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Something to Think About - Summer 2007

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Presenter: Paul Ewing

Something to Think About

Summer 2007

Teacher’s Notes written by Kate Walker Age: 5-7 These programmes are available to order (for UK schools only) on pre-recorded CDs from: BBC Schools’ Broadcast Recordings Tel: 08701 272 272 Monday to Friday 0800 to 1800 Or visit www.bbc.co.uk/schoolradio/howtoorder.shtml for more information Audio on demand. These programmes are also available as audio on demand from the School Radio website for 7 days following the original date of transmission. Refer to programme titles below to find out when programmes are available as audio on demand.

www.bbc.co.uk/schoolradio

© This publication contains only BBC copyright material: its contents may be copied or reproduced for use in schools and colleges without further

permission.

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Something to Think About - Summer 2007

Something to Think About

Summer 2007 These programmes are available as audio on demand from the School Radio website. Refer to dates below to find out when each one is available.

Introduction 3

Planning chart 6 Unit 1: Animals and Birds

1. The little mouse and the big apple 7

AOD 25/04/2007

2. Chitragreeva and the Doves 8

AOD 02/05/2007

3. Ants at work 9

AOD 09/05/2007

4. Noah’s Ark 10

AOD 16/05/2007

5. Hiding away 11

AOD 23/05/2007

6. The silent bird 12

AOD 06/06/2007

7. Badger’s parting gifts 13

AOD 13/06/2007

8. The big, wide-mouthed, toad-frog 14

AOD 20/06/2007

Songs:

Chain of love 15

All together as a family 17

Being a friend 19

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Something to Think About - Summer 2007

Introduction

These Teacher’s Notes include:

• a planning grid

• a suggested object for visual focus including web links

• pre-programme preparation ideas

• programme content breakdown

• story synopses

• related activities

• web links for supporting resources (e.g. images for visual focus)

Where to listen: These programmes are suitable to use as part of either school or class assembly. Using the series: You may like to listen straight through, with discussion at the beginning and end or listen in sections, pausing for discussion as you go. Alternatively you may choose to use only one section of the programme at a time and spread the material out over several sessions in a week. For example you may wish to revisit the story and reflection or sing the song a second time or at the end of the day. Participation: Make sure you join in yourself with the listening and the singing. The children will observe your response and it will influence the way they perceive the programme. Stop the programme if the children seem to want to respond or become restless. Encourage the children to sing the songs, which have been chosen to be easy to sing and learn. During the programme the presenter will help the children join in. If they have difficulty, join in with part of the song (for example the chorus or refrain) and listen or tap hands or toes to the rest! Before the programme: Creating the right listening conditions: It’s important that the children can all hear comfortably. Make sure that the loud speakers are at the right height facing the children (preferably a child’s ear height), and that the volume is comfortable for them all. Arrange the seating so that none of the children are too far away from the speakers and any child with a hearing problem (or has a heavy cold) is in a good position. You may find that sitting in a semi-circle or in short lines facing one another with the speakers in the middle is best. Experiment and find the formation that works best for you and your class.

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Creating the right atmosphere: It will help everyone to concentrate if you prepare a visual focus. A focus object has been suggested for each programme in these notes. Some suggestions for images from the web have also been included. This can be used for discussion and preparation - particularly important if you feel some aspect of the story is going to be unfamiliar to your group. You may want to create a special atmosphere by playing music or altering seating and lighting to let the children know that this is a different type of activity and prepare them to listen and take part. During the programme: Getting ready to listen: Show the children the visual focus. Can they guess what the programme is about? You may also like to use the ‘Before the programme’ section in these notes to encourage the children to think about the theme. Thinking about the story: All the stories provide opportunities for discussion. Ideas for stimulating this are offered in these notes. You may wish to talk further about the issues raised during the session, at a later time or even through the week. A time to reflect: Using this part of the programme ensures that the legal requirements for Collective Worship are met. Encourage the children to stop and be still during the reflection / prayer times of the programmes. If at first they are not sure how to respond, stop the programme and settle them down. They may like to shut their eyes or look at the focus object. You might like to light a candle for this special time, which will gradually become a visual cue that the reflection part of the programme is happening. Allow the children time to get used to the quiet and then turn the programme on again. Sitting quietly and thinking may be a very unfamiliar concept to some children. Allow them time to become accustomed to this, maybe over a period of weeks. Meanwhile encourage them to sit quietly and respect the people around them who would like to listen / reflect / pray. It is important that children are given the choice to join in with the prayer by saying ‘Amen’ at the end (which signifies their agreement with the prayer) or just to sit quietly and reflect on what they have heard. This is clearly signalled in the programmes.

