Song 11: There was a monkey
Title page for song/KS2 subject areas:
There are seven suggested subject areas for this song:
· ECL [Link] Understanding English, communication and languages;
Alphabetical order and lists of ‘obvious statements’
· M [Link] Mathematical understanding;
Measuring area and capacity
· S/T [Link] Scientific and Technological understanding;
Film making
· ICT [Link] Information and Communications Technology;
Photography, film and animation
· H/G/S [Link] Historical, geographical and social understanding;
Occupations and town planning
· P/D/H/W [Link]Understanding physical development, health and well being;
Mime
· A [Link] Understanding the arts;
Song illustration
Understanding English, communication and languages
The song’s lyrics begin with a conglomeration of ‘obvious statements’. ‘When he fell down, then down fell he,’ ‘when he was gone, then there was none,’ ‘when she’d ate two, she’d ate a couple,’ etc. The children could come up with more of these statements from their own experience. Think about the wording. Pupils should be taught the grammatical constructions that are characteristic of spoken standard English and to apply this knowledge appropriately in a range of contexts. They should be taught about how language varies:
· According to context and purpose (for example, choice of vocabulary in more formal situations)
· Between standard and dialect forms (for example in dialect forms)
· Between spoken and written forms (for example, the differences between transcribed speech, direct speech and reported speech)
When teaching standard English it is helpful to bear in mind the most common non-standard usages in England:
· Subject-verb agreement (they was)
· Formation of past tense (have fell, I done)
· Formation of negatives (ain’t)
· Formation of adverbs (come quick)
· Use of demonstrative pronouns (them books).
Children will also enjoy coming up with alphabetic lists of jobs. Perhaps they could play ‘the vicar’s cat’ …. But change it to monkey.
In turns:
The vicar’s monkey is a (adjective beginning with ‘a’) monkey, his name is (name beginning with ‘a’) and s/he is a (job beginning with ‘a’).
The children continue in turns with successive letters of the alphabet.
Mathematical understanding
When town planning in H/G/S, it will be important to plan the area and perimeter carefully. Use squared paper to draw the map of the seaside town where ‘there was a monkey’ takes place.
Calculate the area required to accommodate all of the houses (e.g. where the old wife lived), shops (where the various workmen were located), port (where the navy were docked when not on their way to Spain), the mill, roads and natural areas. How big should the town be? Is there room for growth or is there a ‘green belt’ surrounding the town? What is the perimeter?
http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/maths/mathsE4.htm
Capacity is best learnt through play outside. If a model town were to be built, how much water might be needed to create the sea? What other materials need to be measured using units of capacity?
http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/maths/mathsE1.htm#capacity
Scientific and Technological understanding
It would be fun to make a film of this rather ludicrous town. Use plasticine, digital photographs or sketches and animation to make a class film.
The trip below sounds fun, but if time or resources do not allow, visit your own town and take plenty of digital photographs.
http://www.filmworkshop.com/1-day-animation-workshop?gclid=CKqO9Imo668CFY5pfAodfVUbzQ
Historical, Geographical and Social understanding
Research the jobs indicated in the song – butcher, lackey, cobbler and chandler. Do these jobs still exist? What jobs exist now that did not exist when the words of the song were written? Why?
In teams, construct a town plan. Discuss what should be in the plan. Guide the children using National Curriculum indicators below:
Geographical enquiry and skills
In undertaking geographical enquiry, pupils should be taught to:
· Ask geographical questions
· Collect and record evidence (e.g., by carrying out a survey of shop functions and showing them on a graph)
· Analyse evidence and draw conclusions (e.g., population data)
· Identify and explain different views that people, including themselves, hold about topical geographical issues (e.g., views about plans to build an hotel in their town)
· Communicate in ways appropriate to the task and audience
In developing geographical skills, pupils should be taught:
· To use appropriate geographical vocabulary (e.g., transport, industry)
· To use appropriate fieldwork techniques (e.g., labelled field sketches) and instruments (e.g., a camera)
· To use atlases and globes, and maps and plans at a range of scales (e.g., using contents, keys, grids)
· To use secondary sources of information, including aerial photographs (e.g., stories, information texts, the internet, satellite images, photographs, videos)
· To draw plans and maps at a range of scales (e.g., a sketch map of a locality)
· To use ICT to help in geographical investigations (e.g., creating a data file to analyse fieldwork data)
· Decision-making skills (e.g., deciding what measures are needed to improve safety in a local street)
Knowledge and understanding of places
Pupils should be taught:
· To identify and describe what places are like (e.g., in terms of jobs)
· The location of places and environments they study
· To describe where places are (for example, in which region/country the places are, whether they are near rivers or hills, what the nearest towns or cities are)
· To explain why places are like they are (for example, in terms of local resources, historical development)
· To identify how and why places change (for example, through the closure of shops or building of new houses, through conservation projects) and how they may change in the future (for example, through an increase in traffic)
Information and Communication Technology
As above for H/G/S research, photography and film making.
Understanding physical development, health and well being
Mime games could be enjoyed here. The pupils could mime the phrases of the song, or other professions discussed above. Their peers could guess what is being mimed. Alternatively, hot seating different members of the ‘community’ would encourage the pupils to empathise with people in different jobs.
Understanding the Arts
Using a choice of media, illustrate the song using one symbol for each image surrounding a central monkey.