Year 8 Independent Learning Booklet – Summer Term 1

The following tasks are for you to work through week by week at home. Each week will comprise of a writing task and a reading focused task. You should also continue to read for at least 30 minutes a day. Try and send your work to your English teacher every week and check Insight regularly. The writing frames and reading extracts can be found at the back of this booklet.

You might also want to document your experiences of learning at home and how that is different to learning at school.

Week 1

Writing Task – ‘If I Ruled the School’

Reading Task – What’s a Story?

Extension – Write your own six-word short story

Week 2

Writing Task – Science Fiction Story

Reading Task – The Hate You Give

Extension – Was Khalil Right?

Week 3

Writing Task -Inspirational Speech

Reading Task – 1984

Extension – Second Diary Extract

Week 4

Writing Task – A Festival of Your Own

Reading Task – Lost in Translation

Extension – Write Your Own Translation

Week 5

Writing Task – Reflect and Redraft

Reading Task – Evolving Language

Extension – Emoji Poem

Week One – Writing Task

Things are quite unusual already but imagine if you had the opportunity to decide all the rules for school when we come back. What changes would you make? What (if anything) would you keep the same?

Look at some of the newsletters that Tallis sends to help you with ideas for organisation and layout. https://www.thomastallisschool.com/tallis-newsletters.html

Planning.

Make a list of all the things that you want your school to have or do. E.g. school will start one hour later, a wider range of menu choices or maybe a stronger focus on climate issues and how to tackle them.

How are you going to present your ideas as appealing to the students and the parents? You should include some persuasive devices to do this:

o A – Anecdotes (stories to illustrate your point)o F – Factso O – Opinion (presented as fact)o R – Repetition/Rhetorical Questionso E – Emotive Languageo S – Statisticso T – The Rule of Three

Not all of the above techniques will be relevant on this occasion but it is a good opportunity to revise them (look up any you are not sure of in the dictionary and make a note of them).

Decide which order you are going to present your ideas in and remember to think about your choice of vocabulary as you are speaking to both students AND parents.

Decide how to start your letter and get writing!

After You Have Finished:

1. Re-read your work and check that you have included: a. Capital letters at the start of every sentenceb. Full stops at the end of every sentence (.?!)c. Appropriate punctuation within sentences (, ; ’)d. A range of sentence structures and starters e. Exciting vocabulary spelt correctly (remember you can use a dictionary or thesaurus

to help but make sure it makes sense).2. Ask someone else to read it and give you some feedback about what they think has gone

well and what they think you could make even better.3. Make two changes that you think make your work even better.4. Send to your English teacher.

Week One – Reading Task

What’s a Story?

Before you start the main task, write down what you think of when you hear the word story. Try and explain in as much detail as possible what it means to you. You might include the structure, the events or ideas in a story and even some examples of stories you have enjoyed.

Next, make a note of the first story that you remember having read to you/read yourself. What are your memories of that? Then add a story that you’ve really enjoyed. It might be one from when you were very little, perhaps one that didn’t even have words, or it might be one that you read last week.

Now complete the sentence ‘A great story contains…’ Try and think about all the features you think a great story should have (if you enjoy films more than books try and think about the features of a good story you might watch).

Six Word Short Stories – Fill in the table below with what you think might be the genre (type) of story and what the story might be about.

Six Word Short Story Genre What could be happening in these lines?See that shadow? (It’s not yours.)Jim Crace

Thriller A mysterious attacker has trackeddown her victim after trailing him forseveral hours: she is about to pounce!

Oh, that? It’s nothing. Notcontagious.Augusten Burroughs‘The Earth? We ate it

yesterday.’Yann MartelCorpse parts missing. Doctor buysyacht.Margaret AtwoodBob’s last message: BermudaTriangle, Baloney.Elmore LeonardThey awaited sunrise. It nevercame.A.S. ByattFound true love. Married someoneelse.Dave EggersTick tock tick tock tick tickNeal StephensonServed the pie, watched him die.Maggie O’ FarrellWith bloody hands, I say goodbye.Frank Miller

Extension:

Can you write your own six-word short story? Challenge other members of your household to write their own six-word short story too and share them.

