Writing
Zelda Claw
Thunder growled overhead. Zelda crouched in the darkness, staring. Wind lashed the glistening tarmac and the street lights flickered, casting shadows across the darkened road. Rusted dustbins rattled in the wind, fences creaked and the rain drummed on car roofs. Zelda shivered. Where could she escape from the downpour?
At that moment, Zelda sensed something crawling, something creeping along the pavement, hugging close to the shadows. Silently, a vague shape slipped into a doorway and Zelda was sure that she had glimpsed the flicker of a green eye. She could just hear a low growl even though the rain danced a thousand deaths on the pavement. Her fur prickled as she tensed herself. What was it?
Without thinking, Zelda ducked under a lorry and tucked herself into a space near the engine. It was still warm. She could just make out what looked like an enormous cat pacing through the rain, like a shadow moving silently along the rain washed pavements. Its white, needle-teeth jutted out of a scarlet mouth. Power surged through every step. Zelda flinched, crouching stiller than stone.
Beneath the lorry, Zelda waited but the great rain-cat drew closer and closer. Emerald eyes glittered crazily and Zelda could hear its claws scratching on the tarmac. Nearer it came until the great cat paused by the vehicle’s engine and sniffed. Could it smell Zelda’s fear?
She could bear it no longer. Leaping out from under the lorry, Zelda shot back across the rain-swept road and leapt onto and over the wall. Landing on the other side, she paused. Alone! The rain cat had not followed but Zelda could hear it screeching. And it was a sound that seemed to tear the night in half. Zelda shuddered with relief. She was safe – for now.
Rain Cat
The Rain Cat is a common type of a feline that can be found in cities and large towns.
Rain Cats are easy to identify as they are scrawny and undernourished. They are usually ten inches in height and covered in matted fur. Most juveniles are more healthy looking than adults, due to the fact that Rain Cat females look after the babies with sheer devotion. The majority of Rain Cats are drab in colour with large emerald eyes, which are their most striking feature.
Usually, the Rain Cats settle in urban areas, especially near gastronomic venues where they can easily find food. They sleep under benches or behind bins and because they only hunt at night, they are rarely seen.
Unlike ordinary felines, the Rain Cats aren’t fussy about what they eat. Their menu consists of waste products discarded by the pubs and restaurants as well as an occasional rodent. Surprisingly, they have quite a sweet tooth and adore toffee apples, pumpkin pies and strawberry laces.
Most Rain Cats are renowned for their ability to attract rain clouds and cause huge downpours. While the majority of those interesting animals enjoy getting wet, some avoid the precipitation and hide during a storm. Additionally, Rain Cats are considered one of the world’s most stealthy hunters.
Interestingly, a small minority of Rain Cats are kept by the witches as pets in order to affect the weather. During heavy winds, the cats plummet to the ground onto the heads of unsuspecting passers-by like harbingers of the storm. Some linguists argue that this is the origin of a famous saying ‘It’s raining cats and dogs’ but it had never been officially confirmed.
SPAG Glossary (Revision)
Term | Definition | Example(s) |
Adverb | Describes a verb, tells us how/when/why | He ran quickly/ the door opened wide/ I am quite tired |
Adjective | Describes a noun | The bigger room/ a peculiar object/ my twinkling star |
Verb | Doing or being words | Walk/think/is/be/listen/walking/bought/linked |
Verb forms | verbs shown through more than one word | Have walked/am walking/ had been listening |
Noun | Names of things | Happiness/door/flock/heroism |
Proper noun | Names of events/people/places/dates | Wednesday/Tom/Birmingham/Christmas Day |
Pronoun | Words to replace repeated nouns | He/his/me/my/them/they/you/their/its |
Determiner | something that determines something about the noun | My/ one/ that/those/this/a/an/the/some |
Article | A specific type of determiner | a/an/the (these are the only 3) |
Preposition | Shows how something is positioned in relation to something else or show relationship of events in time. | Into/over/under/before/of/for/around |
Sentence types | The four main types of sentences used | Question-Do you like this hat? Command- Go and get the newspaper. Exclamation- What a nice hat that is! Statement- You have been told to listen. |
Subordinating conjunction | A joining word used to introduce a subordinate clause to make a complex sentence. | I SAW A WABUB: if, since, as, when, although, while, after, before, until and because. |
Co-ordinating conjunction | A joining word used to connect two main clauses to make a compound sentence. | For/and/nor/but/or/yet/ so |
