wordsalive summer 2007 - bbcdownloads.bbc.co.uk/.../pdfs/wordsalive_summer_2007.pdfalliteration and...

1

Words Alive Summer 2007

s

Words Alive

Summer 2007

Age: 7-9 These programmes are available to order (for UK schools only) on pre-recorded CDs or cassette from: BBC Schools’ Broadcast Recordings Tel: 08701 272 272 Monday to Friday 0800 to 1800 Or visit www.bbc.co.uk/schoolradio/howtoorder.shtml for more information Audio on demand. These programmes are also available as audio on demand from the School Radio website for 7 days following the original date of transmission. Refer to programme titles below to find out when programmes are available as audio on demand.

www.bbc.co.uk/schoolradio

© This publication contains only BBC copyright material: its contents may be copied or reproduced for use in schools and colleges without further

permission.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schoolradio/howtoorder.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schoolradio

2


Words Alive

Summer 2007 These programmes are available as audio on demand from the School Radio website. Refer to dates below to find out when each one is available. Introduction 3 Unit 1: Word work, word play 1 (grammar) 1 Part one 4 AOD 26/04/2007 2 Part two 7 AOD 03/05/2007 Unit 2: Word work, word play 2 (poetry) 3 Part one 9 AOD 10/05/2007 4 Part two 11 AOD 17/05/2007 Unit 3: Tales from the Land of the North 5 Setting - Freya’s necklace 15 AOD 24/05/2007 6 Character – Thor and the Giants 18 AOD 07/06/2007 7 Complications – The apples of Iduna, part 1 19 AOD 14/06/2007 8 Complications – The apples of Iduna, part 2 20 AOD 21/06/2007

3


Introduction

Words Alive is a versatile and developmental audio resource for English activities in the primary school. It aims to: • stimulate and encourage retelling and recreating of storylines • raise awareness of different writing structures • encourage awareness of the use of language and extend vocabulary • build on issues of character and plot, mood and feelings • foster an appreciation of poetry and other genres • encourage and enhance purposeful listening and speaking • encourage children to develop opinions and to listen to the views of others • develop an awareness of the difference between fact and opinion in others Words Alive and the National Literacy Strategy (NLS) Words Alive is designed to meet the objectives outlined in the National Literacy Strategy. These Teacher’s Notes explain how the series may be used to support the Strategy and to meet the requirements of the Scottish 5-14 and Northern Ireland Guidelines. School Radio CDs Acquiring the programmes on pre-recorded CDs provides a flexible resource. You will have the option of listening to each programme before using it with your class. Please see the order form available from the School Radio website at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schoolradio/howtoorder.shtml Audio on demand Programmes are also available as audio on demand from the School Radio website for 7 days following transmission (check the contents table above for dates). The audio on demand is a reliable service – especially on broadband - that allows you to listen to the programme ‘streamed’ over the internet. This means that you can play the programme to your class either:

• direct from a computer • from a hifi by connecting the output of the computer into a suitable input

on the amplifier (which offers enhanced sound quality) • by connecting the computer to an interactive white-board

To listen to the audio files you will need to have installed ‘Realplayer’ on your computer. This commonly-used software is easy to download from the internet if you do not already have it. There are instructions on how to do so at the BBC School Radio website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schoolradio/help.shtml Using the audio on demand service is just as flexible as using a pre-recorded CD of the programmes. You are able to pause the programme whenever you wish and also scroll forwards and backwards through a programme to locate other sections

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schoolradio/howtoorder.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schoolradio/help.shtml

4


or to listen to sections again.

5


Unit 1: Wordwork, wordplay 1 – grammar

Introduction: Children are absorbed by wordplay. They play with sounds through rhyme and alliteration and with words through jokes, puns and riddles. Playground games, such as stepping games, frequently involve rhymes, tongue-twisters or other wordplay. The programmes in this unit are intended to build upon this enthusiasm for words and to direct it towards a number of interactive learning opportunities, with a particular emphasis on nouns, adjectives and verbs. The programmes recognise the importance of children acquiring a vocabulary for talking about language. The ability to identify and discuss parts of speech and their function within sentences empowers children as speakers as well as writers and enables them to become flexible users of language. Programme 1 – Part one Synopsis: Sophie, the presenter, has come to an amusement arcade beside the sea. It is winter and she has come to help a friend to repaint the arcade in the off-season. There is no sign of her friend so Sophie passes the time by starting a diary entry. One of the amusements – the Wordplay Wizard – mysteriously comes to life. It takes Sophie through a series of interactive games intended to make her a better writer. The children join in games alongside the presenter. Before the programme:

• Make available a range of dictionaries, thesauruses and any word collections / word banks etc you may have made as a class.

