English learning tasks for the week commencing 1st June

Monday – explanations

Activity 1. Read some explanations  Read Judges explain their voting – Kimberley Walsh found below.  Watch the video of the dance. How much of what the judges said can you notice?  Read Judges explain their voting – Johnny Ball found below.  Which judge is most positive? Which is most negative? Watch the video of the dance. Which of the judges do you most agree with?

Activity 2. Highlight and annotate the text  Take each text in turn.  Highlight (using coloured pencils) and annotate the two texts to show any technical vocabulary about dance, any very positive phrases and any very negative phrases.  Make notes about anything else that you notice in the way that the judges explain their voting.  Compare your highlights with the Judging Sheets below.

Activity 3. Give your own explanation  Choose whether to think about the Stacey Dooley or the Brian Conley dance. Watch the dance and give it a score.  Make notes of what you would say to explain your voting. Try to think of more than one reason and try to include technical vocabulary and some of the phrases that you found in the text.

Try the Fun-Time Extra  Practise using your plan to give a spoken explanation.  Can you make yourself sound like a professional TV judge? Record your explanation and share it with somebody else.

Judges explain their voting: Kimberley Walsh

Len: I'll tell you what I thought. I thought you did a great job because the jive isn't easy—the steps have got to be clean, got to be precise and yet you've still got to show the fun, and exuberance of the dance. That you pulled off great footwork—spot on. There were one or two dodgy moments. I was a little bit anxious when you went flying through the legs but you got up from that nicely. In the end, the spins were a little bit off at one stage but overall, well done. Nice job.

Craig: I could not agree more. I thought that was absolutely brilliant. Fast efficient footwork, I thought. Synchronicity was absolutely excellent. I loved the double turn at the end into the end pose—great technique. As Len said, going through the legs was very clumsy and for that reason you'll lose points. But you did a cracking job.

Watch the video here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlGHLcJenx0

Or search ‘Kimberley Walsh & Jive to 'Land of 1000 Dances' - Strictly Come Dancing 2012 - BBC One’

Judges explain their voting: Johnny Ball

Craig: I've never really been a big fan of miming, darling. Your mouth was moving throughout and was very distracting. Your technique needs work because the jerks and spasms all the way through were worrying—a little more fluidity would be good.

Darcy: Great energy. You surprised me—it was beautiful. Sadly, you have been unlucky with your partners changing. That doesn't make it easy. Your weight is always on your heels. This means your balance is wrong because in Latin you must be more on the balls of your feet, so try and remember this for your next dance.

Len: Let me tell you this: first of all, you had good timing; there was plenty of content; you got out and performed it. A lot of people of a similar age would like to be able to get out and move like that. Ok, so your posture could be a bit better, your footwork could be cleaner but your enthusiasm was great.

Watch the video here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vElnk0ZnX0I

Or search ‘Johnny Ball & Iveta Lukosiute Cha Cha to 'Drive My Car' - Strictly Come Dancing - Week 1 - BBC One’

Judging Sheet – Stacey Dooley

Technical Vocabulary for Dance Persona:

balance footwork steps nice & supportive choreography overextend technique crisp passion timing grumpy & sharp-tongued entertaining personality transitions exciting posture flamboyant & enthusiastic fluidity rhythm tough but fair Link: Score /10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVHw3M1hOaU

Judging Sheet – Brian Conley

Technical Vocabulary for Dance Persona:

balance footwork steps nice & supportive choreography overextend technique crisp passion timing grumpy & sharp-tongued entertaining personality transitions exciting posture flamboyant & enthusiastic fluidity rhythm tough but fair Score /10 Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TXEU7God94

Now write your explanation for the one you have picked. If you want to re-read the examples above again for Kimberley Walsh and Johnny Ball, then do that to help you write yours.

Tuesday – Continuing giving explanations

1. Read an explanation  Read Green Vale School Football Team below.  How many reasons for the team’s success are given? Which of these reasons do you think is most important? Why?

