English Reception Spring Labels and Captions

Pick up a Stick

Enjoy sharing the texts Stanley's Stick and Stick man to inspire use of descriptive vocabulary to use in explanations and captions. Get creative with sticks by making people, animals and letters.

Stick Man (suggested as 5 days)

Active Learning

  1. Stanley's Stick
  2. Sticky descriptions
  3. Stick uses
  4. Captions for Stick man

Creating and Thinking Critically

  1. Reading Stanley's Stick phrases
  2. Discussing Stick man
  3. Rhyming words
  4. Stick uses

Exploring and Playing

  1. Wild wood role play
  2. Budding artists
  3. Shifting sands
  4. Sticky sculptures

Books to Share

  1. Select a range of objects/photos to represent people, places or tasks that are special to you, e.g. photo of a friend, pebble from the beach, bike helmet. Identify each one and explain why you chose them, including the emotions they evoke. Invite the children to share significant people, places or tasks and to share the emotions they induce.
  2. A range of fiction and non-fiction books about trees and the seasons.
  3. Read Stanley’s Stick. Briefly identify how Stanley uses the straight stick. Next, suggest additional ideas for how Stanley could use his second stick. Compare and contrast the suggestions
  4. Read Stick Man. Display pictures of Stick Man in different locations (resources). Sequence them. Identify strategies to read each caption (resources). Apply strategies to read captions aloud.

Poetry/Rhyme of the Week: One, Two, Buckle my Shoe (resources; see websites)
Introduce the poem and tune on Monday (send a copy home). Rehearse and sing throughout the week. Encourage children to identify the pairs of rhyming words in the poem and to sing it rhythmically.

You Will Need

Essential texts
Stanley’s Stick
by John Hegley
Stick Man by Julia Donaldson

Websites
One, Two, Buckle my Show from bbc.co.uk
Rainbow stick printing from toddlerapproved.com
Stick and leaf people from thislittleproject.com

Resources
A large range of sticks and leaves
Woodland materials and props (for a woodland role play), including soft animals
Sand, letter shapes
Percussion instruments
Long ribbons