Write: “Near the edge of the platform, a man with knotted hair held out a Dixie cup to no one in particular, calling, ‘Spare some change? Spare some change?’ Swirls of iridescent orange graffiti covered the Canal Street sign. The whole place smelled of urine and potato chips.” About 3 years ago I decided to write a novel. A historical novel for children set in and around Norwich Cathedral. At this point you may be wondering 'Why?' There are a number of reasons but basically I had an idea and I fancied pursuing it. I have some time on my hands, it is purely for my own pleasure and it allows me time to drop out of the hectic day to day running of The Literacy Shed and sit quietly. It also allows me to visit as many cathedrals as I possibly can which is a secondary pleasurable benefit. Heroes by David Long is the perfect KS2 non-fiction class reader for Years 4–6, recommended for children aged 9+. It could be a good family read-aloud since it could appeal to the whole family, although I personally hesitate to recommend bedtime due to the the subject matter! I then began to think about how I deal with failure on a daily basis. In my Year 5 class whathappens if a child delivers a substandard piece of work? The answer: not a lot! If they have beenlazy, they may have to do the work again, but only if the work is substantially below standard. Ifthey have failed to achieve due to carelessness, I will probably warn them about their effort orconcentration levels. Is it my fault that these children do not have an intrinsic fear of failing? Dothey just think they can get away with it or is there another underlying problem?

I found this book thoroughly fascinating--I love survival stories for the way they focus in on the concrete details of life (food, water, physical ability) and how the survivors use their ingenuity and incredible perseverance to make it--totally inspiring to me. As I crossed the dew-kissed meadow, the sun rose above the distant hills and a wisp of snipe took flight from the long reeds. Eluga pääsenud" on kogumik uskumatutest ellujäämislugudest. Raamatu algus rabab kindlasti, kuid järjest lugemisel võib tekkida küllastumus. Soovitan raamatut neile, kellele meeldivad seiklused ja paeluvad tõsielusündmused, eriti just katastroofid. Kindlasti ei sobi raamat nõrganärvilistele! Igas loos oli midagi õpetlikku. Kõige põhilisem tarkus on matkama või tegelikult üleüldse kuhugi minnes teada anda, kuhu lähed ja millal on sind tagasi oodata. Iga õnnetust küll selle tarkusega ära hoida ei õnnestu. Selleks, et katastroof üle elada, on olulisim endasse uskuda. Just tahtejõud ellu jääda on üks põhifaktoreid, mis oli iga loo kangelasel olemas. Õppisin raamatust veel muuhulgas, et (husky) koerte maksas on palju a-vitamiini ja a-vitamiini üledoos võib viia selleni, et saabas tuleb jalast koos jalatallaga.

About David Long

Tanglefern Forest was vast, with some trees so old and tangled that few had passed beneath their branches. But there were places you went and places you didn’t. The Ancientwood in the north of the forest was safe: there was the glade of brilliant spring bluebells and yews beyond Oak’s camp, then a grove of crab-apple trees, and beyond that, after the forest, the farm itself and Tipplebury village. But south . . . Well, south was another place altogether. So she’d heard. The Deepwood was rumoured to be full of shady trees and rotting undergrowth and, when it ended, the heathland, with it sinking bogs and soggy marshes, began. Cowell, Cressida. The Wizards of Once: Book 1 (Kindle Locations 32-35). Hachette Children's Group. Kindle Edition. I am working on collecting some texts around a number of themes like these which I will continue to blog and discuss in my CPD sessions. Eelmise aasta sisse mahtus veel selline huvitav teos nagu David Long "Eluga pääsenud". Raamatus on hulganisti lugusid inimestest, kes on üle elanud ekstreemseid olukordi ja kirjeldamatuid õudusi ning neist välja tulnud. Take the examples below, each of them is from a different text but each of them describes a forest. It doesn’t really matter what genre the children are writing; a good description can be utilised across a range of writing episodes.

However, much of the language used in the extracts below would be useful, as would some of the sentence structures and techniques such as building atmosphere or using similes. None of the books below are about World War 2 or are from battle scenes though. With some slight adjustments they can be adapted to work for any narrative which needs a description of a forest.

Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” Anton Chekov talking about the use of a well know literary device called ‘Show, don’t tell’ and more recently ‘Show, not tell.’ Remind the children that their writing may not be published but give them the choice whether to have people read it or not.