A Stone Age Adventure
by Tommy Donbavand
A Stone Age Adventure
Teacher Resources, Week 1
This PDF contains:
- Text Questions: In this section, you will find questions about the chapter. These can
be used orally in guided or shared reading discussions, as an independent
comprehension exercise, or as part of a written homework or reading club activity.
- Making the Choice and Voting: Before choosing how to vote, students could discuss,
as a group or a class, the wider context of the story and the consequences for the
characters of each voting option at the end of the chapter. Students should be
encouraged to use a variety of resources in their research, including books and the
Internet.
- Writing Activities: Fiction Express for Schools provides a brilliant springboard into
writing and some ideas and inspiration are provided in this section.
- Other Extension Activities: This section provides ideas for cross-curricular extension
activities related to the chapter.
- Key Words and Phrases: This section provides a selection of key words and phrases
from the chapter for use in a classroom literacy display or ‘working wall’.
- Worksheets: This section provides printable worksheets for student use. Answers are
also provided where appropriate.
- Picture Resources: This section provides images to inspire student discussion. These
images can be displayed on a whiteboard or printed.
- Resources: Here you will find a list of relevant websites and books that students might
find useful.
Teachers – we’d love to see examples of your pupils’ work so please email them
to us at [email protected] and we might feature them on our blog!
A Stone Age Adventure
by Tommy Donbavand
Text Questions
Chapter 1: Blast!
1.
Who are the two main characters in this story? In what ways are the
characters alike? In what ways are they different?
2.
Look at the beginning of chapter 1. How does the author try to hook the
reader into his story? Does he succeed?
3.
Where is the story set? Do you think this is a good setting for an adventure
story? Give reasons for your answer.
4.
What does Ali do that she thinks is funny, but Sam doesn’t? Do you think
this is funny? Give reasons for your answer.
5.
Why does Sam think he should be in charge? Go back to the text to find out.
6.
What do you think caused the rockfall inside the cave? Make some guesses.
7.
What sounds does Sam hear when the rockfall stops? Go back to the text to
find out.
8.
What does Sam think he should do to rescue Ali? Why doesn’t he do this?
Go back to the text to find out.
9.
Find the phrase in the text that shows that Ali is also concerned for Sam’s
safety.
TEACHER NOTE: “You’ll have to come through – but be careful!”
10. Why does Sam grip his torch between his teeth?
Teachers – we’d love to see examples of your pupils’ work so please email them
to us at [email protected] and we might feature them on our blog!
A Stone Age Adventure
by Tommy Donbavand
11. What does Sam see in the huge underground cavern? Do you know what
these are and what they look like? What do you think is the difference
between a cave and a cavern?
12. What effect does the cavern have on Sam and Ali’s voices? Have you ever
heard an echo of your own voice? Where were you? What animals use
echoes to find their way around in the dark?
13. Why is Sam keen to get himself and Alissa out of the caves once he has
freed Alissa’s leg from the rock? Go back to the story to find the answer to
this question.
14. What was the shape of the first cave painting that Sam saw? Do you
remember what colour this was? How do you think that the coloured paints
were made?
15. Try to remember what was in the other cave pictures that Sam and Alissa
saw. Go back to the story to see if you have forgetten any.
16. Why do you think there are handprints on the cave walls near to the cave
paintings?
17. Describe what happens when Alissa and Sam put their own hands over the
handprints.
18. Why do the huge trees outside the cave seem strange?
19. Who realizes they have travelled back in time? Why does Alissa scoff?
Teachers – we’d love to see examples of your pupils’ work so please email them
to us at [email protected] and we might feature them on our blog!
A Stone Age Adventure
by Tommy Donbavand
20. Who would you say was the most cautious character in chapter 1? Who is
the most reckless? Make sure you can provide evidence to support your
answers.
21. What do Alissa and Sam see that makes Sam realize they have travelled
back in time by 25,000 years.
22. How would you describe the ending of chapter 1? How did you feel when
you reached the end of the chapter? Are you looking forward to chapter 2?
Teachers – we’d love to see examples of your pupils’ work so please email them
to us at [email protected] and we might feature them on our blog!
A Stone Age Adventure
by Tommy Donbavand
Making the Choice and Voting
What happens next?
Option 1: Sam and Alissa run back towards the cave!
Do you think this would be a good idea? What are the pros and cons of this
option? Do you think they will make it back to the cave in time? Will the cave
provide them with any protection from the sabre-toothed cat? Can you predict
what will happen in chapter 2 if this option gets the most votes?
Option 2: Someone throws a spear at the sabre-toothed cat!
Who do you think might be throwing the spear? Who do you think the spearthrower is trying to protect? Do you think he or she is trying to help Sam and
Alissa? Might there be another reason for the spear-thrower trying to kill the
sabre-toothed cat? Would you like to find out who owns the spear? What do you
think the spear-thrower will make of Sam and Alissa? Can you imagine what
might happen in chapter 2 if you choose this option.
