You Will Need
Texts
The Hole by Øyvind Torseter
Fiction
English Year 5 Autumn Modern Fiction
The Hole by Øyvind Torster
Using The Hole, by Oyvind Torseter, children ask and answer questions and use inference skills to speculate about events. Children write their own version or a sequel based on the book.
Start with the core unit to introduce key texts. Then select from comprehension, SPAG and composition units.
Unit 1 Core: Exploring contemporary fiction: The Hole by Øyvind Torseter
(suggested as 4 days)
Planning and Activities
Day 1 Teaching
Explore the first seven pages of The Hole by Øyvind Torseter, looking closely at each page and speculating about the main character.
Activity
Write ten or more questions about the character and his/her life. Write answers to questions and compare them with others. Make predictions about what will happen after the phone-call.
Day 2 Teaching
Look at the next pages of The Hole. Compare these street-scenes with a written description of a street scene from Harry Potter. Look at and discuss the setting of the laboratory in The Hole.
Activity
Choose either the street scene or the laboratory and write a description of the setting, using multiple senses, rich vocabulary and lists. Talk together about the differences between drawn and written descriptions.
Day 3 Teaching
Read to the end of The Hole and discuss the ending. Look at a four-part structure for the story and note down the events in each section. Practise re-telling the story using this structure.
Activity
Work in groups of four, each writing one part of the story. Discuss the inclusion of the Penrose Triangle in the illustrations of The Hole.
Day 4 Teaching
Talk together about three aspects of the book: its physical form; the structure of the story and the theme of holes.
Activity
Work with a partner to discuss further Talking Points about the book, recording these discussions in clear sentences. Write single sentence summaries or reviews of The Hole.
Unit 2 SPaG: Writing and punctuating dialogue
(suggested as 3 days)
You Will Need
Texts
The Hole by Øyvind Torseter
Presentations
Grammar Presentation: Dialogue
Planning and Activities
Day 1 Teaching
Read the phone call from The Hole and imagine what the other person was saying. Model how to write these ideas as correctly punctuated speech and use the presentation to recap the rules. Role play the conversation between the main character and the receptionist.
Activity
Place speech marks in sentences written for characters from The Hole. Find and note alternatives to the word ‘said’. Talk together about how these words can help characterisation.
Day 2 Teaching
Look at a street scene illustration from The Hole and add speech. Record some of this speech in properly punctuated sentences, using the presentation to recap the rules.
Activity
Work with a partner to imagine speech for different parts of the book. Write ideas as properly punctuated sentences. Read about how Øyvind Torseter likes to use repeating characters. Write some of his interview as properly punctuated direct speech.
Day 3 Teaching
Role-play the conversations between the main character and the two scientists. Use examples from this and the presentation to consolidate learning about the rules for punctuating dialogue.
Activity
Develop the role-play about the main character and the scientists or the main character and the taxi-driver. Record some of the speech that has been improvised, punctuating it correctly. Share and correct each other’s writing.
SPaG: Grammar and Punctuation
Dialogue Presentation
Teach the children the rules for writing direct speech. Includes a useful summary page for display in the classroom.
Unit 3 Comprehension: Reading and understanding current fiction: The Promise by Nicola Davies
(suggested as 4 days)
You Will Need
Texts
The Promise by Nicola Davies and Laura Carlin
The Hole by Øyvind Torseter
Planning and Activities
Day 1 Teaching
Look together at the opening pages of The Promise by Nicola Davie and Laura Carlin. Draw inferences and make predictions. Practise a choral reading of the opening page, learning about some choral reading techniques.
Activity
Work in small groups to prepare choral readings of further extracts from The Promise. Perform these to each other. Look closely at and discuss the illustrations, before reading the first part of the story.
Day 2 Teaching
Read to the penultimate page of The Promise. Notice favourite and memorable phrases. Make a list of these and look at the techniques that the writer has used.
Activity
Work with a partner to discuss Talking Points about The Promise. Record this discussion in clear sentences. Read an article about rewilding in urban areas and relate this non-fiction report to the story of The Promise.
Day 3 Teaching
Make predictions about how the story will end before reading the final page of The Promise. Look at a four-part story structure for the book and use this to start re-telling the story.
Activity
Work with a partner to practise re-telling the story, drawing on your class list of memorable phrases. Perform a re-telling together. Look at the endpapers of the book and write single sentence summaries of the book.
Day 4 Teaching
Remind children of the story structure of The Hole by Øyvind Torseter and compare this with The Promise. Start to think of other ways in which the two books are similar and different.
Activity
Find 5-10 differences and similarities and then decide the three most significant. Prepare a formal presentation about these. Share these presentations with one another. Decide which world would be best to live in and which book is the children’s favourite.
Unit 4 SPaG: Understand and use adverbs of possibility
(suggested as 2 days)
You Will Need
Texts
The Hole by Øyvind Torseter
Presentations
Grammar Presentation: Adverbs of Possibility
Planning and Activities
Day 1 Teaching
Find out about Øyvind Torseter’s creative process. Read statements about The Hole and notice how these use adverbs to show degrees of possibility. Use the presentation to learn about these adverbs. Speculate about a character using adverbs of possibility.
Activity
Make more speculations about characters from The Hole. Write sentences about these using adverbs of possibility. Practise spelling these words.
Day 2 Teaching
Talk about what might happen after the last page of The Hole. Generate ideas and develop them. Model how to use adverbs of possibility to write sentences about these ideas.
Activity
Write sentences about predictions choosing adverbs to show how certain they are. Look at the front covers of some other Øyvind Torseter books and make up sentences using adverbs of possibility.
SPaG: Grammar and Punctuation
Adverbs of Possibility Presentation
Learn how adverbs of possibility tell us how certain we are about the verb. Look at adverbs which suggest different degrees of certainty.
Unit 5 Composition: Planning and writing a story using contour concertina books
(suggested as 4 days)
You Will Need
Texts
The Hole by Øyvind Torseter
Optional texts (if you have used unit 3)
The Promise by Nicola Davies and Laura Carlin
Planning and Activities
Day 1 Teaching
Introduce the idea of a Contour Concertina Book and relate it to The Hole – where the story matches a physical feature of the book. Practise making up stories to fit an example Contour Concertina Book.
Activity
Improvise stories to fit with given contours. Share ideas with others. Learn about Øyvind Torseter’s creative process.
Day 2 Teaching
Revisit a four-part Story Structure, relating it to The Hole and The Promise. Work together to use the same structure to fit your example Contour Concertina Book. Model making notes of these ideas as a story plan.
Activity
Create a contour, talk with a partner about the story that it suggests and record this as a plan. Use the plan to re-tell the story.
Day 3 Teaching
Model using a story plan to create a first draft of the story. Show how to include learning from Units 2, 3 and 4.
Activity
Draft own stories. Check the size of the final book and make changes to their writing so that it will fit. Share these first drafts with a partner and suggest improvements. Look at the approach to illustration taken in The Hole and The Promise and make plans for own books.
Day 4 Teaching
Look together at a successful first draft, identifying how it works. Model proof-reading this piece of writing and hear about its author’s plans for illustrations. Set expectations for presentation.
Activity
Proofread a partner’s writing and then make changes in own writing. Carefully write final version of the story into the Contour Concertina Book and complete illustrations. Share books with other children and your chosen audience.