Jack and The Beanstalk Tall and Short Stories

The instruments in the musical band decided to have a race. Very soon, they all jumped up .. then back down into place. The drum wanted to see how fast he could beat, the musical director tapped his feet. Although the music got considerably worse, the trombone player soon won, of course. The tamborine joined in the song, but the symbols won before very long. As the guitar started to strum, the race was won by an athletic drum.

Write a mathematical equation to show your working out to the following maths problems :

 1. There were 300 medals - 33% were won by the drummer - how many is that ?

 2. The drum beat 25 times per minute - one - fifth faster than the symbols crashed. How many times therefore, did the drum beat per minute ?

 3. In the grandstand race, the trombone player won 0.2 ahead of the trumpet player. If the race was a marathon (26 km), where was the trumpet player when the trombone player passed the finishing line ?

 4. In the grandstand race, the tamborine crashed three times as often as the symbols - if the symbols crashed 15 times, how often is that ?

 5. In the grandstand race, there were 30 medals to be won. If these were given to the first five winners, how many medals did each receive ?

 6. On the bandstand, there were 50 musicians in the orchestra. If there were also 500 people in the audience, how many people in total is that ?

 7. If on the grandstand bandstand, there were 550 musicians, who played brass : percussion instruments in a ratio of 1 : 4, how many musicians played each type of musical instrument ?

 8. Draw a graph to illustrate the following grandstand bandstand data :

INSTRUMENT       ACTUAL  NO.      %  

10. 60 x 2 / 15 = 8

11. 2.5 x 60 - 20 = 13012. 500 / 30 = 16.6 m

13. 50 x 200 = 10 , 000 cm = 100 m

14. 1. % ; 2. fraction; 3. decimal ; 4. multiplication ; 5. division; 6. addition ; 7. ratio ; 8. graph illustration ; 9. angles ; 10. time ; 11. time ; 12. velocity / speed

Can you believe it ? There was once a parrot who couldn’t get his words out. A mute. Just the mention of public speaking and Pete Parrot would freeze. The thought of an audience filled him with dread and unease. He blanked at the thought of even chit chats over the garden fence with the neighbours let alone after dinner speeches, debates and lectures in school. In fact, he was so bad at telling tales that no - one would listen to him at all. It seemed that wherever he went - to the shops, church, during salsa classes and in the restaurant - everyone was simply ignoring him. “Good morning”, he cried out to the Robin Red breast - who turned away and carried on pecking. “Nice day for gardening, isn’t it ?” he called to the jackdaws - who looked back as if he was talking to a Outer Mongolian. “Can’t somebody shut that parrot up ?” yelled one of the regulars in the local pub, mocking Pete Parrot more than a mockingbird. They made Pete Parrot feel as small as a budgerigar. He went home feeling crest - fallen and a real dodo.

He went to the bird’s cage kitchen for a drop of bird seed and confided in his Aunt Cockatoo. “What I really need”, he exclaimed, “Is something interesting to say. Something that would make every other bird sit up on their perch and listen - you know - the kind of thing that moves nations and goes down in history”. Whilst Pete Parrot dusted off an old school textbook from the bookshelf about famous people who said famous things, Aunt Cockatoo made an appointment for some elocution classes with the local minor bird at the music school in the High Alto Street. “Keep ya’ pecker up, m’little sparrow”, said Aunt Cockatoo, trying to buck up his spirits as she passed him some bird seed. They bashed their bird brains together with brain teasers and various quotes and quizzes to practise their elocution. Pete Parrot was determined never to be tongue - tied again. He was done with mumbling and jumbling. No more etceteras etceteras - gone all that uummming and agghing. All throughout the night Aunt Cockatoo tossed and turned on her perch - Pete Parrot’s echoes reverberated through the house - upstairs and downstairs there were sounds of “The rainnnnn in Spaaaaain falls mmmmmmainly on the ppppplane …” “The raiiiiiin in Sssssspain ffffffalls mainlyyyyyy on the plaaaaane …” Pete Parrot kept her awake till three o’ clock in the morning with his rhyme and well timed response.

By breakfast, once Pete Parrot had read his letters, was positively poetical. He told Aunt Coakatoo every nursery rhyme he knew. His retorts were rhetorical. Pete Parrot tattled and prattled, blurted and blabbered, bibble - blabbed and gibble - gabbled without so much as a stammer or a lisp. Aunt Cockatoo could hardly believe her ears - or was it simply that she hadn’t put her hearing aids in ? She was trying hard not to bat an eyelid - but Pete Parrot’s poetry made her eyelashes flutter. Pete Parrot knew all the words. By this time, her feathers were quite ruffled indeed. He must have had a dictionary for breakfast. Instead of falling about laughing with is nitty - witty - grittty, Aunt Cockatoo started ranting and raving, telling Pete Parrot to ” ‘Op it ! Watch ya’ language !”. She too was used to speaking her mind.

