Year Homework Pack
Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo
PRIVATE PEACEFUL: WW1 Mini Fact Sheet
TASK 1: The novel looks closely at the experience of two young brothers during
World War 1. Your task is to research World War 1 and write a mini-report.
You must include the three following:
Dates when the war began and ended
Location(s): Where did the war take place?
What was Conscription?
This homework task covers Writing Assessment Focus 2: Produce texts which are appropriate to
the task, reader and purpose.
PRIVATE PEACEFUL: Character Profiling
TASK 2a:
List 5 adjectives to describe Thommo
List 5 adjectives to describe Charlie
List 5 adjectives to describe Big Joe
List 5 adjectives to describe Molly
List 5 adjectives to describe The Colonel
TASK 2b: Record 20 words from the novel which you have read this week (do
this in class because you cannot take the book home). These words should be
UNFAMILIAR or new words.
Look up their definitions and write these IN YOUR OWN WORDS.
NEXT: Use a thesaurus and write 5 synonyms for each word (similar
words with a similar meaning to that word).
These homework tasks both cover Writing Assessment Focus 7: Select appropriate and effective
vocabulary.
PRIVATE PEACEFUL: Thematic Study
TASK 3: When discussing a novel, we often talk about its THEMES. These are
topics that get us thinking .For example, the themes in Private Peaceful include
war, family and loyalty, relationships between brothers, bravery, etc. Themes
are NOT the storyline, but areas for discussion that relate to the novel.
Choose 3 KEY THEMES from Private Peaceful and write a paragraph about how
each theme is present in the novel.
This homework task covers Reading Assessment Focus 3: Deduce, infer or interpret information,
events or ideas from texts.
PRIVATE PEACEFUL: The Writer’s Technique
TASK 4: A skilful writer is one who can make us feel empathy for a character.
Write a diary entry, imagining you Thommo right after the ‘incident’ with his
father in the forest. Describe his thoughts and feelings.
This homework task covers Writing Assessment Focus 1: Write imaginative, interesting and
thoughtful texts.
PRIVATE PEACEFUL: The Film
TASK 5: Imagine you are going to create a film of Private Peaceful. Select a
scene from the novel and create a storyboard focusing on one key scene.
Your storyboard must contain the following:
6 illustrated shots from your chosen key scene.
Brief description of the camera angles used and what effect they will
have on that particular shot.
Brief description of sound being used (diagetic / non-diagetic, etc). Think back
to your Media Unit.
This homework task covers Reading Assessment Focus 2: Understand, describe and select or retrieve
information, events or ideas from texts.