Week 4 Ridge Class English

Day 1: Read and respond

Read the information about Viking monsters or ask an adult to read it with you then answer the questions at the end.

The Vikings told wonderful myths about their many gods and goddesses. They told stories about many magical creatures like storm-giants, frost-giants, rock-giants, lava creatures, elves, dwarfs, witches, sorcerers, ghosts, shapeshifters, sea serpents, and dragons. Some Viking creatures were harmless. Some were not. Some were downright evil. There were ways to protect yourself from the not so nice ones. For example ...

Trolls:

Trolls came in all sizes, from small ones to giant ones. Every story the Vikings told about trolls showed that trolls were cruel and mean. If you kept your wits about you, you could nearly always talk or trick yourself out of trouble with a troll because all trolls, big and small, were incredibly stupid. The Vikings believed that every mountain range had its own troll king, living inside it. The troll kings were the largest trolls of all. Each troll king had a throne of solid gold. Each had a very long nose. (Actually, all trolls had very long noses, but the

Week 4 Ridge Class English

mountain kings had the longest noses of all.) Each troll king had many heads, but only one eye, and that was located in the middle of one of their heads. Troll kings were very dirty, so their many heads were always itchy. To solve this, troll kings directed their troll servants to kidnap Viking maidens. If a troll king had five heads, he ordered 5 Viking maidens. If he had 15 heads, he wanted 15 maidens. Each kidnapped maiden had only one job - to scratch one of his royal heads. He would have had his own wife do that job, but the troll hag (his wife) was as dirty as he was. The hag had only one head, but she had magical powers - she could take off her head and carry it around!

If the truth be told, the Vikings were terrified of the long-nosed mountain trolls. But not all trolls lived inside a mountain. Some lived under bridges, although they were not very nice either. There were also troll mobs. Viking legend is a bit unclear about what these trolls did. Some were short, some tall, some fat, some thin, and some were shaped like balls who twirled around the feet of other trolls. The scariest troll of all lived deep in the sea - the Draug! He surfaced in rough seas, when a storm was brewing. The Draug sat in half a boat and tried to get sailors to race him before the storm hit. Any sailor foolish enough to try was never heard from again.

Nissers:

The Nissers were dwarfs or elves. Each Viking family had at least one Nisser living in their barn. The Nisse protected their animals and their home. In exchange, the family made little gifts they left in the barn for the Nisse to

Week 4 Ridge Class English

enjoy, gifts of tiny hats and jackets and turned up toed shoes and teeny toys and food. It was hard to catch sight of a Nisse, but you could sort of make friends with one by leaving presents. If you ever happened to catch sight of a Nisse (and that was only when they allowed you to do so), you would find your Nisse wore a long white beard, a red cap, and was very old. All Nissers were pranksters. Nissers delighted in tricking adults and animals and sometimes even children! But around the Christmas holiday, according to the children, a family's Nisse did something rather wonderful. Their Nisse snuck into the house and left the children little presents in their shoes or stockings. Nissers were not very scary. But they could be a pain, so it was smart to keep them happy. Once a Nisse moved in, he became part of the family. If the family moved, their Nisse moved with them.

The Fossegrimmen:

The Vikings believed the Fossegrimmen was a scary looking ghost who haunted brooks and creeks. All the Fossegrimmen ever did was play his fiddle. The Vikings knew when the Fossegrimmen was around; they could hear his fiddle in the sound of running water. The Vikings did not try to catch a glimpse of the Fossegrimmen. They were pretty sure he was harmless, but just in case, they kept their distance.

The Pesta:

During the Middle Ages, when the plague spread across Europe, a tale began of an old women, dressed all in black, carrying a broom and a rake. As the story goes, if you caught sight of the Pesta, you would get the plague and die. Knowing he would die anyway, a Viking might try to kill the Pesta to save his

Week 4 Ridge Class English

family and home. The Pesta was a magical creature, so the odds were the Viking could not kill her. But just because the odds were against him never stopped a Viking from trying. In Viking times, clothes were decorated with embroidery and brightly coloured dyes. Not only did that make clothes beautiful, but no woman wanted to be mistaken for the Pesta by wearing all black.

The Kraken:

The Kraken was the worst of all. He was a huge crab or octopus looking water creature who lived in the sea, and he was enormous. Some said he was larger than a ship. Others insisted he was larger than an island. The Kraken had no mercy. He had only one job - to drag a ship down to the bottom of the sea. The only way to save yourself from the Kraken was to abandon ship and try to keep yourself afloat until you reached land or were rescued by another ship.

Week 4 Ridge Class English

Questions

1. Why would you be able to trick your way out of trouble with a troll?

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2. Give two facts about a troll king.

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3. How did troll kings solve the problem of their itchy head?

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4. What was the hag’s magical power?

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5. True or False? Vikings were afraid of trolls.

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6. Name two things a Viking might give a nisser as a gift

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7. Name one good thing and one bad thing that a nisser might do.

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8. Why do you think Vikings kept their distance from the Fossegrimmen?

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9. Why did Viking women wear coloured clothing?

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10. True or False? You could not escape the Kraken?

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11. Which do you think is the scariest monster? Why?

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Week 4 Ridge Class English

Day One: Read and respond ANSWERS

1. You would be able to trick a troll as despite their size, they were incredibly stupid.

2. Choose two from: They were the largest trolls; they had solid gold thrones; they had

the longest nose; they had many heads with one eye on the middle head; they were

very dirty and had itchy heads

3. They directed their servants to capture Viking maidens, enough for one per head.

The maidens’ job was to scratch their itchy heads.

