The Dinosaur's Diary

Product Information

We have found the approach gives greater purpose to learning for the children and increases their engagement. The Dinosaur's Diary is a story written from the point of view of a dinosaur called Hypsilophodon, who writes this story as a day to day diary. She has to struggle with keeping her eggs safe from predators. As this seems to be an impossible task due to the habitat she is in, she finds herself falling into a pool whilst being chased by a Tyrannosaurus Rex. The pool magically brings her into another world (modern day earth). When Rabbit's friends Cat, Bear and Elephant come to help they are each scared away in turn by the mysterious voice.

Dinosaurs topic books for EYFS, KS1 and KS2 Dinosaurs topic books for EYFS, KS1 and KS2

I really liked the nervous central character of Hypsilophodon. Not what you’d immediately expect a dinosaur to be like! But the story really conveyed the emotion of Hypsilophodon and her fight to look after her babies and survive herself. I also continued to write “grown-up” songs and perform them in folk clubs and on the radio, and have recently released two CDs of these songs. Prehistoric: Dinosaurs, Megalodons and Other Fascinating Creatures of the Deep Past by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld & Julius Csotonyi & The Smithsonian Museum It could be read to a whole class as it’s easy to follow and there are some nice illustrations you could show the class as well. It could also be used in 1-2-1 reading to help children’s development with their reading skills. However, she soon makes friends with some local swallows. They show her to a local barn, where it is safe enough for her to lay her eggs and for them to hatch in peace. When her thirteen baby dinosaurs are born she has a job to look after them. When Horace, the smallest and slowest, is captured by the local farmer, Henrietta (the most bullish of her babies) comes up with a plan to save him. This they succeed in doing so, but in their getaway, they steal the farmer’s tractor. They inadvertently drive the tractor into the pond again and end up in the original dinosaur country where they first started. But this time the bigger dinosaurs are scared of the tractor and leave Hypsilophodon and her babies in peace.

How to plan an immersive project

Children who usually never spoke in class contributed. Some families even reported that children were writing more stories for The Lost Lending Library at home. How to plan an immersive project In the autumn term we had a surprising visitor to the school. A T-Rex was spotted in the playground during break! It seemed to be looking for something, and moved around the playground until it disappeared as suddenly as it had arrived… BBC Teach has a useful set of videos and resources to support teaching a dinosaur topic in EYFS, KS1 and KS2.

Julia Donaldson on Apple Books ‎Julia Donaldson on Apple Books

We found that the children became much more engaged in their learning, enthusiastic about writing stories, and immersed in their work. We learned about it eight years ago when the charity Punchdrunk Enrichment led a whole-school immersive learning project.One of my television songs, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE, was made into a book in 1993, with illustrations by the wonderful Axel Scheffler. It was great to hold the book in my hand without it vanishing in the air the way the songs did. This prompted me to unearth some plays I’d written for a school reading group, and since then I’ve had 20 plays published. Most children love acting and it’s a tremendous way to improve their reading. I also liked the relationships she had with the other characters, such as the swallows and her babies. I think children would really enjoy reading this book as well, which I would say is aimed at younger children. Pupils’ work helps propel the narrative forward – learning is positioned as a chapter in an unfolding story. Each child was given a library card so they could return, and in the days that followed they wrote many new stories for the library before it mysteriously disappeared. Although not before making every child a lifelong member!