Title of the book: The Wolves in the Wall Author/ illustrator: Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean Publisher/Year: Bloomsbury 2003

Features of the text: 2nd Person Narrative, post modernist

Notes: Year 6 Linguistic features. Use the New National Curriculum to focus on: Vocabulary, Grammar and Punctuation / Questions/Pages you would want to explore further and why

Genre: Picturebook; post modernist; horror/thriller; Modern fantasy style with nonsense influences; cautionary tale; influences from boy who cried wolf, three little pigs, little red riding hood, Alice in wonderland. Structure: Chronological; repeated structure of language (shown through dialogue); Combination of dialogue and narrative; clear beginning, middle and end; Twist at end of story; Narration: 2nd person narrative; extensive use of dialogue; dialogue and narration use different fonts; bold text used to highlight important/significant words such as verbs and adjectives; use of repetition throughout (Lucy keeps repeating, There are wolves in the walls); When discussing wolves the font is quite big but the font is small and thin for when the family talk and are discussed (symbol of weakness, being small, insignificance, fear?) Layout: Some pages have four illustrations in a comic book style layout (with solid white frame) which look at though they have been stuck on in a disjointed fashion (look like paper or photos); some illustrations (but few) have a white border to frame; text on page surrounds or frames the illustrations; change in font colour could be to symbolise light and dark; Some text falls outside of the frame (this could fall into the space which is identified as the wall); double page spread for when wolves come out of the walls (significance); text follows pattern of narrative (e.g. structured as steps for when the family are climbing the steps to the house, text gets smaller to show volume) Illustrations: Combination of photographs, cartoons and sketches; Wolves are sketched and characters are always cartoon/painted illustrations. Significant objects are photographs, e.g. Jam, Tuba, etc. Colours used inside are yellow, brown and red which show warmth in comparison to blues, blacks and whites which show cold, darkness, isolation and fear when book is set outdoors at night time. Red is used a lot on the inside which can symbolise impending danger. Wolves break out of frame which shows a lack of control. Lots of dark shading and shadows make the wolves appear more frightening in comparison to the sketches of the wolves which, at times, show the wolves as charming or funny. Lucy is often shown to the side of other characters (side of the frame) which depicts isolation and looking in on her family as opposed to being included. Blurred images show quick movement. There is one page focused on a more positive outlook which uses bright and happy colours to show a happier, positive

Varied sentence structure to help create tension, anticipation and add detail;

Simple Sentences: Lucy walked around the house.

Compound Sentences: But soon enough she closed her eyes and she was fast asleep.

Complex Sentences: Lucy was standing there, in the little hall at the back of the house, when she heard some wolves coming down the stairs.

Questioning from Characters interrogatives & imperatives

Dialogue and Narration

Rhetorical questions

Lots of use of asked and said as speech verbs

Range of punctuation used: comma, full stop, question mark, exclamation mark, ellipses, hyphen, inverted commas to mark speech

Verbs used for added tension (e.g. scrambling, nibbling, gnawing, clawing)

Adverbials of time (firstly, secondly, etc.)

Personification of wolves e.g. The biggest, fattest wolf of all was playing an old wolf melody.

Similes Quick as the flick of the wing of a bat.

Repetition If the wolves come out of the walls, its all over!

Traditional tale feature character repeats herself three times before she event happens (this is present in many traditional and fairy tales, for example, three little pigs (three visits by the wolf), Cinderella (three visits to the ball)

Intertextuality: Bad wolves, pig (traditional wolf tales), boy who cried wolf, similarity to Little Red Riding Hood in traditional tale, girl is portrayed at weak and unable to face the wolf, in comparison, Wolves in the Walls main character Lucy is depicted as brave and faces her fears to get back at the wolves).

and calm mood (sun and clear skies show use of pathetic fallacy). The characters themselves are angled and sharp with empty looking eyes which make them seem more doll like than human. Characterization: Lucy is isolated from family and has irrational fears but has elements of bravery. She uses lots of repetition to support her view about the wolves. She has a close relationship with her pig puppet who she seeks comfort, inclusion and friendship from. Family are focused on material belongings and hobbies rather than listening and believing their daughter/sibling. She tries hard to be accepted by her family. Family have stereotypical hobbies, e.g. Mother makes Jam, Father plays an instrument, and Brother plays video games. Wolves are shown to be sneaky, mischievous and are personified in the story to be like humans and have points when they are depicted as funny and charming. Setting: Typical day in the family home (mostly at night time) Themes: Bravery, fear, disconnection of family (lack of communication), nightmares, importance of material belongings

Close Reading of key pages:

The colours used in these pages

are red, yellow, brown and white.

