The Tin Forest

Product Information

As part of our social and emotional development our learning intention is to recognise that everyone’s family is different and understand that most people value their family. Learning Objective: Create a picture using colour to express the difference between a live animal and the inanimate forest.

Learning Objective: I can identify the different members of my family, understand my relationship with each of them and know why it is important to share and cooperate.This is a three-week Writing Root that uses The Tin Forestby Helen Ward.The sequence of learning begins with children arriving to class to find that rubbish has been emptied out all over the floor!They look at ways that the rubbish could be sifted and sorted, and even recycled into something new.Children will explore the main character and the journey he goes through in clearing up the rubbish around his little house and transforming it into a beautiful forest of tin.Through the Writing Root, children write in role as the old man, producing diary entries and wishes and also write a postcard to him to pass on some advice.The sequence of learning finishes with children writing a persuasive piece to encourage others to protect an area in the local environment.This book would work well alongside learning on conservation, climate change and the plant life cycle. Synopsis of Text: Persuasive posters, information leaflets, postcards, diary entries, wishes, setting descriptions Main Outcome:

Read the example diary entry in the resource folder. Can you see where the writer has echoed the text? Have a go at writing your own diary entry in the character of the old man. Choose your level of challenge: This year we have been working closely with The English hub at St Peter’s Primary in Portishead. They have produced some fantastic lessons to help Year 2 children refresh their understanding of some key grammar concepts. This week the lesson is about questions. You can access it here. If your child has difficulty following the tutorial and answering the questions independently, please use lego, counters or something similar to support them with making the groups of 4. Daily Fluency: Tasks 1 and 2 include a fluency element. Three additional fluency tasks are available in the shared drive. This week, these will focus on the 2, 5 and 10 times tables and related division facts (e.g. if 3 x 5 = 15 the 15 ÷ 3 = 5). Task 3– Learning objective: Write clear sentences that form simple, coherent narratives about personal experiences (real or fictional).Using our book, The Tin Forest as inspiration, draw a picture of your idea of a forest created with recycling which contains a live animal or bird of your choice. Using any medium you have at home (paint, coloured pencils, crayons or collage materials etc) colour the picture using brighter colours to show the difference between the living and the recycling.

One paragraph of clear, coherent writing using co-ordination (e.g. or / and / but) and some subordination (e.g. when / if / that / because) to join clauses.

Thursday 4th February 2021

Written by Helen Ward and illustrated by Wayne Anderson, The Tin Forest is a beautifully crafted modern fable. It tells the story of an old man who dreams of living in a wild forest bursting with life, but lives in a grey and barren scrap-metal wasteland. From a moment of inspiration and under the care of the old man, a forest made of tin emerges, and from this springs life and beauty. Skills: Continue to practise throwing and catching a ball, try to use different size balls such as tennis balls and football to discover which you find easier to catch. Can you throw and catch 10 times without dropping the ball? Challenge yourself by seeing how many throws and catches you can complete without dropping the ball. Children could draw their own picture of a forest, ‘… near nowhere and close to forgotten filled with all the things no one wanted’ Make a model or collage tin forest We’re trying something a little different with our maths this week. Lessons 1 and 2 will use instructions from a video tutorial. Before commencing the video ensure that your child has everything they need, including: English Year 1: Develop pleasure in reading, motivation to read, vocabulary and understanding by being encouraged to link what they read or hear to their own experiences

Task 3 – Learning Objective: Identify 1/4 , 1/2, 2/4, 3/4 of a number or shape, and know that all parts must be equal parts of the whole. The colourful and detailed illustrations by Wayne Anderson compliment the text and convey a powerful message to both children and adults: no matter what your circumstances and no matter where you live - there is always hope. Such vibrant pictures are a great way to encourage imagination and creativity. You could use our supporting resources in a number of ways: Two paragraphs drawing on your reading to inform the vocabulary in your writing , echoing the text. This resource has been organised in two different ways to give teachers flexibility with the way the text is covered. Possible Extension: Try making up any similar problems using food or other items you have at home. Top Tip: make sure your whole number is one that can be shared into halves and quarters, e.g. 12, 16, 20, 14.

Success!

Slides 1-8: Show children the PowerPoint (available in the resource folder) and/or follow this link to a book by Patricia Hegarty called ‘We are Family’ both about all different types of families. Ask the children which pictures they think show a family. Draw out that families are diverse so that children can understand that the stereotypical family or Mum, Dad and children isn’t always the case. Explain that all the pictures are families and that families come in all different shapes and sizes. Draw out that it is perfectly normal to have a family that is different from other people. If you can, get a member of your household to interview you as the old man. They could ask: How are you feeling? Do you like where you live? How would you like to change where you live? Record at least five of the old man’s thoughts and wishes in thought bubbles. If you want to really challenge yourself try to echo the text in his thoughts i.e. “I wish I didn’t live in this wide, windswept place, near nowhere and close to forgotten”. English Year 2: Understand both the books that they can already read accurately and fluently and those that they listen to by answering and asking questions; making inferences on the basis of what is being said and done; and predicting what might happen on the basis of what has been read so far. Key Questions: What fraction of fruit in the bowl is apples? What fraction of fruit in the bowl is not apples?