Unique Visitors

Monday 18 December 2017

World War Two E-books

As a culmination of our 'A Child's War' topic, our pupils have taken all their gained knowledge and research skills and turned them into E-information books.

We came up with a success criteria and began researching our information, based on our chosen topics.


Pupils then used Book Creator to make their E-books, which they exported as videos to go onto our Youtube channel.

Here are our efforts:


Some of us then had a go at creating a trailer for our books which we added to the start of our E-Books.

Friday 8 December 2017

Rose Blanche - from page to screen

As part of our Second World War topic, 'A Child's War', we have reading Rose Blanche by Roberto Innocenti and Christophe Gallaz.

We started off by doing a lot of predictive work on the story (we didn't even read it for the first two weeks!). We made predictions based on the front cover, sequenced the images and role played how we thought the character would behave.  (Click images for bigger versions)



We then focused on one particularly tense sequence of images where a boy escaped from a van, only to be captured and taken back in. Using pupil generated structure strips, we wrote a narrative about those pages.

Our next focus was on a horrific and traumatic discovery of men, women and children hunched being barbed wire at a concentration camp. We did a lot of role play based on how Rose and those trapped inside would feel at their meeting.

We recapped on simile, metaphor and personification and put these techniques to use in writing powerful poems based on the concentration camps within this image.


The final element on our focus on the book was to take it from an image, to a play script, to a storyboard and into a film. We took this image of Rose talking to a boy behind the barbed wires.

Again we role played and hot seated the two characters feelings and came up with questions and answers that the two children may share within a conversation.



We then adapted this into play scripts.


Next we went through some of the modules in the IntoFilm mini film making guides, in particular those looking at storyboarding and came angles. This helped us to adapt our play scripts into storyboards, detailing shot sequences and camera angles.




Finally, we got out the iPads, scouted our locations and began filming. Here are our efforts:


Thursday 26 October 2017

Titanic descriptive writing

As a culmination of our focus on Frozen Kingdom and Michael Morpurgo's 'Kaspar, Prince of Cats', we have been writing a description of the Titanic going down. We used stills from the movie to aid our planning, using a different paragraph per shot. Here are our efforts:



The boy was crying in silence waiting for the sorrow in his heart to reach him for going on the ship. Suddenly, horribly, dramatically - he could hear the icy water climbing the core of his spine. The people were screaming as loud as a lion. The water was an animal in a cage ready to kill. What would anyone do if they were in his shoes?


The water rose up the stairs like a spider making a web of death. The boat creaked back and fore non-stop. They could hear the water approaching them slowly. There was a smell of death in the air. Salty, sneaky, alive – the water was an enemy that wouldn’t go away.


People tried to swim for their lives but they couldn’t. The water kept pulling them under like pulling a balloon string. Babies were wailing; they were scared and confounded. The waves were crashing into precious belongings.


People were out of breath from swimming away from the terrifying waves. They could taste the bitterness in their faces, trying to get out of that madness. The boat was a coffin for the passengers.


People were rushing to the top of the rising boat so they wouldn’t hit the astonishing cold water first. You could hear the squelching water in people’s shoes as they ran for their lives in shock. The edges of the boat were soggy and soaking wet from the huge waves.


The ship snapped in half like a celery sticks. They could feel their sweaty, pits hands and fore-head flowing like a water tornado, from being horrified and running through the narrow corridors, hopping the water wasn’t cold.


Ruby


The boy, alarmingly, was stood bawling his eyes out and screaming for his life. Scared, traumatized and lonely - the boy was distraught. He could see the fear before him as the boat crashed more and more. He couldn’t control his painful tears. The heart-broken boy stayed silent as the water was crashing the door slowly as it cracked. He had no more tears to cry as he knew his life was ruined. The boy could smell the horrific death coming his way. The water was as angry as a bull fighting for the red. What was he expecting?


Sorrowfully, soul- crushingly, alarmingly - mothers were grabbing their children, panicking trying to hold on to their lives. People were chocking on salty diseased water. They were lifted off their feet as the water killed them. They could touch the fear in the air as they reach out. The candles were flickering as fast as lightning. The staircase was as grand as can be. All they could hear was pausing screams of little children screaming for their parents. The children were miserably crying as they had no choice not to. The screams were as loud as a train making noises. The suffocating room was as tight as a coffin.

