Malorie Blackman: Friends and Family

Activities

• After watching the programme, brainstorm children's responses to and descriptions of Malorie's personality. Use these descriptions to inform a display of her books and to discuss how they think Malorie's attitude and personality have influenced her stories and her success.
• Without mentioning any names, children describe the relationship they have with another person, friend, family teacher and so on.
• As a shared writing activity, model how children might develop a character in a similar way to Malorie. Decide on a story idea/genre together and create a central character that will determine essential outcomes of the plot. Consider: character, appearance, relationships with family and friends, hobbies, home and so on. Children then work independently to develop other characters and plan their story.
• Children write a further chapter or sequel to Whizziwig, describing the effects and consequences of a wish that Whizziwig grants.
• Working in pairs, children tell each other memorable stories from earlier days in school, and then record each other's stories as diary entries.