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Songs: The songs for this term come from a variety of sources and parts of the songs are clearly taught within the programme. You may like to replay the recording and learn more of the song after the programme. For copyright reasons we are not able to include the words / music of some songs in these notes. The words and music of the three songs that we are able to include are at the end of these notes. Thinking about what’s been heard: Go through the main points of the programme again at the end (the programme contents section of theses notes may help). There are some suggested questions you may like to ask the children. What do they remember? What are their ideas? There are further ideas to help with this on the programme pages of these notes. After the programme: There are some ideas for optional related activities for following up the programme content. Feedback: Your feedback is important to us and helps to shape the series. Letters, drawings and poems from the children are particularly welcome. Please use the ‘Contact us’ button from the Home Page of the School Radio website at: www.bbc.co.uk/schoolradio/contact.shtml Or write to us at: Something to think about BBC School Radio BBC London W1A 1AA Copyright: You may copy the words of the songs onto a board, sheet or overhead projector slide for use with the programmes in which they appear. However, for music copyright reasons, copies may not be permanently retained for subsequent use. It infringes copyright laws to retain material without the agreement of individual rights holders. Please respect these rights.

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At a glance planning chart: Prog

Title Song Themes

Unit: ANIMALS AND BIRDS

1. The little mouse and big apple

Wiggle wiggle song Working together

2. Chitrgreeva and the doves

Chain of love Sharing

3. Ants at work

All together as a family

Being part of the wider family

4. Noah’s ark Two by two Our animal friends

5. Hiding away

Wiggley waggly worm

Mini beasts; each creature having its place

6. The Silent Bird

We will grow Valuing our friends

7. Badger’s parting gifts

Friends, friends, friends

Saying goodbye to our friends

8. The big, wide-mouthed, toad-frog

Being a friend Listening to our friends; making new friends

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Programme 1: The little mouse and the big apple Themes: working together; co-operation Focus object: A picture of a mouse http://farm1.static.flickr.com/71/185092747_9c240a557e_b.jpg Resources: www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/wild/pets/mouse.shtml www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/pets/mice.shtml Before the programme: Look at some pictures of mice. What do the children know about mice? Have any of them got pet mice? Programme content:

CD 1 Track

Content Teacher guidance

1 Welcome to the new term and the new song Wiggle Wiggle

The wiggle song by Christy Weygandt and Dan Leuders from album Little Angels ICC 0963D © New Wine

2 The story The little mouse and the big apple by A.H. Benjamin and Gwyneth Williamson

Published: Myriad Books (Dec 2002) ISBN: 1904154077 The mouse finds an apple and his friends help him take it home. Then they want to share it, which the mouse finds difficult.

3 Vox pops Things that we share with our friends

4 Time to talk Talk together about things that your children share with their friends

5 Reflecting on why it is important to share

6 Prayer of thanks for things that we can share

Encourage the children to listen quietly and respect others around them who want to join in

7 Reprise of song

Related activities:

• Talk through the story together and try to remember the sequence of animals the mouse met. If you have the book in the school library that would be a great help.

• What things work best if you ‘work together’? Think of as many things as you can that happen at school where it only ‘works’ if you co-operate? (e.g. Team games; making a class collage, singing songs etc.)

