It can be hard to know where to start when writing a short story. You ask yourself: Who will I write about? What will I write about? Where will I set it? Ms Reynolds and her 3rd Year English students are going to start their stories by finding our character out on the street, in Rathgar Village.
Before we went, Ms Reynolds read the following extract from John Steinbeck's novel, 'Of Mice and Men' - a this novel 3rd Years will be reading over the course of Junior Cycle.
Listening Exercise:
One of the key tasks with writing is being able to give eyes to the reader to be able to see, ears to hear and senses to feel what is happening to your characters. Can you please listen attentively and draw the character, Slim, the Prince of the Ranch? Try to capture as much detail as you can.
Draw out the character description …
Comprehension questions:
What adjective would you use to describe Slim's character based on what George observed?
Did you enjoy Steinbeck's writing style? Why? Did you notice any unusual analogies or similes?
Why do you think Steinbeck only had Slim speak at the end of the descriptive passage?
Field Writing Exercise: 'Go Find Your Character'
All writers are great observers, they spend many hours looking at the world and the people that inhabit it. They then research this world in order to make more authentic characters.
Now go outside with a pen and your hard notebook in hand. Pick a discreet place to observe passersby. Who are you seeing? A housewife, a builder, a college student etc. How do you know this? Did you just deduce this information based on what they were wearing, what expression they had on their face, their posture?
Ms Reynolds
The 1st years completed a zombie lab today where they used their scientific methods and thinking to identify patient zero from the zombie suspects. Using measuring skills, pH, observation skills and much more they successfully identified the source of the outbreak!
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The TY Horticulture class were out in the Autumn sunshine planting Spring bulbs using the chaos planting method. This is when a multitude of different spring bulbs (Hyacinths, Daffodils, Tulips, Crocuses, Narcissi) are mixed together and randomly planted so that we have a mixture of flowers and patterns emerging in the spring. It mimics nature and so is more enticing to pollinators and native insects that need the food in Spring.
Stratford is celebrating Maths Week 2026 (12th - 18th October) with daily activities around the school, at breaktimes and in Maths classes! The tutor-time daily quiz is proving to be extremely competitive as each form group tries to solve it and then run to find Ms Matthews in order to win the box of chocolates!
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