Friday 18 July 2014

Our summer reading by West Earlham Junior School

Lots of children in the school are planning to take part in the Summer Reading Challenge. We are going to be reading thousands of wonderful books over the holiday, so here are a few that we are particularly looking forward to (including some of the staff picks).

Tamzin- The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis

Jaya- Dork Diaries series by Rachel Renee Russell

Mr Hodder- Demon Dentist by David Walliams

Mr Arden- Young Bond series by Charlie Higson

Michael- Journey To A Different Dimension by Demian Schatt and Stan Schatt

Miss Delaney- On The Road by Jack Kerouac

Oliver- World Of Norm: May Need Rebooting by Jonathan Meres

Megan- Another Me by Cathy MacPhail & Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: Over The Moon by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Mrs Peel- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Kayley- Tom Gates: Genius Ideas by Liz Pichon & Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever by Jeff Kinney

Connor- Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan

Mrs Holmes- A book about cross-stitching

Gemma- Koala Calamity by Jonathan Meres

Miss Etheridge- Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert & Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

Jersie- Girls FC series by Helena Pielichaty

Mr Biddle- The Bunker Diary by Kevin Brooks & Auslander by Paul Dowswell

Casey- The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton

Friday 11 July 2014

Young Werewolf by Cornelia Funke

You should really read Young Werewolf, it is such a good book. Me and Jersie absolutely love it, we think it is the best.

Here is the blurb... When Matt and his best friend Lisa encounter a strange beast in a dark alley, Matt's life changes forever. As the moon rises, Matt looks in the mirror and sees flashing yellow eyes and a lot of hair. His voice is now a growl and his breath stinks. Even Lisa doesn't have an answer for this crisis. And as full as the moon approaches, the wolf inside grows wilder and wilder.

Reviewed by Honey.

The Blood-Curdling Hand by Kaitlyn, Year 5

When we went to the Norfolk Children's Book Festival, the author Cathy MacPhail asked us to write a story based on a first line that she had given us. Here is the part of the winning entry from Kaitlyn in Year 5.

Chapter One

"There was a knocking sound on the door and I knew they had come for me," I began in my spookiest voice. Melissa and Taylor were staying round mine for a sleepover. We were sitting around the camp-fire we had made, telling each other ghost stories. It was finally my turn. "Tap, tap, tap," I carried on. 

"I asked who was there but there was no answer, just the echo of my shivering voice. I waited and waited. The door slowly creaked open and I gasped. Coming through the door were Melissa and Taylor. They had gone pale, like all their life had been drained away. They told me that I had to go with them immediately and we raced down to the ditch in the middle of my garden. A terrifying and ancient looking hand was starting to push its way through the damp soil. We screamed. Just at that moment the moon came out and I caught sight of the time on the church clock. It was 3:33am. I immediately knew who the hand belonged too."

I stopped and looked round. By now Taylor and Melissa were looking terrified. It was getting late and almost time for bed, so thought I had better carry on with my story. Before I could speak, there was a sound from further down the garden. It sounded as if a small animal, such as a rat or a mole, was digging...

How spooky! If you want to read the rest of the story, you'll have to ask Kaitlyn.

Wednesday 9 July 2014

Summer Reading Challenge 2014

Make sure that you take part in this year's Summer Reading Challenge! The theme this year is Mythical Maze and, as ever, it sounds very exciting.

You can learn more about it by visiting the website: 
http://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk

Elena from the Norfolk library service will be in next week to do a special assembly to tell us more about it, including how you can get involved.

Tuesday 8 July 2014

Our favourite class book of the year, by 4JB

My favourite class book of the year was Koala Calamity by Joanthan Meres. It was really funny.
Gemma

My favourite class book of the year was Stinkbomb and Ketchup-Face by John Dougherty. I loved the sneaky badgers.
Jaya

My favourite class book was Koala Calamity by Jonathan Meres. It was brilliant.
Connor

My favourite class book of the year was Fortunately The Milk by Neil Gaiman. It was just epic!
Tyler

My favourite class book of the year was Do Goalkeepers Wear Tiaras? by Helena Pielichaty. I love stories about football and have never read a story about a girls' team before. I am a goalkeeper too, so I liked it even more.
Oliver

My favourite class book of the year was definitely Billionaire Boy by David Walliams. I thought it was one of the funniest books ever.
Megan

My favourite class book of the year was One Dog and His Boy by Eva Ibbotson. It was wonderful and some parts of it made me cry!
Honey

My favourite class book of the year was was Fortunately The Milk by Neil Gaiman, because it was really funny and it made me laugh out loud.
Thomas

My favourite class book of the year was One Dog and His Boy by Eva Ibbotson. I like the bit when he finds out he isn't able to keep the dog, it was so sad.
William

My favourite class book of the year was Stinkbomb and Ketchup-Face by John Dougherty. It was really funny and adventurous, and I love the song.
Michael

My favourite class book of the year was Billionaire Boy by David Walliams. It was witty and made some very good points about being rich.
Mr Arden

My favourite class book of the year was Koala Calamity by Jonathan Meres. I thought it was really funny and I just enjoyed listening to it.
Lauren

My favourite class book of the year was The Firework Maker's Daughter by Philip Pulman because I love the bit when she had to try and climb the volcano. I also enjoyed it when she met the pirates., they were really hopeless pirates.
Emily

My favourite class book of the year was Koala Calamity by Jonathan Meres. The three koala bears were really lazy and just wanted to sleep.
Kristopher

My favourite class book of the year was Koala Calamity by Jonathan Meres. I love koalas and I liked Mr Biddle having to try and read it in an Australian accent.
Madison

