Literacy-Linked English Homework Sheets
This is a collection of homework sheets that I’ve written.They can be used to support the “Literacy Hour”.
I’ve had lots of feedback from other teachers
who have used the sheets. Many have found a use
for the activities in the classroom as well as for homework.
Adverts
To help you do this homework it might be a good idea to gather together some examples of adverts from newspapers and magazines.
Look at the adverts in the press. How do they try and make you buy the thing they are selling? Look out for slogans and phrases that they use. How is the advert set out? How big is the writing on the advert? Where is it? Does the advert use a picture to get your attention?
For homework I would like you to design a magazine advert for one of the following:
a new chocolate bar
a fizzy drink
a shampoo
a toothpaste
a toy
Advertising Slogans
You’ll need to watch a small amount of television (or flick through some magazines) to do this homework!
There are lots of adverts on TV and in magazines. Companies fight for your attention in an effort to sell you their products. What adverts can you remember seeing recently on TV? Sometimes the most memorable adverts are the ones where something funny happens in them or the ones that have a catchy theme tune. Often, though, you remember the products featured in the advert because of the phrase used at the end of the advert. “Only . . . have the answer” is an example of an advertising slogan.
For your homework I would like you to make a collection of advertising slogans. You could ask members of your family about any they can remember. You could build up your collection from using adverts on TV or in magazines. Bring your collection of slogans into school.
Crazy Commentary
If you’ve ever seen any sport on television then you’ll know that the job of a sports commentator is to tell the viewer exactly what’s happening even when the viewer can see what is happening!
Your homework is to imagine that you are a commentator. Instead of talking about a football match or motor race I want you to commentate on an everyday activity.
So you could do the commentary on someone washing the dishes, making the dinner or doing something completely different. It’s up to you.
It might help you if you listen to some commentators on the television or radio.
You don’t have to write down your commentary . . . you could record it if you wish!
Schooldays Interview
For your homework this week I would like you to conduct
an interview with a member of your family about their time at school. You’re going to
ask them questions about their schooldays.
Before you start your interview I would like you to prepare about ten questions to ask them. Write them down in advance so you don’t forget them. Try and make the questions interesting and try and avoid questions that will just produce “Yes” and “No” answers.
Tape the interview if you can, as this will help you write down the questions and the answers. Bring your written versions (your ‘transcripts’) of the interview into school.
My Favourite food
What foods do you like eating the most? What do you like having best for tea?
For your homework I want you to plan your perfect meal. It has to be the meal that you would most want to eat.
Think carefully about what dish you want for the
main part of your tea. What would you like for pudding? Do you want a drink with your tea?
Would you like to begin your tea with a starter (e.g. soup)?
When you’ve decided on your meal write the meal down in the form of a menu. Think carefully about what a menu looks like. You may have seen menus on trips to pubs or restaurants. Places like McDonalds also have a type of menu.
Proverbs
You may have heard people say, “Too many cooks spoil the broth,” and wondered what they are talking about. That is an example of a proverb. It’s a saying that has been passed on, generation by generation, from a long time ago.
Below are the starts of some proverbs. For homework I would like you to see if you can find out how they finish. You’ll have to ask people at home to help you. When you bring your answers back to school we’ll be talking about what each proverb means.
A stitch in time . . .
A bird in the hand . . .
Look before . . .
You can’t teach an old dog . . .
Look after the pennies . . .
A miss is . . .
Don’t look a gift horse . . .
Can you find any other examples of sayings or proverbs?
Class Talk
Next week I would like everyone to give a short talk to the rest of the class on something that they like doing.
Your homework is to prepare for this talk. You will only have to speak for around 5 minutes. Your talk could be on one of your hobbies, on a favourite book or film, on your computer, or on something that really interests you. It’s up to you what subject you choose.
Try and work out carefully what you’re going to say. You could write a few notes on a piece of paper to help you. It’s a good idea to write the order that you’re going to talk about things.
