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!
Furniture
Today's blog is continuing our development of character. Whilst I have been working really hard with the boys to grow their vocabulary and imagination, I also am aware of the challenge figurative techniques pose, especially to a logical thinker. So today, we are going to use the world around us to describe character.
English
Simile
Metaphor
Character description
Character toolkit
Furniture Game
This is a game taken from Pie Corbett's Jumpstart! Poetry. The games is designed to loosen up the boys's mind and tune them into metaphorical thinking.
To begin, make a list of possible categories, such as:
furniture
animal
nature
creature
kitchen item
toy
clothing
object
colour
emotion
The game is then to say that a character is each of these things. We can add in detail through adjectives or through action.
To support the boys' imagination, we used the characters we created in last Friday's blog. Here is my model of both the kind and harsh characters:
Mr Cliffbrick is...
a weathered bench, standing alone;
a grizzly bear, woken from its slumber;
a bush of nettles, ready to sting;
an ogre, mean and aggressive;
a red-hot oven, ready to explore;
a Jack-in-the-box, wound and prepared to pop;
a damp, tweed jacket, musty from the rain;
a fist, tense and enraged.
Miss Featherpot is...
a candelabra, ornate and original;
a flamingo, basking in the sun;
a soft breeze, ebbing through the trees;
a fairy, glistening in the moonlight;
a crystal glass, delicate and pure;
a musical box, full of melody;
a shawl, draped across shoulders;
a whisper, hushed and secretive.
Here are Archie's efforts:
Miss Bunnypad is...
a fluffy, comfy cushion;
a soft, sweet bird, soaring through the sky;
gentle, great grass, swaying in the wind;
an amazing unicorn, prancing and dancing;
a flow of water, quickly spraying;
a cute, cuddly teddy bear;
a silky scarf;
a piece of paper, fragile and precious.
Mr Rocktable is...
an angry alligator, chomping through logs;
a knife, slicing and slashing;
a boot rack, hard and grimy.
Here is Joshua's effort:
Miss Fluffyship is...
a squishy sofa;
a soft, snuggly penguin;
a fluffy sheep-like cloud;
a Fairy Godmother, full of magic;
a kitchen cupboard;
a fluffy ship riding the waves;
a warm, cuddly cardigan.
Next steps...
The next steps would be to add lines into the character descriptions we wrote on Friday. Here is an example, with the lines I have sewn in written in red:
Miss Featherpot glided into the classroom like a soft breeze, gracefully sat at her desk and began to type. Like a musical box, full of melody, she began to hum as a glittery smile spread across her face.
Mr Cliffbrick stormed into the room, screamed at the children and glared like a grizzly bear woken from its slumber. His bulbous nose sniffed the air for the truth. He was a fist of a man, tense and ready to explode.
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:
SUPERHEROES
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.
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