Teach-Primary-Issue-19.4

64 | www.teachwire.net FACTUALWRITING EXERCISE Tell the children that today you will be looking at writing a factual report. Explain that this means a piece of interesting writing that explains the facts about a subject in a clear way, with information that readers will understand. Explain that the subject of their reports will be ‘River Life’. Next, talk about how newspaper reports use factual writing to tell us accurate news stories. Have a few newspaper stories – pre-chosen for suitability – ready to show the class. Go on to explain that the gathering together of information used in factual writing is called research. Ask children how they think they can research and find facts about this subject. Some ideas could be: • books from the library • eBooks • websites • asking people who know about the subject well • doing your own investigations (such as going to the river and looking around) Tell children they do not have to look at the whole subject of river life, but can choose just one part of it for their report. Some ideas here could be: • Is climate change affecting UK river life? • Are water voles in decline? • The reintroduction of otters to UK rivers. If you can organise a trip to your local library this would be a great opportunity for children to look for some books, along with the use of online research. Also, if pupils have any books or reference materials at home that they can bring in to use at school, that would be lovely. Take it further Do pupils have any good suggestions for ways that Ita could start to make friends at school? It can be really difficult to make that first connection with others, especially when you’re the new boy or girl and everyone else already has their friendship groups. Why do children think Ita’s scales disappeared at the end of the story? After reading the book, ask the class if they liked it and if they felt that the story contained a message. Activities Write your own opening chapter After reading the first chapter as a class, talk about Ita’s first journey to the river, how she comes upon the water by accident after getting lost on her way home, and how the river’s location is portrayed as secretive and mysterious. Talk about the way Polly Ho-Yen uses particular vocabulary to build this picture, such as: The alleyway was uncomfortably narrow, even for Ita, and felt unused and forgotten. Does this make children think of a secretive place – maybe it’s difficult for some people to fit through the alleyway? Might this be a place Book topic where a person might find magic? Working as a class, ask pupils to contribute to a list of words or phrases they think could be used to describe this secretive, mysterious place. Some suggestions with simple definitions could be: Enchanting – magical or something that seems magical Bewitching – fascinating, as if magic has been used to attract you to something Ethereal – delicate and light as air, like a fairy’s wing or spider’s web Secluded – private, not on show, or hard to see Shadowy – full of shadows or something unknown Eerie – mysterious and strange, sends a shiver down your spine Captivating – something that is hard to look away from; it holds your interest. Children can make a note of suggested words, or they could write them up as a list to display in the classroom while working on this book topic. If possible, take the class to a quiet outside space where they use all their senses to experience nature – if there is a local area that includes a lake or river, even better. Let children just sit quietly in their own space, first looking at what they can see, then listening carefully with their eyes closed – there is always something to hear, even if it’s only your own breathing. Then, paying attention to what they can feel, maybe a breeze on their face or grass tickling their legs. Finally, they can focus on taste, which could just be the cold air on their tongue. Back in the classroom, talk about all the things you experienced, with children making notes in their workbooks, maybe under separate headings for each of the senses. Using all the collected information, instruct pupils to write their own first chapter of The Girl Who Became a Fish . They can start it in the same way as the book: The first time Ita became a fish, she was in the middle of trying to remember the way back home. She’d become lost amongst the houses.. . Instruct children to find some interesting vocabulary to describe the river’s location, using the list Illustrations © Sojung Kim McCarthy “The book addresses moving home, caring for relatives, and facing fears”