Issue #6
The Mi dni ht Feast : s e d u l Inc CT
M
FE R E P THE T FEAST! H G I N D I igate v a n to n nd r a a e s r L a e st oon! h t y b em h t d rea lly a S h wit ! s t a h C ki and A
Hi everyone!
Read with Sally!
Have you ever stayed up ALL night? Sally has LOTS of sleepover tips. Watch here!
PUSH PLAY!
How did you go with your reading and writing last week? Did any of you start writing a new story? I did! I ca n’t tell you what I’m writing yet, because it’s a super-d ooper surprise! But I can tell you that we have some super-dooper tips this week for creating your very own midnight feast. They’re especially good for those of you who like to go to bed early – like me! And, as an extra special treat for you, we are also going to meet the amazing illustrator of all the Billie B Brown books. You know who that is, don’t you? That’s right. Aki Fukuoka! We might even ge t some drawing tips from her. I’m excited! Have fun! Lots of love,
Sally
xxx
PUSH PLAY! Have you read The Midnight Feast yet? Why don’t you read along with Sally and see if you can finish it by yourself!
! g a B l Mai Meet
! A I L E AM Aged 6!
ause it is I love reading bec know why fun! And do you it takes it’s fun? Because s in your you on adventure IMAGINATION!
Amelia is a Billie B Bro wn
SUPER-FAN!
Let’s get to know her a little bett er!
arning and you I also LOVE le from books. can learn a lot
I love Billie B Brown because d she is brave! An el she makes me fe brave too.
B
I love guessing what the in Billie B Brown stands for. My favourite Billie B Brown book so far is The Honey Bees.
Each week, we will f eature some SUPER FAN S! If you would like to review a book for us, send us some fan mail or any questions — email
mailbag@hardiegrant.com
to e d i u G ’s n w o r Billie B B
2.
T C E F R E P e h T t s a e F t h g i n d i M ow hard it is h s w o n k y d o b Every til midnight, n u e k a w a y ta s to robably aren’t and most of us p uess what? g t u B . to d e w o even all END T E R P a te a re c n a c u Yo t any time of a t s a fe t h ig n id m ! Here’s how. the day you like
11 12 1 10 2 3 9 8 4 7 6 5
! t h g i n d i m It’s
1. MAKE YOUR OWN CLOCK. Write all the numbers of the clock around the edges of a paper plate. You might need to look up what that looks like if you don’t have a clock like this at home. Cut out a short hand and a long hand and point them both to the number 12. There you go. It’s midnight!
MAKE IT DARK. Obviously, if you are going to have a feast at midnight, it needs to be dark! The best way to do this is to make a blanket tent and hide underneath it. This is very easy to do. Grab a big blanket and throw it over something you can hide under, such as a table, two chairs pushed together or even the couch. Then squeeze underneath and there you have it! Your very own tent in the dark.
4. THE FEAST! t feast You can’t have a midnigh Jack are without food. Billie and ts, like one allowed some special trea share, packet of marshmallows to but they always have p healthy food, too, like di and rice crackers. They o both know if they eat to much sugar they get sore tummies – and you definitely don’t want a tummy ache at midnight!
3. A BRING ! TORCH mportant i y r e v s i This rch so o t a d e e – you n r midnight u o y e e s you can e your d i s t u o k e pe feast and strange y n a r a e h u tent if yo u don’t o y f i y r r n’t wo noises. Do ugh – o h t , h c r o lt have a rea will do. e n o d n e t a pre your
t HAVE FUN Aa nd don’t
east! midnight f ck up your a p o t t e g r fo terwards. f a r a e g g campin per always m a c d o o g A they leave makes sure e g ground th in p m a c ir the ound it. way they f
How to write a
GOOD STORY Hello again!
In the previo us issue, Billie B Brow n author Sally Rippin started her three-part se ries on how t o write a good story. Wasn’t it fun ! Here is PART TWO.
How did you go with inventing characters? Do you know everything about them? I hope so! Because this week, we are going to put them in a story. And we do that by adding the most important ingredient to a good story: a BIG PROBLEM. Without a PROBLEM, you have no story. You should write the problem into your story soon after it starts, so that your readers will want to keep on reading. Here is a good way to start your story by introducing your problem early on.
1
Think of something you or your character does regularly and write it down, beginning your sentence with the word ‘Every’. For example:
Bertie Every day, hes the Beetle catc to work. tram to go
or
Every weekend, Dora wanders down to the post office to pick up her mail.
Every evening, Gordo the gorill a swings through the jungle looking for ba nanas.