Taking one step forward and two steps back, Pete Parrot set off for a flying visit to the hairdressers at the :”Tittle - Tattle Trim and Gossip Gloss” barber’s shop for a chatty cut and a speech bubble set. He study talk so much that soon his P’s and his Q’s improved considerably. All of Pete Parrot’s trouble with vowels, consonants and syllables were beginning to disappear. In church on Sunday, Pete Parrot stood in the pulpit and not only made a very powerful sermon - a speech that left the little old ladies in tears - but he read the lesson too. “How am I doing ?”, he asked the Rt Reverened Rolling in the Aisles - “Not bad”, he replied. He even gossiped after church. Before long the parrot’s tittle - tattle - the talk of the town where chitter - chattering people were all walking around.

Pete Parrot visited London and took a trip to Speakers’ corner in London where he practised his new found talent. As he travelled around the country - he loved to hear the different accents and dialects and became quite a mimick. Some sounded strangely foreign but he loved the sound of the “apples and pears” cockney slang. Enough blah, blah, blah. Pete Parrot became very political and oratorical. He made a party political broadcast and addressed the Members of Parliament in the British Houses of Commons.

Instead of jabbling, he spoke stirringly - “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.” He reminisced about the sixties and space age … (as well as remembering other famous people who said famous things). “One small step for man - a giant leap for mankind”. The Speaker of the House called for “Order ! Order !” and instead of prattling - someone advised Pete Parrot to not talk himself out of a job. He continued his yattering and nattering. It seemed there was no end to Pete Parrot’s gabby and gassy gossip.

At a marriage ceremony of one of his best friends (a songthrush) Pete Parrot waxed lyrical. Announcements and analogies were the order of the day. He even read the menu with eloquent ease. “M’Lords, ladies and gentlemen” … he made polite conversation with the guests and small tlak with the hummingbird bridesmaids. Pete Parrot was called upon to give evidence at court in the trial of a magpie caught stealing another bird’s worms. All the jury members oohhed and argghed at his version of events. Pete Parrot said something he would never have been able to pronounce before his elocution lessons - “I swear by Gid that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth the whole truth and nothing but …” etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

A radio broadcast - live - a number of television advertisements and Pete Parrot was even invited onto a television quiz - what else but “Catchphrase” where he stole the show from the cuckoos ! The audience was open - mouthed (or should I say open - beaked ?). The reviews were ecstatic with praise. By Christmas, Pete Parrot was so talkative he was talked about all over town, starting to become a legend in his own lifetime. He could hardly pause for breath. In fact, Aunt Cockatoo gave him a lollipop to try and keep him quiet. That didn’t work well, either. He was so fluent that it seemed nothing could shut the old bird up ! Nowadays, people greeted Pete Parrot with glee and queued up to get his autograph. He even moved onto foreign languages - “Tous les jours, a tous les points de vue, je vais de mieux en mieux” he expostulated (meaning in French - everyday in every way, I am getting better). Bonjourno ! Auf weidersein ! Pete Parrot said, finally running out of breath.

Tittle - Tattle The Parrot’s Chat Room

Circle the letters C - H - A - T inside these words

chasten

chatter

chasten

chatty

chauvinist

cheat

chart

chit - chat

charismatic

characteristic

chaotic

character

charismatic

charter

charlatan

chant

enchanting

chapter

charity

catch

scratch

charlatan

chartered

chatted

chasten

charismatically

charitable

catastrophic

catchphrase

castle

catastrophe

recipe
Talking Banana Fritters
Ingredients
4oz plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 tsp sugar
1 egg
1/4 pint of milk
fat or oil for frying
sugar for dusting

Halve the bananas. Mix the flour, bking powder, salt, sugar and eggs together. Add the milk slowly andstir constantly to avoid any lumps forming. To make a perfect fritter batter, the batter must be thick to stick to the fruit with a thick coating. damp fruit should be tossed lightly in flour before being dipped. Heat the fat or oil to cover the fruit and liberally coat in batter. Cook for one minute on each side then turn and toss quickly. Serve hot, dusted with sugar and decorate with polo mint white teeth.