• Display posters / charts containing sentences in which nouns are highlighted or colour coded.

• Begin a ‘Noun board’ on which pupils can write or stick unusual or interesting nouns which they have encountered.

During the programme: Be ready to pause the programme to undertake the activities suggested within it. In this unit these are a number of simple games which the children can play alongside the presenter. Some games involve extracts from Sophie’s diary. These can be found on Game Card 1 on page 9 of these notes.

• Activity 1. Underlining the nouns in Sophie’s first diary extract. See Game Card 1.

• Activity 2. Creating a list of place names and observing relevant conventions of proper nouns.

• Activity 3. Selecting proper nouns from a list of nouns. • Activity 4. Identifying adjectives. • Activity 5. Creating an alphabet collection of seaside nouns.

6


After the programme: Some suggestions for activities follow which will help to consolidate pupils work on nouns. Counting syllables Ask the children to clap the ‘beats’ in nouns. List them on a class chart according to the number of beats they have. Devices such as ‘word wheels’, ‘word telescopes’ and ‘word slides’ can be made by pupils who continue to need practice in blending phonemes. Compound nouns Make a word game in which two halves of a compound noun are written on separate cards for children to match. Dictionaries Sort nouns into alphabetical order by the first two letters. Use a context such as a muddled up shopping list, or friends’ names for birthday invitations etc. Proper nouns Explain and give examples of how writers use character names to help portray their attributes. Ask the children to invent their own character names based on lists of given attributes. Encourage the children to use this device in their own work when creating characters for stories. Jokes Share some ‘Knock, knock’ jokes which involve the use of names and puns in particular. Encourage children to invent their own. Make a class joke book involving wordplay. Ask the children to explain their jokes and identify the type of wordplay involved. Place names Invent names for fictional places. Use picture books for inspiration. You can display these on a board with the fictional names beneath. Collective nouns Select a common noun to demonstrate use of collective nouns. Encourage the children to create their own. Make an illustrated display in the classroom of these. Plurals Ask the children to investigate nouns which do not form plurals simply by adding ‘s’ (e.g. children, men, women). Consider rules governing plurals with the class.

7


The name game! What do these words have in common? _________________ diary year weather button peace

Note the nouns! Show which words are nouns by underlining them in the following sentences: Outside the weather is terrible. The wind is blowing hard. The waves are crashing on the shore. Inside, though, it is warm and cosy.

Place name game! Write down five place names that are proper nouns. Try to make each one different (e.g. city, street, country)

Alphabet challenge! Can you find a seaside noun for every letter of the alphabet? A is for…arcade. B is for…beach. C is for…crab. D is for… Use the reverse of this sheet to see how far you can get through the alphabet!

The Wordplay Wizard Game Card 1

8


Programme 2 – Part two Synopsis: Sophie returns to the amusement arcade at the end of the pier where the Wordplay Wizard offers her another selection of wordgames focusing on adjectives and verbs. The children join in with these games alongside Sophie. At the end Sophie is able to write effective entries for her new diary. Before the programme

• Continue to make available a range of dictionaries, thesauruses and any word collections / word banks etc you may have made as a class. Encourage pupils to note conventions for indicating parts of speech (abbreviations etc) when looking up words.

• Display posters / charts containing sentences in which adjectives and verbs are highlighted or colour coded.

• Begin an ‘Adjective board’ or ‘Verb board’ on which pupils can write or stick unusual or interesting adjectives or which they have encountered.

• Begin a class thesaurus. During the programme: Be ready to pause the programme to undertake the activities suggested within it. In common with programme 1, some activities involve extracts from Sophie’s diary. These can be found on Game Card 2 on page 11 of these notes.

