Thalassine |
In another lower junior class we did a group prediction from ‘Thalassine’, a story about a young French boy who meets a mermaid/sea-spirit. The pupils were very good at reading beyond the literal, for example they reasoned that if the boy’s arm ‘ended in a pointed stump as if it had been never quite finished’, then he had been born like this!
As a class, we wrote in the style of the author: |
The beautiful, magical sea-creature floated and swayed delicately across the flat, lonely beach. Her lovely, long sandy hair flowed behind her like masses of knotted seaweed. Her greeny-blue eyes sparkled and shone brightly like emeralds and sapphires. Her dress rippled and splashed around her like a shimmering waterfall. When she reached the poor, sad orphan, she hugged him gently and kissed him lovingly.
“Don’t be afraid, my little one,” she whispered softly. “I will not harm you. Come with me to my watery kingdom, where mermaids and mermen float in and out of forests of seaweed; where treasures spill from sunken wrecks and the bones of drowned sailors lie scattered on the seabed.” |
The quality of the vocabulary was excellent. We did some individual writing, where children were given words they had to use to begin sentences related to the story. Normally sentences will begin with ‘The’ or ‘A’ and can be tedious. These are more imaginative: |
Nobody believed Marcel when he said that he could swim. Slowly, Marcel moved away from Thalassine. Shining eyes sparkled like gold when she smiled. Waves washed up and down the beach. She said “Come with me and we’ll explore the Titanic.”
Luke/Shane/Jasmine/Connor |
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Even though Marcel only had one hand, he was brave enough to swim. Nobody believed Marcel had seen a mermaid. Sometimes Marcel thought a miracle might come. Nobody liked Marcel and nobody played with him. Slowly, Thalassine put her arms around Marcel. Nobody wanted to be his friend.
Katie Ann /Lowri/Ewan/Bryannie/Carys/Katie Ann B |
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Nobody believed Marcel when he said he had learned to swim. Lots of people bullied Marcel. Slowly, the lady reached her hand out to Marcel. When Thalassine took Marcel into the sea the waves drifted over him
Ben/Hollie/Alex/James D |
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Slowly Marcel went smaller and smaller. Why did the bully cut the rope on the boat? Lots of seaweed swayed around the mermaid. “Who is the school bully?” Thalassine asked Marcel.
Callum N/Callum K/Sam/Jake |
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We also used connectives to make meaning: |
Marcel was miserable because his parents were dead. Marcel was miserable so he went to the beach. Marcel was miserable but he hoped something good would happen. Marcel was miserable and had no friends. Marcel was miserable until he met Thalassine. |
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