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St. John’s Stonefold C of E Primary School

Cycle 2: Term 3a

Changes!

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Class 3 (year 2 and 3) English: Changes in Verse/Rags to Riches

In this unit the children will learn the techniques of poetry styles through

reading and writing – concentrating on the theme of Spring and the changes

that the season brings. They will learn how to use rhyming couplets, stepped

rhyme, personification,similes, metaphors and repetition. They will also look

at the changes in fiction brought about in traditional stories by the ‘rags to

riches’ theme, popular in fairy tales. The programme will include:

Week One Looking at a range of Spring poetry www.classroomjr.com

including examples using rhyming couplets. Identifying in poetry such

features as: alliteration, similes, metaphors, personification, repetition,

stepped rhyme etc..Children should be given time to read and

indentify features, both through shared and independent reading. By

the end of the week they can be using the structure of rhyming

couplets – including rhyme and rhythm – to write their own couplets.

Week Two During this week,after looking at further examples of poetry,

children should work to compose their own examples for a class book,

including rhyming,non-rhyming, shape poems. They should edit their

writing and use a thesaurus to choose words for maximum effect.

Week Three Comparing Poems. During this week children should be

exposed to a wide range of poetry about a similar subject e.g. food,

seasons, weather, colour, animals. Using the skills and knowledge

acquired in weeks one and two – write notes to compare the two and

then produce a full piece of writing comparing the two poems and

giving reasons for which one they prefer. e.g. ‘I preferred the second

poem because it had a bouncy rhythm and it made me feel happy.’

Children can assess each other’s work using AFL. e.g. have they

identified the features, have they written in paragraphs, have they

given an opinion and backed it up with a reason?

Weeks Four and Five: In these final two weeks the children will look at

how change (rags to riches) can be an important theme in traditional

stories such as Cinderella, Rumpelstiltskin, Jack and the Beanstalk, The

Ugly Duckling etc. identifying the theme through comparison e.g.

comparing beginning of Jack and the Beanstalk to Cinderella.

Children should learn that many famous authors have used this theme

recently e.g Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) (James

and the Giant Peach) Read extracts from the beginnings of these

novels – and can children highlight areas of text that show the rags to

riches theme? Usually we have orphans, cruel stepfathers or aunts – or

the odds being stacked against the main character.

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Children can use the final sessions to plan and write their own rags to

riches story where the main character eventually wins success from a

desperate situation. Recall that these stories often include fantasy,

giants and dragons – and other traditional characters. Again use AFL

to assess and eluate effectiveness of writing.

National Curriculum

Identifying and discussing themes and conventions in writing

Read and discuss a wide range of poems

Making comparisons within and across books (poetry) novels

Discuss words and phrases that capture the readers’ interest

Recognise different forms of poetry: free verse, narrative, rhyming

couplet

Recognise themes in what they read – rags to riches – good over evil

In narratives, creating characters, settings and plot.

Evaluate and edit by assessing the effectiveness of their own and

others’ writing.

Drawing inferences from the text, e.g. how can we tell the character is

feeling this way from what is described?

Class 4 (Year 4 and 5) English: Changes: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

In this unit the children will see how the ‘changes’ theme can be applied to

this classic book by Roald Dahl and use this as a stimulus for a variety of non-

fiction writing tasks. The book should be read to the class as a class novel

and extracts used or revisited to stimulate writing. The programme will

include:

Week one (Adverts and notices) let the children see how ‘changes’

applies to the plot of this story by showing them the plot outline very

simply, e.g.

1) Charlie is very poor – with little hope in his life.

2) He cheers up when Grandpa Joe tells him stories about the

chocolate factory.

3) He builds up hope when Mr Wonka sends out the Golden Tickets

inviting children to his factory.

4) He gets a bar of chocolate for his birthday – but here is no ticket.

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5) He begins to starve when Mr Bucket loses his job.

6) He finds 50p and buys a chocolate bar – with a golden ticket inside!

7) During the visit – all the other children are punished – but Charlie

wins the factory and becomes its owner.

Show the children some visual adverts. What are their

characteristics? What are the persuasive devices? Read the

children the chapter where Grandpa Joe is sitting in bed describing

the chocolate factory to Charlie e.g. the ice cream that will never

melt. Ask the children to design a ‘Wonka’s advert ‘ for these

unusual products. They should concentrate on text before

illustrations. What might we include? E.g. a slogan, persuasive

devices etc.

Read the chapter where it is announced in the newspaper that Willy

Wonka is opening up his factory to a lucky few. Design an

information poster about the Golden Tickets and how to find them.