Subordinate clause | A part of a sentence that gives extra information. It does not make sense on its own. | Because of the noise/ even if you’re busy/ so that we can be early |
Main clause | A part of a sentence that does make sense on its own and can be a simple sentence on its own | I enjoy football/Later, we should go out |
Relative clause | Type of subordinate clause with a relative pronoun | Luke, who is kind, helped me/ Birmingham, which is where I live, has changed a lot. |
Relative pronouns | Words used to begin relative clauses | Whom/who/which/where/that |
Commas | Punctuation used to 1. Mark clauses/ 2. Separate speech/ 3. Split items in a list/ 4. Address someone | 1. After dinner, let’s go out. 2. Joe yelled , “Come here!” 3. I went shopping, had lunch, saw my friend and came home. 4. Listen to me, John. |
Inverted commas | Punctuation showing talking (speech marks) | “Listen to me, Sam,” he moaned. |
Apostrophe for possession | Punctuation to show something belongs to someone/something. | Joe’s pencil/ the children’s work/ the cats’ bed/ the cat’s bed |
Apostrophe for omission | Apostrophe to show that a letter is missing from words. | Can’t/ dinner’s/ won’t |
Contraction | When two words combine to make a shorter word. | Didn’t/ can’t/ shan’t/ tiger’s(tiger is)/ it’s |
Subject | The part of a sentence doing the verb. | Suddenly, Lewis kicked the wall. The rugby ball dropped over the posts. |
Object | The part of the sentence having the verb done to it | Suddenly, Lewis kicked the wall. The rugby ball dropped over the posts. |
Passive voice | Where the sentence begins with the object and has to have an helping verb (was, is, had been) Often uses by. It can leave out the subject. | The list had been completed by the captain.
The list had been completed. |
Active voice | Where the sentence has the subject before the object. | Now, Tom knew it was too late. The captain completed the list. |
Noun phrase | A group of words showing the noun | My hat/ the car/ a chimpanzee |
Expanded noun phrase | A noun phrase expanded with adjectives or prepositional phrases. | The red, wailing creature The creature with unusual claws |
Adverbials/ adverbial phrase | A group of words that tell when/where/ how something happened. | She came to work here last year. Near the lake, there was a house. |
Present Progressive tense | The explaining tense. Uses an –ing verb. Uses is, am, will be. | I am listening/ I will be going. |
Past Progressive tense | The explaining tense. Uses an –ing verb. Uses were or was | She was listening to music/ We were eating our lunch. |
Past Perfect tense | Tense showing point in the past. Uses has/have/’ve Verbs end in –ed or -en | I had listened to music
|
Present Perfect tense | Tense showing point in the past. Uses had Verbs end in –ed or -en | I have drawn a picture/ She has taken my pencil. |
Simple tense | States action without showing if they are completed or ongoing. Has past/present/future versions | I walk to school. Lewis will arrive soon. Joe thought he was wrong. |
Direct speech | When someone uses inverted commas to show someone is talking. | Scott yelled, “Go away!” |
Indirect/reported speech | Explaining what someone has said without using speech marks. | She said that she wouldn’t come today. He told me that he thought I was cool. |
Synonym | A word with a similar meaning | Happy, delighted, pleased |
Antonym | A word with the opposite meaning | Cold/hot fierce/calm loud/quiet |
Prefix | A group of letters at the beginning of a word to make a new word. | Im/il/ir/un/dis/re Makes impossible/ illegal/unhappy etc |
Suffix | A group of letters at the end of a word to make a new word. | Ed/ing/ment/ance/ly Makes listened/ refusing/ acceptance etc |
Root word | The original word that the word derives from. | Root of the word unhappily is happy, Adds prefix un and suffix ily |
Parenthesis | Extra information added through brackets/ commas or dashes | Brackets- His house (number 12) was on the news. Commas- The table, which is green, is in the wrong place. Dashes- My Sister- as always- got the most Easter eggs. |
Hyphen | Punctuation used to join two words or to join a prefix and root where they have vowels next to each other. | Light-hearted/old-fashioned Re-enter/ co-operate |
Word families | Words that are linked because of their root word. | From the link circ (meaning round) Circumference/circus/circuit/ circle/ circular |
Formal language | Language/vocabulary used in serious situations or in important situations. | The cost of living has increased significantly. |
Informal language | Language/vocabulary used in less serious and more casual situations. | The cost of living has gone up loads. |
Homophone | Two words with same sound but different meaning | They’re/their/there ball/bawl cue/queue |
- Holway Park Community Primary School,
- Shakespeare Avenue,
- Taunton,
- Somerset,
- TA1 2JA
- 01823 252126
- office@holwaypark.somerset.sch.uk