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Brilliant ways to bring THE WONDERFULLY AWFUL to life in your classroom

Here are some creative ideas to inspire you to Share a Story. Share brilliant characters, amazing worlds, jaw-dropping adventures and talented authors and illustrators, both classic and contemporary.

1Start with a WOW!Pupils will create an original

character

Ask the children to write an interesting question they would ask a stranger to get to know them. Put these in a box. Then ask them to create the most interesting character they can, complete with a hilarious backstory. Each pupil should choose a question from the box and work together to prepare an answer to present to the class.

2Get up, get active. Pupils will hold a talent show.

It’s the . . .GRIM FACTOR! This fun activity would follow small-group research into other awful characters such as Mr and Mrs Grunt (Philip Ardagh) and Mr and Mrs Twit (Roald Dahl). Selected children could play fictional villains while members of the panel ask them questions such as “What is the worst trick you’ve ever played?” or “What is your favourite hobby?” Performing the show in front of a live (assembly) audience means the whole school gets to vote on the grimmest character!

3No pencils allowed.Pupils create new words using known

prefixes and use them in context. Andy Stanton uses invented words like “unbraveness” (p.25) to describe Mr Gum. Show the class a selection of prefixes such as mis-, dis-, un-, pre-, re-. Hand out characteristic cards with words such as “kindness” and “generous”. Can the class create new words to describe Mr Gum by adding prefixes to them? Hand out copies of “the famous song” on pp. 46-7 and ask groups to create their own interpretation. If possible, record their songs before revealing to the rest of the class. There are many other awful

characters to explore in David Walliams’ The World’s Worst Children and The World’s Worst Children 2. Before reading, share character names and discuss how the characters might behave in common situations like going on a school trip, supermarket shopping etc. Can pupils mime a given character for the class to guess? Can they create an even worse child?!

7 Why not make this

your next book? The Grunts in Trouble by Philip Ardagh, illustrated by Axel Scheffler Published by Nosy Crow

The World’s Worst Children by David Walliams Published by HarperCollins

Published by Egmont

6 Keep the adventure going…

Read examples of the Lamonic Chronicle on mrgum.co.uk before creating your own class editions full of tall tales and funny interviews. Which characters would be fun to write about? You could also watch or read Andy Stanton’s short-story Brain Six on the website. Can your class create their own version of a numbered-tale and practise the art of storytelling?

5Word play.Pupils will create a set

of blueprints describing a plan.

Read pp.19-31 describing Mr Gum’s garden dilemma and discuss all the characters involved. Ask the class to suggest lots of ways in which Mr Gum might solve his problem and challenge them to explain how their ideas would work. Model visually representing one of their “plans”. Can the pupils create sets of blueprints detailing dastardly ways to get rid of Jake the dog?

4The writer’s workshop.

Pupils collect examples of similes and create their own to show contrasting characters.

Whilst Polly has “a smile as happy as the Bank of England” (p.60) Mr Gum had “eyes that stared out at you like an octopus curled up in a bad cave” (p.1). Draw around two pupils to create life-size posters of Mr Gum and Polly. Annotate these “people” with Andy Stanton’s descriptions of the characters and discuss their differences. Next, ask the pupils to create their own simile examples by adapting those found.

Created in association with

Years 3&4

LESSON PLAN

Find more great ideas based on brilliant books at worldbookday.com/resources