Mermaids

A set of literacy activities for primary 3 By Mr Charlton

Niddrie Milll Primary School2020

Mermaids

Do you think mermaids are beautiful, gentle creatures that care for the sea? Or are they dangerous monsters that kill sailors?Both could be true, but nobody has ever proved they exist, so we can’t be sure.What would you do if you saw one?Long ago, sailors feared mermaids. If they saw one, they would block their ears and close their eyes. They believed a mermaid could hypnotise you with a song and make you fall in love with their beauty. Sailors would try to get close to the mermaid and she would swim away and lead them towards rocks. The ship would crash then sink and the sailors would drown.In fairy stories, mermaids are much kinder. They fall in love with handsome princes and want to become human and marry them. Some books tell of mermaids and mermen that care for the sea and all the creatures in it.

Mermaids are probably just mythical creatures, made up by storytellers to entertain us.Do you believe in them?

Comprehension (Spicy)

Try to answer these questions in complete sentences.

1.What did sailors do if they saw a mermaid?

2.What did ships crash into?

3.What happened to the sailors when the ship sank?

4.Who do mermaids fall in love with in fairy stories?

5.What do some books say mermen do?

Comprehension (Hot)

Try to answer these questions in complete sentences.

1. Why do you think there is no proof that mermaids exist?

2. Why do you think sailors tried to get close to mermaids?

3. Why do you think mermaids wanted to drown sailors?

4. Do you like the dangerous mermaids or the kind ones? Why?

5. Do you believe in mermaids? Why?

Illustration (Mild, Spicy and Hot)

If mermaids and mermen really do live under the sea, what do you think their houses look like?Draw a picture of an undersea home.

Do you think mermaids have pets? Which undersea animal would be the best pet?Draw a picture of a mermaid or merman with their pet.

It is probably dangerous to live under the sea, even if you are a mermaid. Which undersea creature do you think they fear the most?Draw a picture of this frightening creature.

If a mermaid fell in love with a handsome prince, could they get married underwater?Draw a picture of an undersea wedding.

Punctuation (Spicy)

Re-write these sentences and put in all the missing capital letters, full stops and question marks.

my brother john is a sailorhe believes in mermaidswhen john sailed to spain he saw one on a rockhe told me she was singing a beautiful songat first, he wanted to sail to herthen he put his hands over his ears and closed his eyeswhen he opened them again, she had gonewhere was she

some nights he sees her in his dreamshe told me this was a true storydo you believe him

Punctuation (Hot)

When you write a list, you use commas to separate the words.Here is an example –The sea was full of fish, whales, seals, crabs and mermaids.Re-write these list sentences and put in the missing commas, capital letters and full stops.

the sailors came from france spain and germanytheir names were tom jack and petereach sailor was given a coat a hat boots and a scarf

in their cabins they found a bed a table a chair and a lampthere were animals on board the ship, a pig two dogs six chickens and many micebefore setting sail, they ate a meal of beef potatoes carrots and gravyas the journey began tom felt cold frightened excited and seasickjack stared silently out to sea and smiled every time he saw seagulls dolphins whales or sharkspeter stayed in his cabin thinking about all the people he was leaving, his wife his son his brother and his friends

Connectiv es (Mild)

Each of these sentences have missing connectives.Copy them, using the right connective to join the two parts together.Only use the connectives – and, but, or because.

Sailors fear mermaids _________ they want to sink ships.

Mermaids sit on rocks _________ sing to sailors.

All mermaids are beautiful _________ they are not always kind.

Lots of people believe in mermaids ________ I don’t.

The sailor blocked her ears ________ she heard a merman singing.

Kind mermaids care for the sea ________ all the animals in it.

A sailor fell into the sea ________ he didn’t drown.

Connectives (Hot)

Each of these sentences have missing connectives.Copy them, using a connective to join the two parts together.Use the connectives – and, but, because, then, so and until.

Sharks are real ________ mermaids are not.

The ship hit a rock _______ it sank.

I didn’t believe in mermaids _______ the day I saw one.

Mermaids can’t walk on land ________ they don’t have legs.

Mermen can breathe underwater _______ they stay under the sea.

A mermaid fell in love with a prince _______ he didn’t love her.

The cruel mermaid laughed _______ the ship hit the rocks.

Story Writing

Now it’s time to write your own story.Imagine that you are the sailor that saw a mermaid. Tell the story of what happened to you.On the next page is a story map that you could use to plan your story, or you could draw your own and write a completely different mermaid story.There are some short sentences to go with each picture. They don’t tell the full story, but you can use them to support your writing.Try to make your sentences more interesting by using connectives and wow words.

To see my story map come to life go to my Twitter page or YouTube channel and watch the video called, Derek Falls in Love with a Mermaid

Story Map

1. I saw a poster about a long sea trip.2. I joined the crew of the ship and set

sail.3. One day I saw a mermaid.4. Her beauty and singing stunned me.5. I forgot to steer the ship.6. The ship crashed into some rocks.7. The ship sank, and the mermaid

laughed.8. The rest of the crew drowned but I

survived.9. I often tell my story about the

mermaid.

Poster Design

Posters need to grab your attention. They do this with large headings and bright pictures to catch your eye.Make sure your posters have a clear heading that could be seen from a distance and bright pictures that make people stop and look.

At the start of the story, the sailor sees a poster asking for people to join the crew of a ship.Can you design a poster that would make people want to join your ship?

Here are some other ideas for posters you could design –

A warning poster telling sailors about mermaids.

An information poster telling what to do if you see a mermaid or a merman.

A poster put up by a mermaid asking for handsome princes to marry her.