Teach Primary Issue 18.4

www.teachwire.net | 35 T E ACH RE AD I NG & WR I T I NG Key Stage 1: Tadpole’s Promise by Tony Ross and Jeanne Willis This book works on many levels – it’s either incredibly dark, or hilarious, or both, depending on your sense of humour. The ending both shocked me and made me laugh. It shows the life cycle of a tadpole and of a butterfly, but can also be used to discuss other aspects of the natural world like shared habitats and predators and prey. Key Stage 1: The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew it Was None of His Business by Werner Holzwarth and Wolf Erlbruch This is a much more straightforwardly amusing tale of a mole who goes on a hunt to find out who has done their ‘business’ (a poo) on his head. Key Stage 2: The Diary of Curious Cuthbert by Jack Challoner This collection of stories effortlessly combines compelling storytelling with accurate and accessible explanations of some of the biggest ideas in science. Not only that, the whole thing is written in rhyme! Key Stage 2: The Same Stuff as Stars by Katherine Paterson The title of the book refers to the scientific fact that the elements of which we are all made were formed in a dying star. This is just one of the things about stars and the planets that the main character, Angel, learns from the ‘Star Man’, in this story about a neglected child who has to take care of herself and her little brother. Alom Shaha is a physics teacher, writer, filmmaker, and science communicator. How to Find a Rainbow is out now. RECOMMENDED READS children. So, while I may not have become a science-fiction writer, I have become an author who writes science in fiction. In the classroom I love stumbling across ‘science in fiction’ that I can use in my own lessons. When teaching about space, or stars, for example, I like to use the wonderful explanation of why people are drawn to astronomy, as said by one of the characters in the novel Postcards by Annie Proulx. Nicholson suggests using The GingerbreadMan ‘as a starter for investigations into how long a gingerbread man would survive in water’. Similarly, you could use Jack and the Beanstalk to introduce a project on plants, or The Gruffalo to explore habitats. I know that primary teachers don't need reminding of the power of storytelling, but I hope my thoughts here might just help you extend that power to science as well. TP Another favourite of mine is When the Wind Blows by Raymond Briggs, which provides an incredibly powerful way of conveying to children the dangers of nuclear radiation, as well as allowing for discussion around the political and social implications of nuclear science. It’s not just the facts of science you can find in stories. The methods of science – observation, experimentation and thinking skills – can all be drawn out of stories you perhaps already use. For example, on his Science Fix blog, former science teacher Danny