© Jacqueline Richards 2005

Snuffle the Cat was looking for something he had lost one day. He remembered a cloud of dust whilst he was spring cleaning, or maybe it was the fly spray - his hayfever had been bad that day - then whoosh ! Atishoo. Off the sneeze set. He said to his wife, “I’m sure I sneezed yesterday - where did it land ?”. Tweeking his nose and nuzzling his nostrils, he looked under the bed, in the wardrobe, in the corner of the cupboard and every shoebox - no sneeze. He traced his sneeze on the whirlwind around the bathroom - not in the medicine cabinet, nor under the weighing scales. Perhaps out of the window and down the drainpipe ? Or blasted down the plughole of the bath, in the bubble soaks he had enjoyed yesterday, fluxed and flowed on floods of suds. “The sneeze might have landed on the mirror”, suggested Mrs Snuffle, “Have a look there”. Snuffle the cat checked his reflection in the mirror - despite his bright red nose and odd cold sore, from the flu he had been suffering, he was still as handsome as ever. He preened his whiskers, sleeked and polished his tortoise shell fur and checked his tail was still curled.

In the lounge, the sneeze could have become somewhat musical - wheezed out of the bagpipes in the corner of the room with a loud miaow. Sneeze maybe on a whooping cough wind, bacteriocidally buzzed along with the bacillus on the bellowing bells of the cats’ choir. If sneeze wanted a religious exploration, Snuffle thought to himself, then maybe he would head off to follow the footsteps of Pedro Paez and Jerome Lobo in the early 1600’s who were amongst some of the most famous travellers. Maybe the sneeze headed in the direction of the kitchen - so Snuffle had a peep in the washing machine, under the mat and in the bin. In storm clouds of carbon monoxide, sneeze could have coasted in the cogs of the clock on the wall - circling one to twelve with a tick - tock, hickery - dock rythmn. Perhaps the sneeze had aerated asthmatically rat - a - tat on the door and out through the keyhole towards the garden on a gusting gale. Ventilated, sneeze could have shot past all the other pets and been prescribed a hey presto pill to ease his almighty atishoo. Sneeze could have soaked up scented serviettes or been shaken by squashes so he needed to recover from his infectious episode.

Snuffle’s sneeze might have skirted the globe - viewing the seven pnuematic wonders of the modern world - following in the footsteps of other famous explorers like Yuri Gagarin - the first man to orbit the globe. If it was a European tour, sneeze wanted, he could have gone to the lands known by the Early Greeks under Alexander the Great, who marched on the Indus Valley in 300 B.C. He conquered Persia - with a bit of help from sneeze - in 334 and 331 B.C. Snuffle the cat knew the sneeze was quite athletic - perhaps he had taken part in the Olympic Games - which started in 776 B.C. - but they only took place every every four years - what could the sneeze have been doing in the meantime ? Snuffle the Cat wondered to himself. Anyway, the Olympic Games ended in 395 B.C. because of an earthquake in Athens - Snuffle the Cat hoped that the sneeze hadn’t got lost in the rubble, been suffocated by dust and squashed by falling rocks.

Later, not only did knowledge of geography expand under the Romans but in most of Asia and China, great civilisations flourished. If sneeze had made a mistake like Ptolemy, whose biggest error was to underestimate the circumference of the world by 40 per cent - a belief that was perpetuated for the subsequent 1 300 years - then maybe sneeze had gone into hiding in sheer embarrassment. At least the Greek philosophers had learnt enough to guess accurately that the Earth was a sphere. Sneeze maybe had gone off the edge of the world as the early civilisations believed, before Gallileo discovered the world was a sphere by looking at the stars and the planets with his new astronomical telescope. If it was sunnier climbs sneeze was looking for to recover from his phlegmatic pnuemonial attack, via a trip to the doctors, of course, to pick up a quick prescription of antibiotic lotions and potions or to be checked up by a nasal nurse, sneeze could have headed South whistled on the wind like Italian Christopher Columbus who went off to discover the Caribbean (1492-1504), travelling the interiors of unmapped continents.

Or if his temperature was so high because of the infection caused by the outbreak he could have checked onto a flight to fly (sorry flu) to the Antarctic to chill out with the Eskimos, to build snowmen and take a weekend break in an igloo. The first serious exploration of the Polar regions began in the early 1800’s - maybe sneeze, like Fridtjof Nansen, sailed into the icy Arctic Ocean - Snuffle hoped he hadn’t had to spend two years on the ship before finally being sled across the ice, like the original explorers had to. He could have been bobsleighing down on the trail of the Norwegian Roald Amundsen (1872-192 - the first man to reach the South Pole or in the opposite direction - in American Robert E. Peary’s footsteps - the first man to actually reach the North Pole in 1909 - perhaps sneeze had caught a chill and ended up in hospital. Or perhaps, like Captain Robert Scott, a month after the first expedition, sneeze had perished in the icy climate.

