This unit of work is based on Hermelin: The Detective Mouse by Mini Grey. Hermelin is the most helpful, yet smallest resident of Offley Street, always helping his neighbours solve their mysteries. The drawings were quite cute and we were conflicted about which ones to redraw! Ultimately he liked the one with Hermelin's new friend! Each plan comprises 15 sessions to teach a small number of key writing skills from the national curriculum. Throughout the unit of work, pupils are given the opportunity to repeatedly practise these skills through meaningful short pieces of writing linked to the text. This builds towards a final extended writing task in which pupils can apply the skills with confidence and independence.

I wouldn't necessarily use this book as a read aloud, because I think the illustrations and structure of the writing is fun for students to examine closely on their own. I would include this book in my classroom library for students to read in their free time and would recommend it to students who are not yet able to read text with complex vocabulary and dense writing. I might use this book in a "theme" study and ask students to identify the message of the book and relate it to a real life circumstance. This book is also a wonderful demonstration of different ways complex picture books can be written and why attention to detail is beneficial when piecing together the mystery and understanding the story. This book also has potential to discuss foreshadowing events and making inferences.Hermelin looks for the definition of ‘mouse’ in the dictionary. Could you use a dictionary to find the meanings of unfamiliar words? Could you write your own dictionary definitions for different words? After spending just a few seconds with Hermelin, readers will find that they have developed a sudden fondness for typing mice. He is such a funny, intelligent fellow that one cannot help oneself. His story is engrossing and beautifully illustrated, and readers will be delighted when they see how Hermelin gets a wonderful surprise. Write your own newspaper article (or create a radio / video report) about the dramatic rescue of Baby McMumbo.

Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2020-01-24 09:05:48 Boxid IA1765421 Camera USB PTP Class Camera Collection_set printdisabled External-identifier Every time he finds one of the missing objects Hermelin leaves the owner of the missing object a type-written note telling him or her where it is. Soon, Hermelin is a neighborhood hero and the people he has helped invite him to a party. They never imagine that their secretive little helper is a rodent. Lccn 2013019508 Ocr_converted abbyy-to-hocr 1.1.20 Ocr_module_version 0.0.17 Old_pallet IA15937 Openlibrary_edition Hermelin sees the words ‘unclean’, ‘unhygienic’ and ‘unwanted’ in the dictionary definition for ‘mouse’. Can you think of other words with the prefix ‘un-‘? Could you make a poster / chart that shows words with other prefixes. Look at the collection of books and notes in Hermelin’s attic. How many different kinds of text can you think of?

It’s a terrible thing for Hermelin to be so cruelly misjudged, especially when the mouse’s single aim is to help the hapless people of Offley Street. Perhaps my favourite of Mini Grey’s works, with lovely themes of acceptance and courage. The residents of Offley Street have found that their possessions are going missing, but help is at hand from an unknown detective… Hermelin the mouse. Wanting to thank and find out the identity of their helper, Hermelin is invited to a party- but the reception received is not that which he had expected! At the end of the story, there is a piece of paper in the typewriter. Can you write a story about ‘The Mystery of the Missing Moggies’? Hermelin is a mouse who lives in the attic of Number 33 Offley Street. His attic is filled with books and boxes and a typewriter that Hermelin uses to write with. When Hermelin notices that the Offley Street Notices board is filled with people missing things, he knows just what he has to do. So he starts working as a mouse detective and solving the mysteries of Offley Street. He does this by noticing things and then leaving typed notes for the people to help them find their missing items. Then when tragedy almost strikes the youngest person on Offley Street, Hermelin is the one to save the day! Soon everyone wants to know exactly who this Hermelin person is, so they invite him to a thank you party in his honor. He just isn’t quite what they were expecting… A round cheese box bounces out of a van onto the street. The makers’ name on the box is Hermelin. From the moment the book is opened, the reader is presented with clues; clues that lie in the detail of the illustration. How appropriate when the book is about a mouse, a detective mouse, and yes, his name is Hermelin.