character sketch of Marrog
Answers
Explanation:
Warm up by tuning in to descriptive language.
• The Minister’s Cat: This well-known parlour game requires
children to come up with descriptive words following the
sequence of the alphabet. Gather the children in a circle. Start
by setting up a regular clapping rhythm: clap your lap followed
by clapping hands together. When the rhythm has started,
begin with the sentence ‘The minister’s cat is an ADMIRABLE cat’
– followed by four clap sequences. On the fourth, the child on
your left says ‘The ministers cat is a(n) B…….. cat’ inserting their
own adjective beginning with the letter ‘B’, e.g. brainy,
beautiful, beastly. Keep moving around the circle until all the
children have had a go.
• Play the game a second time, this time adding a gesture. Model
a couple of examples before you start the game, e.g. ‘The
minister’s cat is a BEAUTIFUL cat’: mime looking at yourself
admiringly in the mirror. ‘The minister’s cat is a CLUMSY cat’:
mime tripping over.
1 Warm up
2Tune in
Model and 3 explore
• Briefly talk to the children about whether life could exist in
space. What do they think aliens would be like? Imagine if there
was an invisible alien in the classroom, what would it think
about the things it could see and hear?
• Display a copy of the poem on the whiteboard and read (or play
recording 1) to the class.
• Briefly discuss whether they think that the Marrog is real or
imaginary. Why do they think that?
• Use hot-seating to explore the Marrog’s character: why has it
come to Earth? What was life like on Mars? What does it think of
life on Earth?
• Distribute cut up lines from the poem. In pairs, ask the children
to practise the lines in an alien-sounding voice. How do they
think the Marrog would speak – a low growl, a high-pitched
squeak, robotically, burbling sound? Encourage them to
experiment with different ways of speaking their line.
• Assemble the class. Conduct the class by pointing to each pair in
a reading of the poem. This will be a random reading with the
lines in a different order to the order of the poem