Three days until 4PA meet Gary Northfield!

It’s been a rollercoaster of a ride for Adopt an Author this year and we have been super busy at HQ preparing for the parties this week, where each class will get to MEET THEIR AUTHOR! Woodingdean Primary has been reading Julius Zebra: Rumble with the Romans! and will meet their author Gary Northfield on Wednesday!

This is Gary trying to eat his own book…

 (Hopefully nobody will eat their copies on Wednesday)

Now, I’m not sure if anyone would dress up, but wouldn’t it be fantastic if 4PA came along with gladiator inspired outfits!!! #TeamJulius

See you Wednesday Woodingdean!

Team AAA x

Budding writers at Woodingdean

Do you remember when our class in Woodingdean drew their wonderful animal gladiators? As it was over Easter, we had lots of bunnies – very topical!

Gary loved them and set a new task for the class:

This week, I’d like you to write a short story about your new animal gladiator!

Your character is going to fight the champion of Rome! Will your character win or lose? Do they escape, or become champion themselves?

Here are some things to think about your character.

1) Is your character feeling happy, sad, confused or excited?

2) Why is your character feeling happy, sad etc?

3) Why did they decide to become a gladiator? Is it by choice, or were they forced, like Julius?

4) In your story, your character is fighting the champion of Rome. Who is the champion?

5) Is it a happy ending, or a sad ending?

I hope that sounds fun! I can’t wait to read your stories!

Speak again next week!

Gary

And Woodingdean got writing! They let their imaginations run wild and wrote some wonderful pieces about their gladiators, have a look below:

Hi Gary!

We really enjoyed the task this week and have produced some great stories. Nearly all the animals ended up being the champion and lots had chosen to be gladiators! There’s also a bit of nervous pooing happening… We have sent a small selection for you to read.

This week we have won Pickwick the Punctuality penguin after he went missing! He told us lots of new jokes. Here’s one…

Knock knock

Who’s there?

Broken pencil

Broken pencil who?

Oh never mind, it’s pointless!

Speak to you next week,

4PA

Jessica part 1

Jessica part 2

Jessica part 3

Ivy May part 1

Ivy May part 2

Ivy May part 3

Finley Part 1

Finley Part 2

Dana Part 1

Dana Part 2

Teddy

They were all so good, we posted them all! Fluffy unicorns and funny poos! Oh what next!

Till next time! x

We hiked all the way up to Woodingdean to say HI!

Woodingdean Primary school very kindly invited us to sit in their classroom and listen to them read their author’s book ‘Julius Zebra: Rumble with the Romans!’, so we packed our bags and hiked up the giant hill in Brighton and see them, we took some pics of them too!

They look so engrossed! Some of the class read out loud and you should have heard the accents! They brought Julius to life!

Thankyou for the invite Woodingdean, I am sure we will meet again, keep reading!

Where does a fish keep its money? In a riverbank!

Woodingdean have sent off their drawings of animals to Gary and they are pretty wonderful, have a peek below!

Dear Gary

We have all sorts of pets in our class. Some of us have cats, some have dogs. There are also fish, chinchillas, gerbils, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, chickens and tortoises. Finley doesn’t have any pets but he wishes he had a pet koala, Anya would like some chickens, Teddy would like a bear (his name IS Teddy).

We really enjoyed drawing the animals and have learnt a lot about drawing cartoons. Rabbits were particularly popular to draw as its Easter. We have attached some of the best drawings for you to look at.

We can’t wait to meet you!

4PA

Leona

Teddy

Jasmine

Naima

Ivy May

Anya

Mason

Easter is over, tummies are full of chocolate and everyone is rested, so we are back to Julius Zebra! Gary has decided to ramp up these fab illustrations to the next level, read on and find out what the next task is:

Hello everybody!

I hope you had a fun Easter break!

Thank you for your BRILLIANT (as always) drawings! You have crazy pets!!!

This week, I’d like you to draw your pets as GLADIATORS! I’ve attached two sheets to help you. There are helmets, weapons, shin pads, all sorts of things! Also, have a flick through the book to see if there’s any other types of armour or weapons you’d like to dress your pet up in.

Anyway, good luck dressing up your pets and I can’t wait to see the results!

Gary

Woodingdean are a bunch of comedians!

Remember Gary sent a joke to his class in his first email? Well they responded with some very funny ones…

We love cats and have some good jokes for you:

Q: What do you call a nocturnal cat?

A: A meeowl

(Dana)

Q:What’s the best way to describe a cat?

A: Purrrrfect

(Jasmine O)

Q: What do you call a tall cat?

A: Top cat

(Teddy)

This week, Gary has set the class quite the task. They have to draw their own animal using a similar technique to how the class drew their version of Julius – using shapes first then adding the detail.

I would like you to draw a shape for the head, a shape for the body, draw arms and legs, add a nose, eyes, ears and a tail, then add a pattern or texture. you could draw a cartoon based on your pet, or any animal you like. But if you break it down into these easy stages, you will find it extremely easy. I’ve included some drawings as suggestions for shapes etc.

Next week we’ll dress up your character!