Week two (Letters) In shared write – as the teacher -Write an imaginary

letter from the Toothpaste Factory to Mr Bucket telling him that he has

lost his job due to the company being relocated. Children should learn

how to set out address, Dear Sir/Madam. Date, First paragraph (general

summary of why writing) middle paragraph for a little more information

– drawing to a conclusion ‘if you require more information ‘. Children

can pick up skills from shared read and begin to write their own letters.

As practice – write back as Mr Bucket complaining about the job loss

and explaining the worrying situation about having no money. Read

the chapter – ‘the miracle’ – about when Charlie finds the ticket and

what it says on the ticket. Ask the children to write a letter as Mr Wonka

to Charlie, explaining the instructions for the big visit!

Week Three (instructions/Recipes) Shared read – show the children

instructions you have written for making a chocolate bar/everlasting

gobstoppers. Notice the ‘bossy’ verbs – known as ‘imperative’ verbs –

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and the simple sentences. Ensure children are clear of the layout.

Read the chapter ‘Mike Teavee is sent by television’ and ask the

children to draw up a series of instructions for sending a bar of

chocolate by television as described in the book. The children can

then maker instructions (recipes) for any of the foods mentioned so far

– such as square sweets that look round, making a boiled sweet boat,

taking a magic chewing gum meal – and so on. These can be

practised in books and then used to display around school.

Week Four(Newspaper Reports) Revisit the newspaper report ‘Wonka

Factory Opened at Last to lucky Few.’ Show the children a typical

news report from a Daily newspaper – headline in present

tense/subheadline/name of journalist/summary

paragraph/when/where/what/interviews with the public. Children to

plan and write – as journalists, three newspaper reports linked to the

story e.g. when Charlie finds the ticket – ‘Poor Boy Strikes Lucky’ or

Prince Pondicherry’s melting chocolate palace … Veruca Salt going

down the rubbish chute …

Week Five (Reviews) Use a Trip Advisor extract to show children how

visits are often reviewed and rated. Imagine they have just visited

Wonka’s Factory. Write and edit a review of the experience.

Grammar work during this unit can concentrate on changing present to

past/past to present – and changing words by contracting with

apostrophes/changing meanings of words due to prefixes and suffixes.

National Curriculum

Identifying themes and conventions in a range of books e.g.

changes/rags to riches.

Listening to and discussing fiction.

Discuss words and phrases that capture the reader’s interest.

Draw inferences such as inferring a character’s feelings.

Compose by rehearsing sentences orally.

Evaluate and edit by proposing changes to grammar and vocabulary.

Identifying the audience – selecting the appropriate form and using

similar writing as models for their own.

Use further organisational devices to structure text and guide the

reader e.g headlines, list of ingredients, headings, address ..

Assessing the effectiveness of their own and others’ writing.

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Class 5 (Year 5 and 6) English

Changing Writing For Different Audiences

In this unit the children will explore how writing can be changed and

adapted for different purposes and audiences – using their

grammar/sentence construction skills to produce writing for a range of

purposes. The programme will include:

Week One Looking at the difference between play scripts and stories.

Show the children a basic play lay-out e.g list of characters/scenes-

speaker and colon/stage direction. Imagine we have to transform a

story into ta play. Take the first chapter of a book that you read

through with the children – any book of your choice. Stress that you

can include words in a play that are not necessarily there in the story

and that is why books are different than films. Practise changing the

chapter(s) into a play script and see how different they all are. Use AFL

– which would be easy/difficult to perform and why? Which are too

long/short … which would entertain the audience? Children can then

use their school reading book to transform the first two chapters into

play script. Use AFL to assess the effectiveness of the writing using

success criteria for plays.

Week Two: (book v film) Children to watch the opening of ‘Charlie and

the Chocolate Factory’(Johnny Depp) and compare it to the opening

of the book after taking notes, writing in paragraphs to compare and

give an opinion on the two. How are they similar/different? Why have

any changes been made? Other comparisons can be made with

‘Matilda’, ‘The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe’, ‘Lord of the Rings’ etc..

Later in the week, watch the beginning of a children’s film that the

children have not seen the book version of. From notes, can they

transform the film into a story narrative? Into a play narrative – drawing

on skills from week one?

Week Three: (adapting a story) Imagine taking a book for younger

children such as a well-known picture book – and adapting it for an

older audience. Children should study a range of popular short picture

books. As a shared write with the class, demonstrate how we might do

this – expanding sentences and paragraphs but keeping the story line

the same; using the skills of grammar recently taught. As a follow-up

task – do the reverse change – taking a complex book for upper juniors

and adapting it as a story book for younger readers, simplifying the

sentences and only including the main information.

Week Four: Comic Strip to narrative In this study the children can look

at how comic strips only involve the dialogue while the action is visual.

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They are a great stimulus for writing stories. Show the children extracts

from the Beano or similar suitable comics and ask them to convert

each picture frame to narrative so it reads as a complete story.

