Today we paired up and took each other on a blindfolded 'trust' walk. This was our motivation for writing for the next two weeks. We also unpacked an exemplar based on the motivation, looking for the language features we will aim to include in our writing. These features include: similes, personification, repetition, short sentences (for effect), a variety of sentence starters and sophisticated language.
By Wednesday the children need to form an idea, around the motivation, that they can use for a writing topic. This could be about being lost, trusting someone or being in darkness.
The Exemplar
Blackness wrapped its cruel arms around me as I huddled beneath the rocky outcrop. I was trapped. Trapped in my uncomfortable shelter. Trapped with endless hours waiting for me to endure. Trapped by my fear. Far from my source of comfort.
The sky, black as coal, failed to emit even a flicker of hope. A blanket of threatening cloud had descended, covering the land with its cloak of darkness. To realise that above that cloud the moon shone like a beacon and the stars twinkled their comforting light, brought huge frustration. Reaching my hand out of my crude shelter, I hoped to feel a breath of wind. Some power that would pull the blanket of cloud away and reveal the light I so desperately sought. Stillness. No breeze. No hope. I was trapped.
My mind wandered back over the events that had led me to my current predicament. A late afternoon argument with my father had caused my blood to boil. What was the argument over? Pathetic really, a minor disagreement about Walter (my much loved border collie), but that was just the tip of the iceberg. We had been duelling for days. In the storm of the argument I had run off. Solitude and escape were what I was seeking. Ironically, it was the solitude that I now wanted to escape from.
Running through the cool enclosure of pines had felt good, so good that I had run for much longer than I intended. Tendrils of sunlight reached down through the canopy of pine needles, beckoning me onwards. As I sucked in the pine-scented air, my mind began to clear. Being away from my father felt good; I wanted that feeling to last as long as possible. So on and on I ran. The only company I would have liked was that of Walter. The forest petered out and I found myself in a more barren place. Clusters of rosemary bushes clung to the earth among the loose shingle that crunched beneath my feet.
Looking up, I noticed that an approaching canopy of dark cloud was overtaking the sun that scorched my path. Its approach was dramatic, and held my gaze a moment too long. A moment when I was suddenly aware that the ground beneath my feet was not there anymore.
Rocks, scrub, rosemary, clouds, flashed before my eyes, earth, sky, earth, sky … nothing.
Walter, where are you? As I slowly became conscious my heart yearned for my trusty companion. I didn’t need my eyes, as long as Walter was by my side; his eyes would be my eyes. Walter!
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