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Brilliant ways to bring SCHOOL DAYSto 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 make predictions and justify

thinking.

“Find” a shoebox on your chair or in the middle of the carpet first thing in the morning. This should be covered with labels reading KEEP OUT, DANGER, WARNING etc. Ask the pupils to make suggestions as to what the box contains and collect on the board. Open the box to reveal a copy of The Ghost in the Toilet. Explain that the book is about a ghost, magic and curses and ask if they’d like to read it.

2Get up, get active. Pupils will use role-pay to play a

guessing game.

Read the class the story of The Curse of the Itchy Carpet and discuss at different points what could be happening in the story. Prepare on pieces of paper “curses” such as “frozen still”, “covered in slime”, “lose voice”, “turn into a frog” etc. Put these in a box or bag. Children take it in turns to choose a curse from the bag and then act out its effects. The rest of the class try to guess what the pupil has been cursed with.

3No pencils allowed.Pupils will use connectives (and

conjunctions) to orally retell a story. Read The Toilet Ghost together – what is going to happen? Discuss how the children at Wigglesbottom Primary often let their imaginations run away with them, but there is usually a simple explanation for the strange things happening. Write a list of appropriate connectives and conjunctions on the board. Recount the “wild tale” of your morning, using the words to join clauses and sentences. Let the class have a go at creating a shared story, inventing a wild thing that happened to them that morning.

In Ottoline Goes to School, Chris Riddell describes Ottoline’s first experience of going to school. Whilst she has always had Mr Munroe to keep her company, Ottoline would really like to be friends with Cecily. The story offers opportunities to explore the idea of what we look for in a new friend, but also feelings of jealousy. Ottoline’s new school is a strange and wonderful place – could your class create their own “dream school”, deciding what they will learn and when?

7 Why not make this

your next book? Ottoline goes to Schoolby Chris RiddellPublished by Macmillan Children’s Books

Published by Nosy Crow

6 Keep the adventure going…

Class 2R at Wigglesbottom Primary jump to a lot of false conclusions and believe each other’s crazy stories. Why not read the class a few old wives’ tales and encourage the pupils to imagine what would happen if they came true? For example, what could go wrong if an apple a day really did keep the doctor away? What if you were doing something silly, the wind changed, and you stayed that way?! Could they write a funny story based on one of these tales?

5Word play.Pupils will create props

and setting for a magic trick.

Read the pupils The Stinky Shoe of Fortune and discuss their experiences of magic tricks. Tell the class they are going to create props and any setting they need to put on a magic show. Let the children research and choose a magic trick (funology.com/magic-tricks) before collecting any items they need and practising. You may need to ensure you have packs of cards, etc for them to share.

4The writer’s workshop.

Pupils will create alternative endings based on a given scenario.

Plan for something strange to happen in school or tell a story about a weird incident e.g. all the plants in the school go missing. Ask the class to make predictions in pairs about what could have happened – the wilder the better! Prompt the children to develop their theories so they have a story. Create story maps and then ask the pupils to write a letter to the local newspaper about the strange goings-on in the school.

Created in association with

Years 3&4

LESSON PLAN

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