How we should prepare children for formal literacy teaching has long courted controversy. It has become all the more controversial with the introduction of statutory phonics for children in the Foundation Stage. But where there is agreement is that rhyme - listening to it, saying it, creating it - is vital in preparing children to become readers (see 'Speak out!', page 20).
And what better way to explore rhyme than with Stomp! Chomp! Big roars, here come the dinosaurs! (Puffin, 5.99), a new collection of rhymes written by Kaye Umansky, illustrated brilliantly - in every sense - by Nick Sharratt, and featuring a host of new new interactive fun rhymes.
Familiarise yourself with the rhymes before reading them to the children so that you can choose suitable titles to link with planned activities.
Extend imaginary ideas by repeating them aloud to individuals and small groups during appropriate child-initiated play times - for example, as they hide dinosaurs in wet sand or pretend to be dinosaurs during outdoor play.
The suggested activities provide a good balance of stimulating learning opportunities across all six areas of the curriculum.
Approach
The Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage (page 11) emphasises the importance of providing children with a balance of adult-led and child-initiated learning opportunities. This project, therefore:
* identifies adult-led activities, to introduce or develop children's understanding of the topic through stimulating, meaningful experiences which offer challenge
* suggests ways to enhance areas of core provision, to consolidate children's learning about the theme. It is the practitioners' role to make daily observations of children's learning which inform individual child profiles and future planning. Children should be encouraged to use the resources to support their own learning. This means that the possible learning outcomes will be wide-ranging and varied
* advocates that settings should be organised and resourced using a 'workshop' approach so that children can access resources autonomously and independently.
Adult-led activity
Stomp, chomp!
Develop large movement skills by encouraging children to plod around heavily like gigantic dinosaurs.
Key learning intentions
To relate and make attachments to members of their group
To begin to differentiate between past and present
To initiate new combinations of movement and gesture in order to express and respond to feelings, ideas and experiences
Adult-child ratio 1:8
Resources
Stomp! Chomp! Big roars, here come the dinosaurs! by Kaye Umansky and Nick Sharratt (Puffin, 5.99) ,model dinosaurs
Activity content
* Invite the children to sit in a circle and pass around some model dinosaurs. Take turns to choose a dinosaur and tell the rest of the group something about it - for example, describing a distinguishing feature such as a spiky tail. Explain that dinosaurs lived a long, long time ago.
* Read out the first rhyme in the book, 'Stomp! Chomp!Big roars', and suggest that the children pretend to be big dinosaurs stomping around the room roaring and stamping. Encourage them to stamp in time to the rhythm of the words by beating a drum as they do so.
* Choose other suitable movement rhymes in the book to read aloud, for example, 'Roly Poly' and 'Be a mouse', and encourage the children to make up their own movements.
* Ask the 'tired dinosaurs' to rest while you read 'Just sitting' and 'Goodnight'. Talk about what it feels like to relax.
* Read the rhymes associated with relationships, for example 'Walking to the swamp', 'Daddy Bigfoot' and 'Friends', to stimulate discussion about the children's families and friends.
* Repeat the activity on another day, focusing on the rhyme, 'Grumpy', as an introduction to discussing feelings.
Extended learning
Key vocabulary
Stomp, chomp, roar, roariest, shy, swamp, friends, grind, grumpy, bumpy, humpy, trot, roly poly, deep, high, near, far, tiptoe, creep (depending on the rhyme) Questions to ask
* Can you show us how a dinosaur stomps/a mouse moves on tiptoe? Which way of moving did you enjoy most? Can you tell us why?
* Do you have a favourite dinosaur? What is special about it?
* Dinosaurs have friends to play with. Who are your special friends? What do you like to do together? The dinosaurs in the rhyme are having a chat.
What do you like to chat to your friends about?
Extension ideas
* Leave model dinosaurs on a table with some paint in a shallow tray so that children can make 'stomping' dinosaur footprints on paper.
* Provide children with a CD player and a CD of suitable 'stomping' music so that they can invent their own dinosaur dances.
Dinosaur counting
Share the number rhymes in the focused book to stimulate children's awareness of size, shape and counting.
Key learning intentions
To recognise rhythm in spoken words
To enjoy joining in with number rhymes and songs
To tap out and create simple repeated rhythms
Adult-child ratio 1:6
Resources
Stomp! Chomp! Big roars, here come the dinosaurs! by Kaye Umansky and Nick Sharratt ,ten model dinosaurs, including large and small models of the same dinosaur , a circle of green fabric ,three salt dough eggs
Activity content
* Invite the children to sit in a circle with the dinosaurs in a row in the centre. Choose a child to point to each dinosaur as the others count them.
* Read the rhyme about ten fat dinosaurs using the models as props. Spread a circle of green fabric on to the floor to represent the swamp and invite the children to take turns to drop a dinosaur into the swamp one by one as they say the rhyme.
