WIN a library of Michael Morpurgo books for your school!
presents
www.michaelmorpurgo.com/ morpurgomonth
Flamingo Boy This is one of 16 activities to try during Michael Morpurgo Month, each of which explores an extract from a different book written by the world famous author. The books are grouped into four themes: natural world, animal adventures, tales retold, and times of war. All the activities can be usedt as either a quick starter or a longer lesson and provide a great opportunity to develop children’s comprehension and vocabulary - not to mention a love of Michael Morpurgo’s books.
Flamingo Boy
A young autistic boy lives on his parents’ farm among the salt flats of the Camargue in the South of France. There are lots of things he doesn’t understand: but he does know how to heal animals. Every week he goes to market with his mother, to ride his special horse on the town carousel. But then the Germans come, a soldier shoots a flamingo from the sky. The carousel is damaged, the horses broken. For this vulnerable boy, everything is falling apart. Only there’s a kind sergeant among the Germans – a man with a young boy of his own at home, a man who trained as a carpenter. Between them, perhaps boy and man can mend what has been broken – and maybe even the whole town…
Using the resource This resource shares an extract from the story, describing the flamingos that live on the salt flats of the Camargue. After reading the text, there are suggested discussion activities considering: • Author’s craft and effective features of descriptive writing • Specific vocabulary choices made by an author, introducing unfamiliar vocabulary Depending on time and the needs of your class, you may want to work through all of these interrelated activities or focus on just one.
There is also a sheet with a writing challenge based on the extract. For Flamingo Boy it focuses on effective descriptive writing. This could be used as a short classroom activity or as homework to consolidate the learning in the teaching session. After reading and discussing the extract some children may be inspired to read the book itself. You could read it aloud as a class novel or direct children to where they can find a copy to read themselves: the book corner, school library, local library or a local bookshop.