• Activity 1. Identifying adjectives in Sophie’s diary entry (see Game Card 2). • Activity 2. Finding alternative adjectives which are more effective. • Activity 3. Identifying verbs in Sophie’s diary entry. • Activity 4. Changing the verbs in the diary entry into the past tense. • Activity 5. Finding alternative verbs which are more effective. • Activity 6. Creating an alphabet collection of seaside verbs.

After the programme: Some suggestions for activities follow which will help to consolidate pupils work on nouns. Synonyms Encourage the children to generate synonyms for high frequency words which are adjectives or verbs (e.g. big, little, run, walk etc). Write a passage containing boring, repetitious adjectives or verbs and ask pupils to substitute interesting ones. Comparative adjectives Go around the class offering an adjective to which the pupils must find a comparative adjective (e.g. ‘I’m fast…’, ‘I’m faster…’) Alphabetical adjectives (e.g. the Minister’s Cat) Go around the class asking for adjectives from A to Z which describe a particular animal or object.

9


Alternative adjectives! ‘It is another frozen day. A howling wind is hurrying thick, dark clouds across the sky and hurling the nasty and cold rain into my face.’ Find alternative adjectives that mean the same, or almost the same, as the ones underlined in Sophie’s diary entry. Write them here.

Hunt the verb! ‘It is another frozen day. A howling wind is hurrying think, dark clouds across the sky and hurling the nasty and cold rain into my face. The sea and the sky are both dark grey and the wave tops are white, as the giant breakers land with thunderous crashes on the shore.’ Hunt the verbs in Sophie’s diary entry and underline each one that you find.

Verbs are wonderful words! ‘Yesterday it was another frozen day. A howling wind [ ] thick, dark clouds across the sky and [ ] the nasty and cold rain into my face. The sea and the sky [ ] both dark grey and the wave tops [ ] white as the giant breakers [ ] with the thunderous crashes on the shore.’ Fill in the missing verbs to complete Sophie’s diary entry in the past tense. Verbs with verve! ‘A howling wind is HURRYING thick, dark clouds across the sky and HURLING the nasty and cold rain into my face…The giant breakers LAND with thunderous crashes on the shore.’ Find two new verbs for each one in capitals and write them here: HURRYING 1. 2. HURLING 1. 2. LAND 1. 2.


10


Unit 2: Wordwork, wordplay 2 – poetry.

Introduction: The programmes in this unit adopt the same context as Unit 1 and share the same emphasis on word level activities. The main elements of poetry explored are:

• Rhyme The programmes off children the opportunity to identify and explore rhymes and to distinguish near rhymes. When discussing the use of rhyme in poetry it is important to emphasise that rhymes should not be forced and that sparing use of rhyme can be very powerful.

• Observation based on use of the senses

Children are very sensitive to their physical surroundings – hence the strong appeal to the senses which characterises much of the poetry written specially for them. Exercises which involve them using one or more of their senses in order to describe their surroundings will yield highly imaginative results. The creation of a ‘senses web’ is a very useful device as part of the process of writing an effective poem. Activities involving the senses also encourage the use of rich and varied language. Both can be essential tools in the construction of a poem and involve activities which will engage the children’s interest and enthusiasm.

Programme 3 – Part one Synopsis: Sophie returns to the seaside amusement arcade to look for the Wordplay Wizard. She reveals that she is upset because she has left her camera behind and will not be able to take any pictures of her holiday. The Wordplay Wizard encourages her to make pictures with words in the form of poems. The use of rhyme, near rhyme and using the senses is explored through a series of interactive activities which the children can play alongside Sophie. Before the programme:

• Make available a collection of poetry anthologies that explore different themes, including the sea.

• Display a range of simple rhyming dictionaries and model their use. • Through shared reading, talk about rhyme in the context of poetry. Do

poems have to rhyme? What effects do rhymes have?

11


During the programme: Be ready to pause the programme to undertake the activities suggested within it.

• Activity 1. Distribute copies of the poem The Seashore by John Kitching. Ask the children to underline the words which rhyme.

• Activity 2. Identifying rhymes and near rhymes in the poem Hands. Explain and discuss the functions of near rhymes in the poem.

• Activity 3. Generating rhymes. Working in groups, ask the children to generate as many rhymes as they can from the word ‘sky’. Groups should then share their rhymes with the class. Make a list on the class board for reference after the programme.

