Lesson Starters - KS1 Story Starts

Support materials for teachers

Each of the five clips featured in the programme stop before the story ending is revealed with the intention of stimulating the children to think of a possible ending of their own. The follow-up activities emphasise the importance of prediction and encourage children to consider what might happen next in the story.

It might be helpful to introduce each of the traditional tales to the class before watching the clip. Some of the stories will be familiar to the children. Ask who knows these stories and if they can help retell them to the class before watching the programme. For the stories that are not familiar, it would be useful to prepare children by explaining character names and the story settings. After viewing invite the class to talk about what aspects of the story they liked and to predict how the plot could develop. Transcripts of all the stories are also included here.

The tradition of storytelling is brought alive through the use of puppets and, as all the stories feature puppets, this gives an opportunity for the children to make and use their own.

Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) opportunities

The clips can all be used on an interactive whiteboard and adapted using the whiteboard tools to capture video screen shots straight into the notebook. You can then annotate over the screen using the pen tools and make interactive resources within notebook such as spelling and vocabulary. Having captured a still image from the clip, the spotlight or reveal facility can be used to focus on one particular aspect.

Downloading the programme and saving it on the desktop or a memory stick makes using the Story Starters very flexible. The clips can be edited using Windows Movie Maker and these could be put into a PowerPoint presentation, together with the added story ending.

Red Riding Hood 00:33 – 02:48

The story so far…. Red Riding Hood: Oo oo, Hello. My name is Red Riding Hood. Yes. It’s my granny’s birthday today. I’ve got presents for her in my basket – and a cake. (Knock at the door) Red Riding Hood: Come in. (knock) Come in. (knock) Hello Mr Woodcutter Woodcutter: Hello Red Riding Hood. Red Riding Hood: Mind your axe. Woodcutter: Why? Red Riding Hood: It’s dangerous. Woodcutter: No it’s not. Red Riding Hood: Yes it is. Woodcutter: No it’s not. Red Riding Hood: Yes it is. Woodcutter: Where are you going? Red Riding Hood: To my granny’s house, it’s her birthday. Woodcutter: Oh! How lovely. Where’s her house? Red Riding Hood: On the other side of the woods with the green door. Woodcutter: Oh! Do not go in the woods. Red Riding Hood: Why not? Woodcutter: Why not go in the woods? Red Riding Hood: Yes, why not Woodcutter: Cos of the wolf. Red Riding Hood: The wolf? Woodcutter: The wolf. Red Riding Hood: Is he big? Woodcutter: He’s very very big. Red Riding Hood: Is he bad? Woodcutter: He’s very, very bad. Red Riding Hood: He’s not a nice wolf? Woodcutter: Not nice at all. Go on the road. Do not go in the woods. Give me a shout if you need me. Bye Red Riding Hood: Bye Woodcutter: Bye Red Riding Hood: Bye. Wow! I might go in the woods, I’ll go and see if it’s safe. La la la la la la la. Ho, the woods. I’m going in. Weeee! There’s no wolf. (sniff) Lovely flowers. I’ll pick one for my granny. Which one? Ummm. Wolf: Baa baa black sheep have you any wool. Yes sir, yes sir three bags full. One for the master, one for the dame, one for the little boy who lives down the lane. (To Red riding Hood) Hello. What is your name? Red Riding Hood: Red Riding Hood. And you? Wolf: My name is Mr Wolf but I’m a very nice wolf. Red Riding Hood: Not a bad wolf? Wolf: No, no. I’m a very nice wolf. Where are you going, my dear? Red Riding Hood: To see my granny. It’s her birthday. Wolf: Oh really. How lovely. Happy Birthday, grannykins. Where does she live your granny, hmm? Red Riding Hood: The other side of the woods. Wolf: Oooh. What colour’s her door? Red Riding Hood: Green. Wolf: How lovely. Well goodbye my dear. Goodbye. Baa baa black sheep have you any wool. Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full. Red Riding Hood: Huh. Is he a good wolf or a bad wolf? Is he telling lies? Oh dear. I’d better go and tell my granny. Granny, granny, granny.