• Find out all you can about mice. If one of the children has a pet mouse then let them tell the class about how they look after it.

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Programme 2: Chitragreeva and the Doves Themes: Sharing Focus object: A picture of some doves www.eveandersson.com/photos/china/shanghai-peoples-park-doves-12-large.jpg Resources: www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/251.shtml The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites. Before the programme: Look at the picture of some doves and talk about them. Where have the children seen them? What sounds do they make? Programme content:

CD 1 Track

Content Teacher guidance

8 Introduction and vox pops on being helpful to other people

9 Time to talk Encourage the children to think about ‘the little things’ they can do to be helpful at home and at school

10 Introduction to Chitragreeva and the Doves and the story

You may like to talk about pigeons and doves. The doves were in danger of their lives. By working together they escaped and the mice helped them too.

11 Time to talk Talk together about little things adding up to make a big difference

12 Our song: Chain of love NO: 14 in the BBC collection All about our school available form www.bbcactive.com/schoolshop See page 15 for words / music

13 A time of reflection on little things that we can do to help

14 Prayer for help to ‘do lots of little things with love’

Related activities:

• Go through the story again together. Talk about what might have happened if the doves had not shared the load and worked together. What activities in school work best if you ‘share the load’?

• Have the children ever experienced somebody helping them out when things are tough? Would they like to share that with the group?

• Look at a map or globe and find out where India is (where the story came from). If any children in the school come from India ask them (or their relatives) to come and talk about the country. Talk about the climate and the landscape, the games they play, their favourite local foods and so on.

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Programme 3: Ants at a work Themes: Being part of the wider family Focus object: Some marching ants http://farm1.static.flickr.com/53/151375289_31fade742d_b.jpg http://farm1.static.flickr.com/71/159515240_d5981e20d1_o.jpg Resources: Ant cam from the Natural History Museum: www.nhm.ac.uk/kids-only/naturecams/antcam/index.html The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites. Before the programme: Look at the pictures of marching ants. Talk about how marvelous it is that ants can carry loads many times heavier than them selves by working as a team Programme content:

CD 1 Track

Content Teacher guidance

15 Introduction to rainforests 16 Time to talk Talk about rainforests and look at some

pictures of the plants and creatures that live there

17 The story: Ants at work by Alasdair Richardson

This story was specially written for the series. Bartu the ant is not keen on working with his fellow ants. It nearly leads to disaster when he wanders off into the rainforest on his own.

18 Vox pops about working along side each other in the school community

19 Time to talk Talk about things that you can do in your community

20 Our song: All together as a family NO: 15 in the BBC collection All about our school available from www.bbcactive.com/schoolshop See page 17 for words / music

21 Reflecting on how ‘no man is an island’

22 Prayer about belonging together Related activities:

• Think together about how many different ‘families’ they belong to (apart from their natural family) Think about the school community and the wider community, including any clubs, sporting activities, churches or other places of worship.

• Find out more about worker ants. You may like to view the ‘Ant cam’ at the London Natural History museum (see hot link above). How many things can they observe / find out about different kinds of ants. How many legs have ants got? Are they animals or insects and how can they tell? What do they eat? What sort of places do they live?

• Think together of some things that you can do practically in your class to help one another each day for a week. At the end of the week spend a short while talking together about whether it made a difference to your ‘class family’.

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Programme 4: Noah’s Ark Themes: Our animal friends Focus object: A Noah’s Ark or picture of one www.snowbizz.com/images/Murals/NoahsArk.jpg Resources: Psalm 104 www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20104:24-40;&version=51 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites. Before the programme: Look at a Noah’s Ark and talk about the story if the children are unfamiliar with it. Programme content:

CD 1 Track

Content Teacher guidance

23 Introduction and vox pops about favourite animals

24 Time to talk Discuss which animals they like and why and try to find out some interesting things about them

25 Our song: Two by two From the album ‘Me too’ by Dave Cooke © 2001 Daybreak Music Ltd. 1 85985 443 5

26 Our story: Noah’s Ark Specially written for us by Aidan Cook. Noah makes a big boat, in the middle of a desert and waits for it to rain. The animals take refuge in the boat and God promises to never flood the whole earth again and places a rainbow in the sky

27 Reflection on how amazing the animal world is

28 Prayer of thanks for our animal friends

Related activities:

• Do some ‘two by two’ maths! Using toy animals or any other classroom objects, practise counting forwards and backwards in twos! Why do they think that two of every creature was taken into the ark?