4. The hag was able to take off her own head and carry it around.

5. True. They were terrified of them.

6. They might give a nisser tiny hats, turn up-toed shoes or tiny toys

7. They delighted in tricking humans and animals. At Christmas, they snuck into

humans’ houses and left presents in their shoes or stockings.

8. (Own opinion) but something to do with looking scary and they weren’t sure if he

was friendly or not.

9. They wore coloured clothing so they were not mistaken for the Pesta who wears all

black.

10. False. Your only hope was to abandon ship and swim until another ship picked you

up or you reached the shore.

11. Own opinion backed up with reasons.

Week 4 Ridge Class English

Day 2: Improving sentences

Below are some very boring simple sentences. Your challenge is to improve them.

Try to wow me with your word choices and your ability to engage and entertain me or your

parents when we are reading them – excite us, make us laugh, help us imagine what is

happening!

Here are some ideas you could use to improve them:

1. expanded noun phrases – with well-chosen adjectives

2. use a fronted adverbial/adverbial phrase to say where, when, how, how often etc..

3. Use personification, a simile or metaphor to describe e.g. The cat’s eyes glowed like

headlights in the darkness.

4. Use a subordinate clause e.g. Before the time ran out…

Although it was raining…

….because the darkness was creeping towards him.

5. Use an ‘ing’ or an ‘ed’ starter e.g. Terrified of what he might find, Joe crept slowly

towards the door.

Help Sheet

Week 4 Ridge Class English

Week 4 Ridge Class English

1. The cat climbed up the tree

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2. The girl danced.

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3. The boy swam.

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4. The thief stole the bracelet.

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5. The boy burped.

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6. Now write your own:

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Week 4 Ridge Class English

Day 3: Character Description

Today I would like you to start designing your own Viking monster. You could adapt one that

you read about, use one you have already heard of or make up a completely new one. I

would like you to draw your monster first thinking carefully about what it will look like and

why. Then I would like you to write a short description of your monster like the ones you

have read. Try to include some of the figurative language we practised yesterday in your

description.

Here is an example to help you:

White dragons are small and can be identified by their sharp, intelligent-looking eyes and

intense expression. Their scales resemble fur, or even feathers, in places. They have wide

feet and sharp claws to help them to walk atop snow banks. An aura of coldness seems to

surround the white dragon.

They live in remote, icy climates — usually arctic areas, but sometimes very high mountains.

They travel alone, and have very good memories. They prefer the solitude of snowy plains

and caves, far away from the warming rays of the sun.

Living in frosty climes, white dragons prefer their food to be suitably chilled. If their victims

have not frozen to death already, white dragons will often pack them away in the snow until

they are properly frozen. If this isn’t possible, he breathes a chilling frost which can partially

freeze its prey.

If you ever encounter a white dragon, be on your guard— he is swift and alert. Your best bet

is to scare or intimidate him, as white dragons are sometimes known to be cowards.

Week 4 Ridge Class English

Questions you could think about:

What does it look like?

How does it move?

How does it attack?

How does it defend itself?

What are its magical powers?

Is it bad/good or can it be both?

Where can you find one? Why?

What/how does it eat/catch its dinner?

Week 4 Ridge Class English

Week 4 Ridge Class English

Day Four: The Saga of Erik the Viking

Read the story about Erik the Viking and his battle with a terrible monster (or listen to me

reading it). Then begin to plan your own Viking story using a Viking hero and the monster

that you have designed. You could include your Viking villain from last week as well if you

wanted. You can follow the structure and the plan that I have provided or plan in a way that

suits you.

Opening Introduce your characters. Who is your hero? Where are they at the start of your story? Are they alone?

Build Up What is your characters mission? Where are they going? What are they looking for?

Problem Character meets the monster. Describe the monster. What happens?

Resolution How does the encounter end? Does one of them die? Does your hero get what they were after?

Ending How does it all end?

Week 4 Ridge Class English

At the beginning of the story, Erik and his men travelled across the sea in their ship, The Golden Dragon. Unfortunately, they encountered a storm

and their ship was damaged and washed into a fjord (a narrow piece of sea surrounded by cliffs on both sides) where they slept for the night.

Week 4 Ridge Class English

Week 4 Ridge Class English

Week 4 Ridge Class English

Week 4 Ridge Class English

Write your own sentences using the words that you haven’t used already:

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Can you find the words in the wordsearch? (Optional)

Week 4 Ridge Class English

Now complete the handwriting sheet. Try to write each word at least 3 times.

Watch out for the f in the last word.

Week 4 Ridge Class English

Your Task ANSWERS

Using the root words in the box provided, complete the sentences by adding –cious or –tious. Some of

the words might be tricky, so you will need to use a dictionary or ask an adult to explain what they mean.

Not every word is used.

1. You have to be cautious when using sharp tools.

2. He was acting in a suspicious manner during the party.

3. This room is very spacious; I could fit three sofas in it!

4. The story he told me was fictitious as it was all made up.

5. The girl was very superstitious so she never opened an umbrella inside.

6. The triple chocolate fudge cake was delicious but not very nutritious.

7. “That dog is a ferocious beast!” screamed the lady at the park.

8. You have to be ambitious if you want to succeed.

9. Before the race, the boy was feeling anxious.

10. My sister is vicious; she is always hitting me!