People were pushing each other to save each other’s lives. Their souls were as cold as a freezer. Young people were holding on to the slippery poles as they got deeper and deeper into death. They could smell souls crushing body to body. People were running through the pain. Howling was the word to describe their screams. The pray was starting to catch its predators. They quickly focused on breathing - not movements. Did they have an option on death?
Running down the staircase, they panicked. Grabbing on to the poles, they made a line. Adults were knocking on others doors telling them to get out. Women were carrying bags, babies and clothes. Passengers were getting flushed down like a toilet. Knee high water was gushing and pushing the petrified families. As it got deeper into the Atlantic Ocean, the more they panicked - they panicked like a stray dog getting taken away. Babies were wrapped in clothing getting out of their room escaping from the ice cold water. Massive waves were approaching like a spy.
People were collapsing and toppling over ruined table and chairs. The Titanic slowly got deeper and more and more broke their bones. People were hanging off the edge of the boat. Children were crying unstoppable tears. Families were worried sick about their other missing family members. What did they do to deserve this? Lifeboats were arriving in the distance taking women and children first. They could feel the pain of death running through their bodies.



 The Titanic snapped in half like an elastic band. Wires and people were tearing apart like a melting ice cream. The Titanic was becoming more and more apart, leaving children and adults’ dead bodies across the ocean with fear floating away. Would you like to be in this situation?

Ellie-May



The weeping boy was stood with a distraught look on his terrified face. The water was surging uncontrollably through the thin gaps in the door. The water was a lion about to burst out of his cage. The boy could almost taste the salty bitterness of death in his mouth. The boy could feel the extreme cold of spiteful, icy water crawling up his spine. Could this have been his last hour?


The grand staircase was a pool in the process of being filled with a watery death. The staircase was drowning with death poisoned water surrounding it. The ‘grand’ staircase was no longer grand. The water was rising as quick as a cheetah, creeping up the grand staircase.

The swift water was furiously sweeping the passengers away as they desperately tried to escape from death. The water was like a fist punching the passengers out of a boxing ring. The water was a hoard of bees charging towards the horrified passengers; you could hear the distant screams of the suffering passengers as they tragically froze to death.

The poor people were desperately swimming with adrenalin pumping through their blood. Vigorously coughing and gasping for air, they could hear the splashing of waves. The sound was now getting boring. Could they survive through this frozen situation?       

Jay


The boy was as terrified as a trapped animal because the boat was sinking as the water was eagerly flowing onto the ship. The boat was sinking at the speed of sound but the only sound he could hear was the sound of water gushing to break through the door. The ship was a prison feeding on the passengers screams and despair. Water was freezing and flooding the ship faster as the boy was accepting his fate as he could not live any longer. He could see his death in his eyes. The door could not cage the water any longer like a piece of dynamite about to explode. Could anyone have prevented the Titanic from sinking?

The boat was ripping in half as it was floating above the sparkling, crystallising, shimmering ocean. The ship was a caged animal ready to break out of his cage. The screams were getting louder by the minute. They could see their lives fading away as fast as a cheetah running towards its pray. The ship was a diabolical devil of death eating the passengers lives away.


The lobby was flooding with people gasping for air just waiting for the cold icy water waiting to take them and destroy them. The cold icy water was cold enough to freeze them alive; the water was gushing faster than anyone could imagine. The screams from the passengers were as loud as a lion roaring. The room was a prison destroying the innocent people from the inside out. The waves were flooding the room with its cold icy water.

The lobby was starting to flood as fast as an anchor sinking down to the sea. The lobby was a coffin for the passengers trying to hold on for dear life but the water kept dragging them down and drowning them. Very soon the lobby became a grave yard for a lot of people.

The people were getting on the top of the Titanic because the ship was starting to float above the sparkling, glamorous, shimmering sea. The ship was sinking as fast as waves flowing on the sea flooding the ship as fast as rain dropping from the sky.

Aaron


The boy was mournful with no tears knowing that his life would be over soon. As the boy saw water gushing through the very narrow gaps in the door he heard very thin screams through the floor boards. The boy was petrified of the door to burst with salty water to spray everywhere. He could see the power flickering like a lightning storm. The boy could taste salt on the tip of his tongue. He could hear the ship creaking loudly as Titanic’s bow went under. As the water went up the boy’s body he could feel the sorrow in his heart of being on the ship. The boy could feel his feet freeze like being in the Antarctic ocean.
Brandon


It was a terrible sight as the ocean washed through the glass at the speed of light as lives were lost. The Titanic's bow was sinking as fast as a cheetah. The sounds were the screams of the panicking passengers desperately swimming to safety. The passengers were fighting for their lives and minutes later those lives were lost.

Alastair

The poor lonely boy. He could see the lobby fill with water as he ran up the stairs hiding from death. He could hear the second class staircase snapping behind him. He could smell the salt water rising as fast as sound. As the water rose and extinguished the candles, it had almost engulfed the stairs.

