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Running Wild presents
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.
Running Wild
For Will and his mother, going to Indonesia isn’t just a holiday. It’s an escape, a new start, a chance to put things behind them – things like the death of Will’s father. And to begin with, it seems to be just what they both needed. But then Oona, the elephant Will is riding on the beach, begins acting strangely, shying away from the sea. And that’s when the tsunami comes crashing in, and Oona begins to run. Except that when the tsunami is gone, Oona just keeps on running. With nothing on his back but a shirt and nothing to sustain him but a bottle of water, Will must learn to survive deep in the jungle. Luckily, though, he’s not completely alone. He’s got Oona.
Using the resource This resource shares a scene where Will jumps from Oona’s back into a river to quench his thirst. After reading the text, there are suggested discussion activities considering: • Careful reading, making inferences from the text • Author’s craft through giving information about a reader through showing rather than explicitly telling • Vocabulary, focusing on potentially unfamiliar words 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 Running Wild it focuses on narrative point of view. 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 Will was enjoying a ride on Oona the elephant when, scared by a tsunami wave, she bolted into the Indonesian Jungle, carrying Will with her. Will has been trapped in the howdah (the covered seat on the elephant’s back). Then Oona ventures into a river.
• Read aloud together (either with the
teacher reading aloud and children following, children reading together as a class or children reading together in pairs).
• Ask the children:
- Who is telling the story? - How does Will feel at the start of the scene? (thirsty, desperate for water, even) - Why might diving into the river be a bad idea? (there may be crocodiles) - What does Will diving in despite this risk tell you? (he really is desperate for water)
• Ask the children to talk to a partner.
Based on the opening extract, the blurb and the front cover, what do they think will happen next? Share predictions as a class.
• Ask the children to work with a partner
to re-read the extract and think carefully about how Michael Morpurgo shares Will’s joy.
• Take the children’s suggestions. They may suggest:
- Will’s actions (laughing, whooping, slapping the water) - He is triumphant - He calls out to Oona
• Ask the children why Michael Morpurgo
doesn’t need to say that Will is delighted to find water. Draw out that he shows the reader, rather than telling them.
Slide 4 • Ask the children for their suggestions as to what this phrase might mean. Are there any words that they don’t know? Can the context help them to decide? Slide 5
• Why might Will be breathless? Why might he feel triumphant?
• Ask the children whether this is a good
phrase to describe how Will is feeling. Challenge them to justify their answers.
• Ask the children to practise reading the phrase aloud.
• Display the words in the classroom
– either on a working wall or near the whiteboard. Set the class the challenge of using the words in their conversation or writing this week.
Slide 6
• Return to the front cover and blurb. • Ask the children if they would like to
read Running Wild 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).