Dinosaurs Developing Communication and Language Skills

As part of a term topic on dinosaurs, teaching professionals can use this subject area to encourage children with their reading, writing and speaking.  Whilst conducting their dinosaur themed workshops in school, Everything Dinosaur’s team members are happy to discuss extension ideas and activities.   As many children are excited by dinosaurs and as these prehistoric animals are rarely out of the media these days a teaching topic all about life in the past can really motivate and enthuse schoolchildren (and their teachers).

Language and Communication Skills

Classroom Displays Demonstrating Use of Adjectives

Lots of examples of transcription and composition.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Eight Simple Ideas to Help Develop Communication Skills and Language

Everything Dinosaur team members have compiled a set of simple exercises that can be incorporated into the classroom to help children develop appropriate communication, listening and language skills.  These exercises can be used as extensions with Foundation Stage 2 up to Lower Key Stage 2, with perhaps modified forms being applied to Year 4 classes and beyond.

1. Story writing – encourage creative composition by having the children imagine that they could go back in time to visit some dinosaurs.  Can they write a story about their adventure?
2. Spilt the class into small groups and have them prepare their own term topic newspaper that summarises the learning.  Photographs from the Everything Dinosaur workshop can be incorporated along with drawings, illustrations and lots of examples of class writing.
3. A variation on the above is to have the class write a dinosaur themed comic strip. What stories can they come up?
4. Dinosaur inspired poems – another simple idea is to challenge the class to come up with a dinosaur or prehistoric animal poem. This is a great way to develop vocabulary and more confident learners could present their work in front of the class.

Children Compose Poems/Write Sentences  Inspired by Dinosaurs

“Three horned Face” has a poem written about it.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Dinosaur Inspired Poems

Dinosaur inspired Poems – a really easy to implement idea that can spark imaginations and provide the classroom with a colourful dinosaur themed wall display.

1. Write an autobiography on Mary Anning, Sir Richard Owen or another famous scientist involved with dinosaur research.  This encourages independent learning.
2. Explanation texts, either themed around a single dinosaur species or perhaps writing an explanation as to how the dinosaurs became extinct (exploring ideas, scientific working).
3. Play scripts – an opportunity for creative writing and composition. Can the class work together to produce a small play about dinosaurs and prehistoric animals?
4. Reporting on the topic for a school assembly.  This activity can help bring the dinosaur term topic to a close and to help reinforce learning.

To see the range of educational toys available at Everything Dinosaur: Dinosaur Toys and Gifts.

In total we have provided eight simple ideas that can help the classroom to focus on developing communication and language skills.  Everything Dinosaur team members are happy to help further by providing free downloads of teaching resources and lesson plans as well as emailing drawing materials and fact sheets to assist teachers and home educators.

For further information including dinosaur workshops in schools: Contact Everything Dinosaur.