3
2
s without Then, think of something that happen der your warning, something that shows your rea xt sentence story is about to start. Begin your ne with the words ‘But one ...’ a great big crazy, You might want to create , like this: scary, surprising problem
ed out suddenly! Bertie look d pe op st am tr e th y, But one da hip on the tracks! es ac sp a as w e er th d the window an
de in your Whatever you inclu your reader ll e t l il w e c n e t n se next u are writing. o y ry o st f o d n ki what Is it a scary story
?
was swinging o rd o G en h w g, But one evenin heard a terrible e h s, ee tr e th through d. screeching soun
Or it can be just a very little problem, but still interesting enough to make us want to find out more. Like this: But one weekend, when Dora arrived at the post office there was a tiny blue envelope waiting for her, with curly writing on the front in silver pen.
Is it an action story? But one evening, when Gordo was swinging through the trees, he saw a great big fierce ape pounding his chest, eating up all the bananas!
Is it a love story
?
ng Gordo was swingi en h w g, in en ev But one st s, he saw the mo through the tree . he had ever seen a ll ri go l fu ti u bea
Now that you have a problem, ask yourself ‘WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?’ Can you guess why? That’s right – in order to finish the story, you will need to work out how to solve the problem! We will look at how to finish off your story in the next issue. Happy writing!
Fact #3
t a h t s ’ t a Wh
? E S NOI ck go camping in When Billie and Ja OISE outside N Y R A SC a r ea h ey Jack’s backyard, th be a monster, t h ig m it k in th in the dark. They just a POSSUM! ly al re ’s it w o n k but of course we
How much do you know about possums? Here are some
anything! st o m al at e s m u ss Po arch for food se y e h t , t h ig n t A yptus leaves, like berries, eucal s and small g g e s’ d ir b s, g u b fruit, es they like im t e m so t u b s, al anim food, too. an m u h r o f k o lo o t
Fact #8
Possums call out to ot her possums by making smacking noises . Joeys sneeze and hiss when they ar e stressed or in danger. Sometimes th ey even growl!
Fact #4
Possums are marsupials, meaning the mother carries her babies in a pouch – just like kangaroos do! Fact #5
Female possums are ca lled jills, males are called jacks , and their young are called joey s. A group of possums is known as a passel.
fun facts: Fact #1
Possums are nocturnal, meaning they are most active at night. They are also good swimmers.
Fact #6 d and grow e e f s m u ss o p y ab B er’s pouch for inside their moth n they spend five months. The linging to c s h t n o m o w t r e anoth k. their mother’s bac
Fact #2
Possums have four fangs and fifty teeth for crushing and crunching their food.
Fact #7
Possums aren’t danger ous, but, like all wild creatures, it’s best to leave them alone.
Draw a possum here!
Navigate
S R A T THE S throughout Did you know that people ars to navigate? st e th ed us ve ha y or st hi e the night us l il st s or il sa e m so d An me! sky to find their way ho
Understanding the Night
Sky
rent ways. There are lots of stars in the sky, and we can find them in diffe with LOTS of There are individual stars that shine alone, and constellations proper names stars that cluster together. The brightest stars have been given s, so if you (like the North Star, which sits above the North Pole! It never move can find it, you’ll know which way North is). t starts that Try to look for the SOUTHERN CROSS. This is a group of brigh you find them? sit close together in the sky. There are two pointer stars – can stars. Then, Once you see them, use your imagination to draw a between the draw it all look for the two stars that sit either side of the line. If you could together, it would look like a big cross.
You can learn so much from wa tching the stars – here’s how to get st arted.
Learn to stargaze. ten minutes, not If you look at the sky for five or if you could speed up much will happen (boring!). BUT motion, you would see time and watch the sky in fast sky as one. This is ALL the stars moving across the g, and as night goes because the earth is always movin stellations. on, we see different stars and con the next To get started stargazing, wait for on away clear night. Then, choose a locati minutes from streetlights, and take 10–15 k to let your eyes adjust to the dar (SUPER-DOOPER important!).
Do you know what the brightest star is? It’s actually THE SUN. Bu t there are lots of others that are only vi sible at night, like the stars in the Milk y Way.
Anna Carlile is the author of Grounded. If you or your family would like more information about slow living, perhaps you could buy her book!
e h t d a e R
N O O M
, rocks and rs te ra c h it w , ry and d CLES and The moon is cold Y C s it g in h tc a me by w dust. We mark ti le navigation. p im s r fo it e s u en PHASES, and ev an tides! e c o e th ls o tr n o c The moon even
What are cycles and phases? As the moon circles around the Earth , its shape seems to change. Of course, it is not actually changing – this is just how it looks to the human eye. It looks a differen t shape depending on where the sun is, which can illuminate and hide parts of the mo on.