• Activity 4. Using observation. The children write some sentences of their own using observation that could serve as the basis for a poem of their own. Briefly remind the class of the poetic devices they have learned and how these may be used most effectively in writing poetry. As a class, make a shared list of suggestions for starting points, focusing on the sense of sight. Ideas might include the playground or the park on a sunny day, the funfair or the beach.

After the programme: WORD LEVEL

• Start a class ‘rhyming dictionary’, beginning with the rhymes children have generated during the programme. They can also add rhymes they have used in writing their own poems.

• Blank out rhyming couplets and ask children to think of new ones. SENTENCE LEVEL

• Focus on the use of alliterative phrasing in the poem. What are the reasons for its sparing use?

• Read the poem together as a class. What have the children noticed about punctuation?

• What effect does the lack of punctuation have on the way the poem is read? Why do the children think the poet chooses not to use any commas?

• What do the children notice about the use of capitals in the poem? Compare this with use of capitals in other poems the children are familiar with and discuss possible reasons for this.

TEXT LEVEL

• Make a shared list of sensations which the children might experience with their feet at the seaside. Use the structure of the poem as a model for the class to create their own poem about feet.

• Brainstorm a list of activities in which the predominant sense involved is touch. These could include stroking a kitten or rabbit, making a snowman, picking strawberries or making a clay model. Children could then write individual or group poems using one of these, or their own ideas.

• Provide a range of natural objects of varying textures as stimuli for the children to write their own poems. Encourage them to begin by making lists of appropriate words and phrases. These could be made into word mobiles for display in the classroom, alongside the objects.

12


Programme 4 – Part two Synopsis: Sophie returns to the end of the pier in search of the Wordplay Wizard game once more. With its assistance, she recalls what she has learned already. The machine then explains the importance of descriptive phrases in poetry, linking them with the use of senses. This is explored through a series of interactive games which the pupils play alongside Sophie. Before the programme:

• Display a range of poems which focus on the use of our senses. • In word level work, continue regular work on rhyme, adding to the class

Rhyming Dictionary. • Encourage the children to listen to and read each other’s poems and to

comment on them. Compare different readings of the same poem. • Begin a ‘seaside’ senses web for display in the classroom, featuring words

and phrases from the poems in programme 6 and leaving space for more to be added.

During the programme: Be ready to pause the programme to undertake the activities suggested within it.

• Activity 1. Finding words to describe a stormy day. Ask the children to write down as many words as they can to describe the sound of a stormy day. Encourage them to write some which are rhyming or alliterative.

• Activity 2. Filling in missing words. Distribute Game Card 3. Ask pupils to fill in the missing words with words of their own. Remind them of the importance of using exciting and original ones.

• Activity 3. Writing descriptive sentences using observation. • Ask the children to choose an object without letting anyone else know what

it is. Then they use their senses to describe it and share their descriptions with a partner who must try to identify the object. To aid their descriptions write these headings on the class board: ‘taste’, ‘smell’, ‘feel’, ‘sound’, and ‘looks like’. These may either be column headings, or organised as a ‘senses web’.

• Activity 4. Creative writing. As a class, discuss places which are special to the children and brainstorm a list of words and phrases to go with each. Remind them to use the class rhyming dictionary (as well as published ones) and suggest a number of forms that their poems might take. Each line may begin in the same way, e.g. ‘My special place has…’ or ‘In my special place, I can see…’ Or they may wish to write a number of verses, each one devoted to a different sense. Completed poems could then be displayed in the classroom, or entered in the class Anthology.

13


After the programme: WORD LEVEL

• Distribute copies of the poem The cliff-top. Consider the use of alliteration. Ask pupils to underline alliterative words/phrases in the poem and discuss its effects. Pupils could write their alliterative phrases, using a dictionary. This activity also lends itself well to paired oral work, each child adding to her/his partner’s initial phrase.

• Emphasise the effect of colour in building up a descriptive poem, by asking children to underline all the colour adjectives in The cliff-top. What happens to the picture in their imagination when these adjectives are deleted? Can they substitute their own colour adjectives that are as effective?

SENTENCE LEVEL

• Consider the use of internal rhyme in the poem The Shell. Ask the children to construct new sentences with internal rhymes.

TEXT LEVEL

• Give each group of children a shell, large enough to put to their ear, and ask them to write an acrostic poem using the word ‘Shell’.

