A Brush with the Dark Side
WALT: use correct sentence structure
Jeremy was upset. He had worked hard on his spelling homework all week, struggling to remember whether the “r” came before or after the “g” in “ergomalfunction”. He was sure he had nailed it, but today had been testing day and when he got his test back from his teacher, there was a disappointing message written in Mr Foster’s spidery writing . . . “Three out of twenty five. Detention after school. Write out all your words 30 times.”
Jeremy and his friend Sam had suspected that Mr Foster was from the dark side for some time. There was his obsession with learning these endless lists of words that everyone was sure he made up. There was also the evil glint in his eye as he handed out yet another of his meaningless research assignments. His personal appearance provided a multitude of clues; the black suit and a thin black tie that he always wore, his black shoes that were always immaculately polished, his perfectly groomed black hair that never moved in a breeze, and the distant, watery look in his eyes as if there was something to hide. The events during detention that afternoon certainly suggested that there was some merit in their suspicions.
It was four o’clock. Jeremy was halfway through “malconstipations” for the 27th time and Sam was struggling with “perifivalium”, when the muffled croaking started. It had been a dark gloomy day outside, but suddenly the classroom seemed even gloomier, chilly and foreboding. Mr Foster had stopped pacing back and forth some time ago and had disappeared to do some photocopying when the first croak sent a shiver down the boys’ spines.
They froze at their desks, transfixed, unable to move. There it was again; louder this time, and then yet again, somehow more threatening. Sam rose from his desk and so did Jeremy. They were drawn towards the teacher’s desk from where the noise originated. They couldn’t resist. It had a power over them that demanded obedience. The noise seemed to fill their heads and as they got closer, their nostrils were filled with an unbearable stench. On the floor behind the desk was a plastic container the size of a lunch box, and through the opaque sides the boys could see a green menacing shape, pulsing, throbbing. Jeremy reached down to open the lid…
A Brush with the Dark Side
By Hilton Ayrey
At that moment the door swung open and slammed against the wall. Mr Foster stood towering over them in the doorway. In his arms was a huge
rectangular box shape, the size of a small coffin, with a blood red cover of velvet draped over it.
“Oh . . . boys. You’re still here. You gave me quite a fright. I thought you would have gone home long ago and finished all that nonsense sometime over the weekend. Well, since you are here, maybe you could help me with this aquarium. I knew it was somewhere. Found it in the caretaker’s shed eventually. I thought we might set up a wetlands habitat for that frog Sidney found in the playground at lunchtime. Now, where did I put the cute little thing . . . ”
The sun was shining when the boys stepped out into the playground and headed for home.
“I think we’ve been reading too much Harry Potter,” said Sam with a grin.
In the classroom, hidden by the curtains, Mr Foster watched the boys leave the school grounds. He turned to his desk, unlocked a drawer, and took out a book. The title on the cover was “Mastering the Dark Arts”.
What is this story about?
What do you think about Mr Foster?
What could you take for your own writing?
Parts of a clause
There are dependent and independent clauses.
An independent clause forms a sentence on its own: You will definitely lose.
A dependent clause doesn’t make sense of its own: If you don’t try.
You will definitely lose if you don’t try.
Independent - makes sense on its own
Dependent - doesn’t make sense on its own
Highlight the independent clause red and the dependent clause yellow
You will not win, if you don’t try
I like to eat candy before I watch a movie.
Because my drink was cold, I heated it up in the microwave.
Whenever it rains, I like to wear my gumboots.
What can you tell about these sentences?
You gave me quite a fright.
Sam was struggling with the word “perifivalium”, when the muffled croaking started.
Remember to ask does it make sense on its own?
Yes = independent
No = dependent
Sentences
Write one sentence under each image. They should only contain one idea!