Moon phases The changing shapes of the moon are called phases. The moon moves through EIGH T phases in a cycle that lasts 29.5 days, the same amount of time it takes for the Earth to move around the sun. Here are som e ways to describe the moon as it moves:
MOON PHASES
Waxing Moon We say ‘waxing’ to describe the moon when its illuminated area is GETTING BIGGER. The moon always looks like it’s getting big ger befor e the full moon.
Have you seen the moon? You could try drawing the different moon phases cut on scrap paper, then them out and hang them up!
Waning Moon es the moon ‘Waning’ describ ated area is when its illumin LER. GETTING SMAL full moon. a r te af s en p p a h This
Crescent Moon Anna Carlile is the author of Grounded. If you or your family would like more information about slow living, perhaps you could buy her book!
A ‘crescent’ moon is when only part of the moon is showing. It sits in the shape of a curved sliver.
Have you ever heard of the handwriting clever cat? This clever cat helps us with our letter size and formation when we use the dotted thirds. Trace these lowercase letters below to work on developing your letter formation.
aceimn orsuv bdhklt gjpqy
TEACHER APPROVED ACTIVITY
Let’s make some words that rhyme with words from the story The Midnight Feast!
TEACHER APPROVED ACTIVITY
Tell me a word that rhymes with big. Fill in the beginning sound to make three words that rhyme with big.
_ ig
_ ig
_i g
Tell me a word that rhymes with dip. Fill in the beginning sound to make three words that rhyme with dip.
_ ip
_ ip
_i p
Tell me a word that rhymes with got. Fill in the beginning sound to make three words that rhyme with got.
_ot
_ot
_o t
Tell me a word that rhymes with run. Fill in the beginning sound to make three words that rhyme with run.
_un
_un
_u n
Finding Nemo is Billie and Jack’s favourite movie. What’s your favourite movie? Draw a scene from it in the TV screen below.
Billie B Brown has one blue torch, one big packet of marshmallows and one brand-new tent. Billie and Jack are going camping!
TEACHER APPROVED ACTIVITY
TEACHER APPROVED ACTIVITY
Write a list of ten things you would need if you were going camping. Maybe you could try camping in your backyard or inside your house!
List: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. The name of my favourite movie is
I like it because
7. 8. 9. 10.
Did you know it is really important to think about what we are reading as we read it? I wonder if you were practising this today while you were reading. See if you can retell the story The Midnight Feast. Remember to think about the most important parts of the story and retell them in order, using the beginning, middle and end. Draw pictures or write to retell the story. In the beginning …
TEACHER APPROVED ACTIVITY
y a d i l o H y t t o p S The
QUIZ!
How well do YOU know the Billie B Brown book,
The Midnight Feast?
Take this quiz to find out! 1 What colour is Billie’s torch? 2 In The Midnight Feast, what does the B in Billie B Brown stand for?
7 Circle the right answer! After the movie, Billie’s mum says Billie and Jack have to brush their … hair
teeth
pet rabbit
In the middle …
3 At the start of the story, where is Billie going camping?
8 _In Chapter Three, Jack looks at his watch. What time is it?
4 How many bowls of spaghetti do Billie and Jack each eat?
9 Circle the right answer! Billie and Jack think there’s a monster outside, but Jack’s dad says it was probably just a …
5 What colour are the marshmallows? In the end …
6 What is the name of Billie and Jack’s favourite movie?
possum
fairy
cat
tree
10 At the end of the story, where do Billie and Jack go camping?
Answers 1. Blue (see page 1) 2. Big (see page 2) 3. In Jack’s back garden (see page 2) 4. Two (see page 9) 5. Pink and white (see page 10) 6. Finding Nemo (see page 18) 7. Teeth (see page 19) 8. Nine-fifteen (see page 28) 9. Possum (see page 36) 10. On Jack’s bedroom floor (see page 42)
p e e k u o Do y
Next week!
? Y R A A DI Billie B Brown does!
Sometimes it’s fun to look back and see how much you have grown up!
This week, my favourite book was
by I loved it because
. .
The song that was stuck in my head was
.
The best thing I ate was
.
rown et? Have you read it y
CLASSIC Billie B B
at soccer, but the boys ay pl to ts an w e li il B prove er. How can Billie h t le ’t on w l oo h sc soccer, too? that girls can play
g!
n i v o m t e g s ’ Let
Loads of inf o about socce r!
The best thing that happened this week was
is a
The Soccer Star book!
.
Activities! Next week I want to try
.
And much more!
Contact us! While we can’t meet up at a wonderful book event right now, we welcome you to the Sally Rippin Holiday Program community. Let’s keep in touch. Email us! Do you have questions? Suggestions? Maybe you just want to send us a picture of a butterfly! We will be checking our mail, and Sally will be answering a selection of questions every week! mailbag@hardiegrant.com.au
EMAIL US
