaphor to describe something changing for your character:Example: Overhead, the sun stopped shining and loomed blackly in the sky, a dark and monstrous presence.

Write a simile to describe your character in a moment of rising tension:Example: She was as frightened as a mouse in a room full of cats.

Write a metaphor to describe your character in a moment of rising tension:Example: Her heart was a giant clock inside her chest, ticking so quickly that it seemed it must explode.

Week 1: Task Four – plan your storyL.O. Follow the story arc to increase tension in the journey of your story, then reach resolutionTASK: Storyboard your plot

Planning your story. Use the structure below to make sure that your readers stay interested from beginning to end!

Here’s how Miss Scofield’s story fits this Story Arc, so far:Begin by introducing your central character in a setting – normal routine (this is called the exposition)

Petal and Polly are at home in the rain. Life is quite boring, but there’s nothing to really worry about. Not yet!

Inciting incident – a change to normal routine But then the water gobbles daddy’s boat (and daddy) up!

Where could Miss Scofield’s story go next?Rising tension – things get worse Petal and Polly set out on a raft to try to find

daddy. They have some big problems along the way: they lose most of their food / they get trapped by a tree / they meet a shark

Climax – things are as bad as they can get They think daddy is dead and that they will never get back home

Falling action Suddenly, a small boat appears in the distance. It’s daddy in The Petal!

Resolution They finally arrive safe back at home and have a lovely cup of tea!

Use the storyboard on the next page to plan your story. Don’t forget to think about where you’re going to add dialogue to your plot!

Storyboard PlanExposition – introduce character and setting

Exposition – introduce character and setting

Inciting incident – what happens to change the character’s normal routine?

Rising Tension Part One Rising Tension Part One Rising Tension Part Two

Rising Tension Part Two Rising Tension Part Three Rising Tension Part Three

Falling Action Part One Falling Action Part Two Resolution

Week 2 – write your final storyL.O. Write your own short story including dialogue, language methods and illustrations. TASK: Complete your final story, with illustrations.

Here is a list of things that your story could include:A simile – where you describe something as like something elseExample: The water was like a huge, hungry whale, wanting to gobble Petal upA metaphor – where you describe something by saying it is something elseExample: The raft was a tiny matchbox, floating on a huge and savage oceanDialogue/speech - punctuated correctlyExample: “No!” cried Petal to the roaring waves, “You can’t have Polly.”The words that are spoken go inside speech marks, to keep them safe and tidy!A list of three/tripletExample: The water was roaring, screaming, howling. TThe waves were reaching, grabbing, sucking.Sound effects / onomatopoeiaExample: The splash of the waves was loud and scary in the dark. An owl screeched above the dark water, and Petal whimpered with fear.The five senses – what do things look/sound/smell/feel/taste like?Example: Petal could taste the salt of the sea on her tongue, as the waves covered her.The wood was rough under her fingers, but the raft felt solid and friendly.

Now make your book! Happy writing and illustrating, authors! 😊