Spring animals

1. Animal young
2. Spring birds
3. Swan lifecycle
4. Labelling a cygnet

1. Chocolate nests
2. Colourful eggs
3. The Ugly Duckling
4. Animal labels

1. Small-world farming
2. Floating fowl
3. Malleable materials
4. Animal sorting

1. Share The Odd Egg to p14. Identify each animal and their young. Why is Duck’s egg odd? Children predict what baby animal will hatch from the odd egg, e.g. snakelet.
2. Read The Odd Egg to p14. Display pictures of native animals (resources). Identify each animal. Say some animals lay eggs but others give birth to live young. Group the animals correctly.
3. Read The Odd Egg. Note that the parents often look similar to their young. Sensitively, discuss what is similar/different between the children and their friends/family (including appearance/ personality traits).
4. Watch/read The Ugly Duckling. Compare/contrast cygnet and swan. Generate descriptive language to describe each, e.g. cygnet = grey feathers, swan = white feathers.
5. Watch/read The Ugly Duckling. Notice the cygnet felt alone and sad. Discuss if children have felt similar. Next, discuss what makes the children feel safe and secure, i.e. the people, places and activities.

Poetry/Rhyme of the Week: Five Little Ducks (resources)
Share poem and recite throughout the week. Children explore varying the pitch and tone of their voices to emphasise the rhyming words. Children learn & perform the poem in small groups.

Group Reader: Spring for the Birds
The birds begin to sing in this beautifully illustrated text, they build their nests, lay their eggs and raise their young.

Essential texts
The Odd Egg by Emily Gravett
Spring for the Birds (Hamilton Group Reader)

Websites
Chicken Eggs Hatching video clip
KS1 / KS2 Science: What does it take to raise a baby bird? - BBC Teach for how birds raise their young in spring
The Ugly Duckling told by Wilf Merttens
Chick Chick Chicken and Sleeping Little Bunnies Sleeping from cbeebies
Paper plate chick, Odd Egg Suncatcher and Woolly Peg Lamb from cbeebies
Five little ducks went swimming one day - BBC Teach

Resources
Ingredients and cooking equipment for chocolate nests
Farmyard small-world materials
Wool and pegs