Week Five: Change a Film into Narrative Watch the opening 20 minutes

of a famous childrens’ film – taking careful notes. Use the notes to

produce a narrative story. Children should understand that the reverse

process goes into film-making.

Grammar and punctuation work during this unit should concentrate on

correct dialogue techniques and variations, cohesion between

paragraphs, and different ways of opening sentences. It is important

that children concentrate on writing accurately in the past tense.

National Curriculum

Read an increasing range of fiction, poetry and plays and discuss.

Identifying conventions across a wide range of writing e.g no speech

marks in plays, stage directions, etc.

Identify the audience and purpose of their writing.

Select appropriate grammar and vocabulary.

Describing settings, characters and atmosphere.

Build cohesion between paragraphs using a range of devices.

Assess the effectiveness of their own and others’ writing.

Proofread for spelling and punctuation errors.

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Class 3 (Year 2 and 3) History: Living For Change!

In this unit the children will look at how living standards have changed

throughout the 20th century to the present – focusing mainly on the home. The

programme will include:

How Did People Live over 100 years ago? Looking at how most people

lived at the beginning of the 20th century (1900). How there was a big

difference between the rich and the poor. Children to compare

photographs of a slum and the house of a rich millowner or landowner.

Can they identify differences? Compare the inside and outside of the

houses. What other sources would we use to find out about the house

conditions? Why would this be easier when studying a rich house?

What was a Typical Living Room Like in the 1930s? Children should

learn how the living room was the focus of all activity and how the

‘range’ fire was used to heat water, cook and warm the house all at the

same time. There was still often no running water and people had ‘tin

baths’ behind a screen of clothes (often sharing the same water).

Compare a living room of the time (photo source) to one from today.

Look at differences in appliances, flooring, seating, entertainment etc.

How Did living Conditions Change During the War? Children should

learn how the Germans blockaded Britain and tried to starve the

country – therefore food had to be rationed. Look at a typical week’s

ration. What could we make with it? Other difficulties including gas

masks, air raid shelters and black-out curtains. Children even had to

have air raid practice in schools.

What was it like to be an Evacuee? How life for children changed

when they were evacuated during the war. Labels, gas masks, leaving

home, bed wetting, not seeing parents, living with strangers. Look at

photo sources. What do they tell us about the evacuees? Children can

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make charts showing the advantages and disadvantages of being an

evacuee.

How Did Houses Change After the War?

Children will learn how prefabs had to be built (prefabricated homes)

because of all the homes destroyed in the war. They will also learn

how, after the war – lots of untidy ‘slum’ houses were demolished and

cities began to look like ‘concrete jungles’. Children to look at how

‘streets in the sky’ saw huge tower blocks built to save money by using

less space – and that these were seen as ugly and caused problems.

Compare living in a terrace to living in a tower block. What would be

better/worse?

What Changes Have Made Life Easier? In the final session, children will

learn how simple inventions made life easier in the home: use

computer research to find out about the hoover, the automatic

washing machine, the first televisions, the video recorder and finally the

computer. Using ‘impact’ – present posters to the class to show how

these changes affected the way we live. Which do the children think

was the biggest change? Which had the most impact?

National Curriculum

Change s in an aspect of social history over the 20th century: living

conditions.

Note connections, contrasts and trends over time.

Devise and address questions about change and cuase, similarity and

difference.

Organise relevant historical information.

Understand how knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of

sources.

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Class 4 (Year 4 and 5) History

Class 4 (Year 4 and 5) History: Changes in Fashion From the Anglo-Saxons to

the Present

In this unit the children will learn how styles in clothing for both men and

women changed over time according to how developed they became. The

programme will include:

Children could begin by having a picture sheet of characters in dress from

different periods of history (not in order): Roman, Saxon, Norman, Middle

Ages, Tudor, Georgian, Victorian – can they match the picture to a historical

period And why??

How Did the Anglo Saxons Dress? Children to revise a timeline of

historical periods so they can relate one to the other. Learning about

how Saxon clothes were made, and typical colours. Children to carry

out computer research into tunics, footwear and headwear – including

use for battle. What does the clothing tell us about the Saxon way of

life?

How did the Tudors and Stuarts Dress? Look at Tudor fashion and how it

was designed to make men look very masculine and proud: shoulder

padding, ruffs – and how women used to bathe in milk to whiten their

skin and wear very tight corsets to pull in their waist. Men wore legwear

similar to tights. By Stuart times small beards and long thick curls

became fashionable – as well as wigs. Children to use contemporary

picture sources to pick out ideas about fashion of the time.