• Focus on the sense of hearing. Ask pupils to listen to sounds in the classroom. In a ‘silent’ room, encourage them to listen to the small sounds they become aware of. A shared poem could be written about these, with pupils contributing individual lines.

• As a class generate lists of onomatopoeic words in preparation for writing a ‘noisy’ poem. Ideas for these might include a football match, a haunted house, or the swimming pool.

14


Sound search game! Write your own words below to describe the sounds on a stormy day…

Word find game! Complete the sentence by finding some suitable words to fill the gaps… At the seaside, sand feels _____________ between my toes. At the seaside, the sun feels ________________ on my skin. When I go for a swim, the water feels _________________. And when I dry myself, the towel feels ________________.


15


Unit 2: Tales from the Land of the North

by Nigel Bryant

Introduction: There are three stories in this unit of four programmes: Freyja's necklace Thor and the giants The apples of Iduna (which is in two parts). The stories are told partly through narration and partly through dramatised scenes. The music and sound effects play an important role in creating a powerful atmosphere. The Teacher's Notes focus largely on character study, but also feature aspects of story structure, settings and resolutions. Preparing for the programmes: Ensure that the children have some background knowledge of mythology. Often myths and legends are grouped together and the distinction needs to be clarified so that children can differentiate the two. Myth: a story from long ago that was made up to explain things which could not be understood, e.g. the changing of the seasons. Legend: a story that has been handed down by tradition and that usually has an element of truth in it, e.g. Robin Hood. Explain to the children that the myths they hear will be from Norse mythology, but that there are myths in all cultures. You may like to present your class with a collection of myths that they will find accessible. Alternatively you could ask the children to do some research and find out about myths from different parts of the world and compare and contrast the stories. Show the children on a globe or world map where the various myths come from. Make sure that new and challenging vocabulary is explained - perhaps a class glossary/word list can be displayed. Background to the stories: The stories in the programmes are over two thousand years old and at that time in history there were no scientific explanations as to why things happened. Natural phenomena were explained through stories about gods and goddesses. Stories such as these are called myths and the study of them is called mythology. Most societies developed their own myths and many of these stories play an important part in a society's religious life. Most myths are about divine beings (divinities). These divine beings have special powers, but often have human characteristics and take on human forms. Despite their extraordinariness they display anger, jealousy, love, etc.

16


Norse mythology and creation: Before the world was created there lived the gods and the giants. The chief of the gods was Odin, the Great Allfather. Odin banished the giants to the frozen wasteland of Jotunheim and the gods then began the creation of the world. Firstly, they made the flat circle of the earth. Then they made the Middle Earth, called Midgard which was home to the first human beings and a much more beautiful place than the others. High in the mountains away from Midgard they built a home for themselves, called the city of Asgard. Meanwhile, in Jotunheim, the giants awaited their revenge. Programme 5. Setting - Freyja's necklace The story: The programme begins with a sequence in which Loki explains how Odin first made the world before commencing the story of Freyja’s necklace. This introduction serves as a guide to the light-hearted style of the unit as a whole… Freyja stumbles upon the entrance to a cave in which the dwarfs, the sworn enemies of the gods, tempt her with a beautiful necklace. Freyja cannot resist and agrees to kiss the dwarfs in return for the necklace. By doing this she brings shame upon her husband, Odur, so he leaves her to wander Midgard alone. Freyja searches for him for many years, but the search is in vain until Odin, the chief of the gods, orders that they can be reunited if the necklace is stolen from Freyja. Loki duly steals the necklace as Freyja sleeps, but he is seen by a guard. Loki is brought before Odin, who decrees that the necklace must be returned to the dwarfs. Odur then returns to Freyja. Before the programme:

• Introduce the children to myths and mythology. • Outline the main characters and settings of Norse mythology:

- Asgard - citadel of the gods - Midgard -'Middle Earth', realm of the gods and home to humans - Jotunheim - land of the giants - Helheim - underground realm of evil.

• Ask the children to discuss in pairs, and then share, what they think the gods will be like. Make a list of characteristics.

During the programme:

• Pause the programme to allow the children to participate in the activities and to check that they are following the story.

• Tell the children to pay particular attention to how the gods are portrayed and how the settings are described, perhaps jotting down key words as they are listening.

