Inspired by: Circus - Week 1

The excitement of the circus coming to town offers a vibrant theme for a series of educational activities aimed at enhancing literacy skills. In one activity, students are encouraged to discuss and record their ideas about the atmosphere depicted in illustrations showing the circus's arrival. The challenge is to identify the mood created by the illustrator and then consider how an author could craft a similar sense of bustle and activity through written descriptions. Students are prompted to think about the sights, sounds, and emotions that characterise a circus setting. They explore how to write a lively description and how dialogue might be used to express thoughts, feelings, and actions, ultimately creating an engaging and dynamic scene.

Another activity focuses on grammar, specifically the use of possessive apostrophes with singular nouns. Students are introduced to circus characters like Mr McNulty and are shown how to indicate possession in sentences, such as "Mr Knapp's stilts are very tall." The lesson includes a practical exercise where students generate their own sentences that demonstrate possession. Additionally, vocabulary development is addressed through the story of the Legendary Henriquez Family. Students learn to use dictionaries to understand the meaning of words like 'legendary', exploring root words and discussing word origins. This multifaceted approach to learning combines literacy with the captivating world of the circus, engaging students in language and grammar through a topic that sparks their imagination.