Still images: Read the story and ask the children to work in groups to make a frozen picture to show what they think happens next.

Change the meaning: The children can take it in turns to tell the complete story of Red Riding Hood. Use the transcript on the interactive whiteboard and break it down into smaller sections. The children then re-organise these sections in order to change the meaning and then write the beginning of the story in their own words.

Dice game: Working in groups, children could make their own ‘Visiting Granny’ game as a way of completing the story. This could be a simple dice game based on the story of Red Riding Hood starting outside her house, moving inside the woods and finishing at granny’s house. Instructions can be written on the board such as: There’s a wolf hiding in the tree – go back 2 spaces; The Woodcutter’s near Granny’s cottage – move on 3. Red Riding Hood is lost – go back 1.

Poems: As a shared writing activity, children write a speech poem using repetition from the story. This could be based on the ending of the story and include (imagined) repeated phrases between the Wolf and Granny. They could also add speech marks.

I’m very, very hungry How lovely He’s not a nice wolf?

Postcard: Granny managed to escape from the wolf just in time and went to stay with a friend. The children could write a postcard from Granny to Red Riding Hood telling her what happened. The Miserly Farmer 02:50 – 05:24

The story so far…. Pritpal Singh was a wealthy farmer. He employed more workers than anyone for miles around. They farmed his fields, cared for his livestock and looked after Pritpal and his wife Charanjit Kur, and seven children. Pritpal Singh was a wealthy man but he was not a generous man. He never stopped grumbling to his wife about paying his workers’ wages. “Why do we have to employ all these people?” he moaned. “Because we need them,” Charanjit replied. “Without them who would sow the seed, milk the cows and fix the roof of the barn?” “Why couldn’t we get just one person to do all the work?” His wife laughed. “You’d have to employ a demon to do so much work all alone.” Pritpal Singh clapped his hands, “My clever wife, that’s it. We’ll employ a demon.”

The miserly farmer went to find Jadruji, the magician. If Jadruji would conjure him up a demon Pritpal Singh would give him a patch of land to farm. The magician agreed. He filled a karai with plants and potions. As he stirred it, chanting a spell, the pot began to bubble and boil and a demon appeared. “Master,” he growled, “Your wish is my command, but only if you agree to my terms. I must work day and night. When you have no more work for me to do I will eat you for my supper.”

Pritpal Singh knew the work on his farm would be never ending, so he agreed and the demon swept him up and carried him home. “Dismiss all the workers,” Pritpal Singh called to his wife the instant they arrived and he set his new employee to work. Within an hour the demon had groomed the horses, fed the chickens, picked the cotton and pulled up the potatoes and Pritpal Singh was getting nervous. He told his wife about the demon’s terms. “It will be a bad day, husband,” she said, “when this demon runs out of work. We must make sure that never happens.” “But how?” said a very anxious Pritpal Singh. “Leave that to me,” said his wife, smiling…….

Expressions: Consider each of the characters in turn-Pritpal Singh (farmer, mean), Charanjit Kur (wife, clever), Jadruji (magician, willing), Demon (hard- working, threatening). Ask the children to show the facial expressions of these characters at different points in the story. Give them a character and a moment, such as Pritpal Singh looking grumpy when he paid the workers’ wages. When you clap your hands, the children adopt a different character/moment. You could choose some of the children to show their ‘moment’ to the rest of the class.

Direct the play: The class decides on two characters from the story. Two children are chosen to play these characters. They act like puppets with the rest of the class stage managing every action and every word. ‘Fall down,’ ‘Say you’ve lost the key in a squeaky voice.’ Children take it in turns to give instructions. This is a precursor to them writing a script to tell the ending.

