Collected Resources

1. Role-play kitchen
2. Sticky pasta
3. Gingerbread baking
4. Weigh it out

1. Show ‘The Gingerbread Man’ animated tale (see websites). Children join in with repeated refrain, i.e. Run, run as fast as you can etc. Enjoy the humour. Discuss why the Fox lied to the Gingerbread Man and consider if he’s trustworthy. Identify and describe the characters the Gingerbread Man meets.
2. Re-watch ‘The Gingerbread Man’. Consider how each character felt during the story and reflect on how that influenced their behaviour.
3. Say that the Old Woman and the Old Man are determined to stop the Gingerbread Man from escaping. Plan to trap the Gingerbread Man, e.g. First dig a large hole; Next cover it with leaves; Then wait for the Gingerbread Man to run over it; Finally pull him out and take him back home. Rehearse saying the plan several times, until children are confident
4. Re watch Strega Nona, enjoying the humorous ending to the story.

Poetry/Rhyme of the Week: If All the World Were Apple Pie (see resources). Share the traditional rhyme and rehearse at suitable times throughout the week, e.g. start/end of the day. Enjoy humour and ask children to add lines. If cars were…, If pencils were..., etc.

1. Wakey-Wakey!
2. Hibernation
3. Spring flowers
4. Spring pictures

1. Hickety Pickety
2. Weather diary speaking/writing
3. Signs of spring
4. Flower experiment

1. Floral role-play
2. Creative printing
3. My little forest
4. Paper flowers

1. Show photographs taken on nature walk. Discuss them using appropriate and descriptive vocabulary. Ask children to identify their favourite and to use because to provide a reason for their opinion.
2. Read Wakey-Wakey (resources). Say spring is a unique time, which people look forward to. Identify personal and communal celebrations which people anticipate, e.g. birthdays, sports event, religious festivals. Recognise those that specifically happen during the spring.
3. Read Wakey-Wakey (resources). Notice the waking animals immediately want to eat. Identify the customs and distinctive food associated with specific springtime celebrations.
4. Enjoy That’s Not a Daffodil. Consider how the main character feels at start/end of the story. Children describe the people/places/events that make them feel happy, e.g. Granny, the park, daffodils.

Poetry/Rhyme of the Week: Spring-time Flowers (resources) Share the poem and rehearse at suitable times throughout the week, e.g. start/end of the day. Help children to vary the pitch and tone of their voice as they rehearse to emphasise words and phrases.

Group Reader: Wakey-Wakey
This lovely story about wildlife awakening after the cold, dark winter will engage beginning readers with its repeating structure and colourful illustrations