My favourite class book of the year was Stars of Mine by Kevin Crossley-Holland because it was short but really good. I also knew what was going to happen because I have heard Rapunzel.
Toby

My favourite class book of the year was Koala Calamity by Jonathan Meres. I thought it was really good, but I like the second one even more with their little sister Squeak.
Tamzin

My favourite class book of the year was The Firework Maker's Daughter by Philip Pulman. It is just full of amazing adventures.
Jodie

My favourite class book of the year was Foul Play: Brazil by Tom Palmer. It's just brilliant how he wrote a bit of it every night during the World Cup. We still don't know how it will end.
Andrew

My favourite class book of the year was The Busker by Paul Jennings. Every year when I read it to my class, it always makes them cry. And I like making my class cry...(not really!)
Mr Biddle

Norfolk Children's Book Festival 2014

Last week, ten children from Year Four and Five went to the Norfolk Children's Book Festival, which was held in a big marquee at Norwich School. There were over 500 children there to listen to four amazing authors talk about their books and writing.

The first author to speak was the Radio 2 DJ, Simon Mayo, who has written Itch and Itch Rocks. His books are about a boy called Itchingham who is an Element Hunter. This means his hobby is to try and collect all the different elements that are in the Periodic Table.


His talk was really funny and entertaining, sharing where he got his ideas from and how long it takes to write a book. I got chosen to go to the front and help him with an experiment using a computer, which was really exciting (I had to say "Oooh, wow!" in front of everyone). I haven't read any of his books yet as I'm a bit young, but I definitely will soon. There is a new book about Itch which is out soon called Itchcraft.


After Simon Mayo, the next author was Cathy MacPhail. She was my favourite author of the day. She told us how to use our imaginations and how to think about spooky things which could happen in the marquee, like all the balloons popping one by one or strange voices coming over the speakers. She had stayed the night in the Maid's Head hotel in Norwich which is well known for having lots of ghosts. She has written loads of books, including Run Zan Run, which was her first book. Her new book is called Another Me, which is about a girl who is being haunted by herself.


I bought this book and got it signed. I am reading it now and am already on chapter seven. We also watched the trailer of the film which has been made of her book, but unfortunately it was in Spanish. I think Cathy MacPhail might be one of my new favourite authors.


We then had lunch. My lunch was nice but the teachers' lunches looked delicious. The next author to speak was called Paul Dowswell. He has written lots of books about children growing up in countries where the government have not treated people well. His most famous book is called Auslander which is about a boy in Nazi Germany. He also wrote a book called Red Shadow which is set in Russia.


He was really interesting to listen to, especially when he was talking about one of his books called Powder Monkey, which is about what life used to be like as a boy working on a ship. I thought he was really good at answering questions from people and he knew lots about history. Mr Biddle bought some of his books to read at home.


The final author to speak was Marcus Sedgwick who had spent the weekend in Las Vegas (but he hadn't been doing gambling, he had been talking to some librarians). He said he was a bit tired though. He talked about the room where he worked and did his writing, and we could choose things from the room to ask him about. There were so many things to talk about that we didn't get through them all. He told us a great story about when he broke into an empty psychiatric hospital in America, but he didn't break the law. He heard footsteps above him and so ran out again really quickly. His books sound really thrilling. He also talked to us about the number 354, which he says is following him everywhere in his life.


All of the writers who spoke to us were great and I had a really good day. I learned about lots of new authors and bought some new books which I am really enjoying. I hope I get to go next year as there are lots more authors that I would like to meet. We also got a bag which had things in like a bottle of water, a notebook, a pencil and a book voucher. There was also a raffle ticket but I didn't win anything, although I nearly did. I had the right numbers but they were in the wrong order.

Thank you for inviting me.


by Megan, 4JB.

Wednesday 2 July 2014

Free World War One Resources

This year, Britain is commemorating the centenary of the start of World War One. That’s 100 years since the start of the First World War.
Starting in 2014 and lasting until 2018, the First World War Centenary is the birthday of WW1. From exhibitions and concerts to a movie and football match, a whole range of events will take place to celebrate the anniversary.
World War One is remembered, primarily because it was the first war fought on a continent wide scale, from 1914 to 1918, and resulted in the League of Nations.
If you’re looking to teach students about the significance of the First World War, why not do so with an educational pack?
To explain further, the UK’s largest private archive of old newspapers, Historic Newspapers, stock more than seven million genuine original newspapers in their ever-growing collection.
Looking after the world’s biggest private archive of original newspapers means Historic Newspapers are exceptionally passionate about history. It’s for this reason they decided to select interesting and important coverage from significant historical dates – all in the name of learning – with a view to teach others about the past, as it was reported at the time.
Best of all, they’re offering these teaching packs completely free of charge – all of which are available to schools, universities, libraries and accredited education establishments – to help students discover the cause and consequence of historical events.
newspaper book is a wonderful way to teach children about World War One, as each newspaper is filled with stories from eyewitnesses who were present at the time, making it a pleasurable way to aid learning and engage a pupil’s interest and imagination. The World War One newspaper book can be used to discuss the changing nature of conflict, the cooperation between countries, the shift of alliances and the lasting impact of the war on national, ethnic, cultural and religious issues.
A newspaper offers teachers the chance to encourage chronological understanding, evoke a sense of period and provides a framework to discuss today’s events in a historical context.
The World War I Pack contains a book of compiled newspaper coverage, including Battle of Loos, Gallipoli Withdrawal, London Air Raid and War is Over. The other two education packs available contain complete newspaper reprints on World War II and Major Events.