Year 1 Goes on a Dinosaur Hunt at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School

It was a busy morning for Year 1 pupils at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary (Brighouse, West Yorkshire), as they explored dinosaurs and fossils as part of their term topic “Dinosaur hunt”.  The classroom already had plenty of examples of dinosaur themed writing as the children had written to the experts at Everything Dinosaur inviting a team member to visit to help them learn all about prehistoric animals and life in the past. The pupils had also constructed a school dinosaur museum.

Plenty of Examples of Hand-writing on Display

Writing about dinosaurs.

Picture credit: St Joseph’s Catholic Primary/Everything Dinosaur

School Dinosaur Museum

Meeting up with Miss Vogel, the Year 1 class teacher, before the start of the morning of activities, a member of Everything Dinosaur’s teaching team was able to provide advice on a range of extension ideas, all aimed at supporting the learning needs of the class.  The first part of the session was located in the spacious hall, providing plenty of opportunities to introduce some physical exercises to help reinforce learning.  The second session was based in the classroom and it was focused on a prehistoric animal measuring activity, a chance for the children to practice using measuring cubes and rulers and to compare the size of dinosaur’s feet to the size of their own hands.

A Dinosaur Themed Display Wall

A dinosaur and fossil themed display wall.

Picture credit: St Joseph’s Catholic Primary/Everything Dinosaur

Dinosaur Hunt

Under the enthusiastic guidance of Miss Vogel, the children had drawn some fossil ammonites and some of these had been placed on the display wall.  The children got to see some real ammonite fossils including a giant one, that Mrs Midgley (teaching assistant), helped the children explore.   The workshop encouraged a multitude of tactile activities including lots of fossil handling as well as exploring how some dinosaurs ate plants and how the brain of an Ankylosaurus compares in size to our own.

As part of the term topic, the teaching team intend to turn a corner of the classroom into a dinosaur museum so that the children’s work can be displayed.  The dinosaur expert from Everything Dinosaur provided advice on how best to do this and how to incorporate discovery learning projects that involve encouraging more hand-writing and links into building an understanding of the geography of the UK.

The Teaching Team Plan to Build a Small Dinosaur Museum

A dinosaur museum under construction.

Picture credit: St Joseph’s Catholic Primary/Everything Dinosaur

To view the range of dinosaur themed educational items available from Everything Dinosaur: Dinosaur Gifts and Toys.

Dinosaur Workshop

The children were very excited by the dinosaur workshop and they were keen to show how much about dinosaurs they had already learned.  Mrs Midgley helped one little boy create a super dinosaur skeleton out of straws.  Well done Mrs Midgley, we love the way in which you created the dinosaur’s eye.  This is just the sort of hands-on, kinaesthetic activity that can really help younger, less confident learners.

Mrs Midgley and Her “Straw-o-saurus”

A dinosaur made from straws.

Picture credit: St Joseph’s Catholic Primary/Everything Dinosaur

Just like a real scientist, Mrs Midgley even put her name on her work.  The children were challenged to have a go at comparing dinosaur footprints and recording information in the same way that palaeontologists do.  All in all, it was a fun and fact filled morning.

Visit Everything Dinosaur’s website: Everything Dinosaur.