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What's Robert Swindell's 'Room 13' about?

8 replies

ampere · 05/10/2010 15:35

DS2 has been asked to make his own 'room 13' and be able to discuss what he's put in it and why!

Gimme a clue someone!

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prh47bridge · 05/10/2010 16:41

A school (Bottomtop Middle!) takes a trip to Whitby. They stay in the creepy Crow's Nest Hotel. There is no room 13 but at midnight things change. The number 13 appears on the door to the linen cupboard next to room 12, only to disappear in the morning. The main character, Fliss, realises that the hotel is occupied by Dracula and that one of her friends is under his influence. She and her best friend must stop him before he claims another victim...

Hope that helps.

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clam · 05/10/2010 17:15

Funnily enough, I have a copy of the book right here in front of me on my desk!!
Anyway, don't spoil the end for him (in case they haven't got that far) but there's a Dracula's coffin complete with Himself in there.
Also, various kids are "drawn" to collect random items throughout the story; a torch, a stick of rock, a pebble, a kite with a cross as its backbone. These are then utilised to deal with Dracula at the end.

Hope this helps.

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ampere · 05/10/2010 18:50

It does, thanks! BUT thing is - do we/HE in his own Room 13 put random object which MIGHT help in the slaughter of Dracula (bearing in mind he also needs to be able to justify his choices!!) or just scary things??

Do the kids just collect the stuff or is it all found in Room 13?

IF teachers are going to set this stuff in the full knowledge the average 9 year old cannot do this homework unaided, please supply us with guidance if not the bleddy 'Learning Objective'!

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ampere · 05/10/2010 18:55

I am also assisting in the construction of 'safety goggles' - a Y7 science homework project. Again, is DS1 doing it to demonstrate he recognises the dangers in the laboratory (in which case we'll show initiative and buy a pair of BS 2005467B rated safety goggles on ebay - no point reinventing the wheel..) OR is he supposed to demonstrate creativity in which case why isn't this in DT not Science??

LO, people, LO!

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pointydog · 05/10/2010 19:16

Doesn't your son know the story? Surey that is the point.

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ampere · 05/10/2010 20:30

Yes, he has had the story read to him.

The homework asks him to construct his own room 13. A GCSE English student would think a little laterally and would think up objects that, in their own right, might appear 'pointless' and mundane (ie a torch, a stick of rock, a pebble, a kite with a cross as its backbone)towards the task of destroying a vampire. They'd also know the popular attributes of a vampire, and then they'd be able to argue their selection of objects.

A nine year old hears a scary story (which they like) then, after perhaps moving past the idea they have to construct a Room 13 straight out of the book, thinks the homework is 'build a model of a room and fill it with scary stuff'.

That isn't exactly what he's been asked to do, is it?

Hence he perhaps needs help via discussion- easier for me to do if I know what the friggen book is about.

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pointydog · 05/10/2010 22:00

Is the homework task not written down then?

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ampere · 06/10/2010 08:00

"We have been studying RS's book 'Room 13'. Homework task is to make your own Room 13. What objects would you put in it? Write a short piece saying why you chose those objects".

If a DC puts a ghost/a spider in their R13, the written bit says 'Because it's scary.'

A DC wouldn't necessarily put a piece of rope/a rock/a torch or whatever in R13 (complete with a plausible ghost catching explanation) because the objects used in the story to catch the vampire weren't actually to be found in R13 at all, were they?