Issued:
Due by:
Tuesday 3rd November
Thursday 5th November
Year 2/3/4 Big Write homework
L:I To write a letter from a crew member on the boat to his wife explaining what has happened.
Your Big Writing this week is a cold piece of work. This means this is a week where help at home should be minimal.
Next week’s Big writing homework is also attached and this is a warm piece of writing, where as much help as
wanted can be given at home. Doing both types of assessed writing helps us with accurate writing assessments and
helps you as parents become aware of their new year group targets.
This term we are focussing on the book ‘Ice Trap’ which retells the story of the famous explorer Ernest
Shackleton. This week children are reading up to the point where the crew’s boat was in trouble and Shackleton
decided to take 5 men with him to get help.
When your child is completing their letter they should think about:

Who is the letter to? How do we start a letter? (Address, Date, Dear)

How has the journey been so far?

What has happened this morning?

How are you feeling? What do you think will happen now whilst Shackleton and 5 men are away? How will we
end the letter? (Conclusion paragraph, Yours sincerely)
In the letter your child should try to include:

A range of punctuation including; capital letters, full stops, commas in a list, exclamation marks, questions
and commas for embedded clauses.

Imaginative vocabulary including adjectives, similes, metaphors to describe the scenery

Emotive language.

Accurate spelling.

Connectives including; and, but, so, because, however
A simple example using these targets:
Peter Hardwick
Endurance Ship
Thursday 5th September 1901
Dear My Darling Wife,
I am not sure when you will receive this letter but I feel it is my duty to write and inform you what has happened to
me so far on my expedition.
All was going well. Triumphantly, we travelled many miles through the ice pack. Smoothly, Endurance moved through
the waters but this was only whilst it was summer. Week after week, the ship worked southward, weaving and
charging through the sheets of floating ice, finding open patches of indigo blue sea, and dodging icebergs. We were
trying to go as far south as possible just like we had planned with Shackleton so we had fewer miles to walk to the
South Pole with all our equipment.
Unfortunately, a gale began blowing, packing the ice tighter. Before any of us realised what was happening the ice
had hardened around Endurance like cement. It was frozen like a nut stuck in a chocolate bar. The ice around
Endurance drifted, carrying Endurance and us with it. We were powerless. Shackleton kept a brave face and
reassured us we would all be alright. It was disheartening watching us drift away from the coast which we had
striven so hard to reach. Quickly, temperatures started plummeting because summer was nearly over and this is
when our new adventure began. Unplanned. Unwanted.
For several months, we stayed as a loyal crew hoping the ice would set Endurance free. Every night, we played cards
and told jokes however as the days passed boredom set in and hope began to die. Suddenly, the ice hardened and
started to crush Endurance. Shackleton ordered us to leave the boat and to take our supplies onto the ice. We were
all nervous but we had faith in our leader. On the ice, life wasn’t too bad. We ate well - there were lots of seals and
penguins to eat because it was spring.
A few days ago, Endurance took a turn for the worse and upended and sank. That’s when our hopes of surviving
began to sink too. We knew what the ice took the ice kept. For over 15 days, we have been optimistic, keeping look
out for gap in the ice which we could use to sail away. The gap has not yet come.
This morning, Shackleton took the brave decision to leave the ice on the strongest of the sailing boats. He plans to
sail to South Georgia and get help. He chose his 5 strongest men and I was one of them. I hope and pray we make it
there and that we can save the crew we are leaving behind. I dream every day about seeing you again. The only
belonging I have left is your photograph and this is coming with me on my journey like a guardian angel. Thoughts of
you will keep me strong. They will push me forward during my journey into the unknown.
All my love and best wishes,
Your loving husband,
Peter Hardwick