Burlish Park Year 5 English Home LearningWeek beginning 20th April

This week we will be using the story The King of the Fishes. When you respond to the questions, you can write your responses on paper, but for most questions a verbal response will be enough.

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday FridayClick for each day’s task…

Monday

• Read and enjoy the story ‘The King of the Fishes’ by Jo Pearce (slides 3- 5)

• You can listen to a recording of the story below here:https://soundcloud.com/talkforwriting/fishes

The King of the Fishes

Once upon a time there was a poor fisherman called Li.

Every day, he went down to the sea to fish. There he stood on the rocks and threw the nets into the icy waters and waited. When he pulled the nets in, he would take any fish back to the market and sell them.

One day, he caught a huge fish. It had silver scalesthat glittered in the sunlight, blood–red fins and agolden crown. It was so beautiful that Li stood, amazed, staring at the fish as it thrashed about in the net. Suddenly Li felt guilty. It was so beautiful, and surely it must have a family…

So, he scooped it up out of the net and set it free. Li stood watching as the fish swam out to sea. Then, to his amazement, it turned and spoke to him.

“Li, you have saved the King of the Fishes. I grant you one wish. Whenthe moon is high in the sky, come back here and tell me your heart’sdesire.” With a flick of his fin, the King of the Fishes was gone.

Immediately, Li hurried home, wondering what on earth he should wishfor. There were so many things that his family needed.

First, he asked his elderly father. “Father, if you had one wish, what would it be?”There was a silence and then his father spoke, “Why son, I would wishfor new eyes, for I am blind and will never see again.”

Next, he asked his mother. “Mother, if you had one wish, what would itbe?” His mother thought for a minute and then said, “Why son, I wouldwish for money, for the roof needs mending and the winter winds whipthrough the house and make my bones shiver so.”

Finally, he asked his beautiful wife. “Wife, if you had one wish, whatwould it be?” There was a silence and then his wife whispered, “Why Li, I would wish for a baby, for who will care for us when we are old? Yes, nothing would be more precious than a child.”

Poor Li could not make up his mind – they needed the money certainly, but his father was blind and that was a terrible thing. However, he also knew that a child would bring joy to them all. All evening, Li paced up and down trying to decide what the wish should be.

Suddenly, he stopped pacing and grinned. Yes, he had it! He rushed out of the house, through the forest and down to the sea. The moon was high in the sky and so it was time to talk to the King of the Fishes. Li ran down onto the rocks and stood there with the foam crashing about him. He could see the moon’s reflection on the waves, and then came the King of the Fishes.

“What do you wish for Li?” called the King in a high, silvery voice.

“I wish for my father to see our son in a cradle made of gold,” shouted Li.

There was a silence and the great fish disappeared. The waves stilled and Li could see the stars like silvery freckles in the dark night sky. Then out of the darkness he heard a noise, drifting down through the forest. It was a baby crying

What did you think?

1. What did you like about the story?2. What surprised you?3. What did it remind you of?

Tell someone your answers to the questions. It could sound something like this…

1. I loved the part when Li chose to put the fish back in the water because it told me that he was a kind man.2. The final wish surprised me because it was so clever!3. This story reminded me of Aladdin because they are bothwishing tales.

Tip: The word because might help you extend your ideas.

The King of the Fishes is a wishing tale. What would you wish for if you were given three wishes?

My three wishes:1. I wish I could fly because I would love to visit a different country every week.2. I wish that the rich people in the world would share their money so that no one was homeless or hungry.3. I wish for a magic wardrobe which would mean that I could create any outfit I fancied.

Tip: The words and phrases I have underlined might help you extend your ideas.

Tuesday - vocabulary

1. Go back over the story - are there any words you don’t understand or know the meaning of? Can you find their meaning using an online dictionary?

2. Some of the words are highlighted in yellow. Let’s investigate those together…

The first word is whip.

Whip has many meanings. Can you match the definition to the picture?The first one has been done for you.

Tuesday – vocabulary (cont…)

Answers

Now think of/write a short sentence to match each picture. Make sureyou use the word ‘whip’, ‘whipping’ or ‘whipped’. Here’s an example for the first one…

Last week, the chief whip ordered members of the party to vote in favour of schools closing.

Tuesday – vocabulary (cont..)

The second word is precious. Precious means ‘something very special to be treated with care’.