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Changes

Gorgeous Georgians? Children to study picture sources as contrasts

such as Hoggarth’s Gin Lane and then pictures of upper class

Georgians. Look how the poor wore basic rags while the rich and

bright colours, long jackets, powdered wigs and ribbons, elegant

collars. Children should learn that, often in history we form a picture

based on the rich. The Georgian rich had huge stately homes with

parks and statues while the poor lived in cramped and often filthy

slums.

Victorian Clothes Shop After using the internet to research Victorian

fashions – children to design a shop frontage for a quality Victorian

clothes shop and then one for the poor. (Link art and design) With

labelled goods and prices: flat caps, gaiters, socks, shirts, top hats,

tails, dresses, corsets, gloves, parasols ….

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How have fashions changed over the last 100 years? Children can

create a decade by decade illustrated time line of changes e.g. flat

caps and clogs/black outfits in the Edwardian period, moving onto

Teddy Boys and then the fashions of the 60s and 70s. In particular jeans

and t-shirts from America – and pumps/training shoes were really big

changes.

Fashion Parade In this lesson (pre-prepared) children can dress as a

character from any era. In role as character e.g Victorian lady – they

can talk for a minute about what life was like at the time and what they

are wearing (link speaking and listening). This can be part of a sharing

assembly experience.

National Curriculum

Changes in an aspect of social history – clothes and fashion.

Note contrasts, connections and trends over time.

Devise historically valid questions about change/cause/similarity and

difference.

Understand how out knowledge of the past is constructed from a range

of sources.

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Class 5 (Year 5 and 6) History: Music Halls to Mobile Phones: Changes in

Leisure and Entertainment

In this unit children will study the changes in entertainment and leisure over

the past century and how developments have led to the high-tech society

we know today. The programme will include:

What were the music halls and Cinemas and how why did they

decline? Children will learn that, before 1900 there was no film. All

entertainment took place in a smoky hall with music playing – then film

was developed and the first ‘film stars’ were born such as Charlie

Chaplin and Buster Keaton. All films were silent and a pianist played at

the front of the developing cinemas, which replaced the music hall.

Learn how cinemas were different than today. All the audience will

have worn suits and smoked (link health) and all films in black and

white. Children should learn that the only way to watch the news was

in the cinema. Relive the early 20th century cinema experience by

watching a Charlie Chaplin short.

Silents to the Talkies? How stars like Laurel and Hardy became world

famous during the 1930s when sound was brought in. Watch a short

film. What clues does if give us about how life was lived at the time?

(Early 20th century America) Show children news reel clips of how news

would have been relayed at the cinema? How is this very different to

the news we receive today?

Changes in Radio: Children will learn about the early developments

from the Crystals Sets to modern radio. How famous events (e.g. the

outbreak of war)were covered over the radio and how most people’s

news and sport were radio broadcasts such as the BBC home service.

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Consider how life at home was different in the radio age. How the

radio later encouraged the growth of popular music.

The television age and its impact: How John Logie Baird invented the

television and how at first this was a luxury. How the coronation of 1953

saw the increase in demand. What did television allow people to do for

the first time? Consider the advantages and disadvantages of

television. How television made sporting stars into household names

e.g. The 1966 world cup.

The Rise of Popular Music: Children will learn about how Elvis Presley

and rock and roll changed the world in the late 50s and early 60s and

how groups like the Beatles became world famous. They will listen to

samples of music to show how it developed and learn how the 33 and

45 were replaced by modern technologies to change the musical age,

producing a time line of key figures and events in music.

The Internet Sensation: How Tim Berners Lee’s world wide web and the

mobile phone revolutionised the entire world. Considering what

people could now do for the first time: watch anything anywhere

rather than at home, send mail without paper, look up facts without

going to a library, communicate from anywhere in seconds.

National Curriculum

Changes in an aspect of social history such as leisure and

entertainment in the 20th century.

Connections, contrasts and trends over time.

Devise historically valid questions about change and cuase.

Understand how our knowledge of the past is constructed from a

range of sources.

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Class 3 (Year 2 and 3) Science: Changes in Plants

In this unit the children will learn about the changes that occur in plants from

Spring onwards – and carry out experiments related to these changes. The

programme will include:

What is the basic structure of a flowering plant? Children will learn

about the basic parts and their roles e.g. the roots, stem/trunk ,leaves

and flowers. Roots to transport water/nutrients and anchor – stem to

transport and store glucose (sugar) leaves to make the glucose.

Children can dissect simple plants and produce labelled

poster/diagrams of the various sections and their roles. They should

note how the parts vary according to the plant e.g. docks have large

leaves, nettles are serrated etc.

What are the changes during the life cycle of a flowering plant?

