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Brilliant ways to bring FANTASY WORLDS to life in your classroom

Here are some creative ideas to inspire you to Share a Story. Share brilliant characters, amazing worlds, jaw-dropping adventures and talented authors and illustrators, both classic and contemporary.

1Start with a WOW!Pupils will be excited to read about a strange

new world.

Ask the headteacher to greet your class in the morning, explaining that they don’t know where you are (you may want to warn the parents about this!). Burst through the door “late” wearing your slippers and dressing gown. Recount a stream of “crazy events” which led to your late appearance, including incidents involving wild animals and catastrophic events! Ask the pupils if they would like to read about a place where crazy things happen all the time?

2Get up, get active. Pupils will use drama to create silly stories.

Chapter five describes how Andy and Terry are easily distracted from their work. Give the children examples of simple instructions they might hear at home or school i.e. “Go and brush your teeth”. In pairs, challenge the children to dramatise a chain of wild events that distract them from the job they set out to do. The stories can be as crazy as they like, but they should try to show cause and effect! Share stories with the class and count how many “knock-on” things go wrong.

3No pencils allowed.Pupils design a treehouse storey.

Sit in a circle and read aloud pp.37-8 when Terry and Andy share their “To Do” and “To Don’t” lists. Give some thinking time and then pass an object around the circle, so the pupils can share their own “To Don’t” ideas. Next, suggest a new treehouse “storey” i.e. funfair, underwater palace, dinosaur zoo. Model asking one child what they would find there, prompting “tell me more”. Ask one child what they would find there, prompting “tell me more”, to get details, not just a list of other things they see. In pairs, children take turns describing and prompting “tell me more”.

In David Baddiel’s books, his characters often make wishes that come true resulting in hilarious adventures. In his book Birthday Boy, Sam wishes it is his birthday every day and life is great for a while. The theme of wish-fulfilment stimulates wonderful drama activities and inspires children to devise stories with imaginative “dilemmas”. What would the pupils draw with a “magic pencil” that brought its pictures to life and what might go wrong? What twist would they plan in a story about a child who has three wishes?

7 Why not make this

your next book? Birthday Boy by David Baddiel Published by HarperCollins.

Published by MacmillanChildren’s Books

6 Keep the adventure going…

Challenging the children to invent their own treehouse with several themes would lead to some fantastic project work. Perhaps parents would like to be involved in their design? Can they pretend to be an estate agent and write persuasive copy to sell their treehouse and all its wonderful features? Which treehouse would the children in other classes buy and why?

5Word play.Pupils will create a 3D

treehouse with invented storeys.

Give each pair of pupils a cardboard box. Challenge the children to create an amazing fantasy treehouse platform. What would their dream treehouse include? Show the pupils how to turn the box on its side and create a 3D model. They will need lots of craft materials such as card, paper, pipe cleaners, sticky-tape etc. When pupils have finished, create a giant wall display by sticking the boxes to paper tree branches.

4The writer’s workshop.

Pupils create and compare story maps. Read chapter 7, describing how Andy and Terry defeat the sea-monkey-turned mermaid-turned sea-monster. Collect ideas on how else they could have solved the problem. Next, using ideas generated in their drama activity, ask pairs to use freeze-frames to help plan a story map. While several pairs might have the same beginning, their convoluted middle will be wonderfully unique!

Created in association with

Years 3&4

LESSON PLAN

Find more great ideas based on brilliant books at worldbookday.com/resources