In a tissuebox typhoid tycoon tornado towards Timbuktu, sneeze could have been inspired by the lungs of Luton or expired in exhaust fumes in Essex. On the international leg of the sneeze’s tour, perhaps sneeze holidayed in Rio de Snuffle to join in a jubilent Mardi Gras with all the other catarrhs. Maybe sneeze got so drunk he forgot his way home - Snuffle contacted the other party - goers … they had seen sneeze leave around midnight after dancing all night nosing up close to a very luscious lip. Sneeze could have been couriered on a Christmas card, an invitation for a celebratory Christmas dinner at Grandma’s house to be exploded from a Christmas cracker. Maybe he got so drunk - he was still asleep und the table. He hoped he would be lucky in the lucky dip to get a suitable sneeze prize - a hankerchief, nose or box of tissues. Maybe he was lost in the post - Snuffle must contact the Post Office, he thought to himself. He was sure he had put a stamp on every letter he had sent last week.

Chalkboard Game - Trace Sneeze to the Doctor to Recover From His Flu

Of course, he sparked in Snuffle’s wild imagination, Thanksgiving was coming up - may be sneeze had flown across the Atlantic to visit Aunty Beryl in the same trip as the Norwegian Vikings under the captainship of Leif Ericson, who had been the first to land in North America, long ago, and since then the Pilgrims and many other adventurers had similarly treked into the American plains. As rivalries developed between the various European powers and settlement continued between 1804 and 1806, two explorers, Meriwether Lewis and William clark finally made the long journey from the Missouri River to the Pacific Coast - maybe sneeze had gone off to taste the delicious Mississippi Mud Pie he always wanted to in the footsteps of the famous explorers. In South America, Hernando Cortes had made a heroic attempt to conquer Mexico - if, like the Aztec Indians believed, he was a God, then sneeze should conquer Mexico with only a little force. The brothers Sebastian and John Cabot had made the first landfall in Canada - maybe it was their route sneeze had followed in rather more Northern territories.

Sneeze may have run out of energy and had to take a stop at a motorway cafe for a quick snooze and refreshing cup of lemon tea with his friends - Cough, Splutter and Spit. Or maybe he got a flat tyre - no air left to aero - dynamically power his sneeze and had to call the AAA (Atomic Asthmatics Anonymous). He may have swerved his scooter and skidded with a bump - bruising his sides and slipped into a coma. If he had been killed, maybe sneeze had gone to heaven - if he was in the early civilisations, he may have gone to Tartarus, as the Greeks beleived, or to Valhalla, as was the opinion of the Vikings. Snuffle must remember to say a prayer next Sunday at the Feline Church of All Sneezes, he thought to himself. Maybe the sneeze was so famous Snuffle the Cat thought to build a build a mausoleum or contact the Ancient Egyptians about constructing a temple like the one at Karnak, in Luxor on the banks of the Nile.

Snuffle the cat got in touch with the Lost and Found at Waterloo station - no-one had seen sneeze there but the guardsmen commented that he was a very lucky sneeze to have all these people concerned for his welfare and searching for him. Perhaps sneeze had to stay in a homeless shelter. The local police said they put up posters of sneeze in the gazette - “Has anyone seen this sneeze ?”. There was little response. Maybe the sneeze was lost at sea - caught up in whooping cough waves of wonder whilst surfing on the crests of the oceans, like Marco Polo, the first person to ever travel in Central Asia and China in the thirteenth century. If it was the South Pacific he was interested in conquering, he could have followed James Cook - one of the Great Britains who in 1768 - 1779 mastered the first sea voyage of the Southern Seas. He could have landed up on a dessert island - Robinson Crusoe style - maybe to this day he is basking in tropical palms and soaking up the sun. He is still to be seen, some say, sinking into sand on the shore or dusting off in the local swimming pool in sweltering sun rays, bouncing on a beach ball. Or maybe he hit an iceberg and was sank with the passengers on the Titanic.

Snuffle was discussing the matter with his neighbours who recalled how they had been addressing the important contribution made by Ferdinand Magellan - who made the sea journey around the world, “Maybe sneeze was kidnapped by pirates ? Or held to ransom by bank robbers ? Eaten by cannibals ?” (especially if he was off to see the famous Victoria Waterfalls named after the Scottish explorer David Livingstone who ventured on the River Zambezi into Southern and Central Africa) one of sneeze’s old pals remarked amusingly.

