Wednesday, 21 May 2014

Exploring Stone Girl, Bone Girl

Check out today's Google doodle :)  It celebrates the 215th birthday of Mary Anning. If you click on the doodle it will give you links to investigate further. This is a good one for children. It's the perfect week to be exploring with Picture Book Explorers - Stone Girl, Bone Girl :)
Stone Girl Bone Girl by Laurence Anholt is set in 18th century Lyme Regis. It tells the story of how young Mary Anning, fossil hunter extraordinaire, discovered an ichthyosaurus fossil.


It is beautifully illustrated by Sheila Moxley in bright, bold colours, using unusual and skewed perspectives. It is a book that lent itself very nicely to interesting hands-on art education and activities.
As it is a book about a fossil hunter, it contains, as you would expect, activities related to fossils. It also includes suggestions for literacy and numeracy activities that all relate to the book. And of course, like all Picture Book Explorers, the pack offers the opportunity to learn about the region in which it is set, including local recipes. It also includes a timeline of Mary Anning's life.


You can read a review of this pack at Classroom Free and also on page 40 of  the Spring 2014 issue of Education Outside School magazine.



Other useful go-alongs:


You can also buy fossils and fossil hunting kits at Fossils Galore.

Wednesday, 16 April 2014

The Gruffalo, Trails and Activities

It seems the Forestry Commission really like Julia Donaldson's books. Back in December they were running trails on the theme of Stick Manand now for the next five months, they are celebrating the 15th anniversary of  The Gruffalowith self-lead  trails through 28 forests. The trails cost £2 and contain activities to do along the way, including building an animal home and Gruffalo artwork.
You can find your nearest trail and post pictures of your creations on their Facebook page. There is a Spring related Gruffalo activity sheet and a colouring sheet to download and they have a Gruffalo Pinterest board to explore and inspire.

You can sign up to get your own party picnic pack to help celebrate The Gruffalo's birthday on 7th June when they will also be unveiling Gruffalo carvings in 15 of their forests. And the Gruffalo fun will continue in the Autumn with The Gruffalo's Child activity trails.

Don't forget to visit the Gruffalo website for online games, news and competitions.

There's also a Gruffalo Show which is currently touring the country and they also have Gruffalo printables to download.

The Gruffalois a very popular book and has inspired lots of learning activities suitable for younger children. It presents the opportunity to learn about colours and animals as well as having lots of fun making the the food mentioned. Gruffalo crumble anyone?

Here at Branch Out World, we love Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's work. Pop over to Currclick and check out Picture Book Explorers - Tabby McTat. This literature based unit study includes author and illustrator studies along with cross-curricular educational activities. The printable maps, timeline, activity sheets and mini-books are complemented by a selection of hands-on crafts, science experiments and recipes to make this a complete and well-rounded topic pack.

Other Gruffalo resources:
Activity ideas
Gruffalo mask
Playdough Gruffalo
Activity ideas + actvity sheets
Gruffalo theatre
Gruffalo beetle type game from the Royal Baloo Blog
Activity ideas and printables
Online Gruffalo game
Gruffalo printables incl. puzzles, puppets and party ideas
Teaching ideas for the film rather than the book
Drama activities

Go-Alongs:
Letter G activities
More letter G
Snake lapbook
Fox lapbook
Owl lapbook

Books etc. :


*These images contain affiliate links. All money raised through using these links is going to help two of our local scouts get to the 2015 Scout Jamboree in Japan. It will not cost you anything extra :)