Grandma Bird / Before Reading / Hook /
A Trip to the Beach
Text potential
- Background knowledge: Seashore
Strategies used
- Immersive Hook
Purpose
Immersing children in a real experience is both motivating and supportive of their learning. Some children may have limited experience of the islands, seascapes, rock pooling if you are fortunate to be able to take the children to a beach in advance of reading Grandma Bird, this lesson offers a rich experience.
Preparation
Prepare a scroll that is battered and torn and tied with a piece of old string. You could rub with fish oil to make it smell of the sea. Write Noi’s name on the scroll to show that it belongs to him. The scroll has images called ‘Things to take to Grandma’s’. You can draw them or download the photographic images.
- a bucket and spade
- a fishing net
- a seashell
- a balaclava hat
- a crab
- a bottle of sand
- a photograph of a shipwreck.
Prepare a postcard from Grandma to Noi asking him to come and visit. The postcard shows her address and lists things for Noi to bring with him.
Process
Discover the scroll and the postcard with the children. Prompts include:
- Where has it come from?.
- Who is Noi?.
- What clues can we find? (including smell).
Final reflection
For homework, encourage the children to find out about islands. Follow-up with a discussion about what they have discovered and then add anything else they think Noi will need to his drawings.
Key vocabulary
bucket, spade, shipwreck
Additional vocabulary
balaclava
Contributors