This gives a feeling of warmth in

the house and feeling that so far

there is not a big threat.

The eye looking through the wall

suggests a truth in what Lucy has

been saying all along and shows the

reader there is something in the

walls even though her brother says

otherwise.

Some images on

this page are shown

in more of a

cartoon form e.g.

the characters

whereas there is

elements of real

images e.g. the eye.

This contradicts

what is says in the

text.

In all the images

on the page Lucy is

looking down on

her brother which

suggests he is

younger or is more

immature.

The images on the

pages are sharp

and angled

including the faces

of the characters.

This creates an

edgy/ scary

atmosphere.

Lucys pink pig is

always with her in

the pictures and

stands out as the

only pink image.

This gives the

sense that is her

comforter in the

book as no one

believes her.

Lucy is wearing a

white t-shirt which

suggests goodness

and purity. Her

brother is wearing

red which suggests

danger.

The way Lucy stands

shows she is less

confident or isolated. Her

brother only faces her to

taunt her and is not

interested in what she

has so say.

Drama Opportunities: When filling this in, make sure you add images from the page or page references so that the teacher knows what parts you are referring to Hot seating Asking children in character different questions for example, hot seating the wolves and the family at different points in the story and after the story. Recreating wolf movement Get the children to recreate sentences from the book (e.g. there were hustling noises and bustling noises, etc) and re-enact these using a range of different speeds, voices and a variety of alternative styles. Get the class to work on chanting and adding movement to their chants. Role Play Opportunity Allowing both the wolves and the family to meet each other and letting the characters interact with each other. Role playing a scene between Lucy and the pig with the pig talking to allow children to develop an understanding of the relationship between them. Freeze frames Freezing during different times of the story letting children take on the different characters roles, for example;

when the wolves are in the walls

when the wolves are in the house partying

when the family are outside Tableaux could also be an expansion of this to get children to think about how the characters are feeling and what thoughts they have. Alternatively, you can use a statue partner activity which gets the children (A and B) to take on the position of 2 characters at specific points in the story for example Lucy and her mother when no one will listen to Lucy and consider their body language. Persuasion in pairs Get children to take it in turns to be Lucy and a family member, they then have to convince the family member to believe them about something scary (they could stick with wolves or try something different such as ghosts, monsters, etc). Use this activity to work on facial expressions and body language which is required to persuade.

Literacy Opportunities (with a focus on grammar) : Ensure that the links relate to the year-group expectations. Remember, get the grammar to fit around the text and not the text around the grammar. If you want to explore connectives, but there are none in the book then create an activity that has the children add them. Consider what types of writing activities might work around the text. Make sure you have made a game/sheet and attached it to your file. Diary Writing (link to using appropriate tense consistently) Get children to pick their favourite character from the story and write a diary entry in the perspective of them retelling the events of when the wolves came out of the walls. Get them to write an entry from the wolves and compare the two entries and views in terms of thoughts, feelings and how they approached the events. Newspaper Headlines Use the story to create their own front page newspaper stories which focus on the facts, include interviews and all of the events. This can help to develop their ability to use correct tense consistently. Creative Writing Stopping the story at various points and letting the children use role play to work out what might happen next (this can be started by acting it out and then getting the children to write after) Grammar Activity Four words have been taken from Wolves in the Walls. Synonyms for these words have been added to the shades of meaning grid. The children will need to arrange the synonyms in the order of strength, and match them up with the shades of colour in the grid. The aim of this activity is that the children will begin to understand how many different words they can use to enhance their writing. This activity can be developed by children trying to find more synonyms and adding to the grid or the children can pick words they like from the book and create their own shades of meaning activity.

Lucy was standing there, in the little hall at the back of the house, when she heard some wolves coming down the stairs. They had been eating jam and toast in front of the TV and were coming back for more. Where could she go? What could she do? Using the above quote, get children into groups to answer these two questions and recreate this scene with their ideas in anyway which they wish, e.g. improvisation, role play, freeze frame, etc. Conscience alley Key questioning; Should the wolves come out of the walls and why? Should the family go back into the house? Should the family listen to Lucys theory about the wolves?

Cross Curricular Opportunities: Use the curriculum jigsaw and copies of the NC to help you see relevant links to the text. Art

Recreating drawings of wolves using different techniques (e.g. paint, drawing, sculpting)

Looking at the use of illustration throughout the book and the effects of different styles of illustrative technique (i.e. using real life photographs alongside sketches or painted cartoons)

Researching into different illustrators comparing their drawings and styles of illustrative art (Emily Gravit wolves, artists drawings of wolves, Arthur Rackham)

Recreating own wolf illustrations

What is behind the walls? allow the children to use their imagination to draw what they think could be behind the wall in the story where the wolves live. They can also do this with their own bedroom walls, drawing at first their own wall and on a second sheet, what could be inside it. These could be displayed together to show a contrast between the worlds.

Design and Technology

Children making their own puppets like the pig puppet and exploring the types of puppet that there are

Link to NC making and designing a puppet character from the story for a particular purpose and aimed at a group they could make puppets to accompany the book to help with retelling the story

They could create their own comfort puppet which they would have accompany them in their own retelling of the story for if they were the main character

Making their own jam like the mother in the story this then links to measurement and being able to confidently use a range (volume, mass, grams, millilitres etc) this further links to ratio of ingredients within a recipe (e.g. ratio of sugar to fruit)

Science

Looking and discussing the adaptations the wolves needed to make to go from living in the walls to the house. They can compare this with research into how wolves live in the wild.

Receptive Context: Think about how you can use the room to excite and engage the children into wanting to explore the book and anything related to it more. How can you wow them when they first walk in? Before: You could design the classroom by covering the walls in the sketched images from the book of the wolves, or even using the realistic photographs of wolves eyes against the walls to draw the children in. Read the book to the children. Get them to make their own book reviews of what they think about the book and put these up onto the wall. Look up the author online and as a class, get in touch with the author via twitter. Potentially ask the author to come into the classroom and talk to the children or use twitter as a format to ask key questions about the text why the characters are like they are? Where did the inspiration from the story come from? Alternatively do some research behind the story online as a class or in groups. During Provide the children with a book corner with different books involving wolves for the children to explore. Encourage children to recommend their own book ideas for any which are similar which they would like to share, allowing children to think what is the same what is different about the other books. Create a book group in the class - talk about a different book involving wolves each week. After:

Create a big display around the book in classroom for children to refer back to whenever they want.

Include various displays of work in the class

Make the class themed around the book - each display around a different subject (e.g. art work, story writing, display of puppets, etc.)

History Look at the importance of the queen of Melanesia the history of her and the significance of this character to the story PE dance, wolf dance,emulating the characters through the use of movement - cheeky,naughty Music

Develop their own musical sound effects to accompany their own retelling of the story through their animations

Recreating the sound of the wolves in the wall and the party of the wolves using different instruments to recreate the sounds in the different scenes, what instruments could we use to recreate the sounds ?

Creating a soundtrack to accompany a reading of the book or a performance they do with puppets for younger children

Computing

Design an animation to illustrate a scene within the story using a program such as Scratch

Maths

Write worded problems or encourage children to write their own

Questions you could ask to develop comprehension: Try and refer questions to specific pages from the text and make sure theyre open-ended How do pictures help you understand the behaviour of the characters? Explain why the writer has used framing in the book. How does Lucy react to her brothers taunting? Why has the writer used repetition of the same sentence? What does this mean? What is the significance of the pig? What was the effect the illustrator achieved by making the wolfs eye appear realistic?

How does the font differ and what is the purpose of this? Does this book remind you of any others and how does it do this? E.g. story structure, characters, setting, theme, etc. The text switches between white and black font colour, is there reasoning or structure behind this? Is there a pattern?

Down the stairs went the wolves scurrying She was drawing a picture when she heard the noises again, a scrambling, rambling rustling in the walls. In the middle of the night there was a howling and a yowling, bumping and thumping.

clambering bawling

whirling

running

scuttling

scampering

dashing

trekking

screaming rushing

beating

crawling

jostling

yelling

yelping

howling

hitting

pounding

walloping

hammering

scurrying scrambling yowling thumping

Down the stairs went the wolves scurrying She was drawing a picture when she heard the noises again, a scrambling, rambling rustling in the walls. In the middle of the night there was a howling and a yowling, bumping and thumping.

scurrying scrambling yowling thumping

whirling running

scuttling scampering

dashing trekking

rushing crawling

jostling walloping beating

yelling

yelping

howling

hitting

pounding hammering

screaming