Week Two – Writing Task

Science Fiction

noun1. fiction based on imagined future scientific or technological advances and major social or

environmental changes, frequently portraying space or time travel and life on other planets.

Examples of Science Fiction

War of the Worlds – H. G. Wells

Artemis Fowl Series – Eoin Colfer

Compton Valance Series – Matt Brown/Lizzie Finlay

Star Wars Series

Stranger Things

Science is real-world magic. I love a story that makes me question what is on the edge of possible and explores how believable characters react when faced with the extraordinary. (Lindsay Galvin, Author of ‘The Secret Deep’, 2018)

Imagine if aliens invaded the school! How would it happen? How would you know? What would you do? What if all your teachers suddenly revealed (finally!) that they were aliens?

Planning

Make a mind map/bullet points where you try and answer some of the questions above plus any others that you might have to help get you started.

Once you have done this, put your ideas into order. Think about how you are going to start your opening/story. Will you start from the beginning

of the day?

Rachel’s alarm beeped persistently in her ear. Groaning she threw off the covers and stumbled out of bed. Another boring school day, what was the point? It wasn’t like anything exciting ever happened.

OR will you drop your reader into the middle of the action?

Eddie realised it was not your average, run of the mill, normal school day when his maths teacher ripped off her face and revealed to the class that she was an alien.

(If you are really stuck you can use either of these ideas to start your story/story opening off)

Mind map some exciting vocabulary you might be able to use in your story. Get writing!

After You Have Finished:

1. Re-read your work and check that you have included: a. Capital letters at the start of every sentenceb. Full stops at the end of every sentence (.?!)c. Appropriate punctuation within sentences (, ; ’)d. A range of sentence structures and starters e. Exciting vocabulary spelt correctly (remember you can use a dictionary or thesaurus

to help but make sure it makes sense).2. Ask someone else to read it and give you some feedback about what they think has gone

well and what they think you could make even better.3. Make two changes that you think make your work even better.4. Send to your English teacher.

Week Two – Reading Task

When I was twelve, my parents had two talks with me.One was the usual birds and bees. Well, I didn’t really get the usual version. My mom, Lisa, is a registered nurse, and she told me what went where, and what didn’t need to go here, there, or any damn where till I’m grown… I put my hands up. (pg12-14 of the EMC Home Learning Booklet)

Read the extract of ‘The Hate You Give’ by Angie Thomas (at the back of this booklet)

The Hate U Give, by AngieThomasThe Hate U Give is a novel loosely based on the Black LivesMatter movement in the United States. This is a movementthat campaigns against the unjust treatment of black peopleby the police in the U.S., particularly young black men, whoare up to nine times more likely to be shot dead by

Write two brief (1-2 paragraphs) accounts of what you have just read from two different perspectives:

1. From the point of view of another police officer watching on.2. From the point of view of a passer-by who saw the whole thing.

Extension: Write down your thoughts about Khalil’s behaviour. For example, do you think he wasjustified in behaving as he did?

Week 3 – Writing Task

inspireverb

1. 1.fill (someone) with the urge or ability to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.

"his philosophy inspired a later generation of environmentalists"

Similar: stimulate, motivate, cause, incline, persuade, encourage

Task: Imagine you are a leading sports coach. Write an inspirational speech to be delivered to your team or squad of elite sports competitors ahead of an important match or competition.

Planning:

Read through these tips from BBC Bitesize before starting https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zv7fqp3/articles/z4w96v4

Think carefully about what ‘inspirational’ means and mind map some vocabulary you could use in your writing.

Make a list of points that you are going to include and put these in order of how you will include them in your speech.

Focus on what you want the audience to know and how you want them to feel at the end of the speech.

Get writing!