Meandered on a monsoon, mooching around the Amazon Rain Forest sneeze could have been lost in the jungle, blown away on a leaf or set up home in a teepee with the Inca Indians. Sneeze had always been interested in the Spanish explorer - Francisco Pizarro who was significant in the conquest of Peru (1530-1538). But had sneeze taken a map ? British convicts had begun to settle in Australia in 1788 by the shipload - Snuffle hoped that the sneeze hadn’t accidentally been caught up with the police and found himself on a deportation ship singing “Farewell to Ol’ England forever … I’m bound for a Botany Bay” with the other inmates, locked in a ball and chain. If the sneeze went to the Australian outback, he probably went on the North-South crossing as Robert O’Hara Burke had in 1860 - 1861. Snuffle hoped that, liked one of the Deputy expedition team, William Wills, he hadn’t been killed with starvation. He could be lost in the dessert, savaged by dingos or got interested in some strange cult - never to sneeze again. Perhaps sneeze had been electrocuted after Benjamin Franklin invented electricity and the light bulb - he was busy investigating how lightening conducts in thunderstorms by flying his kite - Snuffle the Cat hoped that the sneeze hadn’t got in the way.

1862 - and the invention of the Gatling machine gun - capable of firing 600 rounds a minute - maybe Snuffle had been caught up in the cross fire. Shot at dawn by bank robbers or caught up in some international conflict of the time … the Crimean War, the U.S. Civil War, the Boer War to name but a few. With an almighty main - force, maybe sneeze was catapulted in the outer catarrh cosmos. Dabbled on the nose and dripping in a deluge of delight, sneeze could have been nuzzled by noses, before being projected amongst the stars, satellited between the planets in orbit like Yuri Gagarin who in 1961 was the first man to orbit the Earth. Sneeze may have scooted Saturn, ventilated on viral vapour around Venus on it’s icy rings or aerologically rocketed to Jupiter. Sneeze may have dodged the stars and orbited around Uranus to land with a splat on Mars. Or took a trip to the Moon to dodge craters, roll in moon rocks, meet up with Neil Armstrong the first man ever to moon - walk and set foot on non-terrestrial dry land. Finally, after all this exploration, Snuffle thought, he had one last idea - may be sneeze had ventured back home - a prodigal sneeze - he glanced into the cat basket…ahhhh….there he was….fast asleep from his long and tiring journey. So if you have lost something and are in search of something or someone you are missing, look at the brightest star and maybe you’ll find what you’re looking for… I will look too.

Snuffle the Cat in Search of His Sneeze Wordsearch

c h i l l n c l o u d
g a r w o k p i k p u
s n e e z e q p u s s
a k i o e y t w w p t
i e y e n y z h z l o
r r o l g c o l d k r
f c o u e h y u m t t
c h q n m k s j i t i
o i h g q k n o s e k
u e q y w f i p l r k
g f f d h l f j k p j
h c h s n u f f l e k

air chill cloud cold dust flu hankerchief lung puss lozenge nose sneeze splutter snuffle

Atishoo ! Spelling Activity

Write 5 sentences with the word “flu” and 5 sentences with the word “flew” in it.

Flu

Add the letters F - L - U to complete the words

__ __ __ tter

__ __ __ stered

__ __ __ ctuate

__ __ __ e

__ __ __ ent

__ __ __ ffy

__ __ __ id

__ __ __ ke

__ __ __ me

__ __ __ nk

__ __ __ oride

__ __ __ mp

__ __ __ sh

__ __ __ te

__ __ __ x

in __ __ __ x

__ __ __ vial

__ __ __ mmox

recipe
Sneeze Chocolate Angel Torte
Ingredients
To make eight slices:
165g (5 1/2 oz) plain flour
25g (1 oz) cornflour
10 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
275g (10oz) caster sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
For the filling :
175g (6 oz) plain chocolate
200 ml (7 floz) soured cream
2 teaspoons of orange juice
For the icing :
225 ml (8 floz) double cream
150g (5 oz) low - fat natural yoghurt
25 g (1oz) plain chocolate curls
Raspberries

Pre - heat the oven to 180 C/350 F/gas mark 4. Grease and flour a deep, 23cm ring tin. Sift together the flour and the cornflour. Whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Gradually whisk in sugar. Fold in the flour, mixture and vanilla with a metal spoon. Pour mixture into the tin lined with a baking sheet. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the centre springs back when pressed. Invert tin onto wire rack. Allow the cake to cool. For the filling, break up the chocolate and melt in a heatproof bowl over the pan of simmering water. Remove from the heat. Stir in orange juice and cool for 10 minutes. Turn the cake upside down - cut into 3 layers with filling. Put on a serving plate. Chill for one hour and decorate with chocolate curls (made by scraping shavings using a potato peeler) and raspberries.