What do you think of when you hear the word precious?Add your ideas to the one below:

time with my family

precious

gold

Tuesday – vocabulary (cont…)

The final word is reflection.Have a look at the pictures and the definitions of the word. Think of/write a sentence under the example:

Tuesday - vocabulary

Wednesday - comprehension

• Let’s think about the text a little more…

• Re-read the text carefully and answer some comprehension questions about the story. Remember to use evidence from the text when needed to explain your thinking.

1. What did Li usually do with the fish that he caught?a) take them to market to sellb) put them backc) eat them

2. What was special about the King of the Fishes? (Check carefully in the text)a) it was largeb) it was beautifulc) it had a family

3. Why did Li set the fish free?

4. How did Li feel when after asking his family what their wish would be?

5. Whose baby did Li hear at the end? Explain your answer.

6. Do you think Li’s wish was a good one? Why?

Wednesday – comprehension (cont…)

Wednesday – comprehension – answers

1. What did Li usually do with the fish that he caught?a) take them to market to sellb) put them backc) eat them

2. What was special about the King of the Fishes? (Check carefully in the text)a) it was large the story says it was huge not largeb) it was beautifulc) it had a family he thought it must have a family, he didn’t know that it had one

3. Why did Li set the fish free?Li set the fish free because he felt guilty as it was so beautiful and it must have family.

He has a family so knew what it would be like to miss them.

4. How did Li feel when after asking his family what their wish would be? After

asking his family about their wishes, Li felt confused because in the text he says he could not make up his mind.

5. Whose baby did Li hear at the end? Explain your answer.You can have a variety of answers but you must explain, e.g….I think Li heard his baby because in the text it says he wished for a son in a cradle made of gold. He made his wish to the great fish and the crying started just after the fish disappeared so the fish granted his wish and the baby appeared.

6. Do you think Li’s wish was a good one? Why?Any answer is appropriate as long as you explain your thinking. It could look something like this…I think Li’s wish was very clever. He could not make up his mind about what to wish for so he managed to combine all the ideas into one wish – his father could see the baby so was no longer blind, the cradle was gold so they could sell it to no longer be poor and his wife got the precious child she asked for.

Wednesday – comprehension – answers

Thursday – Spellings and Grammar

precious whip reflection

decide caught thought

SpellingsPractise the words so that you know how to spell them and then copy them correctly into the sentences. There are some ideas for practising spellings below. You may need extra paper and something to write with.

Put the correct word in these sentences:

1. Julia was upset that the thief had stolen her _________________ painting.2. Luckily, the police ____________________ the thief red-handed.3. The courts must ______________________ what the thief’s punishmentshould be.4. In Victorian times, the thief may have been hit with a _______________.5. Unfortunately for the thief, the courts ____________________ that heshould be sentenced to time in prison.6. In prison, the thief had time for ___________________ and decided tochange his ways in the future.

Ideas to practise spellings:★Write each word and underline or circle the tricky bit. How will you remember it?★ Speed write – how many times can you write the words in one minute?★ Find a friend or a grown up and play hangman.★ Say the word as it is spelt, not as it sounds. For example, for ‘whip’ you could say ‘w-Hip’ to remind you that there is a silent ‘h’

Thursday – Spellings and Grammar (cont…)

ParenthesisParenthesis is when extra information is added to a sentence using one of three types of punctuation: ( ) - - or , , It can be at the beginning, middle or end of the sentence.

Here are some examples:

One day, he caught a huge fish One day - while floating near the shore - he caught a huge fish.

Once upon a time there was a poor fisherman called Li. Once upon a time there was a poor fisherman called Li (age 37).

Thursday – Spellings and Grammar (cont…)

Task:

Try adding parenthesis to the sentences below. There are hints to help you get started if you need them:

1. Li stood watching as the fish swan out to sea. (Hint – describe Li at the beginning or describe the sea at the end)

2. Li ran down onto the rocks and stood there with the foam crashing about him. (Hint – describe how Li ran or add information after the word ‘there’)

3. There was a silence and the great fish disappeared.(Hint – add information at the beginning or add something about the fish)

Friday – composition (writing)

The King of the Fishes is a wishing tale.If each section of the plot is put into separate boxes it looks like this…

So for the King of the Fishes it would look like this…

Here are two examples of new story plans. One hugs very closely to the model, using very similar ideas and one uses the same structure.

Friday – composition (writing)

Your task today is to create your own version of a wishing story. You can use one of the story ideas or make a new one of your own.

Success criteria:• Can you use the new spelling words in your

story?• Can you add parenthesis to add interesting

detail for the reader?• Don’t forget to start a new paragraph for new

topic, time or place.• Punctuate speech carefully if you use it.

Friday – composition (writing)