Integrating into curriculum

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Class room flow charts and weekly plan in download PDF

The Grim Grey Ogres and the Butterfly Kids – integrating within the curriculum

The Grim Grey Ogres and the Butterfly Kids was first produced at Llandogo Primary School in Monmouthshire a small village school in the Wye Valley. These edited notes are based on the work of the Class Teacher Gail Roberts and indicate how the production of the show was integrated with the learning of the Year 5/6 class (10 and 11 year olds) who were the principal performers in the show.

The children had, above all, a purpose for learning. They were not starting work in the abstract, but instead led their own learning, taking control, because it was real experience that relied upon them and was developed with them. Throughout they continued to acquire, develop, practice, apply and refine skills through group and individual tasks in a variety of contexts. Progress could be seen in terms of refinement of skills and by their application to the tasks.

The whole experience is completely adaptable and repeatable as it is the learner’s involvement and their individual slant on the play that moulds and develops it. You could not possibly wring this play dry of learning opportunities! Just allow the children to run with it and take the initiative.

Ask yourself:

• What are the subjects/skills that need to be covered this term?
• What stage are the children at in their learning?
• Then look at the play as a whole, and break it down into sections.
• What do different elements of the play lend themselves to, in terms of skills/range/subjects to be covered?

English

• it has an enriched vocabulary
• it is structured as stories within a story
• it uses symbolism in a way children can understand
• it sets up and stimulates issues for debate
• it is easily connected to other areas of the curriculum

• a brochure to advertise the performance
• the programme
• letters inviting people to the performance
• a job application to apply for a part in the play
• a questionnaire to find out how people responded to the play
• a schedule for the production of the play
• an assessment of a rehearsal
• a review of the play
• writing a description of one of the imaginary ogres and then make comparisons between another one

Spoken English can be developed through:

• discussion, planning, debate
• giving and taking directions and explanations
• oral reporting and reviewing
• interviewing, narrating, singing, recording
• performance, speech, video

English Visual skills can be developed through:

• painting, photography, videoing
• designing brochure, set, programme, advertisements
• organisational charts, schedules
• posters, web pages, audio and video adverts for the play
• discussing how at first we think everyone is the same and make presumptions sometimes about who they are, but when we look closely we see individuality
• writing a letter applying for the job of the Chief Ogre stating what attributes you have for the position.

Art

• make comparisons between the Grey Ogres and the multi-coloured Butterflies
• think about the colours and what they symbolise
• research artists who paint in monotone and those who use vibrant colours - what feelings do these contrasting works evoke?
• explore line and tone sketching using pencils and charcoal
• research artists, both working in black and white and colour
• discuss what it would be like to have everything shades of grey
• what feelings does the colour grey evoke?
• brain storm anything in the natural world that is shades of grey- dolphins, snails, rocks, the sea, etc
• show some art by artists working without colour - Martin de Boer, Bridget Riley, Lucio Valerio, Thomas Barbey, Pogo, Rene Asmussen and Judy Mandolf
• encourage the children to think of ways they can be creative using shades of black and white - photography, photo copying, charcoal, sketches, textiles, mosaic, shadows etc
• encourage the children to look closely at objects that are grey - different rocks, wool, the sea and sky
• have their opinions of grey changed?

Mathematics

• draw up a budget for the show
• break it down into different elements – construction materials, hire costs
• work out the relevant costs of each element
• if you are charging for the show, compare the costs with the income
• explore tessellation and patterns in building blocks and bricks
• time the show in rehearsal – break it down into sections

History and Geography

The play is essentially about a clash of cultures, and can be a starting point for exploring modern historical cultures and investigating their beliefs and values.

look back through history of how people have changed/developed cultures - Christopher Columbus, the Roman Empire, the British Empire, Ireland, Iran.

Thinking skills

• how have cultures been influenced by invasions?
• have people helped or hindered when they have discovered/ ruled other countries?
• how did the Ogres feel about being grey?
• how did the children feel about the ogres being grey?
• what would you do or think if you came across the Grim, Grey Ogres?

DT and Science

The Ogres’ walls play a big part in the show.

• what do you know about building walls?
• what is the definition of a wall?
• what are walls made of?
• are all walls built out of bricks?
• what are the properties of the different materials needed to build a wall?
• build a wall out of newspaper to withstand a force of 100g
• why should we choose one material instead of another?
• is it important for walls to be strong?
• do they all need to have the same amount of strength?
• what makes one wall strong and another weak?
• how many different ways can you think of to strengthen walls?

INDIVIDUAL SONGS

As well as looking at the show as a whole, individual songs can be taken as a starting point.

THEOBALD TRUFF

English

As a class read/listen to the part of Theobald Truff. Working in small groups, ask the children to discuss the following points, then feedback a consensus of opinion to the rest of the class.

• what three words best describe Theobald? Check meanings of words in the dictionary first. Unforthcoming, bigheaded, useless, selfish, modest, arrogant, different, unpresumptuous, humble, reserved, distant, uncommunicative, aloof, ineffective, hopeless, worthless, inadequate, well-intentioned
• is Theo happy? What makes you think that?
• should you be concerned about what your neighbours think about what you do in your own home?
• How do you think Mrs Truff feels about her husband?
• discuss the children’s reactions to their father
• is everything Theobald does wrong?
• who and how do people influence you?
• how do you feel when you make mistakes?
• should we avoid doing things that are difficult to do?

Get the children to stand in two rows facing each other. Ask one side to think of positive things to shout about Theo’s efforts to make a recycled car and the other side negative things. Ask one child to walk slowly down the centre, while the others are shouting. At the end discuss which comments they remember and why they think that is.

