Stimulus: An email from an author and the Class 4 timetable

1. The email from the author

Class 4 at Ysgol Cwm Tawel read The Dragon Under the Bridge by Mari Pryce. Their teacher, Mrs Hughes, emailed Mari to ask if she would talk to the class on a video call. This is Mari’s reply.

✉ Pretend email screen

From: Mari Pryce <mari.pryce@example.com>
To: Mrs Hughes, Class 4 <class4@cwmtawel.example>
Subject: Re: Video call with Class 4?
Sent: Monday, 4:15 pm

Shwmae Mrs Hughes and Class 4,

Thank you so much for your lovely email. I am thrilled that you enjoyed The Dragon Under the Bridge! I would love to talk to you all on a video call next week.

I can do Tuesday or Thursday:

On Tuesday I am free from half past 1 until quarter past 3 in the afternoon.
On Thursday I am free from 9 o’clock until half past 10 in the morning. After that I am visiting a school in Aberystwyth.

The call will last 30 minutes. Please choose a time, and send me 3 questions that the class would like to ask me, so I can think about my answers.

Diolch yn fawr,
Mari

2. Class 4 timetable for next week

Mrs Hughes says: “We cannot have the call during PE, assembly, break or lunch. Any other lesson can move.”

Time	Tuesday	Thursday
9:00 to 9:30	Maths	Assembly
9:30 to 10:15	Maths	Welsh
10:15 to 10:30	Break	Break
10:30 to 12:00	English	Maths
12:00 to 1:00	Lunch	Lunch
1:00 to 2:00	PE in the hall	Art
2:00 to 3:15	Science	Music
3:15	Home time	Home time

Time

Tuesday

Thursday

9:00 to 9:30

Maths

Assembly

9:30 to 10:15

Maths

Welsh

10:15 to 10:30

Break

10:30 to 12:00

English

Maths

12:00 to 1:00

Lunch

1:00 to 2:00

PE in the hall

Art

2:00 to 3:15

Science

Music

3:15

Home time

3. Four ways to get in touch

Way	What it is like
Letter	Written on paper and posted. Needs a stamp. Usually takes 1 or more days to arrive. Only one person writes at a time.
Email	Typed and sent over the internet. Arrives in seconds. No stamp. You can send it to several people at once. They read it when they are ready.
Phone call	Talk and listen at the same time. You cannot see each other. Hard for a whole class to join in.
Video call	Talk, listen and see each other over the internet. A whole class can join with one screen. Everyone must be free at the same time. Needs a good internet connection.

Way

What it is like

Letter

Written on paper and posted. Needs a stamp. Usually takes 1 or more days to arrive. Only one person writes at a time.

Email

Typed and sent over the internet. Arrives in seconds. No stamp. You can send it to several people at once. They read it when they are ready.

Phone call

Talk and listen at the same time. You cannot see each other. Hard for a whole class to join in.

Video call

Talk, listen and see each other over the internet. A whole class can join with one screen. Everyone must be free at the same time. Needs a good internet connection.