Children should learn that, in Spring, seeds have been waiting in the

ground for the right conditions to ‘spring’ into life – or germinate. Once

germinated – they grow stems and leaves, allowing them to make food

– and flowers appear in summer so they can reproduce. Once

reproduced the flower becomes a seed and the whole process starts

again. It is important to learn that this is a cycle of changes in the life of

the plant.

What are the best conditions for germination? (2 weeks) Children

should think what plants need to grow: light, water, nutrients, heat.

Which is most important? Children to set up and carry out a fair test

over time: changing one variable and keeping the rest the same.

Which is the one most important factor? Is it light? Heat? Water?

Experiments can be set up with the same plant species – then varying

the species. What can we learn about plants from this?

Why do plants grow and sometimes shed leaves? One of the main

changes in spring is the growing of leaves. Establish that these are for

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the production of food as a plant cannot move to get its food – it has to

make its own. (Photosynthesis using light, nutrients and co2) Study the

leaves of a range of plants using computer research and real plants –

including a field walk if possible. What does the large surface area of a

leaf tell us about a plant? Draw and label the range and variety of

different leaves from plants around the world looking at special

adaptations such as drip tips in the rain forest, and teeth (as in the

carnivorous Venus flytrap)

Fair Test: Test the Hypothesis that plants with bigger surface area

leaves need more light Children set up a fair test to draw a conclusion

and present their results in a graph. Dock, daisy and clover should be

used – or similar plants from a garden centre. Does the dock need

more light or does the surface area not make a difference? What

comclusions can we draw?

National Curriculum

Identify and describe the functions of different parts of the flowering

plant.

Explore the requirements of plants for light and growth.

Investigate ways in which water is transported with plants.

Asking relevant questions and using enquiries to answer them.

Setting up simple practical enquiries, practical and fair tests.

Recording findings using scientific language, drawings, labelled

diagrams, bar charts and tables.

Using scientific evidence to answer questions or to support their

findings.

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Class 4 (Year 4 and 5) Science: Changes to Plants and Animals

In this unit the children will learn about how plants change by producing food

for growth in their leaves (photosynthesis) and how metamorphosis in aminals

is a series of changes from young to adult. The programme will include:

How Spring affects Living Things: More light and warmer temperatures

mean many creatures come out of hibernation and seek a mate.

Seeds which have lain in the ground begin to germinate. Emphasise

that trees have shed their leaves or ‘food factories’ as they have rested

over the winter. Examine the structure of a leaf using lenses and

drawing a labelled diagram. Children should learn that pores in the

leaves called stomata let out oxygen and take in carbon dioxide so

that plants are very important to our balance of gases on earth.

What happens whe we place leaves in the sun? www.kids-love-

science.com Children should place leaves in a transparent

container of water or use pondweed. Place in direct sunlight or use a

torch shone directly into the glass. What do they notice? Establish that

oxygen is being given off by the plant in the form of the bubbles they

can see and that the process if called photosynthesis or ‘mixing

together with light.’ Establish that the oxygen is the left over ‘waste’ gas

when the plant has made its own food (glucose/sugar) just as carbon

dioxide is our waster product. Draw a fully labelled diagram to show

how water (up the stem) carbon dioxide (through the leaves) and

nutrients are linked with light so the plant can produce food.

Is Light the number one ingredient? Encourage the children to set up

an experiment to test the hypothesis that light is the most important

ingredient in photosynthesis. What variables will they use? What will

they keep the same? What will they change? How will they record

their results? What are their conclusions (2 week project)

What are the changes to animals in Spring? Children should learn that

this is the only time of year when birds build nests and that each bird’s

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nest is very different according to species. They should learn that with

some animals we simply have young e.g. a baby hedgehog is a small

version of its parents – but others have a complicate life cycle such as

insects which can have egg, larva, pupa and adult. Children can learn

about metamorphosis through the case study of the frog and the

dragonfly. Both tadpoles and dragonfly larvae can be kept in the

classroom. Design an information poster to illustrate the change from

tadpole to frog including: spawn, newly hatched with gills (eats the

jelly) gills dissolve away so the tadpole breathes, back legs, front legs,

froglet.

Understand the Changes in other species Find out about other animals

with unusual life cycles such as kangaroos, great diving beetles, tiger

beetles, large blue butterflies which lay their eggs in ants nests, and the

cuckoo, which is a parasitic bird and lays its eggs in other birds’ nests.

National Curriculum

Describe the differences in the life cycles of a mammal, an amphibian,

an insect and a bird.

Describe the life processes of reproduction in some plants and animals.

Explore the requirements of plants for life and growth (air,light, water,

nutrients and soil) and how they vary from plant to plant.

Make systematic and careful observations.

Recording findings using charts/graphs/tables

Reporting on findings – including oral and written expalnations.

