Lesson Plan for ‘Telling Tales’ Session

12th October 2006

Year 1

National Curriculum Programme of Study References:
EN1: Speaking and Listening- Knowledge, skills and understanding
Listening
2) To listen, understand and respond to others, pupils should be taught to:
  1. listen to others' reactions
  2. ask questions to clarify their understanding
Group discussion and interaction
3) To join in as members of a group, pupils should be taught to:
  1. take turns in speaking
  1. give reasons for opinions and actions.
Drama
4) To participate in a range of drama activities, pupils should be taught to:
  1. use language and actions to explore and convey situations, characters and emotions
  2. create and sustain roles individually and when working with others
EN 3: Writing – Knowledge, skills and understanding
Composition
1) Pupils should be taught to:
  1. sequence events and recount them in appropriate detail

Learning Objective: To explore a key feature of narrative writing (ie Character)
Timing /

Focus

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National Curriculum P of S Reference

10 mins /
Linking the Learning
Share pupil-friendly learning objective, linking with previous learning on questions and role-play.

Exploring the setting

Show ‘Forest’ clip. Pause the clip after the opening ‘scene-setting’ shots.
Paired Talk-time: Where do you think we might be?
Share thinking as a class. Extend/clarify through questioning. / EN1:3a, 3e
10 mins /

Meeting the character

Play whole clip from start to end.
Paired Talk-time: Who or what have we just found in the forest?
Share thinking as a class. Teacher to record pupils’ thinking by drawing ideas on a large blank poster on the floor. Focus questioning upon aspects of the characters’ appearance. / EN1: 3a, 3e
5 mins /

Developing questions

Play the full clip once more.
Paired Talk-time: What questions would you ask the person or thing you meet in the forest?
Share thinking as a class. Add the questions the pupils suggest to the poster to provide a record and a reference point for the rest of the lesson. / EN1: 2e,
5 mins /

Preparing for role-play

Pupils ‘become’ the character that they ‘found’ in the forest (either from the poster on the floor or their own ideas) and each find a space in the room. Use the puppet to ask them some of the questions that they suggested and pupils all answer in character. (Hearing the individual answers are not important so there is no need for pupils to take it in turns to answer).

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EN1: 4b

20 mins /

Exploring the characters

1. With a partner, pupils number themselves 1 and 2. Number 1s wait by the door for their walk around the forest. Number 2s choose and become a character that their partner will meet. Remind pupils about the safety aspects of no physical contact apart from shaking hands, and introduce the ‘freeze’ cue. Number 1s enter ‘forest’ and keep walking until they find their partner, in character. They then explore the character further by using questions to initiate an improvised conversation.
2. Swap roles: 1s – in character; 2s – go for the walk. / EN1: 2d, 2e, 3a, 4a, 4b
5 mins /

Plenary

Refer back to the learning objective, in particular the context of ‘story’. Paired talk-time: ‘If the story starts with you meeting this character in the forest, What would happen next in the story?’
Share thinking as a class. /

EN3: 1b

Resources:

‘Story Starts’ DVD

  • Large blank poster
  • Marker pens
  • Puppet