Y6 Yorkshire, Humber and East Midlands 2018
Welcome to the 2018-19 Reading Gladiators challenges. Let the reading begin!
There are schools in this group:
Updates
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Submission by St Joseph’s Catholic Primary, Derby
Reading Gladiators Takeover
This project was a blast and will continue into the next generation. It has helped the understanding of reading for the younger children at our educational school. We think that this legacy shall carry on in the future of reading gladiators and we enjoyed going to talk to children about the power of reading.
Copy and paste this link to read a report from our school website.
http://stjosephsblogs.net/2019/06/24/reading-gladiators-takeover/ -
Submission by St Joseph’s Catholic Primary, Derby
The Odyssey
We really enjoyed the story of Odysseus (though we couldn't decide whether he was a good leader or not), and we especially liked the ending - this made us think he really was not to be messed with!
We decided to make a piece of art that showed all of the different obstacles Odysseus came across, from the lotus fruits to the bag of winds, and how he overcame or escaped them. We made these out of clay then created a stop-motion video to recreate the journey.
Comments
6th May 2019, 9:10pm
This is a very original submission and I like the way you have represented the obstacles overcome by Odysseus. Your stop-motion video was very enjoyable and added an extra dimension to your work. Well done. -
Submission by Churchfield Primary School, Barnsley
The Odyssey map by Churchfield Primary School
We loved reading about Odysseus' dramatic and eventful journey.
Comments
6th May 2019, 8:48pm You should be very proud of your map. It is a real work of art and you have selected great quotes to show the development of Odysseus as a character. -
Planning our challenge
Some great teamwork this afternoon as we plan our challenge submission.
The children are very excited about representing the journey of Odysseus.
Some quick book reviews from the children:
– This book shows us how Odysseus fought to get back to his love (Olivia)
– This shows tales of the past and how life might have been like in Odysseus’ time (George)
– It educates us about Greek myths and how to handle being a leader (Julia)
– An exciting and thrilling adventure across the sea! (Joseph)Comments
5th Apr 2019, 10:16am You've summed up The Odyssey perfectly! I think your reviews would tempt other readers to pick it up. -
Odysseus – what sort of man was he?
We have enjoyed looking at the character of Odysseus over the first half of The Odyssey.
We think he is definitely a strong leader in some respects, as he is followed by his crew into all sorts of situations, and we were impressed by his quick thinking when they met the Cyclops.
However he is also a very boastful, and maybe arrogant. He didn’t need to shout at the Cyclops after defeating him, and he was too proud about the bag of wind – this made the rest of the crew curious.
We wonder whether the rest of the crew will eventually tire of Odysseus’s mistakes or if they will remain loyal to him.
Comments
20th Mar 2019, 9:46pm Very thoughtful reflections. Are leaders always flawed I wonder? -
Submission by St Joseph’s Catholic Primary, Derby
Tamburlaine’s Elephant collage
To represent the change of Rusti, we created a collage. The colours from dark to light show the change in his personality - at the start of book he was a darker character, as he was a warrior, but at the end he had a heart and cared for Kavi and the elephants.
Comments
4th Mar 2019, 10:00am
Goodness this must have taken you a great deal of time. Very clever use of colour here to show the changes. I am sure your stunning artwork was a great stimulus for an interesting discussion about how Rusti's environment shaped his sense of identity throughout the story. Well done! -
Submission by Springfield Primary School, Derby
Tamburlaine’s Elephants
Springfield Year 6 reading gladiators have created this to represent Kavi's changing sense of identity.
Comments
4th Mar 2019, 9:11am Some powerful images here Springfield. Well done. -
Tamburlaine’s Elephants
As we approach the end of the book, we have been discussing the likelihood of different events occurring. Lots of us suspect Kavi is plotting something as he has violent thoughts – but will he punish or spare Rusti?
This has been a really enjoyable story so far and the historical and cultural differences have created lots of discussion.