Character on the wall: Using the capture tool on the interactive whiteboard display an image of one of the characters from the clip. Encourage the children to think about the character by asking: ‘What do you know about this character?’ and ‘What would you like to know about this character?’ This is a way to practice questions which can then be used to hot seat the character (teacher in role).

Story map: Within the support of a shared-writing session, introduce the children to the concept of story mapping. After modelling this, ask the children to work in pairs or small groups to make their own large story maps of The Miserly Farmer by drawing the events that take place. Children can write captions with arrows to the different elements of the story as the narrative develops. The Key in the Sea 05:26 – 08:29

The story so far…. Noble King Hans and fair Queen Ingebourg wanted to find a husband for their daughter, Princess Brunhilda but they couldn’t agree which Prince she should marry. King: “Prince Joachim.” Queen: “Prince Franz” King: “Prince Eype” Queen: “You know, Prince Alphonso. Oooooh. He likes playing chess.” Princess: “Do any of them like fishng?” King and Queen: “Nooooo” Princess: “Well, I do and I’d like to see how many fish I can catch today.” Princess: “Not a single catch. Oh dear, I’ll never find my way home in the dark. Oh! The old tower by the sea. Maybe I could sleep here tonight.”

Princess Brunhilda locked the heavy wooden door behind her, took the key and climbed to the very top. (Terrible noise) A monster came out of the sea (Brunhilda screams) and swallowed the key.

Princess: “Oh! It’s morning. I want to go home. But where’s my key? I know, I’ll send a message in this old bottle.” “I am Princess Brunhilda. I am locked inside this old tower. I am hungry. I am thirsty. HELP!”

And so the bottle travelled across the sea. Fisherman Knut found the bottle on his island and pulled out the cork. “Heeelp! I am Princess Brunhilda. I am locked inside an old tower by the sea. I am hungry. I am thirsty.”

Fisherman: “To the rescue.” (He goes to the tower) “Hello, I’m fisherman Knut and I am here to save you”. (He tries to break down the door) “It’s hard work kicking tower doors.”

The monster returned and snatched fisherman Knut away.

Princess: “Aaaargh! Knut. On no! How am I ever going to get out of this tower now?”

Visual settings: Talk about the story so far. In pairs, children then draw a picture of where the action will take place for the story ending. They need to consider what they draw in relation to previous settings and then add some adjectives to their pictures.

Story box: Ask children to list the objects used in the story. Have an empty box on each table into which the children put items representing the story (crown, key, fishing rod). These can either be words on paper, objects or pictures. The box is passed to another table and the contents discussed in terms of the story. Can the children then use the objects to describe what happens in the end?

Character description: Talk about the characters and what they look like. Children then use adjectives to describe the characters from The Key in the Sea.

The Key in The Sea The King The Princess The Monster The Fisherman Prince

Puppets: Simple finger puppets can be made from rectangles of paper with the sides taped or stapled together. Children draw the character’s face on one side and the back of their head on the other. Using the puppets develops oral rehearsal for writing. Mind map the possible outcomes for the rest of the story. The Raja’s Secret 08:32 – 11:22

The story so far…. There was once a handsome Raja who lived in a magnificent palace surrounded by beautiful gardens. He dressed in the finest clothes and on his head he always wore a large and elaborate topi hat. He was never seen without it because the topi hid a secret. The Raja had enormous ears. Just one of the Raja’s subjects knew this secret, his barber, Gopal. As he styled his master’s hair, he often thought “the Raja has the largest pair of ears I have ever seen”.

Gopal and the Raja never spoke about his ears but from time to time the Raja would say “Gopal, my loyal and trusted barber, I know you will never betray my secret for you have sworn to tell no-one.” “My lips are sealed, your Majesty,” but in truth, Gopal was bursting to tell somebody. He was itching to say aloud “The Raja’s got big ears.”