• What are the children’s favourite animals and why? Draw a picture of your favourite animal / pet (real or imaginary!) and write three things that you need to do to look after it well

• At the end of the story of Noah, God promised to never flood the whole earth again. What promises have the children made? Why is it important to ‘keep our promises’?

Resource: Lyrics of chorus: Two by two, Two by two, They all came two by two

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Programme 5: Hiding away Themes: Mini beasts; each creature having its place Focus object: Pictures of lots of mini beasts or the school vivarium http://farm1.static.flickr.com/67/188673910_2092a071a0.jpg http://farm1.static.flickr.com/102/280722931_4584af1d56_b.jpg http://farm1.static.flickr.com/65/194624109_7715dfa5b8_o.jpg http://farm1.static.flickr.com/56/184342037_cbecae375c_b.jpg Resources: http://petbugs.com/caresheets/ www.mini-beasts.com/ The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites. Before the programme: Talk about mini-beasts. Think about how many legs they have (insects have six; spiders and mites have eight, but slugs and snails have only one!) Programme content:

CD 2 Track

Content Teacher guidance

1 Introduction to cockroaches! 2 Vox pops about favourite mini

beasts

3 Time to talk See if you can find out any other fascinating facts about cockroaches or some other mini beasts

4 Our song: Wiggly waggly worm By Paul Field from the BBC collection Come and Praise Beginning number 34 www.bbcactive.com/schoolshop/

5 The story: Hiding away Specially written by Kate Stonham Granny looses her wedding ring. The children help her find it. On the way they discover lots of minibeasts

6 Reflection on mini beasts and how Robert the Bruce learnt from a spider

7 Prayer about remembering the little things in our lives

Related activities:

• The children in the programme talk about their favourite mini-beasts. What do your class know about minibeasts? How many different places did they spot mini-beasts in the story? How many other places can you think of where you may find minibeasts?

• Find out more about specific mini-beasts from books or websites (see above for suggestions of a few ‘child-friendly’ websites). Make some ‘minibeast’ fact files and compile them into a book to put into your class or school library.

• Use your mini-beast ‘fact files’ to talk about how each minibeast has its own ‘place’ in the world.

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Programme 6: The silent bird Themes: Valuing our friends Focus object: Pictures of an exotic island location www.sharewareplaza.com/images/screenshot/12447.gif The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites. Before the programme: Look at the pictures of the island(s). What can the children see in the picture? What sort of place do they imagine it to be? Programme content:

CD 2 Track

Content Teacher guidance

8 Introduction to Paul asleep on an exotic island!

9 The story: The silent bird Specially written by Kate Stonham with music by Dave Cooke Tara floats out to sea on a boat and gets lost. The ‘silent’ bird misses her and helps to get her rescued

10 Vox pops about helping each other out

11 Time to talk What sort of things do the children do to help each other?

12 Our song: We will grow By Judy Mackenzie –Dunn from Come and Praise Beginning no: 10 www.bbcactive.com/schoolshop/

13 Reflection on being and having really good friends

14 Prayer about being a good friend and being thankful for good friends

Related activities:

• Look again at the pictures of some ‘exotic’ islands. Together create your own imaginary island where everything is ‘perfect.’ What things do the children think would be essential for the island to be perfect? (e.g. the weather; trees and flowers; animals; insects;)

• Also consider if the way that they people on the island live together would make any difference? What would make that perfect too? (e.g. being kind and considerate; helping each other; looking out for each other etc.)