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Class 5 (Year 5 and 6) Science: Changes Over Time

In this unit the children will learn how living things have changed over time

and how we can find out from fossils about living things on earth millions of

years ago. The programme will include:

How do Fossils Form and What Do They Tell us? Children should learn

that some animals millions of years ago were buried quickly on the sea

bed and that spaces formed by their decaying body parts were filled

my minerals form sediment to form fossils. These are useful for telling us

what life was like before man was on the earth. Use computer to

research different animal and plant fossils found in Britain e.g. trilobites,

crinoids, sponges, coral, gastropods etc. and produce information

boards.

Demonstrating How Fossils are formed. www.discoveringfossils.co.uk

Using a plasteceine slab inside a plastic cup, children can use a

natural object they have found from field work – a seed, twig, or model

animal from home to make an impression in the plasteceine. Pour in

plaster of Paris to make fossils which can then be painted for a class

display.

How Animals Have Changed Over time: Ask the children to look at

pictures of fish, birds and reptiles (lizards). Which do they think lived

first on earth and why? (fish) How do you think we can tell which lived

first? (Less developed)(fossil dating) Tell the children that without the

fish we would never have had the bird or lizard. Allow discussion over

this. Establish that fish left the water and over millions of years their fins

developed into limbs – they lost gills – and became lizards! Children to

draw diagrams to show the stages in which these changes took place.

Explain how birds developed from lizards standing up on hind limbs

and losing their front ones – developing feathers and flight over millions

of years. Children should look at the Pteranodon (flying reptile) and

Archaeopteryx (the first bird) Children to learn that this process is

called EVOLUTION.

Who was Charles Darwin and why is he important? (2 week project)

Drawing back on previous work, look at pictures of well-known

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creatures such as frog, mouse etc. If these developed from fish – what

changes needed to be made over millions of years for this to happen?

E.g. frog developed long back legs, arched back, ability to jump, no

gills but highly developed lungs – mouse developed ability to give birth

to living young rather than eggs – fur – warm blood = hence mammals

are more developed then amphibians. Children to learn that the

process of evolution was first explained by Charles Darwin. Find out

about Darwin and his ideas and produce a first person account from

this research entitled ‘My ideas about evolution’ to be shared with the

class. Children to think about questions like: ‘How did dinosaurs

evolve?’ Can children group a series of animal photographs in orfder

from least to most developed???

How did Human Beings Evolve Over time? How are we similar or

different? Look at the classic progression diagram from monkey to

Homo sapiens. How have our bodies changed and why? Discuss how

we are similar to our parents and this is caused by genes (complicated

chemicals which give instructions how we look, live and act) Children

should consider what they think they may have inherited from their

parents: eye colour/interests/habits etc.. They can state how they are

similar or different to their parents and produce a diagram to show this

e.g. ‘I am similar to my mum in these ways’ ‘I am different to my mum

in these ways’ . Establish that even though we have our parents’ genes

– we are still very different to them. Children can consider how their

own siblings are different from themselves even though they have the

same parents.

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What would the offspring of two different species look like?

Children should learn that in some cases cross breeding can occur

between animals e.g a donkey and a horse produce a mule (look at a

photograph). We often have varying dog combinations. Give the

children a series of pictures of various animals. If it was possible for

cross breeding to occur – what would the result look like? E.g. a rabbit

and a hedgehog, an elephant and a giraffe. Explain to the children

that this would be unusual to see but that it would lead to sickness in

the animals as they are not made the same chemically. Sometimes

farmers cross breed cattle to mix good milk producers with long living

breeds to make more money.

National Curriculum:

Recognise how living things have changed over time and that

fossils provide information about living things that inhabited the

earth millions of years ago.

Recognise that living things produce offspring of the same kind

but normally offspring are varied and not identical to their

parents.

Find out about the work of Charles Darwin and how he

developed his theories on evolution.

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Class 3 (Year 2 and 3) Music: Changes in Sound: Plantastic Changes

In this unit children should learn that the variations in the life cycle of a plant

(link science) can be represented through music and dance (link PE). The

programme will include:

Changing the texture: Clap a simple 1, 2, 3, 4 beat. One child varies

the beat using a drum or tambour. Gradually bring in other children

using as many different instruments as possible so children learn that

you are varying the TEXTURE of the music. Have some children playing

patterns in between and over the beats showing RHYTHM. Make more

complex by having two instruments on the first two counts of 4, two

different instruments on the second and third counts of four – and so on.

Changes in dynamics: Revise from week one – now – on scale of 1-10

with 1 being the quietest and all children still varying the texture – work

over 20 counts of 4 or 8 indicated on whiteboard giving different

dynamic scores to each count. E.g. 5 1 7 4 10 .. can children vary

the dynamics accurately. Extend the skill by having different numbers

on each bar for each instrument e.g. bar one: triangles 10/drum

2/shakers 6.

