During the last few weeks of term, the children of Amazon Class have loved exploring the gorgeous story of The Cloud Tea Monkeys by Mal Peet. 

'The Cloud Tea Monkeys' is the story of Tashi who lives in a tiny village below the tea plantations where her mother earns a living. One day her mother falls ill, and Tashi must pick tea to earn the money for a doctor. But she is too small to reach the tender shoots and the cruel Overseer sends her away empty-handed. Tashi needs a miracle. Then, on the mountains high above the plantation where only monkeys live, something extraordinary happens that will change her life for ever.

The children were inspired by the stunning description used by the author to create a picture in the reader's mind and decided to capture this in their diary writing. The children wrote their diaries as if they were the child in the story. 

As part of our writing last week, the children took part in tea tasting as a first hand experience to describe the tea in their writing. There were lots of mixed reactions to tasting tea and the different flavours! Here are some of the children's thoughts below:

Green tea

"It's tingly on my tongue!" 

"It tastes like fresh leaves." 

"It does not taste good!"

Decaffeinated tea

"It tastes fresh but sour."

"It tastes like tea!"

"It tastes quite bland."

Vanilla tea

"It tastes sweet." 

"It tastes just like biscuits!"

Lemon and Ginger tea

"It tastes sour and bitter." 

"This one is my favourite because I love lemon."

"I don't like the ginger very much."

"This tastes like my mum's stir fry!"

Mint tea

"It tastes strong and like an explosion in my mouth."

"This one tastes like my toothpaste."

"It tastes like oregano."

"My tongue feels strange."

 

We were really impressed with the thoughtful description used by the children in their diary writing.