Enrichment for the Able and Talented
In some cases we provide tailored activities so that able pupils get a flavour of how their skills may be applied in the real world. Some examples of these special provisions include:
Able writers in Years 5 and 6 have been invited to contribute to the Reculver Times Newspaper, written by the children for the children. We meet termly to discuss the content of the next edition, assign tasks and to discuss and practice journalistic writing techniques. Children take responsibility for researching and editing their own work before submitting it for publication. They have recently focused on: the use of interesting questions to enhance quotes; alliteration when writing headlines; sub-headings and paragraphing and writing succinctly within a given word limit.
Children who write for the Reculver Times can meet with their fellow reporters on Friday lunchtimes to work on their articles. They can also read and discuss current affairs using a collection of up-to-date children’s news magazines. This has provided inspiration for several of our news articles in the Reculver Times and the children have the chance to compare their own work to that of professional writers.
Sometimes opportunities arise for our children to attend tailored workshops and activity days. The children get to apply their skills in new and challenging ways, as well as learning new techniques and strategies. As these events involve children from other schools, it is also good preparation for Secondary school and gives our pupils the chance to meet some of their future peers. We encourage pupils who attend these days to share their learning with their classes, therefore maximising the impact of the event.
In order to keep challenging and inspiring our most able and talented children (which, through the sharing of their gifts, will hopefully impact positively on all of our pupils) we are making lots of plans for the future. In particular, we would like to be able to hold special enrichment days. Watch this space for more information soon!
Children are given a marble and make a list to describe it. After initial literal listings (eg blue, green) they have to use imagination and imagine anything at all – like looking into a crystal ball. The more interesting the better!
I don’t like to boast but….
I own the cow…Jack gave me the beans
I discovered a new planet
I was the one who invented the Northern Lights
I planted the first oak tree
I still haven’t …..
(rhyming couplets – pairs of fantastical ideas that I haven’t done)
Fallen from the saddle of a horse
Been to Nandos and eaten Hot Fajita Sauce
Taken a rocket into space
Won a single simple race
Ridden on a humpback whale
Been as tiny as a snail etc….
I still haven’t met the Queen in her nightie
I still haven’t squeezed into jeans that are tightie
I still haven’t found a magic bean
I still haven’t danced with the dead
Or walked on fire without burning my head
I still haven’t found some treasure
I still haven’t drawn a line I can’t measure
I still haven’t been to New York in fall
I still haven’t
You can turn a list into a poem eg I still haven’t blah blah blah and add an end line which makes the reader smile, laugh, think eg But I have……(taught my dog Japanese)
- Where do you get your ideas? I was in a staff-room and I realised everyone in there was talking about what they wear in bed so I wrote a poem called: What Teachers Wear in Bed
- Likes Phillip Pullman, Michael Morpurgo – if it’s good writing it inspires me.
- First book I wrote was with Pie Corbit who I used to work with (at the same school) It was a book of poetry
- Enid Blyton hooked me onto books when I was younger
You make me feel like (insults or compliments poem!)
Rhyming couplets – partner one writes first insult then partner two responds with their own insult)
You make me feel like a broken tyre
Well you make me feel like
You make me feel like an angry red spot..
You make me feel like a rusty old bike
You make me feel like a dog that no one will like
You make me feel like a sunny day
Why does the moon come out at night?
Why was the Earth created?
Stars-where do you go in the daytime?
When I met…
Choose an animal and a characteristic
What happened when you met them?
When I met the Phoenix of the hearth
It failed to set my dreams on fire
Parrot of Peculiarity
Butterfly of Beauty
Whale of Wonder
Phoenix of Fear
Phoenix of Peace
We solved all the world’s problems
When I met the Demon of Disaster
I saw the danger glinting in his eyes
You make me feel like a ballerina dancing across the stage
Compliments – Your ears/hair/eyes/cheeks are like….
Withoutyou I’d be ……
Together we can….
You move like/sound like/smell like/…..
Humorous twist – from one alien to another
What does the alien recipient look like? Imagine it as being different to you.
In all these lives …
Write a 6 line poem with the rhyme in the middle (cross rhymes)
In all these lives….
I’ve been a foot solider in the army of Bonaparte
I’ve been Romeo having lost his heart to Juliet
I’ve been a bare knuckle boxer
Looking for a fight
I’ve been the conqueror on the night before Hastings
I’ve travelled with Scott, Columbus and Marco Polo
I’ve sailed solo into the eye of a cosmic
Children’s work (1)
I was with the minotaur when he died in the maze
I have spent days running the marathon to Athens
I saw king Harold Live and Die
I saw Romeo cry for his Juliet
I watched the Roman Empire rise and fall,
I saw the wall that Hadrian built
But I still haven’t done my homework.
Children’s work (2)
I saw Rommel’s tank rumble into the African sands
I saw them land on the Normandy coast
I saw the invasion of Belgium, not the Maginot Line,
Isaw Hitelr dine with his generals in the bunker
I saw the Me 252 roll out of the airfield
I saw Nagasaki in the atomic explosion
When I grow up…
(Make a list of weird jobs)
An ant wrestler
A unicorn horn polisher