Classroom Learning

• Collect conjunctions on the learning wall around a picture of an octopus. Write the conjunctions on pebbles (bits of pebble-shaped paper).

 • Have a bag of cardboard ‘pebbles’ with conjunctions. Get children to pick a pebble and say a sentence with that conjunction on it.

• Look for examples of conjunctions in different texts that we read.

• Ask children to write a description of a character from the story using conjunctions.

• Write a recount (diary entry) from the point of view of Charlie using conjunctions.

• Research octopuses using books and online resources. Collect notes and use these to help write a non-chronological report. Encourage children to use conjunctions in their report (possibly having a conjunction word mat to support them).

• Act out scenes from the story with a focus on thoughts and feelings of different characters.

• Ask children to draw a pictorial story map of Charlie’s adventure and retell it in their own words using conjunctions.

• Improve the first page’s sentences using conjunctions.

• Debate whether tablets should be banned for children.

Extra ideas

 • Pause at different parts of the story and collect adjectives to describe how Charlie is feeling. Use a thesaurus to find synonyms.

• Explore other conjunctions and get the children to imagine how the Octopus would describe the use of each conjunction to Charlie.

• Chose an illustration from the book and write a descriptive passage. Encourage the children to use a range of conjunctions and adjectives.

 • Use the illustration on page 14 from the book and ask children to use prepositions to describe where different sea creatures are in the image.