Spelling

Think of as many words you can with a “cat” sneeze inside. Example - “cat”apult.

© Jacqueline Richards 2005

The loudest shout started life as a tiny whisper that just kept growing … and growing … and growing. Eventually, the loudest shout shook the whole house. It echoed upstairs and downstairs … beginning early in the morning and ending late at night. It made the curtains shake too. The loudest shout echoed around … it flew out of the garden and through the leaves of the trees. It wobbled the bird table and scared off all the birds. The loudest shout even made the butterflies flutter and melted all the butter … the jitterbugs quivered and shivered outside, and opened the windows and free and more wide. The kitten’s whiskers started to shake … the loudest shout kept everyone awake. The loudest shout echoed until it could be heard at both ends of the globe … and left echoes echoing in everyone’s earlobes. A bit of silence was what was needed … instead of shouts that growled and howled. The noise the shout made was loud and clear … and even was heard over there and over here. Then loudest shout shreiked and screamed … the racket it made was louder than a tractor … louder that a lion’s roar … more of a mouthful than a giant’s snore. What do you think the loudest shout said ? …. “PEACE”, of course.

Loudspeaker Game

Add “loud” or “lowed” or “load” to complete these words . Which is the correct one to use ?

c __ __ __ __

al __ __ __ __ __

__ __ __ __ speaker

__ __ __ __ mouthed

down __ __ __ __

__ __ __ __ness

__ __ __ __er

__ __ __ __est

heavy __ __ __ __

__ __ __ __ ly

__ __ __ __ ed

__ __ __ __ ish

__ __ __ __ ing bay

© Jacqueline Richards 2005

My walk in the countryside was meant to be just a quiet jaunt in the fresh air - a blow in the cold breeze - but when I took a deep breath - Pell - mell - Oh what a smell ! The smelliest pong that ever hit your nostrils - that ever was sniffed up or ever got sneezed out. I bent over to pick a sweet rose but what hit my nostrils was the rottenest smell that could ever have been imagined - an awful odour. There was honeysuckle, pansies and all manner of other sweet flowers. I bit into an apple but instead of a rosy peach - all I got was a real reek. There were cow pats and swamps - a wicked whiff. Some stink.

Tasty Aromas Game

Can you guess what these mouth - watering, favourite tastes and smells should be ? Fill in the letters to complete the words.

ST ___ BERRY
RA ___ ERRY
GOO___ ERRY
VANI___
TANG___ NE
NEC___ INE
DAM___
___ ‘N’ RAI___
___ PE
PINE___ LE
REDCURR___
M___ N
L___
BA___ A
CHE___
C___ ON
CO___ UT
BLU___ RRY

Smelly Wellies

How many words or phrases can you think of that include or contain the word “wel” or “well” ?

© Jacqueline Richards 2005

Answers : STRAWBERRY
RASPBERRY
GOOSEBERRY
VANILLA
TANGERINE
NECTARINE
DAMSON
RUM ‘N’ RAISIN
GRAPE
PINEAPPLE
REDCURRANT
MELON
LIME
BANANA
CHERRY
CITRON
COCONUT
BLUEBERRY

Everything around Olivia the Ostrich always shattered - she was so clumsy that everything she touched simply broke and no egg was safe when Olivia the Ostrich was nearby. From morning, through noon, till night, Olivia the Ostrich’s house was full of the sound of something smashing. Whoops ! There goes another one. Even though, like most ostriches, she only had flippers for feet, Olivia the Ostrich was all fingers and thumbs - with two left feet. As her feathers fluttered and her wings flapped - everything fell apart in her nest. Oops ! One time, she even fractured her ankle and scratched her spindly legs. When she was polishing her windows, the glass shattered and fragments of photo frames fell to the floor. If Olivia the Ostrich did the washing up, all the plates, cups and saucers simply cracked up. If she drove her car, her foot slipped forwards and she carelessly collided with other vehicles. In her garden, twigs splintered and branches broke. Olivia the Ostrich was so accident - prone, she demolished three sheds in a week. More like a bull in a china shop than a feathery light bird, everything fell from her buttery fingers. When she switched on the lights, a bulb burst - if she opened a door, it usually fell off it’s hinges. Technologically she was no better, the computer fused and the television remote control got lost.

