Dave Cryer ~ Workshops & Writing - Class of Dave ~ Task Archive

Class of Dave - Previous Tasks - you are always free to have a go at one of these instead of the current week's set tasks - you can submit any task any time to compete for the current month's prize

	Creative Writing	Reading Springboard
Aug 23	Write a poem about your summer holiday.	Read Chapter One of *Dark Summer* by Ali Sparkes. You find out that Eddie is on a tour of a cave system and takes up an offer of adventure from a strange tour guide. Write the opening of a story using a place you have visited - everything is normal until a member of staff offers you a bit of adventure you can't refuse.
Aug 16	Write a story which begins with the line: "When you are lost on your own out in the hills and it is going dark, this is when you wish you'd remembered to bring your mobile phone ... "	Read Chapter One of *Jack Slater and the Whisper of Doom* by John Dougherty. You find out that Jack has a daydream during which he gets rudely brought back to reality by Mr Ashford, the deputy head. Write your own story about you having a daydream at school and getting woken up by a teacher.
Aug 09	Write a poem where every line begins with the words 'August is...'	Read the dramatic Chapter One of *Shadow Forest* by Matt Haig. In Chapter Two, Sam and Martha have to go to Norway to stay with their Aunt Eda. Imagine that Sam writes a letter or an email to a school friend to explain what has happened.
Aug 02	Write a story or story opening which contains a zebra, a desert, cold and the colour blue.	Using a book of your choice that you have read all the way through, write an alternative ending.
July 26	Write a story or story opening which contains a desk, an acrobat, rain, a castle and a character who says, 'Never, never, never!'	Using a book of your choice, imagine you are a school teacher who has given a detention to the main character. Another character from the book suddenly turns up, uninvited, to the detention room. Write it out as a story, story opening, or script.
July 19	Write a story, story opening or poem which is not set in this world.	Read the opening of Beast by Ally Kennen. Take care - this is a teenage read with some strong language and violence in it. Pick one of Stephen's 'ten worst things' he's done and write up the story of it, pretending to be Stephen.
July 12	Write a story or story opening that begins with an old man sitting on a bench. Who is he? What is he doing there? Where was he yesterday? How is he feeling?	Read the opening of Mondays are Murder by Tanya Landman. You will find out about a character called Bruce Dundee who Poppy Fields and her mum, Lili, meet at a service station. I want you to imagine that Poppy has a nightmare about Bruce. Write it up as vividly as you can.
July 5	Poetry this week - you are to write an eight-verse poem, where each verse is a haiku. You'll need to find out what a haiku is if you don't know already. The title of the poem is: 'Summer Snapshots'. Your haiku might take the English form of carefully counted syllables or the Japanese form which will give you more freedom. Again, you'll have to find out what I mean by all that!	This one's for Harry Potter fans. Before Book One, Harry had a life. I want you to imagine that Harry had an adventurous summer holiday once, in the days before Hogwarts. Write it as a story or story opening. If you want to, you can write in the first person, pretending to be Harry.
June 28	A script this week: two characters are having an argument during which the word 'football' is mentioned. What happens next or who else comes into the dialogue is up to you.	Read Chapter 1 of the *The Great Hamster Massacre* by Katie Davies. You'll find out a bit about Anna and her brother Tom. In the story that Anna tells, her mum doesn't want her to have a pet hamster. Your task is to write a scene where her and Tom are trying to persuade her to have one. Anna's Gran also lives with them, so you could put her in it too. You could write it as a story or a script.
June 21	Not everyone's interested in football, but I'm keeping to the sporting theme this week. Your task is to write a rhyming poem about a sport of your choice.	Read the opening of *Dream On* by Bali Rai. Jit would love to go to the trials, but he knows that he'll upset his dad if he does. Your task is to write a story opening or complete story where someone faces a dilemma about whether to disobey or upset a parent.
June 14	The World Cup began on Friday, so the obvious choice for this week's task is to write a story, story opening or poem about football.	Read the opening two chapters of *Foul Play* by Tom Palmer. Now imagine it is the next day and Danny is telling his mate about what happened. Write out their dialogue as a script.
June 7	Write a story or story opening with the word 'Rain' in the title. The beginning might contain a heavy summer rain storm perhaps.	Choose any novel by Darren Shan. Read Chapter One, then close the book and write your own version of what might happen in Chapter Two.
May 31	This week, the 70th anniversary of the Dunkirk evacuation has been in the news. Your task is to write a poem, story opening or complete story where a soldier has to be rescued from a desperate situation.	Find the poem *Jabberwocky* by Lewis Carroll. It's a brilliant nonsense poem that completely makes sense. But it makes a different sense to different readers. Your task? Invent your own made-up words and write your own nonsense poem, inspired by this amazing piece of writing.
May 24	Write a story or story opening which contains a swimming pool, an ice cream, sunshine, a family, a shop and a character who says, 'Wow, what a day!'	Using a book of your choice, imagine you are the next door neighbour of the main character. You are also a gossip and you decide to tell your other neighbour everything you know. Write out what you say as a dialogue with the other neighbour asking you questions every now and then.
May 17	Write a poem entitled 'All the Fun of the Fair' - use your imagination - it doesn't have to be about a real fairground.	Read the opening of *The London Eye Mystery* by Siobhan Dowd up until the point when Salim disappears. Write a poem, story or story opening where someone disappears from a very public place of your choice.
May 10	You are entering a haunted house. Write a description of your movements, the sights and the sounds.	Find the book Once by Morris Gleitzman. Read Chapter One. Imagine you are Mother Minka. Describe the scene from her point of view.
May 3	Begin a story with the line: 'It wasn't a dream. It was real . . . '	Choose a book from this year's Carnegie or Greenaway short list - read the opening - write a 3-minute radio script to promote it.