wind in the willows key stage 2 summary - river and rowing ...wind in the willows key stage 2...

Wind in the Willows

Key Stage 2

SummaryThe workshop provides creative challenges, which explore the connections between Grahame’s characters and the real habitats and wildlife that inspired them.

Workshop Contents

Education Centre (Museum Tutor led)

• A carousel of 5 descriptive and sorting activities. • Look at Grahame’s characters and their four real counterparts.• Leads to the creation of a ‘friendship’ poem.

Outdoor Activity (Museum Tutor led) If you have previously booked a boat trip, it will replace this session.

• Walk along the Wildlife Walkway to Rattys Refuge Garden and Mill Meadows. • Look for animal habitats including those of Toad, Mole, Badger and Ratty. • Make detailed drawings of habitats. • Talk about the willow trees and the theme of ‘change’.• Consider what might have changed since 1908 and how we can preserve the riverbank

and meadows.

Galleries (Teacher led)

• Explore the Wind in the Willows exhibition. • In the River Gallery use challenge cards (provided by the Museum) to explore the

connections between Grahame’s characters and the real Thames landscape and wildlife that inspired them.

• Look at the history of the book in the River Gallery.

Learning Outcomes

• Investigate the link between the real animals and the characters in the story. • Learn how to provide a sustainable environment for animals and humans co-existing. • Learn the themes of friendship and change that run through the story.

National Curriculum Areas Covered Science: - Life processes and living things English: - Writing: composition Art: - Exploring and developing ideas Equipment Equipment Provided by the Museum Clipboards

Equipment to be Brought by the School

Paper (for sketching etc.) and pencils Waterproof clothing and shoes for the outdoor activity Resources (sheets to be photocopied by schools)

• Without You Poem: for the Education Centre session (1 sheet per student) Follow-up Ideas

• Hunt around your playground to see if you can find any minibeast habitats. • Look around your school grounds and try to identify a special place (like the

Wildwood) where a group of animals or minibeasts could create their own story. • Imagine Toad visited your school and the adventures he would get up to in your

classroom. Create a storyboard about his day with you.

Large print versions of all teachers’ and pupils’ material are available. Please ask for these when booking. Copyright for any materials provided remains with the River & Rowing Museum.

Without You

I’d be like bread without butterOr honey without the bee,I’d be like ______________ without blossomOr a _____________ without the sea,I’d be like Winter without _____________Or a ________________ without its flame.Without you my friend, my lifeJust wouldn’t be the same.

Wind in the Willows Challenge Cards

• This pack contains a set of challenge cards for use as you visit all the Galleries (we will provide these on the day).

• On the back of each challenge card is a ‘helpers notes’ page

• If you do not have any paper with you, use the questions as discussion points.

The Wind in the Willows

Mole’s Neighbourhood

Which one of these words best describes Mole’s

Habitat: River, Meadow, Pond or Stream?

As he wandered in his neighbourhood, what kind of plants and

animals might Mole have seen in the same habitat?

Look at the Life display in the River Gallery and use the information

there to help you make a list.


Helpers’ Notes for

‘Mole’s Neighbourhood’ activity

Mole’s habitat is the MEADOW.

Find the Life display in the River Gallery and encourage the

students to list and sketch some of the meadow plants and

animals. You can see the Meadow from the window by the Life

display.


Ratty and his Neighbours

Ratty is really a Water Vole – which of these describes

his habitat: River, Meadow, Pond or Stream ?

As he wandered in his neighbourhood, what other creatures would

have been Ratty’s neighbours in the same habitat?

Look at the Life section of the River Gallery and use the information

there to help you. If you look out of that window you can see down into

Ratty’s Refuge garden.



‘Ratty and his Neighbours’ activity

Ratty’s habitat is the STREAM (and some natural riverbanks)

Find the Life display and encourage the students to list and sketch

the animals in the same habitat.


A Snake’s Head in Mole’s Meadow…!

On his travels, Mole might have seen a Snake’s Head fritillary plant

Find the information panel about the plant in the River Gallery

Draw it very carefully, and write the following information beside it:

o Where would you see it growing?

o Why is it called a Snake’s Head fritillary?

o Why is it endangered?



‘Snake’s Head in Mole’s Meadow’ activity

Find the Snake’s Head Fritillary display in the River Gallery (near the

Saxon Log Boat)

Help the students to find the following information from the text panels:

- you would see the plant growing in damp riverside meadows

- the plant is so-called because the flowers hang like a snake’s

head

- it is endangered because it cannot grow on land where humans

have used chemicals (can only grow on ‘unimproved land’)


Ratty and Mole’s Boat

Ratty and Mole love boating on the river

Find a boat that you think would be suitable for them and draw it carefully.

Find two objects that you think Ratty and Mole would like to take on their

journey down the river.

Explain what Ratty and Mole could use the objects for.



‘Ratty & Mole’s Boat’ activity

Students will find landscape rather than portrait format

easier for their drawing

Encourage the children to stand back as far as they can to

see the whole shape of their chosen boat

Make a list of 5 gleaming

or shiny things you can

find in the galleries (they

can be objects, or areas of

light in pictures and videos

you look at)


The Rat’s Long Tail

Ratty likes to watch the

gleaming river and the dark

shadows near the bank.

Think about whether your chosen

ideas might work better in a

different order, then put your 5

ideas into

a long thin shape

called River of

Light, and try

to shape it

like a river

(which

looks

a bit

like

the

Ra

t’s

lo

ng

tai

l!)



‘The Rat’s Long Tail’ activity

Encourage the children to look closely at areas of light in

photographs, videos and paintings as well as objects (eg: light on

water, reflections, sunlight etc)

Each item in their list need only be a few words eg:

golden buttons on a waterman’s coat

the gleaming Pineapple Cup

sunlight on the water


Simile Detectives

Ratty has to hunt for Mole’s tracks in

the Wild Wood – how good a hunter are you?

Hunt in the gallery for: (list them as you go)

2 pointed things that you like 2 round things

2 square things 2 quiet things 2 noisy things

Use your list to complete this poem:

(copy it onto your sheet to take away with you):

‘Patiently hunting, at last I found

what I was looking for: river treasure,

pointed as a ………………….or …………………………..

round as ……………….………or ……………………………

square as …………….……....or ……………………………

noisy as ……………...……….or ……………………………

quiet as ………….…….…...…or……………………………



‘Simile Detectives’ activity

First, get the children to copy out the poem with blank spaces (for the

missing words) onto their answer sheet, like this:

Patiently hunting, at last I found

what I was looking for: river treasure,

pointed as ………………or ………………

round as ……………….…or ………………

square as …………….…...or ………………

noisy as ……………...…...or ………………

quiet as ………….……..…or………………

Then remind them of the five categories (pointed, round, square,

noisy, quiet): they need to find 2 ideas for each by looking at objects,

images and audio. e.g. pointed as a fish-hook or a bronze dagger


Toad’s Boat

Toad is always looking for new ways

to get out and about and is very adventurous.

He is looking for a special kind of boat that can do all

sorts of extraordinary things.

Draw one of the boats you can see and add lots of

objects that will help him in his adventures.



‘Toad’s Boat’ activity

Start off with drawing a chosen boat from observation

(stand back as far as you can to draw it – use landscape

format for the paper).

Encourage the children to invent imaginary gadgets

that would be useful on a fun-boat on the river: find

inspiration for shapes and designs in the galleries.

wind in the willows key stage 2 summary - river and rowing ...wind in the willows key stage 2...

Documents