When Joy, Play & Learning are Deliberate: Learning in K-2

This is such an inspiring look at literacy that is intentional, play-based, and artful.  From the UK.

Reading, Writing and Drama Playing




Lesson Plans Related to the Video:

Reception – The Gruffalo

Introducing the new story

Learning Objective:  To listen and respond to a story.

Context of Learning:  Linked to our context of Monsters and Dinosaurs we will be using the book The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.  The children will be developing their ability to listen and respond to the story, the sequence of the story and explore the setting, characters and theme of the story.

Success Criteria: All children to be able to talk about what they can see in the pictures.  All children to be able to say if they liked the story and why.

Key Questions:  Where is this story set?  What is it like in the woods?  What is a Gruffalo?  What does the word gruffalo make you think of?  What does the gruffalo look like?  Did you like the story?  What was your favourite part?  What did you notice about the story?

Whole Class teaching Explain we are going to be reading a new book and finding out about new characters.  Show the title page of the woods, where is this story set?  What is it like in the woods?  Discuss with talk partner what they can see and record comments around the picture. Introduce the character of the mouse and read the blurb.  What is a gruffalo? What does the word gruffalo make you think of?  Discuss children’s thoughts and feelings.  Show the children a picture of the gruffalo.  What does the Gruffalo look like?  Tell your partner. Read the story - Stop at varies intervals ask questions Why do the animals think the mouse looks good?  Look at the animals faces and discuss feelings, How is the animal feeling now they have seen the gruffalo? Booktalk – Ask children to share their thoughts about the story - Did you like the story and why? What was your favourite part and why?  What did you notice about the story? (rhyming words etc)  Was their a pattern?  How did the mouse describe the gruffalo?

Independent learning activities: Painting the gruffalo. Retelling the story using a variety of props in a large builders tray.

Reception – The Gruffalo 

Exploring Characters

Learning objective:  To talk about the main characters in the story and how they are feeling. To think, say and write simple sentences for a thought bubble.

Context of Learning:  Linked to our context of Monsters and Dinosaurs we will be using the book The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.  The children will be developing their ability to listen and respond to the story, the sequence of the story and explore the setting, characters and theme of the story.

Success Criteria:  Children will be able to explore the different feelings of the characters by using their facial expressions and words.

Key Questions:  How is the … feeling?  How do you know?  Why is the … feeling like that?  What is the mouse thinking?  How many words in out sentence?  What is the first word?  What does it begin with?  What do we put at the end of our sentence?

Whole Class teaching Show pages from the story and discuss how the characters are feelings and why.  Can you use your face to show that feeling?  Explain that they are going to help to retell the story and that they must become the different characters using their bodies and faces to show how they are feeling. Retell the story with the children joining in using a drum to indicate when to freeze frame.  Use a microphone to interview the children in role about how they are feeling and why. Model writing  Now we have thought about how the characters are feeling we are going to write a thought bubble.  Show the last page of the mouse eating a nut, what is the mouse thinking?  Share with your talk partner, ask children to share their ideas to the class.  Choose a sentence to write, say the sentence, count how many words.  What is the first word?  What sounds can we hear in it?  When we have written the sentence count the words has it got the correct number of words? Reread does it say what we wanted it to say?

Independent learning activities: With teacher children to write their own thought bubbles – think, say, write a sentence. Using their own puppets and the theatre to retell the story.

Planned activities to support learning

Of the Gruffalo

Throughout the week planned activities both adult led and independent for the children to develop their knowledge and understanding of the story further.

• Drawing other characters using pastels
• Props to retell the story
• Puppets and a theatre to retell the story
• Puppet making
• Book making
• Using computer programs to draw the Gruffalo and parts of the story
• www.gruffalo.com
• Collage a gruffalo
• Label body parts
• Created storymaps and used them to retell the story in their own words
• Using instruments to add sound effects
• Writing speech bubble for what the characters say throughout the story
• Learn the Gruffalo song and actions
• Pairs/snap game using character pictures also children can describe or say a sentence about that character
• Sand tray – props to retell story
• Reading The gruffalo’s Child

Whole class teaching sessions –

·      The children listened for the repeated phrases and joined in.

·      Shared writing – labeling around the gruffalo how the mouse describes him.  Comparing the mouse and gruffalo. 

·      Explored the theme of who was the scariest creature?  Was the mouse clever?

·      Split into groups, each groups was a different character and we retold the story and the children acted out their part.

·      Learnt The Gruffalo song and made up actions.

II. Guided Writing: Experienced-based




Guided Writing Strategy Guide



Recommended Professional Resources

Corbett, Pie & Julia Strong. (2011). Talk for Writing Across the Curriculum. London: Open University Press.
Corbett, Pie. (2008). Storyteller. London: Scholastic.
Heard, Georgia & Jennifer McDonough. (2009). A Place for Wonder: Reading and Writing Nonfiction in the Primary Grades. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.