An Eagle in the Snow by Michael Morpurgo - Teaching Resources (KS2)

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an EAGLE in the SNOW 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 used 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.

An Eagle in the Snow

This is the extraordinary story of the man who could have stopped WW2. It’s 1940 and Barney and his mother, their home destroyed by bombing, are travelling to the country when their train is forced to shelter in a tunnel from attacking German planes.

There, in the darkness, a stranger on the train begins to tell them a story about Billy Byron, the most decorated soldier of WW1, who once had the chance to end the war before it even began, and how he tried to fix his mistake. But sometimes the right thing is hard to see – and even harder to live with…

Using the resource

This resource shares an extract from the story, where Barney’s house has been destroyed in an air raid.

After reading the text, there are suggested discussion activities considering: • How descriptive language can help to set a scene • Author’s craft through considering the use of different sentence structures • Specific vocabulary choices made by an author, considering precise language to convey meaning 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 An Eagle in the Snow it focuses on 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.

Teacher’s notes for the PowerPoint Slide 2 • Share the front cover and blurb to introduce the book and give context.

• Ask children if anyone has read the book before. Does the blurb make them want to read on?

Slide 3 • Tell the children that Barney’s house has been destroyed in an air raid and this extract shows Barney remembering what happened when he was allowed to leave the air raid shelter.

• Read aloud together (either with the

teacher reading aloud and children following, children reading together as a class or children reading together in pairs) and then ask children to summarise what has happened.

• Ask the children to look at the extract

and, with a partner, identify where there are longer and shorter sentences.

• How do the longer descriptive sentences

in the extract help to describe the scene?

Why might Michael Morpurgo have chosen to add the clause using dashes in the first sentence? (Barney’s thoughts amongst the description of the scene).

• What is the effect of finishing with the two short sentences? How might these two thoughts reflect how Barney is feeling?

• Ask the children whether they can find

any other literary devices that Michael Morpurgo uses to create an image of the scene. Children can discuss in pairs or small groups before feeding back to the class. They might mention: - Alliteration (rubble and ruin) - Simile (like fog)

- Repetition of words in the final paragraph (home, house)

Slide 4 • Share this definition of acrid: ‘a strong, bitter smell that can cause a burning feeling in your eyes, nose and throat’.

• Ask the children whether this is a good

word to describe the air around the bombsite. Challenge them to justify their answers.

• Is there any other reason that Barney’s eyes might be stinging?

• Display the word acrid in the classroom

– either on a working wall or near the whiteboard. Set the class the challenge of using the word in their conversation or writing this week.

Slide 5 • Return to the front cover and blurb.

• Ask the children if they would like to

read An Eagle in the Snow having looked at this extract in detail and thought about Michael Morpurgo’s skillful writing.

• Point children to where they can find a

copy (either any copies you have in the classroom, the school library, or suggest the local library or a bookshop).