Download Onomatopoeia sequences

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English Year 5: Onomatopoeia sequences
Introduction
Children will create a sequence of pictures or comic strip with a discernible story but
containing no text apart from onomatopoeic words.
What will the children learn?
Children will explore the use of words whose meanings are represented in their sounds.
What prior experience do the children need?
Children will be familiar with a range of onomatopoeic words, but probably will not know the
word ‘onomatopoeia’. Children often like the word because it seems outlandish and strange.
Spend some time simply looking at it, practise saying it, and practise spelling it. Children need
prior experience of using an art or graphics package, and of inserting pictures into a word
processor page.
Equipment
 A digital projector could assist you in introducing this activity, but it is not essential.
 The activity could be done effectively in an ICT room or suite – children need a computer
each, or one between two.
 Computers need an art or graphics program capable of including text, and a word
processor capable of importing graphics, preferably into a table.
The Lesson
Introduce the class to the idea of onomatopoeia. Stress that onomatopoeic words are not
necessarily just sound effects (zap, boing), but that their essential characteristic is that they
sound like their meanings (gurgle, hiss). Ask children to write down as many as they can think
of (not their own inventions at this point), then collect in examples in alphabetical order, and
create a long list.
Children work individually or in pairs. They choose six words from the list, and decide how
they could incorporate them into a series of pictures that tell a story. You might like to impose
some other rules, like choosing words starting with particular letters, or prescribing that the
words must appear in alphabetical order. You may wish to ban the production of violent
stories. The cleverest stories do not use the onomatopoeia simply as sound effects.
Children use the graphics program, or whatever else you have at your disposal, to create a
their sequence. Each picture should contain only one (or perhaps two or three) onomatopoeic
words, perhaps presented in speech balloons, thought bubbles, starbursts, or whatever is
appropriate. If you have clip art collections available to you, you may well be able to find and
import these devices, otherwise children can draw them for themselves.
It may be possible to speed up the process of creating the pictures by some judicious saving
of files. For example, if the story is all set in the same place it would be sensible to create the
background, save that, and then re-load it as the basis for each picture. Children who are
good at drawing may wish to create their own characters; otherwise it might be expedient to
use clip art. If you have the capacity to do it, you might also use a digital camera and add
images or characters from real life. Usually the onomatopoeic word should be added last.
When the six pictures are complete, copy and paste them onto a single page on the word
processor, reducing their size as necessary. Arrange the page as a table of two columns and
three rows, and leave space at the top of the page for a title. When pages are complete, save
them and print them out – in colour if you have the facilities to do so. Join the pages together
to make a class book.
Alternatively, children could arrange the six pages into a PowerPoint presentation.
© Becta, 2006
http://schools.becta.org.uk
‘Direct2U’ Service
Week 40: Strand English
In partnership with
Why are we using ICT?
You could complete this activity without the use of ICT, but using the graphics program allows
pictures to be edited, adjusted, re-sized and rearranged in ways that would not be possible on
paper.
References
National Literacy Strategy Framework for Teaching Y5 T2 W11: To explore
onomatopoeia. Collect, invent and use words whose meaning is represented in their sound…
Y5 T2 T24: To evaluate their work.
http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/literacy/teaching_resources/nls_framework/
5-14 National Guidelines for the Curriculum in Scotland: English Language Listening/Watching - Listening in order to respond to texts; Talking – Talking about texts;
Audience awareness;
Writing – Imaginative writing - Level C; ICT - Creating and presenting - Level C
http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/5to14/guidelines/index.asp
Where do we go next?
Several children read another child’s story, and compare notes about how they interpret it.
They then ask the author/s to explain the intended meaning. How effectively was this
communicated?
Differentiating the activity
This activity probably requires little differentiation. Children who have little confidence in their
drawing ability should perhaps be paired with more confident partners.
Reflecting on their work
If you produced the same story but omitted the onomatopoeia, what difference would it make?
© Becta, 2006
http://schools.becta.org.uk
‘Direct2U’ Service
Week 40: Strand English