English- Week Beginning 4.5.20

This week in English, we are looking at the story of Arthur and the Golden rope. We have just read

the pages where Arthur is upset about what the villagers have said about him and he is about to

embark on an adventure to light the towns great fire again (Page 18-23 I have left these pages

attached). We normally have English lessons Monday-Thursday, using Friday as a spelling focus day

and reading comprehension. Please refer to the spelling sheet in this pack for information on

activities. If you have any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to contact me ☺

Monday

Today, we are going to use ‘story mountain’ and our plans from Thursday last week to help us to

organise our ideas before we start writing our story of Arthur’s adventure. Remember in a story

mountain there are these points:

Introduction- This will be Arthur ready to go on the adventure- Introduce Arthur and describe him.

Then think about how did he get his boat? Did someone make it for him? Did he make it? Did he get

it on a previous adventure he’d been on?

Build Up- Everything is going well, Arthur is happy but then he can see something in the distance-

what is it? What might he say? What could it be? Does he think it’s good or bad? Uh oh!

The problem- There are many problems along Arthurs journey- here you need to say what will

happen at each problem e.g. what will happen with the octopus? What will happen with the huge

rocks? What will happen with the sea serpent?

The resolution- In this part of the story, you will need to think about how he has solved the

problems. Will he fight the creatures? Or will he use some of his items he has collected from his

previous journeys to help him?

The ending- Now you need to say what has happened at the end of his journey. Will it be a happy

ending? Does he see an island? Does he see the god of storms? Does he reach his final destination?

Tuesday

Today, you will be starting to write your story of Arthur’s adventure. Today, you will be focusing on

the introduction, the build-up and the first problem which is the octopus attack! Remember, when

we are writing stories in Year 4, you should include these features in your writing to make sure you

are WOWing your reader and making the story super interesting.

You must include:

Features Example My checklist- have Included this?

Fronted adverbials (the when, where and how)

Suddenly, Over the next few hours, As the waves crashed over him,

Describing (using commas)

The terrifying, slimy beast Arthur’s small, bony fingers

A range of conjunctions

ISAWAWABUB and FANBOYS - Because, as, for, since,

although, while, when etc

Paragraphs

You must use a new paragraph for a new part of story mountain (or when you are talking about a new topic/different part of the adventure)

Here is an example of how you could start your story:

Arthur was a determined boy who was not going to let what the villagers said about him stop him

from proving them wrong. He was brave and he could do this!

Reluctantly, Arthur took the sheet off his ancient, rusty boat and started to push it slowly towards

the murky, dull water. He waited and waited until the tide came in since he had all the time in the

world. Suddenly, the boat yanked forwards rapidly and Arthur found himself surrounded by freezing,

choppy waters as he set sail.

After a long time, Arthur sat up and stared into the darkness infront of him. As his eyes adjusted to

the night, Arthur could hear the waves sploshing against his boat and the giant eagles swarking

above his head. Maybe this wouldn’t be such a bad adventure after all he thought as he started to

relax.

All of a sudden, a huge wave crashed over his boat and Arthur felt something pulling the boat back

and forth…

Wednesday

Today, we will be continuing with our stories. Our focus today is to complete the second and third

problem of the large rocks and the sea serpent. Look back at your plans from last week and from

Monday. How will you build up to these next problems? How did he get out of his last problem

with the octopus?

Remember to use your check list to make sure you have added in everything you need to!

Here is an example:

Finally, Arthur was back to sailing normally after his escape from a disgustingly slimy, black as oil

octopus that had stopped him in his path. It was starting to get cold now and Arthur was regretting

his decision to come on this adventure, why did he think he was strong enough to battle these

dangerous seas alone? As he laid and pondered his choices, a tear slid down Arthurs pale, freckly

face and settled onto his stripy, soft scarf. He knew he could do it, he was strong enough and he

didn’t need anyone to bring him down. He had just fought off a huge octopus!

With his new found confidence, Arthur stood up, adjusted his glasses and stared out into the pitch

black. Strangely, Arthur couldn’t see anything infront of him. It was dark, but normally he could see

the reflection of the shiny moon on the waves, but now, there was nothing. He looked up to see

giant, sharp boulders metres away from his face….

Remember- Arthur needs to find an escape to the large boulders and then he will sail happily again

until he meets the sea serpent! He will need to get away from the sea serpent too- how will he do

this?

Thursday

Today, we will end our story with a paragraph about Arthur seeing the land he needs to arrive on in

the distance. How is Arthur feeling now? How far away is it? Remember to use the checklist to

make sure you have all of the features in your writing that you need so that it is the best piece of

writing for your reader!

An example is below:

A few days later, Arthur woke up in a daze. He couldn’t believe what had happened to him on this

adventure. First, he had been attacked by a giant octopus, then he had to find a way around a giant

clump of sharp boulders and then he had to sneak past a deadly sea serpent! He hoped there would

be no more obstacles, he had already broken one lens of his round glasses and he wasn’t sure his

trusty staff could take much more.

As he looked out, he spotted something. It was land! It was the first piece of land he had seen in

weeks! Arthur stood up and excitedly started jumping up and down, but he soon stopped as the

boat rocked from side to side. He was so excited that everyone had doubted him but he had found

the land of the god of storms! He knew he could do it! Arthur was elated and he pulled on the

strings of his flag in the hope of reaching the island quicker. He made it…

Once you have finished your last paragraph, I would like you to go back through your story and edit

it using the points below. You can use a different coloured pen/pencil if you wish so that you can see

where you have added bits in.

Can you check for:

• Spelling errors- could you check the spellings of words on Google/dictionary?

• Punctuation- can you check that you have got commas, question marks and exclamation

marks? ! ,

• Does it make sense? Read your work and change any parts which do not make sense.

• Describing- can you add extra describing into your newspaper report?

• WOWly/fronted adverbials- can you add any extra fronted adverbials into your work?

Please do send some pictures of your stories to me via michaelsyddallyear4@gmail.com . I would

love to see what amazing things you have written and I know that you all love to write stories so I

am excited to read them! Keep up the amazing work, you are all making me very proud ☺