Music

• discuss the pace of the song
• discuss how important keeping the rhythm is to the overall effect
• listen to raps
• discuss how they are similar and different

Geography

• how do people relate to their neighbours in other countries?
• is there a difference between socially and economically developed countries and less developed countries?
• why do you think this is?

Science

• discuss what makes things rot
• carry out experiments on which bread gets mouldy first and why?
• is it always a bad thing for things to rot? Why?
• what things don’t rot? Why? Is this a good or bad thing? Why?

DT

• what could Theobald have done to create a better success rate on his DIY?

THE BUTTERFLY WATCHER

Art and Design

• discuss what it would be like to be surrounded by bright colours all of the time
• which colours go together better than others? Experiment using different colours, pattern, texture, shape, form.
• what feelings do different colours evoke for you?
• look at colour used in nature- danger, camouflage, to attract a mate etc
• research artists who have used colour to evoke feelings – Kathy Ostman Magnusen and Jane Atkin
• using the medium of their own choice create a picture using colour
• observational drawings/paintings of the landscape, objects etc

DT and Science

• make 3D models of butterflies with wings that move using levers, rigid and flexible materials.
• science investigation: the life-cycle of the butterfly
• properties of materials relating to their uses
• life cycles of humans, butterflies and plants - how are they related/different?
• food chains - how do we rely upon each other?
• investigate – find out where the most mini beasts live in your school grounds and give explanations to why this may be
• bird/butterfly watch, keep a record and discuss findings
• set up a wildlife area making habitats in your grounds - count wildlife before and after.

History

• what part have butterflies played in peoples beliefs, art, fiction and fashion?

MFL

• explore the use of French in this song

English

• imagine opening the window on a bight sunny morning. Describe what you see from the window. What happens in that 10 minutes until you close the window?
• create a leaflet persuading people to visit your school grounds
• use ICT to create a poster explaining rules for the Country Code, or persuading people to not harm the wildlife

Geography

• discuss living in the world and how people have a responsibility: caring for places and environments and the importance of being a global citizen

Physical Education

• research how things move and discuss why they are moving in that way- bees, cats, New Zealand Hakka, street dancers, the Queen
• create a sequence of moves for the butterflies to dance to
• moving in different ways, such as like an ogre, depicting their feelings, using gesture

Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship

• discuss the essential features of ‘Good Health’ and encourage the children to recognise the impact of choices about health issues on the quality of life for all people

THE YOUNG HARMONICA PLAYER

Music

• what is music?
• what can be used to make music?
• what is the difference between music and sounds?
• in small groups brain storm as many different genres of music you can.
• what types of music do you like best? Why? Play a variety of different genres/pieces and ask the children to group them any way they want to.
• listen to a range of different sounds e.g. babies rattle, door banging, crisp packet opening etc and encourage the children to express their likes and dislikes, feelings, memories it evokes
• can anyone/anything create ‘music’?
• use percussion and or body parts to create simple phrases to jam to.
• use ICT program to bring in texture, explore other pieces from other cultures, periods
• how has music developed over the years?
• play a selection of music and ask the children to sequence it chronologically
• ask the children if they can think of certain times when they feel music changed very distinctively? What were the causes for the changes?

Science

• How is sound produced? How do we hear?
• How does a harmonica work?
• How does a grasshopper make those sounds and why?
• Carry out investigations to find out what/if sound can travel through different materials.
• Research radio waves.

Thinking skills

• how would you communicate if you couldn’t hear and never learnt to talk?
• how do you think people feel if they are standing with a group of people talking together if they can’t hear?
• how would you recognise someone who was hard of hearing?
• how do you think people treat old people who have lost some of their hearing?
• are they treated differently from a child who can’t hear?
• what is the harmonica player thinking just before he starts to play?
• why is the blackbird singing, is she in competition or partnership?

DT

• make your own percussion instruments to be used in the performance
• design and make a musical instrument out of recycled materials – bumper off a car, bicycle wheel, carved lumps of wood, hammered pieces of metal, bottles

THE LIGHTBOX CHILD

Science

• what is light?
• can you still see without light?
• what is colour?
• carry out investigations on light and colour investigating prisms, using damp blotting paper to separate the colours out of a black felt pen
• how do we see?
• does light bounce off some objects better than others?

Thinking Skills

In small groups, give each group a box of 10 objects. Allow the children 30 seconds to remember the objects. Introduce strategies for improvement each time they repeat the activity with different boxes - each member of group remember their own objects, group objects that ‘go together’ remember objects as a story, etc.

• set the children the challenge of moving a box 20m in the fastest time, without touching the box
• how do they think the Egyptians moved the rocks when they built the pyramids?
• how can you build a wall with the boxes without touching them?

Mathematics

• imagine a cube 3 x 3 x 3 - all the cubes are white, but the outside is painted blue. How many cubes have 1 blue side? 2 blue sides? 3 blue sides? No blue sides?
• how do we find the volume of a cube? Surface area?

THE SLUG SONG

Literacy

• poetry - look at the use of alliteration in the song
• ask the children to write their own poetry using alliteration
• investigate root words - make up their own words to describe things by putting words together eg slipzip, or being zappyhappy!

MFL

• using the squidgerly squasherly slug create an imaginary society for him, language, rules, etc

THE RIVER CHILD

Geography

• look for rivers - find their source and mouth
• make comparisons with rivers in other countries
• describe causes and consequences of how places and environments change, season; from past to present; the need for sustainability
• carry out field work measuring flow, depth, width etc of a river

Literacy

• listen to the poem - discuss how language differs between spoken and written forms
• write a speech as part of a debate - what would happen if and when dams have been built, who benefits and who loses out
• write an argument in the form of dialogue between two people for and against changes to the environment
• write a letter of protest persuading the other person that what you want is for the best

Class room flow charts and weekly plan in download PDF

Download Integrating into curriculum in PDF