Option 3: Sam and Alissa try to scare the sabre-toothed cat away!
Do you think the sabre-toothed cat would be scared off easily? Can you think of
any tactics Sam and Alissa might try? What would you do in this situation? Think
about the surroundings and any objects Sam and Alissa might be able to find to
help them. Would you like to see what Sam and Alissa do to scare away the cat?
Teachers – we’d love to see examples of your pupils’ work so please email them
to us at [email protected] and we might feature them on our blog!
A Stone Age Adventure
by Tommy Donbavand
Writing Activities
Write a few sentences on your first impressions of this new story. Explain what
you like or don’t like about it. Describe how you think the story might develop
over the next few chapters.
Choose one of the options at the end of chapter 1 and write the first two or three
sentences of chapter 2 based on this option. Make your writing as exciting as you
can to hook the reader into your story.
The author doesn’t tell us what Sam and Alissa look like. How do you imagine
them in your mind’s eye? Write an extra piece of text that could be inserted into
chapter 1 describing how you imagine Sam and Alissa look. Illustrate your writing.
Have you ever been inside a cave? What was it like? Write a paragraph of
detailed descriptive writing of the inside of a cave. You might want to look at
pictures and get some information about caves before you start your writing.
What do you think had been happening before the story started? Write an extra
paragraph that could be inserted at the beginning of this chapter.
Write down a few sentences about who you think the spear-thrower is and why
they are near the cave. Then write a short story about what he or she was doing
on the day that Sam and Alissa travelled back to Stone Age times.
Teachers – we’d love to see examples of your pupils’ work so please email them
to us at [email protected] and we might feature them on our blog!
A Stone Age Adventure
by Tommy Donbavand
Read one paragraph of chapter 1 and note all the words that you think would be
difficult to for you to spell. Choose 6 of these words and then practise writing
them down and learning their spellings until you can write them correctly on your
own.
Teachers – we’d love to see examples of your pupils’ work so please email them
to us at [email protected] and we might feature them on our blog!
A Stone Age Adventure
by Tommy Donbavand
Other Extension Activities
Art Activities
Paint a picture that shows the main setting of this story. Make sure you show as
many interesting details as you can. Write an extended caption to go with your
picture.
Create your own cave painting to illustrate the important things in your life. You
will need to look at pictures of real cave paintings first, so you can copy the style
for your own picture.
Discussion Activities
Sam didn’t think it was funny when Alissa jumped out at him with the torch
shining on her face. Can something ever really be funny if it means upsetting or
scaring someone else? Discuss this. Then talk about some of the things that
make you laugh.
Have you had an experience like Sam’s, where a friend has wanted to do
something forbidden or reckless? How did you, or would you, deal with this
situation? Discuss your ideas with a partner.
Research Activities
Using the Internet, or books in your school library, find out why stalagmites and
stalactites are sometimes found inside caves. Find out how these structures are
made. Make notes on what you discover.
Teachers – we’d love to see examples of your pupils’ work so please email them
to us at [email protected] and we might feature them on our blog!
A Stone Age Adventure
by Tommy Donbavand
Using the Internet, or books in your library, find out all you can about ancient cave
paintings. Then write a few fact sentences for the most interesting things that you
discovered.
TEACHER NOTE: There are some great websites and books in the ‘Resources’
section to help with this.
Using the Internet, or books in your library find out about the creatures, such as
mammoths and sabre-toothed cats, that lived on this planet 25,000 years ago.
Write some interesting fact sentences based on what you discover.
Drama Activity
With a partner, play the parts of Sam and Alissa and act out how you would
react and what you would do if you saw the sabre-toothed cat.
Teachers – we’d love to see examples of your pupils’ work so please email them
to us at [email protected] and we might feature them on our blog!
A Stone Age Adventure
by Tommy Donbavand
Key Words and Phrases
Here is a list of challenging or potentially unfamiliar vocabulary used in
Chapter 1 of Blast To The Past: ancient, scowled, smuggler’s den,
echoes, rockfall, piercing, scoffed, plunged.
You may wish to explore this vocabulary with your pupils, to aid their
understanding of the chapter and enhance, or ‘up level’, the quality of their
own writing.
You might like to use the boxed versions of the words below on your
‘working wall’ or literacy display!
ancient
scowled
smuggler’s
den
d
echoes
rockfall
piercing
scoffed
plunged
Teachers – we’d love to see examples of your pupils’ work so please email them
to us at [email protected] and we might feature them on our blog!
A Stone Age Adventure
by Tommy Donbavand
Worksheet
(page 1 of 3)
Here are some words that appear in the first chapter of Blast from the Past. Put
them into the correct spaces below. Some of the words need to be used more
than once. What do you notice about some of the words?
ancient, scoffed, supposed, mammoth, plunged, palms
1.
Alfie’s mum handed him a ___________________-sized ice cream.
2.
It was so hot on the beach that the boy ___________________ into the sea.
3.
Mel said her grandfather was ___________________ because he was born
nearly 100 years ago.
4.
