Diaries
If possible, have an example of diary text to share with the children. Older children may enjoy extracts from the Adrian Mole or Anne Frank diaries, or you may wish to link with history work with some of the extracts from Queen Victoria's diary.
There are plenty of diaries available online for you to select extracts from, ranging from those of war heroes to pop stars. This may involve some editing but should provide a real treat for your class.
After sharing a few diary extracts, ask children to tell you how a diary is different from an ordinary story. Make a list of the key features of a diary:
- Written in the first person - I went to the shops (not he went to the shops)
- Refers to events that have happened
- Refers to people in their life
- Emotions - diaries tell how people feel about what is happening and has happened. (This is a key point for writing composition later on).
- The diarist's particular point of view - Adrian Mole is a prime candidate for this kind of treatment. He manages to blame just about everyone else for his problems and often does not realise what is going on, although the reader does.
- Secrets - A diary is often a place where the writer can write down his or her thoughts and secrets in confidence.
Bearing all these points in mind, children can be asked to write a series of diary entries.
A week of Diary Writing
After some preliminary work on key features of a diary (see above), children are ready to use Lost to produce their own fictional diaries.
Their task is:
Imagine, as Sharon or Wayne, that you keep a diary. Write five entries, those for the two days before the event, the entry for the day itself, and the entries for two days afterwards.
Each day as a class, review ideas for what might be going on. Use word level and sentence level time to discuss what may happen in Sharon and/or Wayne's life (remember to include the clues given during the message stream). Also link to any grammar work that you wish to cover.
During text level work (20 - 30 mins), ask the children to write the entry for that particular day. At the end of the week, have a sharing session where children can exchange diaries and compare with each other (you may wish to only write 4 entries and spend the fifth day 'finishing off').
Here are some ideas for discussion for each diary entry.
Two days before the event
Give a basic introduction to the everyday life of Sharon and Wayne. Remember, it is close to Wayne's birthday. How is he feeling? What would he like for his birthday? How is Sharon getting on at school? Who are her friends? How do Sharon and Wayne feel about their situation at home?
The day before the event
Wayne's birthday. Does Sharon get him anything? Does he like his presents? Is Sharon missing her Dad? What about the French homework and scratched CD? How does she get on with her brother? Did Wayne see his Dad this morning or did he have to open his presents alone?
The day of the event
When and why did Sharon and Wayne leave? What made them decide not to go to school? How did they end up at the Warehouse? How did they feel when they got home?
The day after the event
How do they feel after the event? Did Sharon speak to her Dad? Did either of the children get into trouble? What did the school teacher say? What did they friends say? How did Wayne's Dad react?
The days after the event
What kind of promises might the children have made to their parents? Are the children going to school today? Is Sharon going to talk to her mum more about her work worries? Have either of the children changed their routine now?
