Literacy Lesson Ideas

Transcription

1 Favourite Fairy Tale: Tom Thumb In Brief Tom Thumb is an old English fairy tale about the amazing adventures of a little boy who is only as tall as a thumb. 1 Literacy Lesson Ideas Read Tom Thumb, and have a class discussion. Use the following questions as a starting point: 1. Why were the ploughman and his wife unhappy? 2. What do you think life is like for someone as small as Tom? 3. What s the best thing about being the size of a thumb? 4. What can Tom Thumb do that you can t? Write a list. 5. What s the worst thing about it? 6. What does the world look like from Tom s perspective? (Think about how ordinary things like tall grass or a step could be a big obstacle) 7. Why do you think the beggar dropped the bowl of cake mixture? 8. Why does Tom s mother worry about keeping him safe? 9. How many times does Tom escape from a tricky situation? 10. Why do you think King Arthur admired Tom so much? See our Tom Thumb Word Wise Sheet to discover the meanings of some of the less familiar words in the story and for more literacy activities. Arrange the story in the correct order on our Tom Thumb Story Sequencing Sheet. Tell the story in six paragraphs using our Tom Thumb Simple Storyboard. Which animals were featured in our story? Test your memory on our Character Comprehension Sheet. If you could be Tom Thumb for a day, what would you do? Write it down on our If I Were Tom Thumb Sheet. Create an Objects Box and fill it with small things, such as a walnut shell, a paperclip, a small roll of tape, and a coin. Ask your class to come up with ideas for how Tom Thumb could use them as tools in his adventures. (In the story, he is given a needle for a sword.) Alternatively, ask them to come up with ideas for what Tom could use for his bath, bed, pillow, blanket, plate or a toy. Can you write a sentence about each object?

2 Read this story alongside Thumbelina from Issue 17 can you find similarities and differences between the two stories? Other small world stories you can read include Mrs Pepperpot by Alf Proysen and The Borrowers by Mary Norton. Spot Tom Thumb in our picture puzzle a great way to wind up a literary session. 2 maths Lesson Ideas Play our Bigger or Smaller size matching game, inspired by Tom Thumb s tale. Or have a go at size ordering the characters and animals in the story from smallest to largest. 3 geography Lesson Ideas Use our Story Map Sheet to draw Tom Thumb s adventure from his home to the court of King Arthur. Don t forget to include every landmark. 4 art Lesson Ideas Recycle loo paper rolls, bottles, matchboxes and card to junk model a small world table showing the inside of Tom Thumb s home or his bedroom. Use our Tom Thumb Finger Puppet and Small World Decorations for the finishing touches. Make a tiny carriage to carry Tom, using a small box and bottle tops or pennies for the wheels. Print out our Tom Thumb Mask and act out the story or even his further adventures. Colour in our Tom Thumb Colouring Sheet. Draw Tom Thumb in your favourite scene from our story in our Picture Frame.

3 Favourite Fairy Tale: Tom Thumb Word WATCH Check you understand what the trickier words mean in Issue 35 s fairy tale, Tom Thumb. Generosity being sharing, unselfish By-and-by in a while, before long Clambered climbed Churning moving around Bewitched under a spell Woeful sad Pail bucket Pleas requests Furrow long deep trench Violently with force and strength Astonishment surprise Big Words, Small Words There are many different ways of saying the words big and small. Write as many as you can in each box. small words big words WRITE IT! Imagine Tom has to cross a classroom or playground filled with toys. Write a story describing his adventure and all the obstacles he has to face.

4 Favourite Fairy Tale: Tom Thumb pint-sized poetry How would you dress Tom Thumb? Write your own version of the poem from our story here. With a for his hat, In a shirt of With a jacket made from And trousers neatly done All stitched together, by-and-by, With from merlin magic What magic words did Merlin say to make Tom Thumb appear? Write his spell here. TIP! Why not start with: Abracadabra!

5 Favourite Fairy Tale: Tom Thumb Story Sequencing Sheet Number these sentences from 1 to 12 to put them in the right order. Tom ends up in the belly of a fish. Tom goes home again, excited to share his adventure. A beggar takes the bowl of cake mixture, but he is scared and drops it. The cow drops Tom into his mother s apron pocket. Tom Thumb falls into a bowl of cake mixture. Merlin visits a ploughman and his wife. They seem sad. Tom wakes up to find himself in the court of King Arthur. King Arthur gives Tom a new outfit, a carriage and coins. Tom falls off his father s shoulder when they are ploughing. A cow accidentally scoops up Tom in its mouth. A raven catches Tom in its beak, but drops him in the river. Merlin uses his magic to give them a thumb-sized son.

6 Tom Thumb: Simple Storyboards - Page 1 Using the pictures below to help you, write Tom Thumb in your own words.

7 Tom Thumb: Simple Storyboards - page 2 Teeny Tiny Things How many things can you think of that are really small? Write them here.

8 tom thumb: If I Were Tom Thumb Imagine you are Tom Thumb for one day. Write a new adventure here. If I were Tom Thumb

9 Favourite Fairy Tale: Tom Thumb Character Comprehension Circle the animals that appeared in the story and write their name below each picture.

10 Favourite Fairy Tale: Tom Thumb Spot Tom Thumb There are ten little Tom Thumbs hiding in this picture. Draw a circle around each one. Colour in the toadstool when you spot them all.

11 Favourite Fairy Tale: Tom Thumb bigger or smaller? Which of these items are bigger than Tom Thumb in real life and which are smaller? Draw a line between each object and the bigger or smaller boxes. bigger smaller

12 Favourite Fairy Tale: Tom Thumb story map Draw a map of Tom s journey from his home at the beginning of the story to King Arthur s court. Include the cornfields, the river and the castle. TIP! Add the animals he meets too the cow, the raven and the fish.

13 Favourite Fairy Tale: Tom Thumb Character Mask

14 Favourite Fairy Tale: Tom Thumb Finger puppet tom thumb finger puppet Cut out Tom Thumb and use him to act out the story in a small world landscape or small storytelling groups.

15 Favourite Fairy Tale: Tom Thumb Small World Cut out these decorations to make Tom Thumb s room look homely what else does he need? Decorations

16 Tom Thumb: Picture Frame

17 Favourite Fairy Tale: Tom Thumb Colouring TIP! Give Tom Thumb a little insect friend to play with. What will it be?