The glasshouse was full of broad-leaved ___________________.
5.
Jessica loved reading about ___________________ history.
6.
When Sam said they should get a taxi to the stadium, his friend
___________________ at him for making such a silly suggestion.
7.
Joe grazed the ___________________ of his hands when he tripped in the
playground.
8.
In ___________________ times, an animal known as the hairy
___________________ roamed the earth.
Teachers – we’d love to see examples of your pupils’ work so please email them
to us at [email protected] and we might feature them on our blog!
A Stone Age Adventure
by Tommy Donbavand
Worksheet (page 2 of 3)
9.
Leah’s dad ___________________ his hands into the sink and began doing
the washing up.
10. You are ___________________ to wash your hands before you start eating.
Now make up a sentence of your own containing each of these words.
ancient: _________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
scoffed: _________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
supposed: _______________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Teachers – we’d love to see examples of your pupils’ work so please email them
to us at [email protected] and we might feature them on our blog!
A Stone Age Adventure
by Tommy Donbavand
Worksheet (page 3 of 3)
mammoth:_______________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
plunged: ________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
palms: __________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Teachers – we’d love to see examples of your pupils’ work so please email them
to us at [email protected] and we might feature them on our blog!
A Stone Age Adventure
by Tommy Donbavand
Worksheet ANSWERS
1.
Alfie’s mum handed him a mammoth-sized ice cream.
2.
It was so hot on the beach that the boy plunged into the sea.
3.
Mel said her grandfather was ancient because he was born
nearly 100 years ago.
4.
The glasshouse was full of broad-leaved palms.
5.
Jessica loved reading about ancient history.
6.
When Sam said they should get a taxi to the stadium, his friend scoffed at
him for making such a silly suggestion.
7.
Joe grazed the palms of his hands when he tripped in the playground.
8.
In ancient times, an animal known as the hairy mammoth roamed the
earth.
9.
Leah’s dad plunged his hands into the sink and began doing the washing
up.
10.
You are supposed to wash your hands before you start eating.
Teachers – we’d love to see examples of your pupils’ work so please email them
to us at [email protected] and we might feature them on our blog!
A Stone Age Adventure
by Tommy Donbavand
Picture Resources
This picture shows some cave paintings from Patagonia.
Where is Patagonia?
Remembering where Patagonia is, can you guess what the animals might be*?
Do you think the handprints Alissa and Sam saw were like these?
What do you think the anicient peoples were thinking when they made these
handprints?
* Teacher Note: They are probably guanacos, a type of llama.
Teachers – we’d love to see examples of your pupils’ work so please email them
to us at [email protected] and we might feature them on our blog!
A Stone Age Adventure
by Tommy Donbavand
Picture Resources
This picture is an illustration of a stone-age man face-to-face with a sabre-toothed
cat.
How is the man dressed? Why is he wearing thick furs?
What is he using to defend himself? Why doesn’t he have a metal weapon, such
as a sword or a dagger?
Do we know what the actual colour of the sabre-toothed cat was? Why might it be
difficult for us to find out?
How do we know that sabre-toothed cats existed at all?
Teachers – we’d love to see examples of your pupils’ work so please email them
to us at [email protected] and we might feature them on our blog!
A Stone Age Adventure
by Tommy Donbavand
Picture Resources
This picture shows one of the long teeth from a sabre-toothed cat.
What do you think these long teeth were used for?
How long would you guess this to be (in cm)?
What do we call the study of ancient remains like these?
Teachers – we’d love to see examples of your pupils’ work so please email them
to us at [email protected] and we might feature them on our blog!
A Stone Age Adventure
by Tommy Donbavand
Resources
Websites
This BBC Newsround article tells the story of some amazing cave paintings that
were found in Indonesia in 2014:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/29548169
This BBC Newsround article is about the cave paintings at Pont-d’Arc in France:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/27978873
This website takes you on a virtual tour of the famous caves at Lascaux in
France. The text is in French but the visuals are quite stunning:
http://www.lascaux.culture.fr
The official website of White Scar Cave in the Yorkshire Dales National Park
http://www.whitescarcave.co.uk/
Explore Cheddar Gorge http://www.cheddargorge.co.uk/explore
Note to teachers: Every effort has been made by the Publishers to ensure that these websites are suitable
for children, that they are of the highest educational value, and that they contain no inappropriate or
offensive material. However, because of the nature of the Internet, it is impossible to guarantee that the
content of these sites will not be altered. We strongly advise that Internet access is supervised by a
responsible adult.
Books
Non-fiction
The Stone Age (Hands on History) by Charlotte Hurdman, Armadillo Books,
2014
The Stone Age by Jerome Martin (Usborne Beginners), Usborne Publishing,
2015
Fiction
The Littlenose series by John Grant and Ross Collins. Simon and Schuster
Ug: Boy Genius of the Stone Age by Raymond Briggs, Red Fox, 2002
Teachers – we’d love to see examples of your pupils’ work so please email them
to us at [email protected] and we might feature them on our blog!