They were screaming in terror. It was a brawl; one on one - man on water. It was a fight to the death. They could hear children crying and screaming "no" as their final words. The water caged them in.
He couldn't move; he knew that he could never live. He could hear people choke and drown on the other end of the door. He could see his tears pouring down his face while the water executed him. He was as scared as someone who knew he was being hunted. How would you feel if you were him?

Cain


The boy was crying with fear in his soul knowing the water was going to come any second to wipe him out because the door was not that strong. He was scared to run because he knew he could not make it. He could hear passengers banging on the floor while running up the deck to try to get a lifeboat. He could not smell anything because his nose is blocked because of the ice. He could sense one thing, fear.

Cerys


The water was rising as fast as a flood and was destroying the beautiful Titanic. The boat, which was the Titanic, creaked as though it was breaking. The candles were flickering like a disco.
The passengers were coughing and choking repeatedly as the water went down their throats. The sight of souls about to be crushed was a dreadful disaster for the passengers. The taste of death
in the air was the taste of defeat in the air. The passengers were smelling death as they were struggling to survived the Icey Atlantic Ocean. The objects, which were floating, could not be
grabbed by the passengers. The titanic was becoming an escapist for passenger and it was a never ending game of death. The passengers were clinging on to anything they could. How would they live without lifeboats on the Titanic?


Chloe


The boy was a terrified child just waiting for someone to save him, but he was to cold too scream for help. The child could hear the screams of other children around him getting pounded relentlessly buy water. The boy was trying to get out of the situation but the water was to deep too run away and tell his parents.

The staircase looked as slippery as a slug’s trail. It smelt like death on a day of disappointment. It felt like a ragdoll being dipped into water. The passengers touched the slipperiness of the grand staircase.


The people in the icy water were freezing and grabbing onto anything they could find. The icy water was as frosty as frost. The passengers were as cold as the water freezing them to death as they thought it was coming!
Regan




The boy was traumatised with panicked fear. He could see the water right beneath his feet. There were unforgettable and panicked screams all around him. The boy could smell the salty water right beneath his panicked heart. The boy could fell the chilled water climbing the curve of his spine. He could taste the deadly water on the tip of his tongue. There were screams as loud as a lightning strike. The water was crashing through the doors. The water ran through the floor. Soul crushed, empty, heart-broken - that’s what the boy felt.


The water was flooding the room with panicked fear in humans’ souls. They could hear objects smashing while water flooded the room. They could smell the death right upon their souls. They could taste the freezing water dashing through their mouths.

The couple were screaming for their lives tremendously with horror. They could see the couple swimming with panicked horror. They could taste the deadly water on their bodies waiting for death.

Connor


The boy was crying with fear in his face while the water was gushing through the gaps in the doors. He could hear the desperate footsteps banging on the floors with screaming passengers everywhere. The boy could touch the salty diabolical water rushing towards him as he stood there in the corridor of the Titanic. He could smell the salty, bloody water beneath his feet. He was desperate to leave right then. He felt petrified, terrified, destroyed as this happened.

The water was rising up the steps as the candles were flickering wildly. All you could smell was burning candles and salty water everywhere and anywhere. You could hear the steps creaking and the boat breaking. A lot of people’s souls crushed that day. They could feel the freezing water coming towards them up the steps. All they feel on the Titanic was the pain in their icy bones. The water was as cold as an evil queen’s heart. They could taste the salty water rushing towards them.
Phoebe


The boy was waiting for someone to save him. He could see the water was trying to boom the door open. He could smell the freezing icy water under his feet. He could not move or walk. He was scared to move. The water was as cold as frozen ice. He could not move He was-frozen to death.

The boy was crying to his death he was to scared to run for his live. The water was raising up the very postor stairs. The water was as cold as freeasing cold staris. They could feel the icy water rasing up like people spring up the staris.

Alisha May


The boy was crying stood terrified as the people sprinted through the corridor. He could see the pounding of the water like a hammer never ending! The boy had a petrified look on his face as he was accepting death.

The people were trying to escape the impossible as they yelled till death. The waves were strong as a dog trying to break free! They could smell blood in the air when their arms flailed while they swam to safety.

Waves were crashing into the luxurious staircase. The sea was a chainsaw destroying everything in its way. Gushing, flowing, smashing - the sea was a living monster wrecking peoples’ lives. They smelled death in the air.