2. Remind yourself about adverbials and conjunctions  Use the PowerPoint about Adverbials and Conjunctions or, if that isn’t possible, remind yourself using the Revision Card below.  Read Green Vale School Football Team again and circle at least six conjunctions and underline at least six adverbials.

3. Write an explanation  Think about a person or team that you know that has been successful. You might choose a sports-team, a musician/artist or a contestant in a competition.  Make notes on Explanation Planner about their success and the reasons that they have been successful.  Use your notes to write an explanation. Check with the Explanation Features list as you do.

Well done! Now show your explanation to a grown-up. Can they understand the reasons that you have given? Can you show them some of the Explanation Features that you have used?

Try this Fun-Time Extra Draw a picture of you in ten years’ time. Imagine you have been really successful! Write what you have achieved and explain the reasons for your success.

Green Vale School Football Team

For the last five years, this village school football team has come top of the Small Schools' League. This year they entered and won the County Cup: a competition open to all schools in the area. How is it that a small school can produce such winning results, time after time?

Size A surprising fact about the school is its size. Green Vale is a small school, comprising of fifty pupils. Whereas a typical school may have 30 children in Year 6 to choose from, Green Vale must select its team from across KS2 in order to have enough players. It is the small size of the school, however, which gives the team an edge over other teams. With such small class sizes, pupils know each other very well and the team often has siblings playing together. Therefore, the team's communication is very strong. Every player on the pitch is quick to call for passes and the goalkeeper keeps the team informed of close marking.

Location On initial inspection, Green Vale's football pitch is unsuitable for practice: it is on a slope, uneven and on occasion, has livestock grazing. It is because of the unfavourable conditions that Green Vale players have developed renowned skills. The unpredictability of the ball movement results in quick reaction times for both attackers and defenders. Training on a slope results in greater fitness and avoiding a passing sheep presents players with practice in defensive dribbling and scanning the changing surroundings.

Extra-curricular Activity One of the lesser known features of the school is its dance programme; all pupils attend ballet, tap and ballroom lessons from the age of five. In addition to PE lessons, clubs are run at lunchtime for those who wish to learn bhangra, Irish or street dance. Pupils often take part in festivals and performances. Dance develops balance, fitness and fast footwork. It is because of this that Green Vale players have great ball control. Since players easily change direction and use all parts of the foot, trips and falls are rare. Because players are used to leaps, springs and turns and demonstrate agility and poise on the pitch, it is a combination which proves devastating to opponents.

Whatever the explanation for Green Vale's football success, local coaches and teams stand to benefit from the school's next project: a coach academy. It might be that the team will develop its own worthy competition. Team Statistics:  12 wins Recommendations for other schools:  3 draws 1. Build strong relationships between team members  1 loss 2. Use the limitations of your home-pitch to your advantage.  52 goals scored

3. Explore whether other sports or dance could aid your football  7 goals conceded performance.

Revision Card: Adverbials and Conjunctions

Planner

Whose success are you explaining?

What have they achieved?

What reasons can you think of for their success?

Which of these reasons is most important?

Explanation Features

Purpose – tells why or how something happens

Range – Non-fiction book or article, encyclopaedia entry, write-up of a science experiment, technical manual.

 Title telling what needs to be explained  Introduction (often making a link to the reader)  Clear layout, e.g. sections or paragraphs  Bullet points or sub-headings  Diagrams and illustrations  Technical vocabulary (often with definitions)  Present-tense verbs  Causal language (e.g. because; ‘if…then…’; the reason that; when; so; this results in; this causes; therefore)  Passive verbs  Formal connectives (e.g. however, therefore, consequently)  Usually formal register  Closing sentence to round off the explanation

Wednesday – Poetry

1. Read and listen to two poems  Read The Language of Cat and Russian Doll. Read each poem twice – once in your head and once out loud.  How are these poems similar? How are they different? Do you prefer one? Why?  Listen to Rachel Rooney (the poet) read the poems. Did they sound as you expected? Did you notice anything new when you heard them? https://vimeo.com/162519257 https://vimeo.com/162519272

2. Annotate the poems  Read Useful Poetry Terms.  Annotate the poems to show which of these features you find.

3. Write a paragraph about one of the poems  Read Example and Guide.  Plan a paragraph about some of the features that you found in either of the poems. Now write this beautifully.

