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HANSEL
presents
and
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GRETEL
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.
Hansel and Gretel
A gripping retelling of the classic children’s story for the new generation. No child ever forgets the story of the witch, the breadcrumb trail and the gingerbread house in the forest. Michael Morpurgo takes the Brothers Grimm classic to a new level, weaving from these themes a rich fairytale tapestry of hunger and hope, cruelty and courage.
Using the resource
• Author’s craft and effective features of
There is also a sheet with a writing challenge based on the extract. For Hansel and Gretel 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.
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.
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.
This resource shares an extract from the story, describing a witch who arrives at Hansel and Gretel’s cottage. After reading the text, there are suggested discussion activities considering:
descriptive writing • Specific vocabulary choices made by an author, introducing unfamiliar vocabulary
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 Hansel and Gretel live with their parents by the side of a forest. They live a happy life, with everything they could want. Until one day…
• 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 to work with a partner
to draw a sketch of the witch based on the description in the text.
• Share the children’s drawings and ask
children to identify any words or phrases they couldn’t include in their sketches because they weren’t entirely sure what they meant. Jot these words down.
• Ask the children to read through the
extract again, identifying elements that help to describe the witch. The children might suggest: - Adjectives (cruel, gnarled) - Similes (like ancient treebark; like a crabclaw; like blood) - Other comparisons with unpleasant things (worse than a wolf, red as blood) - Physical description and about her character
Slide 4 • Return to the list of unfamiliar words that the children made at the start of the session and work together to use context to work out what they mean.
• Look at the words gnarled and ancient,
using the context to work out meanings before checking on the next slide. With gnarled, ask the children how using it in a simile helps to clarify the meaning.
Slide 5 • Clarify the meanings with the children and then display the words in the classroom. Challenge children to use them in their speech or writing this week. Slide 6 • Return to the front cover and blurb.
• Ask the children if they would like to
read Hansel and Gretel 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).