Visual aids will make your talk more interesting. Visual aids are things like pictures, posters, objects or props. You can even write on the class board if you wish.
Design a Machine
Are there any jobs that you don’t like doing around the house?
Are there any tasks that other people in your family don’t like doing?
Imagine that you could buy special machines to do the tasks that nobody likes doing. I want you to invent a machine to do one of those tasks.
Draw a picture of your machine and label your picture to show what parts do what. Write down why you’ve decided to invent the machine and tell me a little bit about how it works.
Mythical Monsters
At school you’ve been looking at myths and legends. The myths and legends of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome were dominated by tales of heroes, gods and monsters.
For this homework you will be looking at the monsters of myth and legend. I would like you to create your own monster. Draw a picture of it and label your picture to tell me what each part does. Then write a paragraph telling me about your monster. Tell me about where it lives, what it does, how it behaves and what it has done to the heroes that have come across it.
If you’re having trouble creating your monster, try the old Greek myth trick… simply take the head of one animal and combine it with the body of another. You can always add wings and a tail.
Alien Explanation
If an alien came down to Earth from another planet he would probably be very confused by a lot of things he would find here.
Look around your house. There are a lot of things in your house that would confuse an alien. You probably take a lot of these things for granted. Things like a television, a video recorder, a computer, a vacuum cleaner, and a washing machine would probably be unknown to the alien.
Imagine an alien did land on Earth and that you made friends with it. Choose an item from the list above, or use an idea of your own, and explain what it is to the alien. Write your explanation down. Think about what the thing is used for, how you use it and how it works. You could draw a labelled diagram to help you explain things.
A Day After
Have you ever read a book and wondered what might have happened to the characters in the book after the story had finished?
If you haven’t then now it is your chance to think about it.
Use the storybook that you are reading at home at the moment. I want you to continue the story from where the book ends. What happens to all the people in the story the day after the end of the book? Maybe they have another adventure.
Use your imagination!
Once Upon A Time
Can you remember a story that you particularly liked when you were younger? Perhaps it is a story that your parents read to you or that you heard in the infants at school.
For your homework I would like you to try and remember as much about the story as possible. Write down, in order, the main events that happen in the story.
Remember to think how the story starts and how the story ends. Make a note of all the people (the characters).
TV Conversation
Choose two characters from a TV program that you watch (or from a book that you’ve read). Imagine the two characters talking together.
I want you to write down the conversation that they would have, in the form of a script.
For example:
Chuckie: I don’t think we should do that, Tommy.
Tommy: You’re just scared, Chuckie.
Chuckie: Yeah, but what if they find us?
You can make the conversation up or you can use one that you’ve heard them actually have. Try to write the dialogue in the way that they speak. Listen carefully to how they say things.
Bring your script into school. Don’t tell anyone which two characters you’ve chosen as we may well try and guess.
Are we there yet?
“Are we there yet?” is a phrase young children often say on long car journeys.
I would like you to imagine a family that is going on holiday. They are inside their car driving down the motorway. Imagine what is happening in the car. Think about what they might be doing and what they might be talking about.
What I want you to do is write down part of this car journey. Instead of writing it as a story I would like you to write it in the form of a script. Imagine that you are writing it as part of a TV programme.
Think about what the children might want to know about the holiday. How might they behave on a long car journey? What are their parents doing?
Start off your script with . . . .
Julie: Are we there yet?
Dad: [glancing backwards] No!
Julie: When will we get there?
End your script with . . .
Julie: Are we there yet?
When I was Younger
Ask your parents if they have a funny story they can tell you about something that you did when you were younger.
If they can’t think of a funny or strange thing that happened to you then have they got a story about someone else in the family? The story could be about something that happened to them when they were younger.
Ask them questions about the story so that you know as much about it as possible.
Write the story down, in as much detail as you can, and bring your work into school.