To be disappointed with school about this English lesson

[Dancergirl]

Next week at dd's school they are 'looking at story structure and learning how to develop character based on the 'Mr Men' and 'Little Miss' books'

Really?? Mr Men books are terribly written. This is Year 5. There are so many better books that could have been used.

I cannot abide mr tickle, he's creepy.

The children will most probably enjoy it, that is what matters. There are many different styles of writing so yabu abit. I see where you are coming from though.

They study so many books and so many writing styles that i think a slightly fun end of term projects fine. The characters are memorable so it might be a good way to look at character as a start point.

Because they're formulaic. (Spelling?!?!)
I'm sure they won't be the only texts studied.

Have to agree. Don't think the Mr Men are age appropriate anymore for Yr 5 pupils.

I agree they're badly written, but if it's character development I can see how they could be useful.

I don't see an issue. It's about deconstructing the literature, and the Mr Men books are a simplistic/fun format to begin with. Perhaps your child can have a well-rounded reason as to why this isn't a great formula for a children's book as part of the class discussion?

It's the end of term. Don't know about Year 5, but at secondary all the tests etc are done. I spend the last few weeks desperately trying to remind them English can be just about fun and the love of books.

MaQueen, not for reading age, but this is different from testing those skills. It's about understanding how language works, character development, how and why certain words and sentences are used, the flow, how you know it's targeted at a certain age group etc. Like a science experiment, but with language.

So what do you think the teacher should be doing instead?

I would object to using the Mr Men and Little Miss books because of the sexism in them.

I can see why they are used:

Introduce the character and setting
The character has a flaw/problem
Something happens to change/solve flaw/problem
The character lives happily ever after

It is a standard story format but would not be too daunting a length for the less able students.

I am see why you would look at those books in terms of developing character, you could then look at the stereotyping and move on to how to avoid that and develop more complex characters.
The stories are all centered around the characters and their... Characteristics, and how that affects their interactions. Again I can see how you could easily build on that from such a simple starting point.
I think YABU.

I suspect they'll be split into groups and have to give a presentation about their book.

They are short enough to get the subject taught and presentations from each group and to have a different book each.

It's no so much about the content/book but the skills they are being taught.

Exactly Samine and the flaw is named and the book proves the flaw exists. I'm pretty sure the teacher would discuss other books they've done and say how we got an idea of the characters in those books using the same methods in Mr Men but more subtly.

It depends how it's done.

We use children's picture books at A level English as part of the course. I've used kids books to teach variations on narrative structure to year 9. I've also used Mr men/little miss books as an introduction to fatal flaws when looking at tragic heroes.

I'd hope no parent of my secondary classes felt they could write my lessons off.

Give the teacher the benefit of the doubt, unless there's a history of lessons lacking challenge.

Miss books because of the sexism in them
Will could be part of the lesson.

They are shit books mainly ( except Mr Mean) but all the children will be familiar with them and the format which is used over and over again.

The more able children will be able to critique some of the issues that arise that make them less good than some other books.