For anyone new to this blog, the idea is simple - each day my boys (Joshua - 9 and Archie - 8) choose a stimulus that drives the learning. We hope that you enjoy the blog and can take some inspiration from what we love doing - making learning as engaging as possible!
Mud
Did you know that today is International Mud Day? The creators of International Mud Day wanted to find a way to help all of the children of the Earth feel closer to each other…and what a better way to do it than through the Earth itself?
We hope you enjoy!
English
List poem
Performance poetry
Syllables
Adjectives
Whilst we have now explored a wide variety of poetry and short-burst writing skills, one of the things that I keep reflecting on is how the boys sometimes lack a depth of vocabulary to describe. To acquire a new word, a child needs to use that word around 8 - 10 times in context before it enters the longterm memory. This is a considerable investment.
We began by brainstorming as many words as we could about mud. Whilst this was fairly extensive, the boys did run dry, at which point I introduced them to https://describingwords.io/for/mud to generate a whole new world of possibility. I love this website as it is so visual and simple to use, giving the boys simple definitions for the adjectives generated.
Here is the brainstorm:
I then showed them how to link words through categories, such as onomatopoeic words, soft words, hard words, positive words, negative words.
We then discussed the pattern for our poem. I wanted the boys to tune into the way the syllables create a strong rhythm in the poem and therefore showed them a strong repeating pattern:
_________ mud
_________ mud
_________, _________, _________ mud.
Here are our poems:
Mud
Squelchy mud,
clingy mud,
gloopy, slimy, sticky mud.
Squashy mud,
slippery mud,
runny, mushy, greasy mud.
Hard mud,
rough mud,
useless, trodden, grey mud.
Bumpy mud,
bubbly mud,
soapy, sloppy, swampy mud.
Rancid mud,
shallow mud,
evil horrible, terrible mud.
Ceremonial mud,
Glastonbury mud,
thick, gooey, fun mud.
Shiny mud,
wonderful mud,
welly-wearing, splashy mud.
Soft mud,
warm mud,
lovely, gummy, muddy mud.
© Jamie Thomas 2020
Mud by Joshua
Sloppy mud
thick mud
watery, tall, short mud
deep mud
wet mud
fat, flat, fictitious mud,
waxy mud,
miserable mud,
gooey, gluey, greasy mud
dusty mud,
sticky mud,
smelly, liquid, mushy mud.
Mud by Archie
soapy mud
yucky mud
clingy, filthy, tall mud
soggy mud
deep mud
dirty, mushy, horrible mud
squelchy mud
squashy mud
gloopy, sloppy, sticky mud
bumpy mud
lumpy mud
disgusting, terrible, smelly mud
waxy mud
fat mud
chalky, runny, milky mud
heavy mud
small mud
cold, gluey, warm mud
If you are enjoying this blog, please do share it and spread the word. Thank you to all of you who have got in touch and shared some of the outcomes from what you have tried - we love to hear from you.
Do tune in tomorrow, where we exploring:
The Garden
My thanks to Pie Corbett, Julia Strong and the Talk for Writing team for inspiring many of the ideas explored in this blog.
This blog is copyright. All materials herein, texts and supporting resources are copyright to Jamie Thomas & Talk for Writing. They may be used to support children/staff/parents in home-learning ONLY and not for commercial gain or for training or sharing widely, in their original form or any variations. They must also not be shared online or on any social media platforms without prior permission.