Teach Primary Issue 18.2

46 | www.teachwire.net CREATE A SIDEKICK FOR CORALINE Do the children know what is meant by the term ‘sidekick’? One definition could be, ‘a person, maybe a friend, who is generally thought to be less important and under the control or supervision of someone else’. Sidekicks are not necessarily bossed about though; think about Batman and Robin, or Groot in the Guardian of the Galaxy films. Can the children come up with any more examples? In the film of the book, Coraline has a sidekick named Wybourne ‘Wybie’ Lovat; a slightly anxious, eleven-year-old boy who is a neighbour of Coraline, and becomes her friend. Can pupils create their own sidekick for Coraline? They can draw their character and write a short description of their personality, including why they think the sidekick would make a good friend for Coraline. Maybe they like exploring, or are good at solving puzzles, or perhaps they try to be brave even when they’re scared. DESIGN A FILM POSTER Using A3 paper, if available, ask children to design a poster to advertise a film of Coraline . Pupils should think about the atmosphere of the film rather than concentrating too much on the plot, as film posters are careful not to give too much away – just enough to get people interested. Ask the children to think about the important characters, events and objects included in the book. These could include the stone with a hole through it, the black cat, Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, Mr Bobo and his mice, the key, the snow globe and, of course, Coraline herself. Can pupils think of anything else that might be good to include in their film poster? Discuss what might make people inquisitive to find out more. An internet search for ‘images of Coraline’ brings up some great pictures of Take it further and the importance of being true to yourself. A great book, truly original and packed with creepy excitement from the off, it carries its readers on a wave of suspense to the very last page. Talking about the book • Coraline is the main character in this book. Explain that the principal character in a literary work is known as the protagonist; encourage the use of this term when talking about Coraline, to extend children’s use of literary vocabulary. • Words used to describe this book include: creepy, sinister, spellbinding, captivating and disturbing. Ask children to find the meaning of each of these words using an online thesaurus, giving an alternative word they think could appearance needed from the author. In Coraline we are given scant information on the protagonist’s appearance. We only find out that Coraline is small for her age (eleven years old), and has a love of brightly coloured clothes. As a class, talk about pupils’ thoughts on Coraline’s appearance. Some of the children may have seen the film version of the book, which could influence their thinking here; remind them of the importance of coming up with their own ideas. Write some ideas on the board for the children to refer to, before asking them to draw in their workbooks a picture of Coraline as they envisage her, along with a brief description of her appearance. Drawing the image before writing a description can make the process easier for pupils, as they then have a picture to refer to. Pupils can go on to extend this activity with the characters of Miss Spink and Miss Forcible. We are given a few more clues here, as we are told in chapter one, ‘They were both old and round,’ and in chapter two, ‘Miss Spink was bundled up in pullovers and cardigans, so seemed more small and circular than ever. She looked like a large fluffy egg. She wore thick glasses that made her eyes seem huge.’ Using this information, ask pupils to draw and describe these characters as before. be used in its place, for example, disturbing – unsettling. • Houses, cottages, castles, etc. are often used in stories to lend a particular atmosphere. In Coraline , the old, mysterious house provides a sense of spookiness. Ask children to think about a very different type of home, such as a cosy cottage. This time the atmosphere they want to create is warm and welcoming – how could they describe this? As a class, talk about words and phrases that could be used here, trying to think about all the senses, then write these on the board so pupils can make notes in their workbooks. Ideas for getting started could be: cosy, snuggly, a warm fire, comfy cushions, the smell of warm toast, the sound of a cat purring. Pupils can go on to write a short description of a cosy home. A sample first sentence could be: ‘Mrs Winterby had lived in our road all my life. Her little cottage was...’ • There are similarities between the story of Coraline and the fairytale of Hansel and Gretel . Do pupils know this story? Can they see any similarities? Activities How do you picture Coraline? Explain to the class that, as readers, we can build images of the characters in books using our imaginations, with very little information on physical “Packed with creepy excitement, it carries its readers on a wave of suspense to the very last page” Book topic