 Loop - De - Loop Spelling Activity

How many words can you think of with - OOPS ! in them ? Example - snoop.

recipe
Banana Scrunch
Ingredients
1 cup plain yogurt
3/4 cup prepared vanilla pudding
3/4 cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons honey
3 small bananas, sliced

In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt and vanilla pudding. Set aside. Heat a dry skillet over medium heat. Measure in the oats, and toast for about 1 minute, until hot. Drizzle honey over the oats, and continue to stir over medium heat until the oats are crispy at the edges. Remove the oats from the heat, and spoon most of them into the bottom of 4 glasses or small bowls. Reserve the rest for topping. Using about half of the banana slices, place a layer of sliced bananas over the oats in each glass or bowl. Pour custard over the banana slices. Top with the rest of the banana slices, and sprinkle with the rest of the toasted oats.

© Jacqueline Richards 2005

The bumble bee grumbled about all kinds of things that bumble bees mumble about. The weather not being so very hot and the price of honey going down a lot. One day, when he’d been mumbling for hours, flying around the garden and getting pollen from the flowers, the bumble bee eventually lost his voice. He wanted to grumble, but he really had no choice. He sneezed and let out an enormous “ATISHOO !”, his buzz disappeared and a mumble was all he could do as he flew. The bumble bee grumbled about the wind and about the litter not being put in the bins. Soon, his voice was really quite hoarse … and his wings got in a real flap, of course. The bumble bee grumbled to the frog, about the fleas jumping on the dog. He bumbled this way and mumbled that … he mumbled so much, he deafened the cat. The cat was so upset, he spilt milk on the mat. The bumble bee even moaned about the mouse who left cheese crumbs about the house. In fact, the bumble bee, grumbled about everything, he even grumbled about the colour of his wings. The bumble bee said that he would prefer red or perhaps blue or green, that would suit him better instead. He grumbled so much that as quick as a flash, his bumbling stopped and he landed in the trash. “OUCH !”, the bumble bee cried out in pain, as soon, his grumbling started again. As he landed upon the floor, he started bumbling a little bit more. His wings were broken and his knees were sore. As he tried to launch off, he crashed into the door. That again made his grumbling worse, he grumbled about the lack of money in his purse. The bumble bee grumbled on the rug, about the vacuum cleaner as he almost got trod. If someone said coffee, he moaned it wasn’t tea … then the bumble bee mumbled about the price – because he said it should be free. Then the bumble bee grumbled about the clock, which kept him awake at night with it’s tock. He grumbled about the hole in his sock … he grumbled so much, he bumbled off the rock. He bumbled upon the flowerbed, and the garden shed, then the bumble bee grumbled about the lawnmower instead. The bumble bee mumbled about the birds in their nest … then he grumbled about the insects … and them being a pest ! Finally, when the bumble bee had grumbled about everything to everyone for evermore, he fell fast asleep - but not for very long. Needless to say, the peace didn’t last long, as three of the butterflies started to sing a song. The butterfly music was so hopelessly out of tune, that it made everyone else in the neighbourhood grumble very soon. “Argghhh ! Peace at last”, the butterflies sighed as they fluttered past. Until, that is, the bumble bee started to snore, being a grumbling bumble bee, it sounded more like a roar.

Uuuummm Mumble Grumble Bumble Bee - Circle the “UM” in these words ?

MUMBLE

HUMP

RUMBLE

DUMB

GRUMBLE

BUMBLE

STUMP

CHUM

HUMBLE

DUMP

TUMBLE

CRUMPET

BUMP

GRUMP

TRUMPET

© Jacqueline Richards 2007

Mish - mash was in a dash and everything he did was rash. He wanted to do all things flash for a bash (with a bit of lipstick and eyelash) but he soon ran out of cash. Everything he did was a hash - and ended up in a bin of trash. He cut things up and they looked slash - he even cut his finger - and ended up with a gash. Mish - mash was in a dash - he rushed so much - he ended in a crash. Squash ! He had to get washed and made a splish - splash - splosh - before long he really looked swash … But mish - mash was in a dash and everything he did was rash.

Splash In Mash Game !

Some of the letters in these words got smashed as mash … can you help put them back ? Which is the correct suffix to use “- ISH or - USH or - ASH” ?

c ___
“Get Here !” smart ___
d ___
make a w ___
r ___ to the bank
g ___
h ___
b ___
pl ___ setee
sl ___
r ___
c ___ ion
fl ___
cr ___ ing
tr ___
eyel ___
spl ___ ing in puddles
cl ___ of personalities
st ___ of stolen bank notes
m ___ ed potato

© Jacqueline Richards 2005

Answers : cash ; “Get Here !” smartish ; dash ; make a wish ; rush to the bank ; gash ; hash ; bash ; plush setee ; slash ; rash ; cushion ; flash ; crashing ; trash ; eyelash ; splashing in puddles ; clash of personalities ; stash of stolen bank notes ; mashed potato

