National Writing Day Activities: Year 5 Writing Activities

Harvest Mouse

The harvest mouse lives in long tussocky grassland, reedbeds, hedgerows, farmland and around woodland edges. Its diet mainly consist of fruit, seeds and insects. It is the only British mammal to have a prehensile tail – a tail that can be used like a fifth limb (like a monkey that uses its tail to swing through trees).

In this clip, we’ll watch a harvest mouse skillfully climb to the top of a plant in search of a tasty treat. But as a barn owl swoops in, will the mouse manage a quick escape?

Writing Activity

✍️ Imagine you are the mouse in the clip. Write a diary entry about your eventful day.

Try to include the following:

• The important events that happened to you throughout the day, leading up to the moment in the clip
• Your feelings as you climb the long grass
• Why you climbed to the very top of the canopy
• How you felt when you saw the barn owl and how you escaped from it
• What you hope your day will be like tomorrow

Take it further

✍️ Using this information from wildlifetrusts.org, create a fact file on harvest mice. Draw images to make your fact file as professional as possible!