Ever wondered what Brighton’s North Laines are really like? Now you can find out! The Saddlebacks podcast of their walking tour around some of Brighton’s most colourful streets is available for all to download. Just go to http://www.visitbrighton.com/site/maps-guides-and-interactive/podcasts and click on ‘Listen to Little Green Pig Walking Tour’. The official launch is at the Brighton Festival later this year.
Well done Saddlebacks!
What three words would you use to describe the North Laines? Listen to what they say on the podcast and then post us your comments. Happy walking!
Wouldn’t this be a great mural to have in your bedroom or classroom? I’m sure you all recognise where the illustrations come from. To celebrate the release of the film of ‘Where the Wild Things Are’, we did some writing inspired by Maurice Sendak’s fantastic story that nearly all of us had read when we were younger – in fact several of the Piglets knew some of the story off by heart!
We started off by sticking the illustrations all round the room and then trying to put them in order – harder than you would think! We then wrote our own versions of the story. Here’s one – I think it’s Stani’s but it hasn’t got a name on it!
Milo was a cheeky boy. He messed up all sorts of things. Milo messed up his dad’s toolbox. He ate sweets or biscuits or even birthday cake. Milo didn’t have any brothers. He didn’t have any sisters. Not many people liked him in school. He was very much alone. Milo wanted a friend so badly and he tried hard at school to make just one, or if he was lucky, maybe two.
One day he got really bored at night so he got out out of bed, put on a monster’s suit grabbed a hammer from his dad’s toolbox, a fork from the kitchen, a sheet from the laundry room and finally some bamboo sticks – nobody knew where he got them from. Then he made a den, and pretended he was King of the Monster Jungle! He made up a monster’s name, which was Bamboozle. Bamboozle the Great to be exact. He pretended to go hunting. He chased the dog from the top of the house to the very bottom and back up again. Then he sat down on his bed. To his surprise, trees started growing out of the floor!
‘Oh my gosh’, Milo whispered to himself. He went over to touch the nearest tree. They were real!
Great story Stani! What do the rest of you think? Do you like ‘Where the Wild Things Are?’ Have you seen the film and how do you think it compares?
Hope you all had a lovely holiday and got lots of new books for Christmas!
This is just a reminder that there will be a Piglets workshop this Saturday 9th January and then our Tuesday workshops at Brighton Youth Centre start next week on 12th January.
Go inside
Take a look?
Maybe not
As it’s bright and boiling hot.
Its hard shell,
To stop it shattering into a million pieces.
It’s so happy
And lazy
Just hanging there all day
All night
To see its bright reflection
In the glass
To sleep a lot.
But when I run out
Someone else would be replaced,
Someone much, much brighter
Here are Alfie’s imaginative thoughts on what it would be like to go inside a light bulb. I really like your use of short lines Alfie, and the change in narrator and tone at the end of the poem.
Have you ever tried to see the extraordinary in the ordinary? That’s what we thought about in the Saddleback’s session this week. What would it be like to see a whole new world inside a stone? A used tea-bag? A blade of grass? A dust-bin? These were just some of the objects we delved inside.
Any ideas for an interesting object which you think would be interesting to go inside and have a look around? Post us your comments!
If you come to any of my Little Green Pig workshops you will have probably heard me talking about my cat, Tortilla. In fact, at the Piglets group we often share news about our pets and our views on animals. Leo filled us in last week on his new hamster, who I think might be the theme of a poem later today!
We are going to be looking at the poem ‘Mr Mistoffelees’ from T.S Eliot’s ‘Old Possum Book of Practical Cats’ and then having a go at writing our own poems inspired by our pets and their secret lives.
Leave us a comment and tell us about your pet, or a pet you’d like to have. What do you think they get up to when you’re not around?
Also, have a listen of the Mr Mistoffelees song, based on the poem, from the musical ‘Cats’.
As you can see from this picture, the Saddlebacks had a go at making some haiku with fridge magnet letters this week. If you’ve got some at home, see what poems or lines you can make on your fridge!
This is Leah’s haiku which I think creates quite a mournful tone and uses the senses well. Let’s hope autumn isn’t all bleak and black though!
Hope you’re all having a good half term. As promised, here is your half term challenge, thought up by our lovely new volunteer Kate who has been helping out with the Piglets group:
Have you ever heard a word that, when said out loud, sounds just like the noise it describes? Like a cat’s ‘meow’, the ‘tick-tock’ of a clock or the ’sizzle’ of bacon on a hot grill. The sounds literally make the meaning in words, like ‘hiss’, ‘boom’ or ‘crunch’.
The use of these sound effect words is called ‘onomatopoeia’ and writers use them to bring out the full flavour of words.
Have a go at writing some sentences using the examples above or other ‘sound effect’ words you may already know.
Next, I challenge you to make up some ‘sound effects’ of your own.
Listen to the sounds around you, perhaps in the kitchen where the washing machine, kettle or pots and pans are making noise. Go outside where you might hear birds, cars, waves from the sea or voices.
Try to think up words to describe what you hear.
Post your answers here and one of you will win a mini-prize next week!
Well it’s an exciting start to the year for the Saddlebacks! In collaboration with Brighton and Hove City Coucil, we are out and about this Tuesday recording the sights and sounds of the North Laines in Brighton. Little Green Pig have been asked to be the very fisrt young people’s group to create and record their own podacst walking tour guide for other young people visiting the city. The launch will be next year at the Brighton Festival.
We have two recording and radio experts from production company Yada Yada with us this week, so if you’re wandering through town tomorrow, you may well see us armed with our recording equipment! We’ll keep you posted…
Stani for the Piglets and Leah for the Saddlebacks! Well done you two. We will give you your prizes next Tuesday 15th at our first workshops back.
Thanks to everyone who left comments and took part in our weekly challenges, we enjoyed reading all of them and hope you enjoyed taking part. More challenges planned for the future!
By the way, this picture is the front of Stani’s writing folder. Isn’t it brilliant?
See you all next week when our workshops start again – looking forward to catching up.
