English Plan – Reception Summer A – Topic: Space Non-fiction: Information & instructions ~ Weeks 1 - 2

Week 1 / Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / Friday
On the rug / Show The Baby and the Rocket (Hamilton Animated Tale, see resources). Read story without looking at the (i) for information. Talk about the story. Do chn think Baby really travelled into space? Is this a true story? No it is made up (fiction). Now look at the story again, skip forward to part where they pass Venus. Click on the (i) for information. Read the bit about Venus. Go on to next page & read information about Mercury. Are these parts true? Yes, these parts give us facts – tell us things that are true about real planets. / Start by drawing the Sun in the corner of the f/c. You will then draw and label each of the planets as you move away from the Sun. Use The Baby and the Rocket to help by reading and following the information on each planet as baby goes past them. Draw and label each of the planets on the f/c as you go. How many planets are there? 8 Can we remember their names? Rehearse the names of the planets. Which ones can chn already remember? Pluto was redefined as a dwarf planet in 2006. / Enlarge and show a page on one of the planets from a non-fiction information book. Read some captions and look at the pictures. Point out how the page is presented. It has pictures (illustrations). It has labels and captions. It has text boxes. It uses headings of different sorts. Write these different features on the f/c and explain that these are the features of a non-fiction book. Remind chn that non-fiction books give us facts – they tell us things that are true and not made-up. / Show our f/c drawing from yesterday. Can chn remember the planets? Look again at Baby and the Rocket to remind us of the basic information about each planet. Write My Very Easy Method Just Suits Us Nicely on the f/c. Read this together 2 or 3 times. Underline the first letter of each word. Point out that these are the first letters of each of the 8 planets in order, moving out from the Sun. This sentence helps us remember their names. It is called a mnemonic. / Show a non-fiction page on the solar system. What have we learned about the planets this week? Can chn remember the names of the planets and their order? Remind them of the mnemonic. Ask why we call all the planets the solar system? Because all the planets including the Earth, go round the Sun. Can we list some of the facts we have learned this week about the solar system. Take suggestions and list some facts on the f/c. Stress that these are true – they are not made up!
Guided task with teacher / Easy (Chn in this group are making posters with teacher help in scribing.)
Discuss the features of a planet – how far from the Sun it is, how big, how hot or cold, whether it has moons or rings or both, etc. Explain that we will make two posters – one of one planet and one of another planet (don’t choose Pluto). Allow chn to suggest planets and to split into two groups: one planet per group. They then start telling you facts about their chosen planet which you can scribe on paper. These labels and captions will then be stuck on their posters. / Medium/Hard (Chn in these groups are working in pairs or individually to create a poster.)
Discuss the features of a planet – how far from the Sun it is, how big, how hot or cold, whether it has moons or rings or both, etc. Explain that each pair/child will make a poster about one particular planet (or Pluto) – they can choose which one. They will need to write two or three captions about their planet to go on their poster. These captions and any labels can be written on paper and then cut out and stuck on their posters. This means they can make sure their captions are neatly written and legible.
Guided task with Teaching Assistant / Look though material downloaded from the internet (see resources for sites), pictures of planets (see resources) and information books (see resources for list). Chn find some pictures of their particular planet to cut out, and some to copy and draw. They stick these on their poster. Easy: Chn read captions and labels to do their research.
Medium: Chn read captions and labels to do their research. They then produce labels of their own to accompany their pictures on their own posters.
Hard: Chn read captions and labels to do their research. They then produce labels and captions of their own to accompany their pictures on their own posters.
Daily Code-Breakers session
Associated play contexts / Role-play: In 2s/3s chn imagine they are Baby or a plant on Plant Planet & make up their own adventure to show rest of class. / ICT: Put the planets in their correct order: http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level1/activity/planet_go.html (Pluto included as dwarf planet). / Sand Play: Give chn objects, e.g. balls, blocks, etc. which they drop onto damp sand to create the moon’s surface. / Sewing: Make a simple embroidered planet picture (see resources). Chn choose thread colours according to which planet they want to sew. / Outside play: Chn pretend they are rockets & countdown from 10 before racing across the playground to the ‘moon’. Who was fastest to moon?
Relevant stories or poems to read / Read On the Moon by Anna Milbourne and Benji Davies to find out what happens when you go to the moon. / Read The View From Space by Eric Finney (Space Poems, p12). What do chn think Earth would look like from space? / Look at The Solar System by Emily Bone. Chn find out some more amazing facts about their favourite planet. / Read Winnie in Space by Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul and laugh along as Winnie rides through the Solar System. / Ever looked at night sky & wondered what was out there? Read I took the Moon for a Walk by Caroline Curtis & explore the world at night.

Every day there is a period of 5-10 minutes quiet reading when children share books and teacher reads individually.

