Varmints

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In Year 5, we focused on making predictions and used lots of book talk to support our predictions. For Art, we looked at the illustrators drawing of a varmint, then used different styles to draw our own. We even used an anime style! Journey is an incredible wordless picture book, following a girl on a journey with a magical crayon. There are many themes to be explored through this book, including bravery, courage, friendship and loneliness.

Varmints - Teaching Ideas

In Year 5, we have written newspaper articles about the bizarre disappearance of the girl through the magical doorway which suddenly appears in her room. In class, we wrote in response to the text. Year 3 created poetry based on the highly detailed images and vocabulary in the text, Year 4 imagined what it would be like to stand in the rainforest and described their imagined experiences, Year 5 researched Bengal tigers and wrote their own non-chronological reports while Year 6 reimagined the story and developed their own stories set in another culture having researched their own choice of country.Children told us that the Indian dance workshop was “amazing” and “like nothing they had ever done before’. It was fantastic to see so many of our pupils engaging with new experiences and activities.

Varmints (2008) directed by Marc Craste - Letterboxd ‎Varmints (2008) directed by Marc Craste - Letterboxd

In art, we thought about what we would like to see behind a magical door. We then created our 3D art pieces with our ideas. We also made magical lanterns in the colour that we would like our magical crayon to be. Would like to say before I start that I haven't read the book Varmints by Helen Ward and Marc Craste, so I can't compare the film to it in any way. These thoughts are just from my viewing of the animation :) In Year 6, we wrote a setting description of the enchanted forest, or the magnificent castle, and then wove this into our narrative that started with a prequel of how the crayons came into existence.In Year 6, we wrote Varmints part 2, by starting off where the story ended... at the beginning! We thought about other animals that were under threat of extinction and wrote from their perspective, e.g. an orangutan in the rainforest.

Varmints Online | Vimeo On Demand on Vimeo Watch Varmints Online | Vimeo On Demand on Vimeo

In art, we created our perfect setting - something we would love to see on the other side of our magical door! We used chalk pastels and various mark making techniques to produce a fabulous piece of art! Pupils throughout Middlemarch School thoroughly enjoyed this term’s Take One Book: Cinnamon by Neil Gaiman. Very nicely animated short film that works completely without language and only works properly with the music of Johann Johannsson. A call for help from nature turned into a short film.In year 3, we looked at the imagery from Journey and completed some wonderful descriptions; we used similes and expanded noun phrases to describe the girl’s journey. In Year 3, we created shape poems with a focus on adjectives to describe a varmint. In Art, we ventured outside to collect leaves and plants and made a collage and also practised our photography skills. Learning all about Varmints was an excellent way to begin this academic year! Our children grasped the concept of what humans are doing to nature, whilst also seeing the positive side... having a bit of hope and perseverance can really make a difference! Sehr schön animierter Kurzfilm, der komplett ohne Sprache auskommt und erst durch die Musik von Johann Johannsson richtig funktioniert. Ein Film gewordener Hilferuf der Natur. Having expected them to be sepia and more delicate, the design of the little Varmints was a surprise, Droopy-like with monk-hood markings and heavy kangaroo tails. Then their frequently moving ears, like rabbits but with more flexibility, started to endear them to me. Whilst their rural home was very beautiful, the sudden building of a fully-formed city in such a short sequence never felt believable and thus I didn't feel the pining as I should. (I really have a thing about time and gradualness in films at the moment.)

Varmints - Helen Ward - Story Books - Primary Resources - Twinkl

We found it on YouTube and gave it a watch. There's a bit more going on in the short but it's no less captivating. I was terribly disappointed for the first 5-10 minutes, but later I was very moved by these small creatures and their newly urbanised country idyll.