The Dinosaur's Diary

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The dinosaur nest was in fact part of a Year 2 cross-curricular approach to teaching about dinosaurs, supporting science, art, history and English. Immersive learning has its roots in immersive theatre. This invites the audience to move through a theatrical world as active participants. When Rabbit's friends Cat, Bear and Elephant come to help they are each scared away in turn by the mysterious voice. 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. The children started to talk about what was happening, particularly when they discovered some extraordinary teeth and fossils.

Julia Donaldson on Apple Books ‎Julia Donaldson on Apple Books

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. The story happens to the learner – they are protagonists, their feelings are as much part of the story as the characters they encounter.Dinosaurs have been a topic of discussion and inspiration for much longer this year than they were during a different iteration of the topic last year. Why we use immersive learning Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta. When I was a child I went to a lecture about dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum, and was amazed to learn that most of them were not giants but about the size of a hen or a cat. 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

Julia Donaldson - Penguin Books UK Julia Donaldson - Penguin Books UK

A really enjoyable story for a younger reader. The story explores the adventures of H, a dinosaur who finds a magic portal to our world where her children are born. The story is brilliant to explore new experiences, feelings and how important it is to support others. We were recently inspected by Ofsted and they talked about the pupils feeling inspired in their learning. This book is a brilliant book for young children to transition from picture books to more grown up literature styles. The story is beautifully illustrated, again to keep the childrens' attention and I personally believe to assist the transition. We have found the approach gives greater purpose to learning for the children and increases their engagement. We learned about it eight years ago when the charity Punchdrunk Enrichment led a whole-school immersive learning project.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!

Immersive learning – How we improved outcomes (and impressed

This is perfect for a year 2 class, it is engaging and there are plenty of opportunities to ask the children questions about the characters, the story line and also to make predictions on what will happen next. Start planning early. Year 2 teachers developed the dinosaur nest in the summer term over a four-week period. It also linked with our autumn term whole-school topic theme of ‘time’. It fitted into teaching on chronology; getting the children to think about the past which is a key historical skill in KS1. Artefacts in the nest such as the ‘fossilised’ dinosaur teeth also enabled pupils to develop their understanding of historical enquiry, as well as short and long-term timescales. 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. The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History has a spectacular virtual tour of its exhibits – which include many prehistoric fossils and recreations of dinosaurs.Now, you may have guessed that this special dinosaur visitor was a bit of a stunt. And you’d be partially correct – but it was also much more than that. My real breakthrough was THE GRUFFALO, again illustrated by Axel. We work separately - he’s in London and I’m in Glasgow - but he sends me letters with lovely funny pictures on the envelopes. Secondary Year 6 leavers - Covid-safe transition activities and ideas It's been a chaotic year but Year 6 children still deserve the best ending to their primary journey