Comments
16th Feb 2019, 9:28pm
It will be interesting to find out what actually happens. Were the clues there all along,or was the ending a big surprise? -
Submission by Springfield Primary School, Derby
Strange Star
Springfield's Strange Star mini-challenge
Comments
9th Dec 2018, 9:40pm What a great effort Springfield. You had clearly thought very hard about the extract and really brought the characters to life by using great expression. I think you really got under their skin.10th Dec 2018, 5:22pm Hello Springfield Gladiators! Thank you for your submission, which we enjoyed listening to. We hope you enjoyed the book. -
Character analysis
We are loving Strange Star so far – it is certainly very dark, tense and mysterious.
Each of our Reading Gladiators has been assigned a character to study. Later on, we will all be part of a presentation about each of these characters, explaining what we know, how we know it, and commenting on how the characters change. We’ll be looking for some of the ways Emma Carroll has characterised within her writing, and this will allow us to compare similarities and differences too.
As you can see above, one of our Gladiators has already started – here is a short biography about Lizzie, written in an English lesson. What do you think?
Comments
20th Nov 2018, 2:48pm Impressive work! I like the way you have picked up on Lizzie's desire to be independent. I wonder what impact this will have on the story. -
St. Anne’s Gladiators
The children absolutely loved the story and couldn’t wait to share the ending with me. Here they are sorting out quotes from text and matching them to 1 of the story’s key themes.
Excited to start the next book now!Comments
9th Nov 2018, 12:00am We are delighted that you enjoyed The Secret Horses of Briar Hill and hope you are as enthusiastic about Strange Star. -
Submission by Churchfield Primary School, Barnsley
‘A Bittersweet Story’ by Churchfield Primary School
Our Gladiators loved reading 'The Secret Horses of Briar Hill'. We decided to split the page in to a 'bitter' side and a 'sweet' side. The bitter side includes Briar Hill hospital, the Sisters, Volkrig and Benny. We placed the colourful items, the spectral shield and the pencils on the sweet side, as well as Thomas, Bog and the horses in the mirrors as they offer Emmaline hope and comfort. We decided to place Anna and Foxfire in the middle as Emmaline cares for them but they are constantly threatened by darkness/death. We chose pencils to replicate Levi Pinfold's illustrations.
Comments
6th Nov 2018, 11:53am Just Imagine comment: we like the way that you have gone back to the story to think about so many different elements and decide how they relate to the bittersweet theme of this challenge. There were lots of details for us to enjoy. -
Symbolism and Allegory
Today we discussed where we could see the symbolism of Levi Pinfold’s artwork, as well as the allegories dotted throughout the story.
We spoke about the Black Horse, Foxfire and Emmaline’s attic space, and finished by reflecting that the spectral shield might be to bring colour into her life – the message could be one of happiness to come.
Comments
16th Oct 2018, 3:50pm Fantastic St Joseph's! I'm so glad your honed in on colour - as it plays such an importance part in this story. -
Springfield’s reading gladiators!
Our Year 6 reading gladiators group are very excited to read the first book!!
Comments
8th Oct 2018, 9:32pm Hello Springfield Gladiators. We are looking forwar to finding out what you think about your new books this year. Happy reading everyone. -
Y6 St Joseph’s
Here is our Reading Gladiator group for the year, all looking forward to getting stuck into the wonderful book, ‘The Secret Horses of Briar Hill’. We’ve already spent a lot of time poring over the illustrations by Levi Pinfold, and have had a look at a couple of his other books (‘Black Dog’ and A.F. Harrold’s ‘Song From Somewhere Else’) as well.
Apologies for the sideways photograph!
Comments
3rd Oct 2018, 4:44pm You're the right way up now :) The illustrations are very special and complement the story well. It's great to see you seeking out other books by the same illustrator - well done! -
Year 6 Thorpepark
The children are so enthusiastic about this book! We have taken over one of the training rooms at Thorpepark. We have met 3 times already.
Comments
20th Sep 2018, 12:25pm Hi Thorpe Park Reading Gladiators! A big wave from from the RG team. We are looking forward to following your journey this year. We hope you enoy the challenges. -
Let the challenge begin
Hello to all Year 6 Reading Gladiators in the Yorkshire, Humber and the East Midlands We are looking forward to hearing what you think about this year’s books. Be sure to post an update and tell us how you are getting on.
Comments