Changing the pitch: This is more tricky. Ask children to work with their

instrument and find ways of making the pitch vary from how the

instrument is struck. Again using a count of 1234, and high/low vary on

each bar. All high on bar one, all low on bar two. Drums higher on bar

three, drums lower on bar four – and so on.

Now that children have all the skills in place think of the life cycle of a

plant as learnt in science. Think of rest, rain, increasing rain, sun,

germination, shoots developing, making food, flower growing, seeds

falling, leaves dropping, rest ….. how can we show this through music?

Children to work in groups. They can have one glockenspiel per group

and unpitched instruments to create their Plantastic piece. How do

they link the story to the music? Do they have low dynamics at the

beginning, when does the tempo increase? Children can use large

sheets of paper to plan out their piece.

National Curriculum

Experiment with, create, select and combine sounds using the inter-

related dimensions of music.

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Improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the inter-

related dimensions of music.

Listen with attention to detil and revall sounds with increasing aural

memory.Play and perform in solo and ensemble contexts – playing

instuments with increasing accuracy, fluency, control and expression.

Class 4 (Year 4 and 5) Music: Changes in Musical Style

In this unit the children will reinforce work done in history (changing styles) by

listening to a range of musical styles that have changed through the centuries

and identifying the key features and instruments. The programme will

include:

Tudor Music: Listening to Greensleeves (online versions) probably

composed by Henry VIII. Commenting on tempo (slow) texture (2

instruments) Improvising a similar effect in pairs or groups (one playing

recorder melody for any well-known song to one other instrument in

background e.g. triangle, tambour, drum.

Classical Music: Listening to any of Beethoven’s symphonies (esp.

number 5) How is the drama created? Layer upon layer of different

sound. Can children identify any instruments? Why would we need a

conductor? Show the children if possible a script of classical music so

they can understand how it is written down and can be played

anywhere.

Opera: Music and Story – children should understand that opera is

dramatic theatre combining a narrative and words through music.

‘Where the Wild Things are’ is a good example for children – but

‘Bohmemian Rhapsody’ by Queen is a good modern example.

Pop Music: Rock n Roll: Listen to a track by Elvis Presley; Jailhouse

Rock/Heartbreak Hotel for example. Simple sing along – encouraging

dance – lyrics just as important as background music. Children should

learn that this style came along at a time when people needed to be

happy after two world wars – and that it originated in America.

Children should learn that a ‘pop’ group usually consisted of a guitar

player, bass player, drummer and singer – and that no formal music

was written down – performers relying on memory.

Electronic music: Listen to Autobahn by the German group Kraftwerk.

This uses electronic synthesisers only to create sounds – this time of cars

on a motorway. Children can write down and illustrate what each

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section of the music represents to them. This can be expanded into a

dance session – using music and movement to represent the car on the

Autobahn.

National Curriculum

Develop an understanding of the history of music.

Appreciate and understand a wide variety of music drawn from

different traditions, great composers and musicians.

Listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural

memory

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Class 5 (Year 5 and 6) Music: The Beatles – Changes in Style and Music

In this unit – linked to history – the children will look at how the Beatles

became the first successful song-writing pop band – changing the culture as

they did so – and how their music changed over ten years. The programme

will include:

Who were the Beatles and where were they from? (2 weeks) Children

should learn that Paul McCartney and John Lennon came together as

friends after meeting at a church fate and decided to write songs

together. Before the Beatles there were very few artists who wrote their

own material. Listen to very early songs written by John in his Liverpool

home such as ‘Please Please Me’ and ‘Love Me Do’. They were very

simple verse chorus/verse chorus songs about everyday things like

love – but people who had been unhappy in the 50s after the war were

ready for them. Can children identify the instruments used in the

songs? Establish that a ‘group’ is usually made up of lead guitar,

rhythm guitar, bass and drums. What are the roles of each? Drums to

keep time – bass to add depth and contrast with the treble of guitars.

Lead guitar for the main melody. Rhythm for the strumming over the

melody – the whole creating what we call texture.

Nowhere Man – Changes in Mood Listen to this song by John Lennon

which is much different than the early Beatles songs. How are the lyrics

different than previous Beatles lyrics (a thoughtful song about everyday

people). How does the song structure change? Spoken intro before

music/music comes in/chorus/harmonies/use of repetition. Talk about

the instrumental section known as a ‘middle eight’ – which are eight

bars in the middle of the song to give an interlude for the listener to

think on what has gone before.

