Topaz Class English Day One
The Abominables by Eva Ibbotson Snatched from her tent whilst camping with her family in the Himalayas, Lady Agatha is missing! Rumour has it that YETIS roam here. Has she been kidnapped by a terrifying monster? This week uses the opening extract from the story.
- Read and enjoy Chapter 1 of the text (below), by reading the text with an adult, by reading a paragraph or page to each other, or independent reading.
- Look at the vocabulary in the chapter. Find these words and discuss the meaning; natives, ruins, unearthly, mournful, loomed, foul, distraught, fearsome, sacred, studded.
- Can you use the prefix or suffix to help you work out the meaning of some of the words?
- Can you find any other new or exciting words? Discuss meanings of these words. Look up some of the new words you have found in a dictionary or by using Word Hippo at https://www.wordhippo.com/
- Find some synonyms (words that mean the same or similar). Create a wordsearch or a crossword for the words that you have explored today for someone in your family to attempt.
Topaz Class English Day Two
Re-read Chapter 1 together (see below)
- Plan out and write a newspaper report from the day that Agatha disappeared.
- Think about the following: Who is your report about? Who was there at the time of the disappearance? What has happened? Where did it happen? When did it happen? Set your newspaper out properly. Include the following:
- A headline (Is it catchy? You could use alliteration)
- A picture
- An introductory paragraph that briefly includes the 5 Ws (who,what, why, where, when)
- Use the past tense and third person (he, she, it or they)
- Put the information in chronological (time) order
- A quote from an eyewitness (maybe Agatha’s father)
- Write in columns
- Have a look at First News online to help you with the format of a newspaper article. https://schools.firstnews.co.uk/remote-learning-resources/ (The latest edition is freely available as a PDF if you sign up with an email.)
- Read your work through and check for spelling and punctuation.
Topaz Class English Day Three
Read Chapter 2 together
- Discuss any new/interesting vocabulary that you encounter. Use a dictionary/thesaurus/https://www.wordhippo.com/ to find the meanings and some synonyms.
- Draw a picture of all of the Yetis and name them. What do you think they all might look like? Think about size and any characteristics that you can gather from the text, e.g. Yetis have snubnoses.
- Annotate your picture using words from the text to i) describe their appearance and ii) describe their personalities.
Topaz Class English Day Four
Re-read Chapter 2.
- Imagine that you are Agatha. Write a diary entry from the day when she tells the Yetis that they must stay safely hidden.
- Think about: What happened that day? How did Lady Agatha feel and why did she feel like that? What was Lady Agatha concerned about?
- Tips for writing a diary:
- Write in first person (you are Agatha).
- Write events that have happened that day in chronological (time) order.
- Include how you (Agatha) are feeling about the things that have happened and about what you (Agatha) think might happen if the yetis don’t stay hidden.
- Try to include some of the new words that you have explored this week.
- Read your work through and check for spelling and punctuation.
Topaz Class English Day Five
- Orally retell the story so far.
- Plan and write your own chapter of what you think will happen next.
- What will happen to Lucy? Where will she end up? Will anybody (humans) see her? What will Agatha and the family do when they wake up? Will they go after her? Are they all in danger?
- Plan your chapter using a method that you have used at school before, e.g. a story mountain, a storyboard etc.
- When you write your chapter, think about all the writing techniques that you have been taught and see how many you can use in your chapter. Can you include any of the new words that you have explored this week?
- Read back your chapter out loud and check your spelling and punctuation.