‘BANG !’ the fireworks exploded so loud that they could almost knock your socks off. ‘CRASH !’ plates dropped to the floor so hard that they could almost knock your socks off. ‘WHALLOP !’ a cannonball sped through the air so high that they could almost knock your socks off. ‘KERANG !’ an apple dropped from the tree so fast that they could almost knock your socks off. ‘SMASH !’ thunder rumbled so loudly that they could almost knock your socks off. ‘PRANG !’ a spring sprang so metallically that they could almost knock your socks off. ‘CRACK !’ an egg broke so sloppily that they could almost knock your socks off. ‘THUD !’ my bicycle wheel popped so flatly that they could almost knock your socks off. ‘POP !’ a balloon burst so hydrogen bomb atomically that they could almost knock your socks off. ‘BUBBLE !’ champagne corks popped so fizzily that they could almost knock your socks off. ‘SQUEAK !’ a mouse eeked so rodently that they could almost knock your socks off. ‘SMACK !’ I carshed my car so dentingly that they could almost knock your socks off. ‘CLATTER !’ an exhaust spluttered snf the car chugged so loudly that it could almost knock your socks off. ‘BRING ! BRING !’ my alarm clock rang so bringingly that they could almost knock your socks off. ‘CLANG !’ the rusty cogs grinded so badly that they could almost knock your socks off. ‘PITTER ! PATTER !’ rain dropped in such a downpour that they could almost knock your socks off. What a din ! it could almost knock your socks off.

Spelling Activity

Add “-ock” to complete the words.
cl __ __ __

d __ __ __

kinitting a __ __ __ __

sh __ __ __ __

fl __ __ __ of sheep

l __ __ __ the door

r __ __ __ pool

m __ __ __ ery

m__ __ __ingbird

l __ __ __ ed gate

l __ __ __ out

well - st __ __ __ ed

bl__ __ __ of chocolate

kn__ __ __ on the door

© Jacqueline Richards 2005

The baboon was sleeping in the jungle one day, snoring loudly as baboons do in their own baboon way. When suddenly the coconut leaves flew apart and the baboon awoke with a baffling start. Perhaps a coconut or a snake had dropped, but all of a sudden, his snoring stopped. Something had dropped right on his head and knocked the baboon right out of his bed. The baboon boo – hooed “OUCH !” in pain, and asked the gorilla to stop the rain. The gorilla replied that it wasn’t a rain cloud at all, “What on Earth was it then ?”, the baboon cried out loud. The hullabaloo soon drew quite a crowd. When the pair looked up, something had eclipsed the Sun and the tops of trees had almost gone. It seemed that the night had come too soon – but the thing in the sky wasn’t the moon. The baboon felt a real buffoon. As the snakes hissed on the jungle floor, the gorilla and the baboon looked a bit more. The gorilla went to get his spectacles to get a better view. The baboon quickly realised he needed his telescope, too. High in the clouds, descending from above, was a big, red balloon that had given the clouds a shove. One of the crocs who came for a look fell off his rock in total shock. Then the baboon called to the chimp to look at the sight – to bring a string and hold the balloon tight. The jungle animals went off on a search, almost knocking the parrot off his perch. Soon the animals gave up all hope, of ever finding a suitable rope. Along came an ape who said a stick might do the trick … but a fish disagreed and said a fishing rod would be much better. When the baboon tried to catch the balloon, he fell and ended up considerably wetter. A colourful bird flew overhead and wondered why the gorilla was not in his bed. Soon, after he crash landed and banged his head, the bird spent a week nursing ruffled feathers, a broken wing and very crumbled bread. The hippos roared an applaud as usually they spent their days in the jungle quite bored. The balloon bounced out of reach. It flew over the trees and landed on the beach. The gamekeeper came and shot the balloon with his gun and now the baboon’s ballooning days were all gone. It only took one shot to bring down the whole lot. What a jungle hullabaloo they created, now that the balloon was no longer inflated.

 BLOO or BLUE ? Hullaballoo

Fit in the letters either BLOO or BLU to these words to complete them.

*AL * * * N

*ACHE*ORH**D

** ISTER*US*Y

*** KSHE * F

**TT*M*ESS

* PEN *** USE

* * TT * M * ESS

* * * NT

* * * R

* * * RT

* * * EBOTTLE

* * * SH

* * * EPRINT

* * * E WHALE

© Jacqueline Richards 2007

Answers : balloon ; bachelorhood ; bobsleigh ; boisterously ; bottomless ; open blouse ; blunt ; blur ; blurt ; bluebottle; blush ; blueprint ; blue whale