Lower Key Stage 1 Study Dinosaurs

Year 1 children at Heasandford Primary school in Lancashire have been studying dinosaurs this term and all three classrooms had lots of dinosaur themed displays.  Everything Dinosaur was invited into the school to conduct a series of dinosaur and prehistoric animal workshops with the three classes of Year 1 pupils.  One of the first things seen as we discussed the intended teaching outcomes for the day, was a clever display posted up in one of the classrooms that showed the differences between fiction and non-fiction texts.

Study Dinosaurs

Learning All About Different Types of Books

Helping to learn the difference between fiction and non-fiction texts.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Using dinosaurs as a template to help the children to learn about different types of books is very clever.  During the course of the term topic, the Year 1 children were given plenty of opportunities to undertake creative writing.  In addition, the children were challenged to produce their own fact books based on their favourite dinosaurs.

Dinosaur Workshop

Our dinosaur expert spent some time over lunch looking at one of these dinosaur fact books that had been produced.  Allosaurus seems to have been this budding young palaeontologist’s favourite dinosaur, there was even a model of Allosaurus made from green tissue included in the book, along with lots of prehistoric animal facts and dinosaur drawings.  With the aid of one of the enthusiastic teaching assistants, some children had even taken photographs of fossils.  We compared these pictures with some photographs of fossils in a magazine that we just happened to have with us.

Children Produce Non-Fiction Texts All About Dinosaurs

Colourful books all about dinosaurs demonstrate lots of independent learning.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Dinosaur Toys

Some of the children had even brought dinosaur toys to show our expert.  Some of these proved to be just the job when it came to explaining about different types of dinosaur such as Apatosaurus and Triceratops.  This Burnley based school is one of the largest primary schools in England.  There are twenty-one classes at the moment, and the size and scale of the school enables it to be at the very heart of the local community.

With each Year group being made up of three classes, this sets the dedicated teaching team some challenges but there was plenty of evidence to demonstrate that despite the large numbers of children at the school, there was a really strong cohesion between all the classes.

The teaching teams and their learning support providers co-ordinate schemes of work to ensure that every pupil has the opportunity to learn in a safe, stimulating and enthusiastic environment.  For example, all three classes had produced some wonderful silhouette paintings of different prehistoric animals as the children explored different types of media.  These paintings made very colourful displays.

Colourful Paintings on Display

Effective use of different media.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Extension Activities

One of the benefits of having an expert from Everything Dinosaur visit, is that there is an opportunity to discuss extension activities to help support learning.  Whilst one class was outside busy calculating the length of a Stegosaurus, we took the chance to explore one of the dinosaur museums that the children had created in the classrooms.  There was lots of evidence on display of the varied and stimulating activities that the children had been undertaking.

One of the Dinosaur Museums in a Classroom

Year 1 classes create their own dinosaur museums.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

As part of our follow up work with the school we emailed over some further information on the prehistoric animals that the children had learned about over the course of the day.  We even set them one or two of our special “pinkie palaeontologist challenges”, one of which included comparing Tyrannosaurus rex teeth to bananas, a great way to support the numeracy elements of the teaching scheme of work.  Could the children produce a table of their results?  Could they create a graph and plot the data?

Visit Everything Dinosaur’s website: Everything Dinosaur.

EYFS Children Learn All About Dinosaurs at John Locke Academy

It has been a busy and exciting term for the children at John Locke Academy.  Early Years Foundation Stage have been learning all about dinosaurs with the help and support of the enthusiastic teaching team at this new school, which was only opened last September.  The Spring Term topic was entitled “Stomp, Stomp, Roar” and there were some very colourful displays of the children’s work posted up in the spacious classrooms.  A Reception class had even set up their very own dinosaur museum and the fossil expert from Everything Dinosaur who visited the school to conduct Foundation Stage dinosaur workshops, was lucky enough to be given a guided tour.

Visit our Dinosaur Museum (Reception Class)

Come visit our dinosaur museum. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Discovering Dinosaur Eggs

The children’s interest in all things prehistoric had been sparked by the discovery of some strange and very large eggs. What sort of creature could have laid eggs so big?  This was one of the questions posed by the teachers, all part of an exciting, learning through play focused curriculum which is currently being rolled out across the Foundation Stage (Nursery and Reception).  Using the giant eggs as a stimulus, the teaching team encouraged the children to explore what sort of animals alive today lay eggs and to make links between the size of the eggs and the size of the animal that could have laid them.  Could a dinosaur have visited their school?

“Egg-citing” Discovery Made in the Classroom

Dinosaur eggs made from a balloon covered in paper mache. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Dinosaur Workshop

Dinosaurs as a term topic had certainly enthused teachers and children alike.  Prehistoric animals such as Stegosaurus, Triceratops and the fearsome Tyrannosaurus rex are rarely out of the media spotlight these days, as our dinosaur expert pointed out when he explained that a new dinosaur species is, on average, named and described every thirty days or so.  The children demonstrated a remarkable level of knowledge, some of the Nursery class knew about geological periods and which dinosaurs lived in them.  In addition, the children were keen to point out which dinosaurs ate meat and which ones ate plants.

With all the wonderful examples of writing the children had produced, they needed somewhere to display them all, so one part of the dinosaur museum had been set aside as an area for showcasing all the books about prehistoric animals that the children had written.

Dinosaur Books Written by FS2 On Display

“Stomp, stomp, roar”! Reception class make books about dinosaurs. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Working with Foundation Stage

The nursery children too, had created some wonderful and very informative dinosaur themed displays, all good examples of learning through imaginative, creative play.   If you are going to have a dinosaur museum in the classroom, then just like any other museum it might be a good idea to have a set of “Golden Rules” for visitors to follow.  The children were so engrossed in the idea of their very own classroom museum that they had drafted a set of rules to help guide visitors. This certainly demonstrates the children’s ability to apply what they had been learning to an appreciation of the wider world.

“Golden Rules” Designed for the Classroom Dinosaur Museum

Children design rules for their dinosaur museum. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Learning Through Exploring

The concept of learning through exploring, developing ideas and allowing the children the freedom to challenge themselves is certainly a philosophy that John Locke himself, would have approved of.  There was lots of evidence on display demonstrating that this new school is certainly meeting learning needs, allowing the children the opportunity to fulfil their potential in a rich, diverse environment with plenty of support.

As part of the topic, the children in the two Reception classes have been working on a number of writing exercises, all aimed at helping them to develop their competence and to expand their vocabularies.  The visitor from Everything Dinosaur was presented with a large number of  questions that the children had written in preparation for the dinosaur workshop.  There were so many excellent examples that our expert had to use part of the school hall to lay them out so they could be photographed.

Dinosaur Topic Aims to Develop Writing Skills

Encouraging FS2 to write about dinosaurs. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Everything Dinosaur stocks a large range of educational, dinosaur themed toys, replica fossil animals and games: Learning Resources from Everything Dinosaur.

All in all, the topic entitled “Stomp, Stomp, Roar”, has been a “roaring success”, for the Academy.  A topic that has been enthusiastically embraced by children and teachers alike.  The children certainly enjoyed the Foundation Stage dinosaur workshops.