Topical Tuesdays: Let them eat turnips! - Key Stage 2 News Story and Reading and Writing Activity Sheet from The Week Junior

Supermarkets across the UK have been introducing limits on the number of fruits and vegetables that people can buy, following a shortage of foods including cucumbers, lettuces, peppers and tomatoes. This resources pack includes an article from The Week Junior magazine, along with a sheet of activities designed to get children thinking, talking and writing about what the story means to them.

Oracy

With her suggestions for people to eat turnips, and previous comments that nurses should find different jobs if they don’t feel they get enough pay, Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey appears to be one of those politicians who enjoys making simplistic, provocative statements. Do you find this sort of approach to politics refreshing? Do you think that public figures should feel free to speak their minds, regardless of whether it upsets anyone? Or do you think MPs and government ministers should have a more grown-up approach to public speaking? What do you think?

Writing skills

Think of a fruit or vegetable that best represents either you, or a certain politician or public figure. The most important thing is to describe the characteristics that the person shares with that fruit or vegetable, such as popular, versatile, tasteless, impractical or too costly for what they are. Use your descriptive skills to add as much detailed explanation as possible.

Or

Write a limerick or two about public figures you know. Remember, a limerick is a humorous, five-line poem with an AABBA rhyming structure.

Investigate

List as many fruits and vegetables as you can (aim for 20 or more), then research whether they are typically grown in the UK or if we have to import them. Either arrange them into columns headed “Home-grown” or “Imported” or find some other way of indicating what you have researched about their origins.

Find the entire series of Topical Tuesday resources to download in our Topical Tuesdays collection.

What is The Week Junior?

The Week Junior magazine looks at current affairs and helps children make sense of the world, provides context and clarity to complex issues, improves general knowledge and encourages discussion and debate.

To find out more about The Week Junior and to download its free resources, please go to The Week Junior website. 

This resource is part of the News Activities Archive collection.
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• News story
• Activities sheet