English

Monday/Tuesday

Watch this video where Chris Van Allsburg is talking about his decisions when he wrote the book. 

• Was there anything in the video that surprised them?
• What was his process when he wrote the book?
• Do we know more about who the little boy is now?

Complete questions below in full sentences. You can mark your answers when you're finished at the bottom of this page.

You may need the following clip to accompany question 7:

 Trailer for Jumanji (rated PG)

Answers to comprehension questions

1- The author writes about feeling panic when he was a child. What is an area of the Polar Express where he feels panicked by an event? When he loses the bell

2- Why do you think the boy chose the bell from the sleigh instead of a toy from Santa? To prove that Santa is real

3- Chris Van Allsburg writes in his note “there is a seat on the train for you”. Who do you think he means when he says this and why? He is talking to the audience

4- In the Polar Express, we have a description of the inside of the train. How do you think Chris Van Allsburg wants you to feel when you read this page? Think about the temperature, your five senses and the mood the children were in on the train in your answer Children could write about how excited or happy you’d be. You might feel warm and cosy when you read it, you might be reminded of times you have been on a train, or drank hot chocolate

5- Why do you think the author chose the North Pole as the location for the train? Because he wanted to write about Christmas and this is where Santa lives.

6- Who is the main character in the book supposed to be? How do you know this? It’s the author, he says it in the video and in the note he says “it pulled up outside my house”

7- The author also wrote the story Jumanji. This is a story about a game that comes to life and brings the jungle to the real world. What does the Polar Express and Jumanji tell you about the genre of books the author likes to write? The author likes to write adventure stories.

8- The author also illustrated the book. Choose 2 different pages and write about why the author chose to create the image on these pages. Use key quotes from the text, that match the image, in your answer. Various answers

English

Wednesday/Thursday

L.O: I can plan to write a letter to the North Pole.

Flashback 4-

1. Circle the relative pronoun- The pupil that liked maths lessons was concentrating fully.
2. What is the word class of the underlined word? The teacher was feeling happy today.
3. Place a comma in the correct place- In the dark of night I stood waiting for the bus.
4. Write an expanded noun phrase about a hot chocolate.

Grammar activity- present perfect and simple past tense

Complete the starter activity (find the verbs) from powerpoint. See below for the answers. Then complete practise activity (answers also below).

Read Princess Elizabeth’s letter to Santa. Which text type is this? How do you know? Can you spot any of the features? Pupils to highlight and annotate the features.

Use the powerpoint as a visual aid if needed. Read the checklist – we will be using this checklist for our own formal letter writing.

• SC could include:
  • Senders address, recipient address, date
  • Formal greeting and sign off
  • Paragraphs including introduction and conclusion
  • Past simple and present perfect
  • Formal and polite language

Planning activity:

• Imagine you are a historical or fictional character. Who could you be? Decide your own fictional character 'voice'.
• What would they ask Santa to bring them for Christmas? 
• Complete the plan using the writing frame provided. 
• Remember not to use your home address and to use the Bishop Ellis address instead – this can be found at the bottom of the school website homepage.

Answers grammar:

Find the verbs: My friend Kashaan has lived in this town for five years and we have been best friends all that time. Before he came to our town, he was in Birmingham but his mum got a new job so the family moved here. When I met Kashaan, he spoke with a ‘brummie’ accent, but his dad says he has taken on the way I speak, so now he sounds as if he has been here all his life!

1. You need to line up because the bell ( rang / has rung ).

2. Sam had a headache at lunchtime because he ( didn’t drink / hasn’t drunk ) enough water.

3. If you ( finished / have finished ) your dinner, you can go out to play.

4. I ( haven’t / didn’t have ) any money so I couldn’t buy an ice-cream.

5. Ammara ( called / has called ) for you earlier but you weren’t here.

6. Look how neat the hedge is now – Dad and I ( trimmed / have trimmed ) it.

7. When you ( went / have gone ) to school this morning, was it raining?

8. My sister ( learned / has learned ) to ride a bike when she was four.

9. My hair is wet because I ( went / have been ) swimming.

English 

Friday

Recap Success Criteria:

• Senders address, recipient address, date
• Formal greeting and sign off
• Paragraphs including introduction and conclusion
• Past simple and present perfect
• Formal and polite language
• (Plus any others classes have added)

Pupils to write their letters independently using their plan.

Self- mark their work using their marking sticker.

Maths

Complete flashback 4, then review video and complete Get Ready and Let's Learn on paper.

When finished, complete your fluency and reasoning task and then fluency sheet. See GDS challenge for extension. Answers below for fluency.