Week 2 / Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / Friday
On the rug / Write ‘How to Make a Big Rocket’ on the f/c and read this together. Show the photos in order of what the chn did last week. Discuss the things we have still to do this week. Say that we are going to write instructions to help chn in a diff class make a big rocket! Ask chn what we did first? We took a large box & cut holes for windows and doors. What did we do next? We used cardboard to make the nose. Demonstrate how we can write clear simple sentences starting with a bossy verb. We are telling people what to do! / Show a list of instructions (see resources). Read these together. What do these tell us how to make? A balloon rocket that takes off. Look at the features of instructions. First they tell us what we need. Then they tell us what to do. Point out the bossy verbs at the start of each instruction. We begin each line with a bossy word! Then point out how the sentences are short and clear. They just tell us what to do really clearly. / Look again at The Baby and the Rocket. What does the rocket look like? How could we describe this rocket? Take suggestions and model writing some descriptive words & phrases. E.g. tall, white, narrow at the top, three pointy wings, etc. Now show three pictures of other rockets (see resources), one at a time. How would we describe these? Take suggestions and write a few phrases to describe each one. Discuss how we write new unfamiliar words. / Look again at the four different rockets we discussed yesterday. What can we say are the features of rockets? Write this phrase on f/c. and underline it. What makes something, a rocket and not a plane or a helicopter? Shared-write a list of the features of rockets on the f/c. Encourage chn to come out and write a feature they suggest as appropriate, and model how we write forming our letters and sounding out words to spell them. / Give each child a picture of a simple rocket (see resources). Explain that we will label two or three features of this rocket. Take suggestions for an obvious feature to label. The nose. Model writing the word on the f/c and ask chn to label this on their rocket. Some chn may only write the first letter but they can produce the ‘label’. Continue like this, labelling at least two more features. Model writing each word first.
Guided task with teacher / Easy (You need the photos taken in 1st week in EAD activity) Line up photos in order so chn can see what we did to make our big rocket. Chn work together to produce ORAL instructions. These say WHAT we have to do, in right order. Teacher scribes for group. / Medium (You need the photos taken in 1st week)
Recap features of instructions: bossy words, short clear statements in right order: these say WHAT to do next. Line up the photos in order so we remember what things to do at each stage. Help chn to write instructions using a mixture of words & pictures. / Hard (This group can start on Monday before Tuesday’s teaching)
Chn talk to each other, using the photos to agree how to make a big spaceship. Tell chn about the features of instructions: Each line starts with a bossy word, write what to do in order, sentences are short and clear. Chn write their own instructions. Remind chn about good letter formation and spaces between words.
Teaching Assistant supported / Easy
Chn design a rocket or spaceship. They draw this really carefully and then label the features. Adult help with scribing is fine but chn should write the name of the spaceship as a title themselves. / Medium/Hard
Chn design a rocket or spaceship. They draw this really carefully and then label the features. They write a caption about their rocket telling us about its special powers or where it is going to travel to. Chn give their design a clear title as a heading.
Daily Code-Breakers session
Associated play contexts / Cutting & sticking: Give chn sheet with lots of different shapes to cut out and stick down to make a rocket shape (see resources). / ICT: Chn explore the different Space games
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/shows/stargazing#games / Painting planets: Give each child a circle of card. They mix colours paint a planet or Pluto. Attach a string hang from ceiling to make class solar system. / Rocket role play: Chn are astronauts getting ready for a trip into space. They open the door, get into their rocket, use controls check off a list that they have everything they need. / Outside: Chalk a rocket hopscotch onto playground. Chn take turns to throw their beanbag to see who gets to top of rocket first.
Relevant stories or poems / Read Whatever Next! by Jill Murphy about Baby Bear who went on a rocket adventure. / Read See My Rocket (see resources). Add the hand and finger movements. / Read Roaring Rockets by Tony Mitton and Ant Parker and take a journey to the moon. / Read Living in Space by Katie Daynes. Chn find out what astronauts eat, where they sleep, what happens at blast off…. / Read Our Spaceship by Brian Moses (Space Poems, p22) about a child asking dad to make a rocket.

Every day there is a period of 5-10 minutes quiet reading when children share books and teacher reads individually.


Topic Suggestions

Week / PSED
Personal, Social & Emotional Development / PD
Physical Development / CLL
Communication and Language/Literacy / M
Mathematics / UW
Understanding the World / EAD
Expressive Arts and Design
In the first week, you will need to take photos of the stages involved in making the large rocket for the classroom. These are essential to the English in the second week.
Week 1 / Baby and the Rocket
Show this story again. Look at the part where the plant gives Baby a seed. What will Baby have to do to grow it? Discuss how plants as well as animals need love and care. Look at how the plants talk. People say that if you talk to plants they grow better. Chn draw the plant they think Baby’s seed will grow into. / Rocket to the Moon
Use the PE apparatus to make a rocket/space craft. Chn help decide where to arrange benches, mats, play tunnels, ladders, movement tables, etc into a super space craft. Small groups of space explorers climb into their space craft and move around from area to area carefully climbing over and under the equipment. They help each other through the obstacles faced as they move around the spaceship. / Speaking and listening –
Thurs – Use a mnemonic to help learn planets.
Reading –
Mon – Understand the difference between fact and fiction. Read facts.
Wed – Note imp. features of information texts.
Writing –
Tues - Write names of planets + Pluto, using initial letters to help.
Fri – Shared write a list of facts acquired this wk. / Planet Pelmonism
Spread planet pair cards (see resources) out face down on table, muddled up. Chn take turns to turn over 2 cards. Do they make a pair? If so, child keeps them & takes another turn. If not they turn them back over again and next child takes a turn. At end of the game, before playing again, use the pairs to help chn count in twos. Practise doing this as a whole class: Two, four, six, etc. / Planet Trumps & Facts
Lay Space Fact Cards (see resources) down face up. Chn take turns to choose a card & share some facts about that planet with the rest of the group. Together put planets in order from Sun, using mnemonic. OR:
Play Planet Trumps (see instructions for how to play on resource). / Making a big rocket
In the first week take photos of this activity
Over 2 weeks, chn make a large rocket for the classroom. They play in this: it has a control panel, computers, beds, space suits, space food & so on inside it. It is also painted on the outside with suitable symbols. Diff groups of chn can create diff parts of the rocket – it is very much a whole class effort. Chn will then love to play in it, and it stays in class for the duration of your Space topic. You need good instructions (see resources) and a very large cardboard box – one that contained a dishwasher or a washing machine is ideal. Moulded bits of pressed card or polystyrene (packing for electrical goods) are also ideal for the interior. A trip to Currys or Dixons, can obtain all of these!