Contextual writing

The grade 5's were given a few picture books today and were asked to create a house in the setting of the book. They were given a choice to either write a descriptive essay or create a poem. The focus was use of adjectives and other descriptive language (simile, metaphor and personification).

 One group created their own club house; another group created a house in the 'whispering palms'. A third group described the house in an adventure story and the last group used their senses to add information to Abraham Lincoln's childhood home.

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Narrative writing

The Grade 5 students have been really excited about the latest topic in English - Narrative writing. This was linked to the unit on civilizations and the students wrote very interesting stories. The Novel 'Chronicles of Narnia' also helped them in coming up with brilliant ideas.

What they enjoyed most was Narrative Poetry. We started off by reading poems of different styles and  by a variety of authors. Each student was given a collection of  poems from which they recited their favourite poem in the class. We also read few poems together and realised that all poems
 have a rhythm or a beat and sometimes a rhyming pattern. We also identified the use of figurative language like similes, personification and alliteration.

Next, the students were asked to come up with narrative poems on their own. Some did this in pairs and others individually. The engagement had such a strong impact on them that for three days, the students were even trying to talk poetically in the class!! For example, "Please come with me, a book I need to see".

They all followed the writing process by first coming up with a plan for a story and then drafting it. The poem was edited by themselves, their peers and then by the teacher. Finally, they published their poems on chart papers which were displayed in the classroom.

Chain Story created by 5K

THE MAGICAL NIGHT

It was a cold, shivery night! It was really dark and Harry could hear weird noises. He wanted to leave the house. But, Harry’s friends were extremely scared and were hiding under their blankets. Harry gathered some courage and bravely walked outside his door. Surprisingly, he saw that his friends were already out! Suddenly, he saw a shadow, shadow of a tiger!!

When Harry went nearer to see what it was, he saw a huge load of ice! Harry shouted, “Look, look, it’s snowing inside my house! What are we going to do?” Sam suggested that all of them could go to his house as it is close by. Then they could get some help. So, all of them walked anxiously towards Sam’s house. Unfortunately, they lost their way and entered a creepy forest. There was no sight of another human!!

Gradually Harry, Sam and all other friends walked into the increasingly dense forest. Subsequently, they found a bear, a talking bear! The talking bear was quite talkative. Harry asked the bear to help them find their way. The bear led them towards the end of the forest and there they found a stream of water. It was gleaming under the moonlight. Harry could see silvery fishes swimming near the shore. Splash! Slush! Splosh! Squish! The curvy waves were hitting the humungous rocks.

Harry was so mesmerised that he missed his step and leaped into the water! His heart started thumping! Lub – Dub – LUB – DUB – LUB – DUB… He knew this would be the end of his life! He was miserable. He was terrified. He was breathless. He was petrified. But, amazingly, Harry could breathe! He could feel pure, cold air entering his lungs. How? He didn’t have a clue! For the next hour or so, he kept swimming endlessly! He had no idea where the icy water was taking him.

His heart missed a beat when lying in the river bed, he saw a glittering, dazzling box. The box had intricate floral designs on it and from the yellow shine, Harry could tell it was made of gold! As Harry reached for the box, he was attacked by a giant fish. It was a fish he had never seen in his life before! It was partly shark and partly whale. In a hurry, Harry glided towards the sparkling box. As soon as he touched the box, He started spinning and swirling in the water. In a second, he was out! Astonishingly, he wasn’t even wet! Where were his friends?? Had they left him? How long was he inside the water? What will he do now? His head was flooded with all sorts of questions! Exasperated, Harry sat on the floor and opened the chest. Comfortably sitting inside the chest was a tiny, white note. On it were three words – WAKE UP HARRY!!