ALBUMBLE

Chapter 19, 20 and 21

 

Who was playing with a hammer?

Which words did Daisy not get to say?

What do you think might have gone wrong?

 

Why did the plan go wrong? What did they not realise about the dolly?

Which song did the Woolly Wonkas just stop singing?

What happens to you when you panic?

How did Daisy put the batteries inside the dolly?

What did Laura Donnelly do when she saw her dolly?

Who did the shepherds trip over?

Whose moustache fell off?

How do you think the headteacher is feeling? What clues do you get from the text?

 

Do you think Gabby is in trouble too? Why?

Why did Daisy want another bonfire?

What reason does Daisy give for not needing coal in her stocking?

Why does Daisy suggest painting herself green? Why might that help?

 

 

Write a reply to daisy as Santa – what might he want to say back?

What was your favourite part of the story?

Who was your favourite character?

Go to you local bookshop or library and read one of the many other "Daisy and the trouble with..." books and see what other kinds of mischief she gets up to.

Chapter 16, 17 and 18

 

Where did Daisy and Gabby get the batteries from?

What excuse did Daisy give her mum for why she needed extra big pockets?

Who spotted the batteries in the lunchbox?

Where did Gabby successfully hide her batteries?

 

What were Liberty’s angel wings made from?

Where would you wear a balaclava?

Why could Daisy not see anything at first?

Who is Mr Sturgeon?

When is the Christmas Bazaar?

Why did everyone start giggling?

 

Why did Mrs Peters keep winking?

Who was holding the star on a stick?

What happened on the fourth wink?

Chapter 13, 14 and 15

 

What is Daisy’s favourite song from the show? Why was she not allowed to sing it?

What was the cardboard box for?

Mrs. Peters asks the children to ‘find’, ‘hunt’ and ‘peer’ – what do all these words mean?

When did the specially dollies need to be in school?

 

What did Paula’s dolly do?

Who brought in ‘Baby Wee-Wee’ ?

Which two children brought in a ‘Baby Dribble Bibs’?

Why did Daisy think hers was the best?

What did Jack Beechwhistle bring in?

List the features that Laura Donnelly’s dolly didn’t have or do

When Daisy asked her mum to complain, what did she do?

 

Who does Daisy think is the most special person in the world?

What were Daisy and Gabby going to swap the dolly with? Do you think this is a good idea?

Why do you think Mrs Peters chose Laura’s dolly?

Chapter 10, 11 and 12

 

Why did the soldiers say that their swords couldn’t be seen?

What special power did Harry’s crown contain?

Whose robe became a Spider Man net?

What was Daisy’s predicament at the end of playtime?

 

Why did Mrs Peters tell Daisy about her role early?

What would happen to the stage when Daisy got the baby?

How many words did Daisy have to learn? Can you remember them?

What is a ‘curtsey’? When might you do one?

 

What would mum use to help make Daisy’s costume?

Why doesn’t Daisy like Christmas Crackers that much?

Go through the 12 days of Christmas” song and work out how many of the parts you have actually seen in real life!

How did Mum get banned from the game? What rule did she break?

CHAPTERS 7,8 and 9

 

Have you been in a school Nativity before? What part were you or would like to have done?

Whose dad was going to complain if they weren’t Joseph?

What parts did Gabby and Daisy want?

Why did Gabby feel sad and upset that she had scuffed her shoes?

 

Why did the class have to wait even longer to be told their parts?

“She’s really jammy” said Daisy about Gabby. What does this phrase mean?

What is the name of the group of singing sheep? What is this repetition called?

How did Daisy’s feelings change about the part she was given and why?

 

Where did Jack Beechwhistle have to stand at the start of the lesson?

Who is too busy to look after babies?

What/Who did Daisy call ‘Buttons’ ?

What does Daisy think the trouble with sleeping in a stable might be?

If you had visited Jesus in a stable what present would you have brought?

Which sound interrupted the telling of the Christmas story?

