Week 3

Thursday 21st and Friday 22nd January

What a rollercoaster ride we have been on with The Paper Dolls!

Having learnt the story so well by heart, explored verbs and invented your own, created characters and imaginative actions, it all comes down to this HOT WRITE. For today and tomorrow, you are going to pen your very own innovation on the original story. This is your moment.

You have all the tools you need:

• the original story map language tucked inside your memory
• your new innovated map with exciting pictures and ideas
• a vocabulary bank filled with correctly spelt verbs, animal names and characters
• 2 lessons to write!

This is your chance to show your teachers how much you have learnt about storytelling over the last 2 and a half weeks. Impress us with your strong sentences and creative adjectives. Remember, innovation means to HUG the original story; stay CLOSE and REPEAT the events that happened in Julia Donaldson's book but INNOVATE with your own characters and animals.

Take a look at Miss Francis' start below. Look at how those words flow in their sentences, each letter sitting carefully between the black lines and ascenders and descenders reaching to the pink.

Reach for the sky, Aspen and Larch - you deserve this chance to shine!

Reception: You have learnt so much with this unit! Whilst you are not quite ready to write out each sentence, we DO know you have all the words hidden up inside your minds and would love a record to keep forever. For the final time, we need you to read your innovated story map - this could be in one go or many parts. PLEASE remember your story language and use ACTIONS to help propel yourself forward. We would suggest either videoing or voice recording this time as the final record needs to be typed out by your grown ups please, and we know your voice will definitely flow faster than their hands can write! Parents, please forgive us as this will be a little time-consuming for you...we know, we do it every term . It is an amazing sight to behold afterwards though, as you re-read all that beautiful story language your youngster has memorised.

Year 1: 'Read' the Story Map images aloud, once sentence at a time, as you write. You are not copying the book words, but recording the language you remember from your head. Go slowly, remember FINGER SPACES to give clear room around your words and FULL STOPS to hold your ideas in place. When you *stop* at the end of a sentence out loud, you *stop* your writing with a full stop. After every full stop, comes a CAPITAL LETTER. It will take time to write the story, maybe set a timer for 30 minutes, then escape for a brain break and carry on again later. You have two days to complete the story so don't rush to get it finished today - take the time to squeeze out everything you can remember. 

    Please please, remember to number your pages as you are likely to use A LOT of paper and don't want to get confused after a break. A staple in the top corner or paper clip would definitely be a good idea once you are finished - all Aspens know what our classroom can look like at the end of a long writing session - PHEW! This HOT WRITE will also be collected in when we return to school so needs to be kept somewhere safe!

Wednesday 20th January

Almost time to publish 

Task 1: Now you have actions for all of your innovated characters, you need to rehearse the Story Map from start to finish again but DON'T FORGET to include your new ideas. As before, if you are struggling to memorise all of it, begin with Part 1 and add one new sentence at a time. Before you know it, you’ll be there! Keep your innovated map in front of you at all times to help you remember your fresh ideas. Perhaps pin it to the fridge or your bedroom wall!

Task 2: Before we are able to embark on writing our own version of The Paper Dolls, we need to gather together all our wonderful new words. Create a vocabulary bank (visual and labelled) for all the words you might want to use in you innovation BIG WRITE. eg danced, fierce, memory, snapped.

Take a look at Miss Francis' examples below (and check out her careful handwriting - she definitely took her time with this!)

Reception: Draw the image and ask a grown up to sound out or write the correct spelling for you. Talk about the sounds you notice as you copy the word - are there any letters you are surprised to see?

Year 1: Ask a grown up for the correct spelling and/or look in a dictionary if you have one. These super words deserve to be spelt correctly so they shine out from your page tomorrow.

Tuesday 19th January

It's all so new and exciting!

Task 1 (time for a change ): Every day we have been practising the original Story Map but yesterday those ideas were innovated on, so now it is time for a shake up. You need to 'read' through your awesome new map and decide on actions for each of your dolls and animals. Did you choose with names that rhyme? Have you got names that mean something like Miss Francis'? We can't wait to see what your wonderful imaginations have come up with!

    Once you have actions for all of your characters, you need to rehearse the Story Map from start to finish again but DON'T FORGET to include your new ideas. As before, if you are struggling to memorise all of it, begin with Part 1 and add one new sentence at a time. Before you know it, you’ll be there! Keep your innovated map in front of you at all times to help you remember your fresh ideas. Perhaps pin it to the fridge or your bedroom wall!

Task 2: Now those wonderous new creatures have crept into your story, we need delicious new verbs to match with them. Do you remember our verb lessons in Week 1? (Click here to go back). Verbs are words that describe an action, like a tiger jumping or a monkey climbing. Last time you took 7 verbs and explored them in FULL SENTENCES. Today, we are going to do that again.

Will your sentences. Be. Short? Borrrrrrring! Try to extend them with conjunctions like 'because - and - but - then'. Here are my sentence examples from last time, which one do you think you can beat?

She yawned. 

Mrs Jax yawned very loudly. 

Mrs Jax yawned as loud as a lion because she was terribly tired. 

Reception: We are not expecting you to write these - have a go at saying your sentences. How long and complicated can you make them? Use your character actions to help as you build your sentences, can you work out which is the verb and add some super big acting to show these off? 

Year 1: Use your character actions to help as you build your sentences, choose the MOST INCREDIBLE verb you can think of, perhaps even write a short list before choosing THE ONE. I would like to see one sentence to match each of your new characters please (refer back to your character innovation sheet to remember who they are).

     I am looking for not just amazing ideas INSIDE your sentences but also stunning handwriting on the OUTSIDE. Take your time, think about your letter formation and DON'T FORGET those finger spaces. Ready, steady, go go go!

Monday 18th January

Wowsers trousers, it's Week 3  and you know what that means...INNOVATION TIME!

Task 1: Remember, your brain warm up every day is to rehearse the Story Map from start to finish. If you are struggling to memorise all of it, begin with Part 1 and add one new sentence at a time. Before you know it, you’ll be there! Scroll down to find the original Story Map document to follow and/or head over to the video centre to rewatch Miss Francis in action.

Task 2 (wooooooo!): You have spent such a long time learning Julia Donaldson's original version of the story that you were even able to write it out at the end of last week. Now all that juicy language is in your memory, it is time to have a little fun with the characters and innovate with a few of your own ideas.

Below these is a special version of the Story Map, one with holes all over it! These blanks are covering each of the main characters - Ticky and Tacky, Jackie the Backie, Jim with two noses and Jo with the bow, as well as the tiger and crocodile. In YOUR version of The Paper Dolls, what will YOU name the dolls? Which beasts would YOU invite to roar and snarl and snap and claw? Perhaps you might like to invent rhyming names, use well-known characters from other stories/films or take your dolls on an underwater adventure with nautical creatures?

Today we would like you to draw your new characters into the Story Map and character innovation sheet, adding in labels to help you remember their names. Don't forget that your dolls are repeated throughout the story - 'read' the map aloud as you complete the pictures to help you remember what comes next. Miss Francis has created a fab example below, to help you see what to do.