HELP!!! Any primary teachers who can help me with advice please

[Stupidhippie]

so I have a interview for a teaching assistant position and I need to do a group English task for a small group of year 4 children! I didn’t receive the email until last min and I have no ideas on what to do for it is there any primary school teachers who could help me with a idea please

[DMLady]

Not sure when you have to do the task but if you have access to a photocopier beforehand, then one activity I used to do at the start of every year was to show children a series of laminated pictures (from an age appropriate picture book of your choice) — you don’t need many; maybe about four or five — and get them to decide on an order for the pictures that tells a story (it doesn’t have to be the same order/story as in the book) then come up with vocab for each picture, then write a story based on the pictures as they’ve ordered them. (This would take several sessions, not just one! I’d get them to decide on the order and come up with vocab in small groups, then write the story on their own — I used it as an assessment exercise.) There is no ‘right’ order or ‘right’ story — but at the end, I’d show them the ‘actual’ book and read them that story.

[Primrose413]

Could you do something about generating descriptive vocabulary for a setting? Give them a picture of a scene with lots in it to describe - what can they see, hear, feel, smell. You could even have some objects to add to the sensory experience. Once they’ve come up with nouns you could expand them with two adjectives and get them to improve their vocabulary too!

[Stupidhippie]

Thank you theses are great ideas! It’s on Friday and it’s for 20 mins. I was looking before for a picture book which is age appropriate but I struggled to find one even an image or picture I couldn’t find one that was appropriate for year 4. So you have any books or image ideas I could use? Thank you so much for your reply’s they have been really helpful xxx

[Primrose413]

There’s Window by Jeannie Baker. It doesn’t have any words but shows a view from a window as it changes from the countryside and is built on. Could be good for sensory ideas and you could split the group so one did the beginning window and one did the end window

[Stupidhippie]

@Primrose413 thank you for your ideas and help! I couldn’t find the Window but I found another by the same author ❤️❤️