Two Contrasting Songs from the Same Album: Yellow

Submarine/Eleanor Rigby Using a worksheet with headings such as

introduction/verses/middle eight/chorus/fade out/instruments/lyrics –

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children make notes in the various sections after listening to these very

different songs in depth. What techniques are used to create the

mood? What is the song structure? How does it change? Create

discussions or group presentations. (work over two sessions)

Strawberry Fields Forever/In My Life

These two songs are changes again as they are autobiographical and

almost dream-like. The Beatles changed from live to studio musicians

so they could experiment with their music. Children should listen for the

mellotron and understand that John Lennon used to play in a children’s

home garden called Strawberrry Field (seen images online) that was his

own little hideaway. Children can sketch images that they see

represented in the song by picking out lines such as ‘no-one I think is in

my tree’ … ‘Nothing is real’. Can the children put together a verse

about their own special secret place – where they go when they want

to be alone and happy in the same way that John Lennon did?

National Curriculum

Appreciate high quality live and recorded music.

Listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing

aural memory.

Develop an understanding of the history of music.

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Class 3 (Year 2 and 3) Art: Dots, Mosaics and Colour

In this unit the children will look at how we can change conventional art using

techniques such as dotting, mosaic and contrasting colours. The programme

will include:

Looking at examples of dotted portraits in the style of Scurat. Trying

small areas in sketch books to create mouths/eyes/landscape features

etc.

Using a stimulus from either history or science – work to create an

image in dots using felts pens/crayons/pastels and looking at varying

colour to create effects such as eyes, nostrils.

28

Move on to trying the same or a varying image using mosaic, after

looking at some examples. Children can mosaic 2oth century houses

or other historical stimuli – or use plants as a focus. Contrasting colours

e.g. using the colour wheel – are a particular focus when using

mosaics.

Changing colours – take a typical portrait or landscape and

experiment with changing the colour to create a more abstract piece,

e.g. using a green sky/purple fields etc.

National Curriculum:

Use a range of materials creatively to design and make

products.

Develop techniques using colour, pattern, texture, shape.

Develop techniques including control and use of materials.

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Class 4 (Year 4 and 5) Art

Metamorphosis: Changes in Animals: Abstract Collage

In this unit, the children will use a variety of collage techniques to show the

changes through metamorphosis in frogs and dragonflies/or through

photosynthesis in plants . (link science) The programme will include:

Looking at examples of nature collage online. Look at how techniques

are achieved by combining a range of media including dried flowers,

bark, twigs, paint, patterns, mosaics, materials, textiles, photographs

and everyday objects. Let children see how real objects and animals

are sometimes represented by shapes or distorted. Print off some

examples, stick into sketch books and label showing how the artist built

up the collage.

Rough out an abstract collage in pencil (initial ideas) choosing either

photosynthesis, frog metamorphosis or dragonflies as a theme.

Referring to examples by professional artists – work, over several

lessons – on building up an abstract collage and concentrating on

varying media e.g. for frogspawn, part of a frog’s eye, the water

surface, the reeds by the water etc..

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Children can produce small collage pieces on an individual creature

e.g. a dragonfly – as well as larger scenes.

National Curriculum:

Develop a range of art and design techniques in using colour,

pattern and shape.

Create sketchbooks to record their observations.

Develop techniques – including control and use of materials.

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Class 5 (Year 5 and 6) Art

Collage of Change: Evolution or Entertainment

During this unit the children will look at the work and techniques of

contemporary collage artists – of which there are hundreds of fine examples

online – and adapt their techniques to produce a collage of change –

showing either change within evolution as a theme (link science) or changes

in entertainment (link history). The children will learn how to combine

photographs, sections of photographs drawings, painting and everyday

objects to create the desired effect. The programme will include:

Using a combination of internet research and sketchbook to study

collage – print off and select examples for sketchbook – or sketch

small areas and use labels to describe how the collage effect has been

achieved. Note there is often a combination of photograph paint and

added material to create a 3d or textured effect. Children should take

note of the use of paint, layering, overlapping, contrasting colours,

photographs, 3d effects, patterns, use of shapes, natural materials etc.

32

Try collage versions of a veriety of objects in sketch books until

sufficient knowledge has been built up in science and history.

Rough out a collage on A3 paper with a main theme: evolution of

historical change – using pencil for initial ideas an labels for how each

section is to be made. Look how some artists use a sense of symmetry

in their design.

Children might include collage studies of radios, music halls – Charlie

Chaplin, famous film stars, pop stars, mobile phones – or prefer to show

scientific evolution.

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Children can gather material at home for their collage and should work

over the lessons to build up their finished piece – keeping it very

abstract in order for a viewer to really have to study the piece and form

his interpretation.

It is important that children are given time to develop these collages –

seen as a project over a few sessions – with particular attention to

detail.

National Curriculum:

Develop techniques – including control and use of materials.

Use creativity and experimentation.

Create sketchbooks to record observations.

Develop a wide range of art and design techniques in using colour,

pattern and texture.