--- title: "Year 5 English - Finding Dialogue from the Text on a Spectrum" url: "https://darwenstjames.co.uk/news/2026-04-29-year-5-english-finding-dialogue-from-the-text-on-a-spectrum" school: "Darwen St James’ C of E Primary Academy" --- # Year 5 English - Finding Dialogue from the Text on a Spectrum ![](https://files.schudio.com/darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy/images/news/bb376784-d3ea-46f9-b947-70636e7f835f.jpg) 29 April 2026 ![](https://darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy.schudio.com/images/news/bb376784-d3ea-46f9-b947-70636e7f835f.jpg) Bringing Characters to Life: A Spectrum of Dialogue in Year 5 This term, Year 5 have been immersed in the moving world of Goodnight Mister Tom. To deepen our understanding of the protagonists, we stepped away from our desks for a unique, kinaesthetic lesson exploring the power of voice and personality. We created a visual "Character Spectrum" to map out the distinct personalities of Mister Tom, Willie, and Zach: Blue: Representing Mister Tom at his most blunt and gruff. Grey: Capturing Willie’s quiet, hesitant timidity. Red: Reflecting Zach’s vibrant, cheerful exuberance. Mrs Thompson put our listening skills to the test by reading anonymous lines of dialogue from the novel. Without knowing the speaker, the children had to physically move and place themselves on the spectrum based on the "flavour" of the speech and the emotions conveyed. It was a brilliant way to see how Michelle Magorian uses language to build such distinct identities. The children were incredibly perceptive at picking up on the subtle cues in the text! By stepping into the shoes (and voices) of these iconic characters, Year 5 have gained a much richer insight into how authors portray growth and change through dialogue. [Year 5](https://darwenstjames.co.uk/news/tag/year-5) [English](https://darwenstjames.co.uk/news/tag/english) [![](https://files.schudio.com/darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy/imagecache/100x100c/news/3cd93af8-7080-44cc-9bba-b3d7aa4f7471.jpg)](https://darwenstjames.co.uk/news/2026-04-28-year-4-computing-effective-searching-online) Previous ### [Year 4 Computing - Effective Searching Online](https://darwenstjames.co.uk/news/2026-04-28-year-4-computing-effective-searching-online) [![](https://files.schudio.com/darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy/imagecache/100x100c/news/Collage_2026-04-30_08_52_05.jpg)](https://darwenstjames.co.uk/news/2026-04-30-year-6-english-storyboards) Next ### [Year 6: English - Storyboards](https://darwenstjames.co.uk/news/2026-04-30-year-6-english-storyboards) ### Academy Life - [News](https://darwenstjames.co.uk/news) - [Events](https://darwenstjames.co.uk/events) - [Clubs](https://darwenstjames.co.uk/academy-life/basc) - [School Council](https://darwenstjames.co.uk/academy-life/school-council) - [Attendance](https://darwenstjames.co.uk/academy-life/attendance) - [Charities and Fundrasing](https://darwenstjames.co.uk/academy-life/charities-and-fundraising) - ![School Games Gold](https://files.schudio.com/darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy/images/partners/Gold_Logo_25-26(1).png) - ![Healthy school](https://files.schudio.com/darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy/images/partners/healthy_school.png) - ![Picture News](https://files.schudio.com/darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy/images/partners/6_Years_of_Picture_News.png) - ![AP smilestar](https://files.schudio.com/darwen-st-james-c-of-e-primary-academy/images/partners/Screenshot_2026-07-27_10.26.27.png) ##### Location St James Crescent Darwen Lancashire BB3 0EY ##### Contact Us 01254 703260 ##### Stay Connected - [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/Darwenstjames) - [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/darwenstjames/) © Copyright 2021–2026 Darwen St James’ C of E Primary Academy School & Trust Websites by [ ![Schudio logo](https://darwenstjames.co.uk/img/logo/light.png) ](https://www.schudio.com/)