CHAPTERS 4,5 AND 6

 

How long has Daisy been waiting since Bonfire Night?

Daisy repeats the word 'excited' a lot. Can you find 3 suitable synonyms?

Who does Daisy blame for what happened at the Christmas play?

 

How did Daisy spell 'poison' ?

What is a rehearsal?

When would everyone know what part they were playing?

Which pair of homophones does Daisy mix up?

Why did the girls get annoyed when Mum joined in the game?

 

Which of Gabby's Christmas decorations was on the lawn?

What do the words 'tacky' and 'wonky' mean and which word describes Daisy lights?

How does Daisy's tree come together?

Write a dictionary definition for the word 'carol'.

For the next 6 weeks I'm going to be uploading Key Gray's "Daisy and the trouble with Christmas".

This book is a very easy read, suitable for 7+ and possibly some higher KS1 readers too. The chapters vary in size put are generally quite short, so each podcast contains 3 episodes.

Daisy has been extremely excited about Christmas since September. And when Daisy is excited, trouble will surely follow! Daisy loves the carols, the sparkly lights, the crackers, the snowmen, and especially the chance to be in the school Christmas play. She’s got seven whole words to learn! But when Daisy and her best friend Gabby decide the dolly their teacher has chosen to play the Baby Jesus is a bit… well, boring, Daisy comes up with a plan that will mean trouble!

 

CHAPTERS 1,2 AND 3

 

What do you find exciting about Christmas?

Which characters does Daisy introduce in this opening chapter?

What does the word 'fault' mean? Can you think of a suitable synonym?

 

Why does Daisy start getting excited in September? What sets it off?

What is Santa's special trick?

From Daisy's letter, which present do you think is the best and why?

Can you predict what might have happened in the school play?

 

Can you explain what the word 'alight' means?

What are the men in yellow jackets also called?

Where did Daisy's letter go? Do you think mum was telling the truth?

As a bit of a half term/Halloween treat here's my rendition of a childhood classic "Funnybones" by Allan and Janet Ahlberg. In a slight change to the podcast, instead of leaving guided reading questions, I'm leaving you a plethora of topical activities you might to want to try out instead. Enjoy!

 

FUNNYBONES ACTIVITIES

Find a different book in the Funnybones series, either from the bookshop and library, and see what other adventures they get up to.

 

Create your own story adventure for the characters.

 

There is a lot of repetition of the word 'dark'. Can you think of any synonyms?

 

Discover more about some of the bones in your body. How many are there? What are their names?

 

Make a skeleton diagram using black and white card and label it. Maybe look at a dog skeleton too!

 

Find an old cardboard box and paint it to look like their house.

 

Listen to the real "Dem bones" song and come up with your own 'bone connections'.

 

Make a map of the places the skeletons visit in the dark dark town.

Chapter 10: THE DOG WHO TOLD THIS STORY

 

“A mere dog was the first to conquer space” - what does mere mean? Can you think of a suitable synonym?

Why is the term “helium balloons” a good description/metaphor of the dogs in space?

Who was at the rocket door?

How does Krasavka persuade the aliens to go to Earth as dogs?

How did the aliens try and look for?

Whose image was actually on the medal around Laika’s neck?

Laika is the Russian word for what?

Can you link some of the ideas from chapter 1 to chapter 10?

 

 

Who is your favourite character and why?

Write a 100 word blurb for the back of this book.

Think about who would like this book - age, gender, interests and genre - and recommend the book and podcast to someone you know !

Chapter 9: THE DOG WHO STOLE THE ROCKET

 

Why did ‘the humans’ put the dogs in heated rooms?

“… the dogs were dim.” What does ‘dim’ mean in this context?

What evidence does Zib use to prove dogs were not mean to be in the rockets?

How does Muschka compare the rocket to a stick?

Explain how Dezik’s Theory lets the dogs escape.

Whose shop does the star remind them of?

Who ended up in the space suits?

What is Sputnik?

Why could they hear the sound of water?