• How could they use the principles above to make the school / class a ‘better place’?

• How can we show our friends that we ‘value’ them?

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Programme 7: Badger’s parting gifts Themes: Saying goodbye to our friends Focus object: a picture of a badger www.careforthewild.com/files/pictures6/images/017_Badger.jpg http://farm1.static.flickr.com/22/31579967_81ae448c17_b.jpg Resources: www.badger.org.uk/questions/Info%20about%20Badgers.html www.badgers.org.uk/badgerpages/ www.badgerland.co.uk/education/projectideas/age03to07.html The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites. Before the programme: Look at a picture of the badger and badgers together. If there are badgers in your area then children may know quite a lot about them. If not try to help them get some idea of their size and where and how they live Programme content:

CD 2 Track

Content Teacher guidance

15 Introduction to friendship and singing our song: Friends, friends, friends

By Alvin Stardust from the BBC collection Come and Praise Beginning no: 8 www.bbcactive.com/schoolshop

16 The story: Badger’s parting gifts Written by Sue Varley published by Lothrop, Lee and Shepard Books (May 1984) ISBN: 0688026990 Badger is very old. He knows that very soon he is going down ‘the long tunnel’. He leaves his friends with some wonderful things to keep their friendship alive.

17 Vox pops exploring ‘moving on’ 18 Time to talk How do the children think / feel about

moving on to a new class or school and leaving friends behind?

19 Reflection on moving on to something new

20 Prayer about friends and how we can remember them when we no longer see them

Related activities:

• Find out as much as you can about badgers from books and the internet (see resources above for some ideas). There are also ideas for badger projects, masks, bookmarks and a badger story for each day of the week.

• In today’s story, Badger knows he is going to leave his friends and he makes sure that each one of them has something to remember him by. Talk together about little things that they will remember their friends by when they move on to another class / school / home etc. Can they learn anything about ways of doing that from the story?

• If appropriate use the story to begin to talk about ‘leaving our friends behind’ and dying.

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Programme 8: The big, wide-mouthed, toad-frog Themes: listening to our friends; making new friends Focus object: A picture of a big toad http://farm1.static.flickr.com/47/116638302_ee36ae5b40_o.jpg Resources: http://allaboutfrogs.org/froglnd.shtml www.enchantedlearning.com/themes/frog.shtml The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites. Before the programme: Look at the images of some of the animals in the story so that they will help the children to visualize the story. Point out that the ‘big-wide-mouthed-toad-frog’ is an imaginary creature! If you have the book then that will help you prepare. Programme content:

CD 2 Track

Content Teacher guidance

21 Introduction to frogs and toads There are links below to resources to find out more fascinating frog facts

22 Our song: Being a friend By Paul Field and Dave Cooke from the BBC collection All about our school no:8 www.bbcactive.com/schoolshop

23 The story: The big, wide-mouthed, toad-frog

By Mary Medlicott and Sue Williams. Published by Kingfisher Books Ltd ISBN: 0753400022 The Toad Frog wants to make some friends but he doesn’t go about it the right way and nearly comes to sticky end!

24 Vox pops about making new friends

25 Time to talk What ideas do the children have about making new friends?

26 Reflection on making friends 27 Prayer about new making friends

Related activities:

• Talk with the children about how they make new friends. How many different ways can they think of making new friends at school and in the community? Use this as the basis of a discussion about ‘moving on’ to a new class or school (which ever is appropriate to your group).

• Why did the ‘big-wide-mouthed-toad-frog’ not make any friends along the way? What might have happened if he had bothered to listen to his friends? Try to make your own class version of the story around a frog who does listen to his friends.

• Talk about making and keeping friends using the vox pops in the programme as a starting point.

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Songs: For copyright reasons we are able to provide the words and music for the following songs used in this series of Something to Think About:

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Something to Think About - Summer 2007