Year 7 Homework Booklet for English BRJ English Department: Year 7 homework booklet Topics for the year: Autobiography (2 set homeworks) History of language (1 set homework) ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens (1 set homework) Original writing – Escape (1 set homework) Introduction to Shakespeare (1 set homework) Introduction to poetry (2 set homeworks) Advertising (1 set homework) Debates – speaking and listening unit (1 set homework) Class novel – ‘Skellig’, ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ or ‘Point Blanc’ (2 set homeworks) N.B. The sequence for the teaching of these topics is flexible BRJ English Department: Year 7 homework booklet AUTOBIOGRAPHY HOMEWORK RESEARCH HOMEWORK Interview a member of your family about your childhood. Use the space below to record any interesting facts or anecdotes they tell you. Remember that you will be able to use this information in your autobiography. Questions you might like to ask: What were my first words? How old was I when I first started to walk? What was my first house like? What was I good at when I was younger? What was the funniest thing I ever did? My findings BRJ English Department: Year 7 homework booklet AUTOBIOGRAPHY HOMEWORK AUTOBIOGRAPHY KIT LIST For your next lesson, you must compile an ‘autobiography kit list’ to help you to make your own autobiography. Try to find everything on the list below to make your autobiography the best in the class! KIT LIST: A recent photo of yourself A baby photo of yourself Pictures of places you have visited on holiday Pictures of places you have lived String or ribbon to tie the autobiography together Any glitter or stickers or other bits to decorate the autobiography (though you will be responsible for any mess!) Anything else you think you will need! BRJ English Department: Year 7 homework booklet HISTORY OF LANGUAGE HOMEWORK ACCENT AND DIALECT FACTFILE! Complete the fact file below using people on television/ in films with accents. Who have you heard with this accent? Can you give any examples of their dialect? BRJ English Department: Year 7 homework booklet Area/Accent ‘A CHRISTMAS CAROL’ HOMEWORK A Christmas Carol: Attitudes toward Christmas Charles Dickens is associated with Christmas as we know it, mainly because of his book A Christmas Carol where we meet the miserly Scrooge and the poor Cratchit family. Scrooge realises the error of his ways with the help of four ghosts, Marley’s ghost and the ghosts of Christmas past, Christmas present and Christmas future, and eventually he becomes more generous. 1. Sort out the statements below into 2 lists: those in favour of Christmas and those against Christmas. 2. Which statements do you think Scrooge might have made? Why? 3. In your own words, explain Scrooge’s attitude toward Christmas. ‘.. the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.’ ‘I don’t make merry myself at Christmas, and I can’t afford to make idle people merry. I help to support the establishments I have mentioned; they cost enough: and those who are badly off must go there.’ ‘What’s Christmas time to you but a time for paying bills without money; a time for finding yourself a year older, and not an hour richer?’ ‘I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round ... as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time.’ ‘And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!’ ‘At this festive season of the year it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir.’ BRJ English Department: Year 7 homework booklet ORIGINAL WRITING HOMEWORK SYNONYM CHALLENGE One of the most important things to remember when completing a piece of descriptive writing is to use lots of exciting words, rather than the same one over and over again. Use the space below to make a list of different words with the same meanings (synonyms) that you can go on to use in your descriptive writing in the Escape unit. 1. Happy………………………………………………………………………………………… 2. Sad ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 3. Said…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 4. Scared……………………………………………………………………………………….. 5. Big……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 6. Small…………………………………………………………………………………………… 7. Beautiful…………………………………………………………………………………….. 8. Strong………………………………………………………………………………………… 9. Angry………………………………………………………………………………………… 10. Ran ………………………………………………………………………………………. BRJ English Department: Year 7 homework booklet INTRODUCTION TO SHAKESPEARE HOMEWORK RESEARCH TASK Use the space below to find out 10 interesting facts about William Shakespeare and his plays. Your teacher will give prizes to the students who discover the most interesting information about Shakespeare! 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. BRJ English Department: Year 7 homework booklet INTRODUCTION TO POETRY HOMEWORK SIMILES A simile is a comparison using ‘like’ or ‘as’, e.g. as cold as ice, she ran like the wind. Similes are used by writers to create a picture in the readers’ minds. Choose one of the similes below to copy on to a piece of paper and illustrate it to show the pictures the simile creates. SIMILES TO COMPLETE AND ILLUSTRATE: The moon glowed like… The air smelt as fresh as… The girls sings as sweetly as The rose petals are as delicate as… Her stomach rumbled like… Snow topped the mountain like… The child ate like… The soft breeze on her face was as gentle as… The clouds are as fluffy as… The fog covered the city like… For example BRJ English Department: Year 7 homework booklet INTRODUCTION TO POETRY HOMEWORK ONOMATOPOEIA Onomatopoeia is when a word sounds like the noise it is describing i.e. the buzz of a bee or the crack of thunder. Match these onomatopoeic words with the things they describe: Thwack Buff Purr Crunch Pop Flop Boom Someone falling into a pool a bomb going off someone hitting a tennis ball a punch a happy cat someone walking on dry leaves a champagne cork shooting out. Now think of your own onomatopoeic words for: 1. A gunshot 2. A door slamming 3. A fierce lion 4. Someone drinking through a straw 5. Someone walking in mud 6. A glass breaking 7. Sausages cooking in a pan 8. Someone eating crisps 9. A car running into another car 10. Someone tearing a piece of paper BRJ English Department: Year 7 homework booklet ADVERTISING HOMEWORK Use this sheet to write about your 3 favourite and 3 least favourite TV adverts. Make sure that you include the name of the product that is being advertised and the reasons why you like or dislike the advert. My favourite adverts My least favourite adverts BRJ English Department: Year 7 homework booklet SPEAKING AND LISTENING HOMEWORK Alliteration Fact Opinion Rhetorical Question Emotive words Speaking to the audience Three (rule of) These are called persuasive features. Make a poster which explains what each one of these features is. Don’t forget to include examples! BRJ English Department: Year 7 homework booklet CLASS NOVEL HOMEWORK Create a character profile for one of the main characters in the novel you are writing. You may draw a picture of the character too. FACTS ABOUT THE CHARACTER: PICTURE OF THE CHARACTER: BRJ English Department: Year 7 homework booklet CLASS NOVEL HOMEWORK Use this writing frame to write a review of the book you have just finished. Title of book: Author: Pages: The plot: The setting: The characters: Highlights: Any weak bits? Final verdict: Your rating (1-5 stars): BRJ English Department: Year 7 homework booklet