After You Have Finished:

1. Re-read your work and check that you have included: a. Capital letters at the start of every sentenceb. Full stops at the end of every sentence (.?!)c. Appropriate punctuation within sentences (, ; ’)d. A range of sentence structures and starters e. Exciting vocabulary spelt correctly (remember you can use a dictionary or thesaurus

to help but make sure it makes sense).2. Ask someone else to read it and give you some feedback about what they think has gone

well and what they think you could make even better.3. Make two changes that you think make your work even better.4. Send to your English teacher.

Sometimes people ask me why I am always smiling. Even after we lose a match, sometimes I’m still smiling. It’s because when my son was born, I realised that football is not life or death. We’re not saving lives. Football is not something that should spread misery and hatred. Football should be about inspiration and joy, especially for children.

Jurgen Klopp – Maybe I Am Dreaming (Sept 2019)

Week 3 – Reading Task

Read through chapter one of ‘1984’ (in the back of this booklet)

At the end of the extract you have just read, Winston Smith is about to write his first diary entry.

Task: Write a paragraph or two of this entry, trying to imagine Winston’sfeelings both about the world he lives in and about what he is doing.

Extension: Have a go at writing a second diary entry, this one giving the thoughts andfeelings Winston would have if he spent a day in the United Kingdom as it is now. You might like to focus on what he would think about the values of democracy and equality that you can find in the United Kingdom.

1984, by George OrwellNineteen Eighty-Four is one of the best-known novels ever written. It is set in a brutal totalitarian regime, ruled by the symbolically named Big Brother. Under this regime, there are no elections and there is no law. Big Brother watches everything and controls everyone. The extract you

Week 4 – Writing Task

Task: Imagine you are a festival director. Write a letter to festival promoters explaining why they should fund your idea for an amazing festival (be it for music, film, books, comedy, a combination of all these things, or something else entirely).Planning

Start by making a list of all the exciting things you are going to have at your festival. E.g. Music acts, comedy, food stalls, other forms of entertainment.

Make a list of reasons why the festival is a positive thing for the community Make a list of reasons the festival might cause problems and think of ways to solve those

problems so that you can offer solutions before the problems arise. Remember AFOREST from the writing task in week one. Could you use any of those ideas

here? Plan what points you are going to make and then write down what order you are going to

make them in. E.g. Open with the exciting acts and events, explain why the festival is a good thing for the area, acknowledge and solve any possible problems.

Get writing!

After You Have Finished:

1. Re-read your work and check that you have included: a. Capital letters at the start of every sentenceb. Full stops at the end of every sentence (.?!)

c. Appropriate punctuation within sentences (, ; ’)d. A range of sentence structures and starters e. Exciting vocabulary spelt correctly (remember you can use a dictionary or thesaurus

to help but make sure it makes sense).2. Ask someone else to read it and give you some feedback about what they think has gone

well and what they think you could make even better.3. Make two changes that you think make your work even better.4. Send to your English teacher.

Week 4 – Reading Task

Task

Read the French poem out loud. Do not look at the English versions at this point, even if you don’t know any French. Try to come up with two interesting things you can say about this poem even if you don’t understand it!

Next read the two different translations of the French poem and think about the following questions:

What are the differences between the two translations? Do the differences change the meaning or effect of the poem? Which do you prefer and why?

Ask someone else in your household what they think about the two different poems.

Extension:Try to write your own version of the poem that improves on the two translations.You can borrow from both, change words and word order, and so on.

Week 5 – Writing Task

Using the table on the next page, choose one of your writing pieces from the previous few weeks and reflect on the decisions you made and the changes you might make as a result of these reflections.

Choose one paragraph and redraft your writing, trying hard to carefully craft it and improve it.

Week 5 – Reading Task

Read the poem below to the tune of ‘Imagine’ by John Lennon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOgFZfRVaww – listen to this first if you are not sure of which song it is.

The following poem shows that there are always new directions that language can go – that it can always evolve.

Write a response to the question: How is this poem experimental and/or how does it break rules?

Extension:

Write your own emoji poem or story.

Create your own emoji(s).