Activity 1: Rags to Riches [4 points]
J. K. Rowling is one of the most well known authors in the world. She wrote the Harry Potter series of books. Over 500 million copies of her books have been sold, making J. K. Rowling the world’s first billionaire author.
While she was writing the first Harry Potter book, she was a single mum with very little money. She used to write while her daughter Jessica was asleep. She used her initials ‘J.K.’ instead of her name (Joanne) because her publisher thought that boys might not want to read a book written by a woman.
J. K. Rowling has done many interviews which have revealed things about her as a writer and as a person. One of these interviews was conducted by a very famous television personality, Oprah Winfrey (you can find more about her on Day 3, Activity 1!).
As well as books needing to be engaging and interesting for the reader, it is important that they are engaging and interesting on the cover too. We sometimes say “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover” but we often choose books (if we don’t know much about them) when they have an attractive cover!
For this activity, design a book cover for your favourite book. You will need to think about what needs to be on the cover (the title, author, illustrator), pictures, colour, etc. Please create all of the images yourself (draw or photograph) rather than using images that you find online.
On your blog, share the book cover you have designed.
Activity 2: Romeo and Juliet [4 points]
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was an author, poet and playwright. He is best known for the plays that he wrote while living in England in the 16th Century. Although they were written a long time ago, they are still popular because they talk about things that are familiar to us - love, revenge, confusion, betrayal, jealousy, hurt, etc. You might have heard of some of his plays: Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, King Lear. Many of them have also been made into movies.
Shakespeare wrote his plays in English, however, it is not the same version of English that we have now. In fact, many of the words that we use today, in 2019, weren’t used back in 1600 (and vice versa).
For this activity, we would like you to learn more about ‘Shakespearean English’ - the version of English that Shakespeare used to write his plays. To do this, please write a short recount about what you did this morning in regular (2019) English, and then use this translating tool to turn it into Shakespearean English.
On your blog, share both your English and Shakespearean translation of your recount.
English Version
As I woke up in the Morning to a cold bowl of Cereal I think about what I am going to do today. Then after I ate my Breakfast I went up to my room and Finished off my Summer Learning Journey then after that I went on my Playstation 4 and played with my friends then I started to watch some Movies but then I got board and went to play at the Basketball Corts.
Shakespearean Version
As i did wake up in the m'rning to a bitter cold bowl of c'real i bethink about what i am going to doth the present day. Then aft'r i consumed mine own breakfast i wenteth up to mine own cubiculo and did finish off mine own summ'r learning journey then aft'r yond i wenteth on mine own playstation 4 and did play with mine own cater-cousins then i did start to gaze some movies but then i did get board and wenteth to playeth at the basketball c'rts
Activity 3: The Diary of Anne Frank [6 points]
Anne Frank was a very brave girl. She was born and raised in a Jewish family in Germany in the 1930s. When World War II started, Anne and her family were forced to hide because the German politicians (Nazis) did not like Jewish people. She and her family hid out in a secret room in their house for two full years. During this time, Anne wrote in a diary. When the war ended, Anne’s dad found the diary and made it into a book. He called it The Diary of Anne Frank or The Diary of a Young Girl.
I know lots of people who keep a diary. Often they will record what they did during the day or recount stories about special events that have taken place.
For this activity, we would like you to imagine that you have a diary. In your diary please write a story about your most extraordinary day. What happened? You can tell us about an actual event or you can make one up. It’s totally up to you! Please be as creative as you can.
On your blog, post a diary entry about your extraordinary day. Please start your post with the words “Dear Diary”.
Dear Diary I woke up to my Mums Voice to go and Brush my Teeth and wash my face then after that we had breakfast then my uncle came back home from work and said we get to go rainbow end but it was confusing cause they usually give rainbow end tickets at the end of the year but then he said he got a promotion at work. We were all happy for him so we celebrated at rainbows end.
