My Name is Mina

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At the start of the project, challenge the pupils to take on an independent learning task that will support the themes they encounter within Skellig. Let them choose between:

Dealing with themes of friendship, healing and a belief in the impossible, the book presents an excellent opportunity to stretch upper KS2 pupils in their responses. Skellig is also a great choice for those looking to explore the wider curriculum, offering links to science and the arts. 1 | Introducing the text Mina is a cheerful and easygoing girl who usually displays a smile. Highly social and excitable, she loves to hang out with her friends and is shown to become very upset when denied an opportunity to be at a gathering. She possesses a strong fashion sense and likes to go shopping. Almond published his first collection of stories in 1985, Sleepless Nights. His second collection, A Kind of Heaven, appeared in 1987. He then wrote a series of stories which drew on his own childhood, and which would eventually be published as Counting Stars, published by Hodder in 2000. In the next seven years, four more novels by Almond made the Carnegie Medal shortlist of five to eight books. [7]The Skellig prequel My Name is Mina (Hodder, 2010) was a finalist for three major annual awards: the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, [15]

Reconstruct the human digestion system in the classroom. Use a plastic sandwich box to represent the mouth, add some breakfast cereal, milk and toast, then mash it up with teeth (a potato masher) and add saliva (water in a labelled plastic bottle). Attach a funnel to a long balloon with the end snipped off (oesophagus) and pour your runny mixture down into the stomach (a freezer bag). All Might • Cementoss • Ectoplasm • Eraser Head • Hound Dog • Lunch Rush • Midnight • Nezu • Power Loader • Present Mic • Recovery Girl • Snipe • Thirteen • Vlad King • Gran Torino (Retired) Chenise: Do you carry anything with you to write down any ideas you might think of while you are travelling? How do you come up with the names of your characters? The names of my characters are really important. Some of them come along with names already fully formed like Mina from Skellig; she came with her name, I don’t know anybody called Mina but there she was. Then some characters like Skellig I found half-way through the book. His name until that point was Mr Wilson – a terrible name for him! Some names I spend a lot of time finding; a good place to find names is the telephone directory because you can find some fantastic surnames, and then I have lots of baby names books which I use as well. Add ‘stomach acid’ and ‘intestinal juices’ from labelled bottles, then use your hands to squeeze the bag to simulate the stomach muscles further breaking down the food.

Homework opportunities

Explore the work of the sculptor Antony Gormley. Angel of the North is particularly relevant to the text and will provide inspiration for pupils to sculpt their own small-scale versions from clay. Pullman children's book voted best in 70 years". John Ezard. The Guardian 21 June 2007. Retrieved 16 October 2012. Skellig: The Play is adapted by David Almond and remains true to the text. Why not perform short sections of the play, or get children to convert play script to narrative adding description?

When Michael first ventures into the derelict garage, he finds what he believes to be a tramp – immobile and close to death. Peter Hollindale (December 2010). "My Name is Mina". School Librarian. School Library Association. 58 (4): 228. Archived from the original on 29 July 2013 . Retrieved 16 December 2016. Mirror the stylistic features to help children really appeal to their audience. For example, ‘Are you afraid at night of something terrible living in your garage? Do you fear you will be Skellig’s next meal? Well don’t despair, just follow these instructions to help you create the perfect meal!’ Constructing an argument Mina and Yuga are the only Class 1-A participants of the U.A. Sports Festival Fighting Tournament who didn't receive a nomination from a Pro Hero. Improving the school outdoor environment by supporting groups of children to construct pre-cut bird box kits, and then fixing them around the school grounds

Developing poetry

The display will not only provide an opportunity to introduce some of the vocabulary used in the text (wilderness, derelict, abandoned), but can also grow as we learn more about the creature inhabiting it. 2 | The plot

Skellig is a children's novel by the British author David Almond, published by Hodder in 1998. It was the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year and it won the Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's outstanding children's book by a British author. [3] In the US it was a runner up for the Michael L. Printz Award, which recognises one work of young adult fiction annually. Since publication, it has also been adapted into a play, an opera, and a film. In 2010, a prequel entitled My Name is Mina was published, written by David Almond himself. William Blake poems are also in the book, the play and the film. Skellig has been adapted into a contemporary opera with music by American composer Tod Machover and libretto by David Almond himself. The opera was staged at The Sage Gateshead from 4 November to 19 December 2008, with orchestration by the Northern Sinfonia. [16]

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Through the delightful Mina, Almond covers many subjects: big stuff such as death and loss; mundane stuff like the appropriate nature of schooling. And, while the school system works fine for the vast majority of children, he reminds us that there has to be a place for alternative schooling for boys and girls like Mina. And everyone has met a child like Mina at least once, (metaphorically) sitting in a tree, looking down at the world, and wondering and whispering to themselves at the beauty of it all. The Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature". YALSA. ALA. Retrieved 2013-07-29. Skellig at The Young Vic, London". www.curtainup.com/skellig.html. 9 December 2003 . Retrieved 27 December 2018. Almond gives readers a vivid picture of the joyfully free-form workings of Mina’s mind and her mixed emotions about being an isolated child. Her gradual emergence from the protective shell of home is beautifully portrayed as she gingerly ventures out into the world. Not as dark, but just as passionate as Almond’s previous works, this novel will inspire children to let their imaginations soar.”