Denrard




The boy was standing in the icey cold water like a statue. His feet were stuck to the cold wet wooden floor like ice cubes. The cold water was gushing through the expensive doors like a shark banging into a wall. The little boy could hear chirldren and adults screaming. He was staring into a door deeply. The water sounded like tornado crashing into the ship.
Amie



The boy was a dog trying to burst out of his cage and he was screaming as loud as a whale. The water was so icy the boy could not stand it. The boy was really dead inside. He smelled like a poor soul. The water was cascading, gushing, flowing - it was dreadful for the boy.

The second class grand staircase smelled like death. It was a disaster; the candles were as scorching as fire. The first class grand staircase was becoming a prison for the passengers. It smelled like blood. There were lots of dead bodies traveling around the room and staircase. There was blood everywhere.

The people were rushing to get out of the gates of the freezing ice cold water as cold as an ice cube. The people were shrieking and gasping for air. They were so frozen they could have had frostbite

Dylan A



The boy was crying with fear in his heart. He saw the water hammering against the doors. He could hear the other passengers screaming, crying and terrified. The boy could smell the oily ice water beneath his feet. He could taste ice rushing down his throat. He could touch the diabolical icy water crawling up his body. People were screaming as loud as a lion roaring its way through the jungle. The people were screaming, running in the Titanic to their death. They felt terrified and petrified.
The passengers were desperately wanting to breath from the salty water. All you could hear was the passengers screaming, shouting and crying. The passengers could smell fish, salty water and death coming their way. The passengers could taste icy blood water. They could touch water smashing against the passengers. The passengers water was as cold as ice. The passengers body were as cold as one of the mountains there all passengers of the titanic were drowning. They felt terrified, petrified and scared.
Menna

The confused boy stood silently in the corridor with the look of terror on his face. The passengers were heartbroken. They could taste the bitter salt on their tongues. They sprinted like a cheetah for their lives. The sea was pounding against the door. Scared, lonely, afraid - the boy was alone and frustrated. The boy was glued to the floor as he was petrified of what was about to happen to him. The diabolical door was getting soggy by the perishing death water.
Seren

There was a young, poor boy weeping distraughtly while the waves were crashing into the door behind him. He felt the sorrow in his heart eating away at him for being on the ship, which was supposed to be 'unsinkable'. All he could hear were screams as loud as thunder and waves as big as mountains crashing into expensive walls. Cascading, flowing, gushing - the water was a predator while the ship was the prey.
There were poor souls begging for their lives as some knew their time was up. They could hear shrieks; they felt petrified as the icy water climbed their spines. They tried to grab onto anything in their sight.

Two poor passengers were gasping for a single breath as the sinister sea washed over their faces. All they focused on was breathing. They could hardly move because the water was as cold as ice. They were petrified.
The candles in the second class stair case flickered like lightning as the water was rising like yeast in bread. The water was a spider climbing the stair case making a web of death. They could feel the hearts freezing slowly. How much longer would this continue?

Ellie

The boy was sadly stod thir like a zombe with cold ice water like a bom. The boy could not shout for help. He coud hear screams of children being washed away by the ice water.
He could smell deth in the air the pasingars was screming with fear as the water was about to take them to the dead the pasingars trid to swim away from the water. the water took some pasingas away to the deths.

The girl and the boy was swiming to safty. He trid to grab on to the pole to avod from being perisht.
The candls were flikaring and the floting evry whir arond the room. the second class stir case stirs whir braking as the water was rising up the stirs.
Kallum



 














Wednesday 25 October 2017

Sub Zero rescue videos - revisited

After posting our previous videos to our Youtube channel and sharing them on Twitter, we reviewed them, and took on board comments from Twitter to come up with a criteria for improving upon them. 

The pupils decided upon:

Have a tidy background to film against Include a title slide
Make sure you give information
Be positive - but not too happy
Get straight to the point

Here are the updates:

Wednesday 18 October 2017

Sub Zero Rescue Missions

As the Sub Zero has been stranded in the Antarctic with their passengers, understandably panicking, we have been asked to send them a Facetime video to reassure them that help is on the way. Here are our first, rough efforts. How could they be improved?

Wednesday 4 October 2017

Norther Lights Haikus

We have been researching pictures and videos of the Norther Lights. We then used oil pastels to make our own interpretations of Northern Lights landscapes.

As a class we thought showered words that we thought of when watching the Northern Lights. We broke them down into syllable charts and then created Haikus.

Using Explain Everything, we photographed the pictures and then superimposed our Haikus over the top.
















Friday 15 September 2017

Kaspar Prince of Cats diaries

We have begun reading Michael Morpurgo's Kaspar, Prince of Cats as it is our author focus. We have also been recapping on what a good diary looks like. Following this we wrote diary entries as Johnny Trott on the day he hears some devastating information about someone close to him. Here are some of our entries: