This week in English, we began exploring the wonderful and thought-provoking story Julian Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love. The story introduces us to Julian, a little boy with a huge imagination who dreams of becoming a mermaid. It has already sparked some fantastic discussions about feelings, identity and self-expression.
To deepen our understanding, we brought the story to life through role play and freeze frames. We carefully thought about how the characters might move, speak and feel in different moments. By stepping into their shoes, we were able to explore the emotions in the story in a meaningful and memorable way.
We also took part in an energetic verb movement game. Instead of simply walking or running, we soared, floated, whirled and twisted around the classroom! Afterwards, we transformed these verbs into their present progressive (-ing) forms — soaring, floating, whirling and twisting — to make the action feel immediate and alive for the reader. This linked perfectly to the -ing spelling rule we have been practising in our spelling lessons. It has been great to see how our grammar skills strengthen our creative writing.
We are really looking forward to discovering more about Julian’s journey and using everything we have learned to write our own imaginative stories at the end of the unit.
Things to Try at Home
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Verb Transformer
Find five interesting verbs in your reading book and change them into their -ing form. Can you use them in exciting sentences? -
Freeze Frame Fun
Choose a favourite character and create a freeze frame to show how they are feeling. Explain how your body and facial expression show that emotion. -
Imagination Inspiration
Draw yourself as something magical or extraordinary. Write a short paragraph describing what you are doing using powerful -ing verbs.
We can’t wait to share more of our learning soon! ✨
