Teach-Primary-18.3

www.teachwire.net | 49 T E ACH RE AD I NG & WR I T I NG Loved this? Try these... v Wild is the Wind by Grahame Baker-Smith v The Rythm of the Rain by Grahame Baker-Smith v Once Upon a Raindrop: The Story of Water by James Carter v Up in the Canopy: Explore the Rainforest , Layer by Layer by James Aldred v Our Planet by Matt Whyman, with a foreword by Sir David Attenborough draw a picture of each object in their workbooks, writing their three favourite descriptive words next to each one. Depending on ability and age, differentiate this by changing the number of words required. Try to leave enough time at the end of this activity to have pupils share their chosen words with the class. This is an activity that can produce some great results, with children exploring a wide range of imaginative vocabulary inspired by having physical objects to interact with. CARROT TOP PLANTS This activity never fails to amaze KS1 children. All you need are some carrot tops roughly one inch thick, a shallow tray or saucers and a jug of water. Let pupils help by pouring water into your container to a depth of roughly one inch, before placing the carrot tops into the tray. Place the container on a sunny shelf or windowsill and change the water daily – letting pupils take turns to do this. Roots and lovely feathery leaves should begin to grow in about three days. You can transfer your carrot tops to a container of soil after a few weeks where they will continue to grow. Explain how these plants will not produce new carrots because the tap root (the carrot) has been removed, so only the leaves will continue to grow. This is a great practical activity that gives really speedy results and demonstrates nature’s way of forever striving to grow and regenerate. Pupils can draw a picture of the growing carrot leaves every three days and measure the foliage, noting this in their workbooks to record their carrot top’s growth. Karen Hart is an independent drama teacher, author and freelance writer. contribution, this will really make it a whole-class collaboration. Type the story up for your class and make it into a special book to share with parents and carers. Writing a sailor’s diary entry Begin this exercise by talking about the meaning of the word ‘extinction’. An explanation for KS1 could be: ‘The complete disappearance of a type of animal (species) from Earth’. Another word to introduce here is ‘endangered’ explaining this as: ‘Any type of plant or animal that is in danger of disappearing forever’. Talk about reasons some plants and animals could become endangered or extinct e.g., changes to their habitat, too much hunting or pollution. Next, introduce pupils to the dodo, showing pupils a picture of the way we think it would have looked. The National History Museum website contains some really good information and pictures to use here ( tinyurl.com/tp-Dodo ) . Go on to explain how the dodo was a big, flightless bird. It was a bit bigger than a turkey, with bluey grey feathers and a long, hooked beak, small wings that were no good for flying, thick yellow legs and a tuft of curly feathers on its bottom. The dodo was first seen by Portuguese sailors in about 1507. Can pupils imagine what an astonishing sight the dodo must have appeared to them? Ask pupils to imagine they are a Portuguese sailor in 1507, writing about seeing a dodo for the first time in their diary – explain what a diary is for those who may be unsure. As a class, talk about how you would describe the bird, writing suggestions on the board for everyone to use in their work – big, yellow hooked beak etc. Go on to talk about Using these creatures, and working as a class, ask for some suggestions for a storyline. Start by asking the pupils who drew them for their creature’s names, writing these on the board. Ask pupils what sort of characters they feel these creatures will have – happy, grumpy, a joker, a bit shy, mischievous etc. Write suggestions on the board. Talk about stories having a beginning, a middle and an end. Think about how your story could start, maybe there was going to be a sea creature race day with a trophy for the winner. Perhaps there were two friends and another, bigger creature, kept spoiling their games or bullying them. Talk about the middle of the story and also how it will end. Try to get some input from every pupil even if it is a minimal what the sailors might have thought when they first saw the dodo. Were they surprised? Shocked by its strange appearance? Did it make them laugh? Use a template for pupils needing a bit of help, for example: Today I saw a dodo bird for the first time. It had... I thought it looked... Finish the activity by asking children to draw a picture of a dodo to accompany their diary entry. Younger pupils can concentrate on thinking of appropriate words to describe a dodo as part of a class contribution, going on to draw a picture of the bird and copying some words they choose to describe their picture from the board. The emphasis here should be on thinking of suitable descriptive words, extending vocabulary and letter forming or writing practice. TP @Karen.Journalist