17


After the programme:

• Ask the children to recount the story and to explain the reasons behind the actions of the characters.

• Discuss the settings described in the story - for example, what was the cave like?

WORD LEVEL

• Pick out the words ‘new’ and ‘jewellery’ from the text extract and ask the children to generate more words with the 'ew' spelling pattern.

• Make a word web from the word ‘beauty', beginning with the word ‘beautiful’ from the text extract.

SENTENCE LEVEL

• Point out how the tense changes according to whether there is direct speech or narration.

• In shared writing, write in some stage directions including adverbs to show how the characters were behaving.

TEXT LEVEL

• Ask the children to work in pairs to list the details that tell us something about Freyja's character in this extract. Pool these ideas and make a class list. Compare it to the list made about the gods' characteristics and discuss the similarities and differences.

• Make a map of the story and discuss how our feelings towards Freyja might change at different points.

• Ask the children to write a newspaper article entitled ‘Vain goddess gets her come-uppance’. Show the class examples of real reports as a model for their writing.

18


Programme 5 Text Extract: Freyja’s necklace by Nigel Bryant

One day, Odin invited Freyja and her husband, Idur,

to a magnificent feast at his palace. Naturally,

Freyja’s first thought was:

FREYJA: What dress shall I wear, Odur?

ODUR: The green and the silver are most

beautiful.

FREYJA: But everyone’s seen them before. I

need something new, like a new

necklace!

ODUR: You’re so beautiful, Freyja. You

have no need of jewellery.

FREYJA: No! I want something new!

So…off she went over the rainbow bridge from

Asgard to Midgard, in search of a new piece of

jewellery.

19


Programme 6. Character – Thor and the giants The story: Thor sets out for Jotunheim, accompanied by Loki, determined to prove his strength against the giants. At the end of an exhausting day travelling, Thor and Loki rest in a deserted building that turns out to be the glove of the giant, Skrymnir. Thor strikes Skrymnir three times with his hammer, but with little effect. Undeterred, Thor and Loki follow Skrymnir to a palace where they meet Utgard, chief of the giants. Utgard sets Thor a simple challenge, but Thor, strongest of the gods, fails miserably. The next morning Thor and Loki begin their journey home, but before they leave, Skrymnir confesses that magic was used to overcome Thor's powers. Thor is furious and vows to return to be avenged… Before the programme:

• Ensure the children are clear about the characters and settings of Norse mythology.

• Remind the children that the characters of the gods may not be what we expect and recall any surprises about Freyja from last week's programme.



• Ask the children to note down anything that gives us clues about Thor's character.


• Act out the story together to consolidate the children's understanding. • Discuss what Thor might have learnt in this story.

WORD LEVEL

• Use ‘hammer’, from the text extract, as an example of a two-syllable word with a double consonant and ask the children to generate others.

• Ask the children to find different ways of describing how strong Thor is, e.g. as strong as an ox.

SENTENCE LEVEL

• In a circle time activity, take it in turns to say the sentence 'Thor swung his hammer...' and add an adverb, starting with one that begins with ‘a', then ‘b' and so on.

• Convert the text extract into a narrative in the past tense and discuss how regular and irregular verbs need to be changed.

20


TEXT LEVEL

• Ask the children to use the notes made about Thor's character during the programme to build up a character sketch, justifying their opinions with evidence from the text. Use the text extract as a prompt.

• Following the character study work, in a drama activity ask the children to improvise how Thor would be in different situations, e.g. on a bus, at a party.

• Ask the children to compile a list of challenges for Thor, e.g. to snap a brick with his little finger, and then craft this into a poem, beginning with ‘Can the strongest god..?'

• In shared writing make up the beginning of a scene, in playscript form, of a challenge that went well for Thor. Ask the children to work in pairs to finish the scene, continuing as a playscript.

7. Complications – The apples of Iduna (1) The story: In Iduna's garden grows the magic apple tree, the fruit of which gives eternal youth to the gods. One day Odin sets out for Midgard, accompanied by Loki and Iduna's husband, Braggi. When they stop on the way to have a meal, a giant eagle swoops down and seizes Loki. The eagle is really Thiassi, a giant, in disguise and he refuses to free Loki until he has agreed to help the giant gain Iduna and her apples. Loki then tricks Iduna into leaving her garden and she is immediately carried off by Thiassi to Jotunheim. Meanwhile, the gods are deprived of the apples and begin to grow old and weak… Before the programme:

• Recap on the characters that have appeared so far and those that will appear again in this programme.

