Last week we began a really interesting novel study. The novel in question is The Dragon Skateboard which is part our Rigby guided reading collection. It's a short but fun story, most students were able to read it in 30-45 minutes and it includes some great literary elements such as foreshadowing, strong characterisation and so on. The students also really enjoyed the characters and storyline.

The novel begins on Tate's birthday when he rips open his present to discover his parents had given him a skateboard. I asked the students, how did Tate feel about receiving a skateboard? (Happy, excited, etc) Does the author actually tell us that? Then how did you know?



The students used a circle map. In the middle they wrote a statement (Tate was happy to receive a skateboard) and outside it they wrote evidence from the text which supported this idea. It was a great activity for inferring. A few students wrote 'he ripped the wrapping paper off his present' or however the sentence goes and this led to an interesting discussing. Does this support the idea that Tate was happy to receive a skateboard since, at this point, he doesn't know it's a skateboard yet?



One of the standards in Year 5 English is understanding how an author uses words and vocabulary to develop ideas and points of views. So we took some of the phrases/sentences (A skateboard! He raced out to the driveway... and his heart beat a little faster) and the students had to write a different short scene. Here are two written by amazing students!

Take 1

Take 2 

(This is rough work that hasn't been edited. The students typed it straight onto their laptops then emailed it to me from their student email account so that we could practise email skills) 

Today we looked at the narrative structure and some examples of narrative naps. The students then mapped/graphed the plot line of The Dragon Skateboard. Some were more complex then others but the students clearly grasped the idea that tension built and the story included a multitude of events.
Next week we will start a character analysis of Tate, Jesse and Mandy (three of the characters) and some point-of-view activities. In the final activity the students will examine the cause and effect of choices made by Tate and evaulate the morality of said choices. The final part will be part of our RE assessment as we are learning about morality this term.
All in all, a very fun novel study!