* Ask questions about the number of dinosaurs, such as how many are in the swamp and how many are ready to dive into it. Finish by emphasising that the total is always ten.
* Say the rhyme, 'Three little eggs', using the props. Encourage one-to-one correspondence by putting a baby dinosaur next to each egg.
* Read rhymes that use language associated with size - for example, 'Walking to the swamp' using a large and a small dinosaur to represent the mother and baby. Choose a very large dinosaur to represent Daddy in the rhyme 'Daddy Bigfoot' and two matching dinosaurs to represent friends in the rhyme 'Making friends'.
* As you say each rhyme emphasise the rhythm by asking the children to clap or tap their knees. Point out rhyming words such as 'five' and 'dive', 'tap' and 'clap', and draw attention to repetition, for example, 'Clap, clap, clap/Tap, tap, tap/ Flap, flap, flap'.
Extended learning
Key vocabulary
Number names to ten, tap, clap, flap, big, small, short, tall, biggest, smallest, shortest, tallest, fat, thin, same size
Questions to ask
* How many dinosaurs can you count?
* How many dinosaurs look the same? Which is the biggest dinosaur? Which is the smallest?
* How many eggs are there? How many baby dinosaurs hatched from them in the rhyme?
Extension ideas
* Supply children with coloured plastic buckets and invite them to sort model dinosaurs according to size, type or colour.
* Visit the Natural History Museum website to discover interesting facts about dinosaurs (www.nhm.ac.uk).
Child-initiated learning
Small-world play
Additional resources and adult support
* Provide resources for creating a small-world environment for dinosaurs.
Fill a builder's tray with compost or mark out a small garden plot and leave alongside ten plastic dinosaurs and a shallow box filled with natural materials such as sticks, stones, grass, moss and leaves.
Play possibilities
* Working with others to create a landscape for dinosaurs
* Exploring natural materials using all of their senses
* Making up imaginary scenarios using available resources
Possible learning outcomes
Playing alongside others engaged in the same theme
Investigating objects and natural materials using all of their senses as appropriate
Water area
Additional resources and adult support
* Mix cooked pasta, cornflour, water and green colouring together in a water tray to create a lumpy, slimy swamp. Leave a selection of ten plastic dinosaurs on a table alongside it.
* Remind them of the rhyme of the ten fat dinosaurs diving into the swamp and ask if the slimy mixture reminds them of the swamp.
* Leave the children to investigate the mixture and play freely with the resources.
Play possibilities
* Showing excitement as they make up stories about dinosaurs diving into a swamp.
* Counting and talking about dinosaurs.
* Enjoying the sensation of patting, squeezing, poking and pinching the slimy mixture.
* Using the sense of sight and touch to explore new materials.
Possible learning outcomes
Continues to be interested, excited and motivated to learn
Counts an irregular arrangement of up to 10 objects
Explores malleable materials by patting, stroking, poking, squeezing, pinching and twisting them
Shows an interest in what they see, hear, smell, touch and feel
Role-play area
Additional resources and adult support
* Create a secluded dinosaur 'world' with drapes and cushions, large footprints made from card and soft-toy dinosaurs.
* Make available fiction and non-fiction books about dinosaurs and display dinosaur posters on a nearby wall Play possibilities
* Using available resources to mimic dinosaurs moving, eating, playing and hunting for food
* Looking at the posters and books
* Making up stories about the lives of the dinosaurs or other theme of their choice
Possible learning outcomes
Begins to used talk to pretend imaginary situations
Introduces a storyline or narrative into their play
Construction area
Additional resources and adult support
* Supply resources to create large dinosaur models, for example, boxes of varying sizes, tubes, paints, crepe and tissue paper, glue, shiny collage scraps, sticky tape and string.
* Provide information reference books.
* Provide paper, pens and pencils for children to draw pictures if they wish.
* Provide a white sheet on which to build the models and paint in case the children want to paint them.
* Leave the children to investigate and create freely, returning occasionally to model techniques, supply additional resources and comment positively on the results of their actions.
* Ask questions as the children's models develop. What are they making? Is it a dinosaur? What kind? Will it have spines or horns? Do they know how they're going to make them? And how do they plan to attach them to the model? Do they think spines and horns make the dinosaurs frightening?
Play possibilities
* Using available resources to create model dinosaurs, abstract structures or alternative models of their own choosing
* Looking at posters, models and books for ideas for their models
* Trying out techniques for joining materials in order to construct with a specific end product in mind
* Experimenting with colours
Possible learning outcomes
Selects and uses activities and resources independently
Knows that information can be relayed in the form of print
Constructs with a purpose in mind, using a variety of resources
Chooses certain colours for a purpose
Areas of learning
Personal, social and emotional development
Communication, language and literacy
Mathematical development
Knowledge & understanding of the world
Physical development
Creative development
