Writing in Role

Diary Entries The following are suggestions in which the children record their ideas, taking on the role of one of the characters and writing in the first person: Josip’s first day at school The day Grandma and her family left home and forgot Anna’s (Grandma’s sisters) passport (p. 52) A dairy entry from Anna’s point of view describing how she feels about Josip A recount of the events from any of the character’s point of view when the Emperor's men were trying to get to Josip (p. 78) Mr Miah writing home to his family whilst at sea, fighting for the Old Emperor many years ago (p.56 ff)

Letter Writing Again, writing in the first person: Letter from Grandma to her sister Anna, after they left the family home (p. 52) A letter from Josip to his family after he arrives in the City of Bread A letter from any of the characters, saying where they are at the end of the story, and how they are feeling A letter from any of the characters to another character or member of their family

Emails Give the children opportunities to write in the informal style of an email. Email from the Emperor giving Josip his decision that he has to leave and his reasons why. Josip’s emails home to his family

Tweets Compose and send a Tweet on the issue of asylum in the UK or Nottingham to Nottingham City Council, a government minister, the Refugee Forum or Amnesty International. Give the children a grid of 140 boxes (one for each character of the tweet – see below and Resource Bank). This is a great activity to encourage children to consider their choice of vocabulary and punctuation in a short and powerful piece of writing.