Inspired by: Tin Forest - Week 2

Inspired by the tale of 'The Tin Forest', the learning activities encourage children to delve into the world of prediction and inference. One activity invites students to imagine what might occur next in the story of an old man who, after a long day tending to his garden, returns home to enjoy a cup of tea and read one of his cherished books. The children are asked to ponder over the book's subject and why it might hold a special place in the old man's heart. As he succumbs to sleep, a recurring dream visits him again, and students are prompted to speculate about the content of his dream, enriching their engagement with the narrative and honing their predictive skills.

Another learning activity focuses on the use of punctuation, specifically commas in a list. The old man's dream is described as a vibrant jungle teeming with life, and Helen Ward's use of commas is highlighted. Students are tasked with identifying the punctuation in the text, using different colours to underline capital letters, full stops, and to circle commas. They are also challenged to list six additional items they might find in the dream, using commas to separate them. This not only reinforces their understanding of punctuation but also encourages attention to detail and creativity. Furthermore, the activities explore the old man's feelings. After waking to a rainy view and a clutter of pipes and springs, students use inference to interpret his emotions and consider what he might express in a diary entry, encouraging them to empathise and articulate complex emotions and desires.