• Discuss the idea of ‘conflict’ and ask the children to listen for the conflicts that occur in this story.



• Ask the children to listen for clues to tell us what Iduna's character might be like.


• Make a plan of the story so far and discuss the idea of suspense. • What conflicts can the children identify in the story so far?

WORD LEVEL

• Display the Extract text. Point out the words ‘goddess’, ‘really’ and ‘apple’, as examples of two-syllable words with double consonants. Ask the children to generate more.

• Make a list of words and phrases that could be used to describe someone as

21


beautiful as Iduna. SENTENCE LEVEL

• Investigate the effect on the text extract of putting in adverbs. • Pick out the verbs in the text extract by testing them to see if the tense can

be changed. TEXT LEVEL

• Build up a character profile of Iduna from the information given so far in the story. Talk about how the listener responds to Iduna - is she interesting, complicated, appealing? Would they want her as a friend? Why? Why not? List the ideas in shared writing.

• Use the plan of the story so far to discuss and predict the outcome. Ask the children to bear in mind what they know of the character of Loki, Iduna and Odin when making their predictions. Ask them to write their ideas down and keep them secret in a sealed envelope until after the final programme when they can share them and discuss their ideas.

8. Resolution - The apples of Iduna (II) The story: Iduna's disappearance prompts Odin to set up a meeting of the gods in Asgard. Loki is suspected of mischief and eventually he admits to his actions. Loki has realised that he will perish with the rest of the gods so he agrees to help get Iduna and her magic apples back. Loki changes himself into a falcon and flies to Jotunheim where he turns Iduna into a sparrow. Together they fly towards Asgard, pursued by Thiassi in the form of the eagle again. When the birds come into view, Odin orders that a great fire is lit. Loki and Iduna manage to avoid the flames, but Thiassi is engulfed by the smoke and fire. Iduna's return means that the gods can be restored to their former youth and beauty. Before the programme:

• Look at the plan of the story so far to recap on what has happened. • Ask the children to focus on Thiassi's characteristics in this programme.

What do we know about him so far? During the programme:


• Ask the children to consider Thiassi's characteristics in this part of the story in order to contrast them with those of Iduna.


• Ask the children to pair up, open the ‘secret’ endings to the story (from the text level activity in the previous programme) and discuss their versions of how it should end. Were there similarities or not? Why was this so?

• Finish the story map and discuss the moments of tension.

22


WORD LEVEL

• Display the poster. Point out the regular verb ending ‘ed’ in the text extract (also used in adjectives).

• Make a word bank of words about myths learnt during the unit. SENTENCE LEVEL

• Discuss with the children how some words look like verbs, but are behaving like adjectives in the text extract, e.g. locked, relieved. Talk about how they can be ‘tested’.

• Make a collection of adverbs to describe how the birds were flying. TEXT LEVEL

• Brainstorm ideas about Thiassi's characteristics, using the text extract as a starting point. Discuss whether he is a likeable character, then compare his list of features to that of Iduna's.

• Ask the children to write in diary form about how they would have responded to Thiassi's bullying if they had been in Iduna's place.

• Support the children in writing their own Norse myth, perhaps using some of the characters they have met in these stories. Encourage them to plan their story in diagram form and develop their plot and characters thoughtfully.

23


Programme 8 Text Extract: The apples of Iduna (2) by Nigel Bryant THIASSI: Very well. If you won’t give me the magic

apples I will take them for myself! Give me

the basket…

Bah! Keep your wretched apples. Stay

locked here in this room for the rest of your

days!

Later…

THIASSI You must help me to get something I want.

LOKI It’s a deal! It’s a deal! Just put me down!

THIASSI Okay.

LOKI (aside) And, at last, the great bird dropped me in a

gibbering heap. I ached all over, but I was

so relieved to be back on the ground…

LOKI Oh thank you! Thank you! Now…what it is

you want?

THIASSI Revenge on the gods.

wordsalive summer 2007 - bbcdownloads.bbc.co.uk/.../pdfs/wordsalive_summer_2007.pdfalliteration and...

Documents