Well done. Show your paragraph and the poem to a grown-up. Show them how your paragraph is like the Example one.

Try these Fun-Time Extras  Explore some more of Rachel Rooney’s poems on her website. Which do you like most? Why? https://www.rachelrooneypoet.com/about4  Try writing a new poem, ‘Language of Dog’ (You could write about the language of any animal.)

The language of cat Russian doll Rachel Rooney Rachel Rooney

All you see is outside me: my painted Teach me the language of Cat; smile, the slow-motion blink, that crystal stare, the rosy-posy shell, the fluttery eyes. a tight-lipped purr and a wide-mouthed A butter-won’t-melt-in-my-mouth-type hiss. me. Let me walk with a saunter, nose in the air. But inside there’s another me, bored till Teach my ears the way to ignore playtime. names that I’m called. May they only The wasting paper, daytime dreamer. twitch A can’t- be-bothered-sort-of me. to the distant shake of a boxful of biscuits, the clink of a fork on a china dish. And inside there’s another me, full of cheek. Teach me that vanishing trick The quick, slick joker with a poking tongue. where dents in cushions appear, and I’m A class-clown-funny-one-of me missed. Show me the high-wire trip along fences And inside there’s another me who’s To hideaway places, that no-one but me smaller, scared. know exist. The scurrying, worrying, yes miss whisperer. Don’t teach me Dog. A wouldn’t-say-boo-to-a-goosey me All eager to please; that slobbers, yaps and begs for a pat, And inside there’s another me, all cross that sits when told by its owner, that’s led and bothered. on a lead. The scowling hot-head, stamping feet. No, not that. Teach me the language of A didn’t-do-it-blameless me Cat. And inside there’s another me, forever jealous who never gets enough, compared. A grass-is-always-greener me And deepest down, kept secretly a tiny, solid skittle doll. The girl that hides inside of me.

Useful Poetry Terms

Stanzas - groups of lines – a little like paragraphs Rhythm - the beat of a poem – can be regular or irregular Rhyme - using words having the same end sound, can be the whole word or the last syllable (cheese/please) Alliteration - using words which begin with the same sound Onomatopoeia - words which make the sound they represent Repetition – repeating words or phrases for effect in a refrain Simile - describing something, using 'as' or 'like' Metaphor - describing something as being something else Narrative – telling a story Choral – designed to be performed by more than one voice

Example and Guide

In the poem, ‘The language of cat’ by Rachel Rooney, onomatopoeia is used to show the sound that the cat makes. A good example is, ‘a tight-lipped purr and a wide-mouthed hiss’. I think the poet chose these words because when you say them you make the actual sounds that a cat makes so the listeners can imagine the cat. This makes it good for performance as you can say ‘hiss’ in an aggressive way and ‘purr’ softly like a cat would.

I am writing about… Say which poem you are writing about. In the poem…

Explain which technique you are She uses onomatopoeia/alliteration to… describing.

Give a good example inside quotation For example,… marks. A good example of this is…

Explain why you think the poet chose I think she chose these words because… these words. I think these words are used to…

Explain why this makes this poem good This makes the poem good to perform because… for performance.

Thursday - Reading Comprehension

Friday – Writing a persuasive speech Earlier this year, we wrote persuasive speeches for our book Floodland. Have a go at writing another persuasive speech today based on the topic below.

Read the topic below first on Orang-utans and then the instructions below.

TASK

PLANNING GUIDANCE

Once you have thought about the planning guidance above, then write out your persuasive speech. Good luck!