One evening, after a long day of snipping and clipping, Gopal was walking alone in the forest with only the trees for company. As he strolled along, a thought came to him. He could tell the Raja’s secret to a tree. He saw a tall tree with branches that reached like fingers into the sky. It was the perfect tree to tell. Gopal took a deep breath and shouted into the branches “The Raja’s got big ears.” Then, smiling he set off home. He had not betrayed the Raja’s trust but at last he had said the words.

Some weeks later the Raja announced that he wished to hold a party. He dispatched a woodsman to the forest to cut down a tree and sent the wood to be made into new instruments for the court musicians. When the day of the party came the palace was filled with every sort of entertainment. The highlight was to be a concert played on the new instruments carved from Gopal’s tree. As the Raja began to tap his feet to the beat of the santor, he began to frown. The rhythm seemed to say “The Raja’s got big ears”. In return the sitar asked “Who said so?” And the drum answered “Gopal said so.”

The Raja was outraged. His secret was revealed. “Send for that traitor barber immediately,” he commanded………….

Before watching: Explain that a ‘Raja’ is an Indian Prince or King.

Chinese whispers: Play a game of ‘Chinese Whispers’. Pass a message round the group, getting each child to whisper to the next. Has the message changed by the time it reaches the last person in the circle? Relate this to the story start. Can the children change the message ‘The Raja has Big Ears’ so that the drums say something different?

Hot-seating: Divide the children into groups of six. Each child takes the role of one of the characters (Raja, - jolly, ashamed of his ears; Gopal - quiet, can’t keep a secret; the tree, - tall and full of rhythm) and retells the story from his or her character’s point of view. Making story props of each character may help children assume their role.

Story round: Make a mask of the Raja by using paper plates for ears. The children sit in a circle quietly whispering “The Raja has big ears” until a tap on a drum indicates STOP. The children retell the story by passing the mask round the circle. On STOP, the child with the mask adds something more to the story until an ending is reached.

Book-making: The children make a ‘zig-zag’ book by folding a piece of A4 paper into three. This will effectively give six pages on which to continue the story. Having decided how the story finishes, they draw a picture on each of the six pages and give each a caption. Can the children finish the story in just six pages? Aladdin and his wonderful lamp 11:24 – 13:49

The story so far…. There was once long ago a magician in Morocco. “I am the greatest magician in the world - everything will be mine. If I cover my eyes like this I can see as far as China and the Princess of China, she will be mine … and the magic palace will be mine … and the cave, full of treasure, it will be mine. And in the cave a magic genie ring – it’ll be mine. And the magic genie lamp with the greatest genie in the world – it’ll be mine. And the boy named Aladdin, to open the cave - he will be mine”.

Magician: There, down there is the cave with the rope to pull. Now, where is the boy Aladdin? Aladdin: I’m a bit busy. Magician: Aladdin, come here. You want some treasure? Aladdin: Yeah. Where? Magician: Down there in the cave. Pull the rope. Aladdin: (pulls the rope) It won’t open. It won’t open. Magician: Say the password. Your mother’s name. Aladdin: Mum’s name, that’s easy, Twang Te. Done it, done it, done it. Can I get the treasure now sir? Magician: No. First get a lamp, an oil lamp. Aladdin: Why? Magician: And don’t ask questions. Aladdin: Oh! Alright then. Magician: Have you found it? Aladdin: I’m looooking. Magicain: Have you found it? Aladdin: I’m looooking. Magicain: Oooo. Have you found it now? Aladdin: Hey, look what I’ve found sir, I’ve found some treasure. Magician: I want the lamp. Aladdin: Sorry, sir. Magician: Have you found it? Aladdin: I’m looooking. I’ve found it. Magician: He’s found it. Give it to me. Give it to me boy. The door’s shut. Magician: Open the door. Aladdin: It won’t open. Magician: Well say the password, your mother’s name. Aladdin: Twang Te. Twang Te. Magician: Ooh! It doesn’t work from the inside, only from the outside. Of course the genie of the lamp would get him out but then he would have the genie of the lamp and I wouldn’t. I know, I’ll tell him about the genie of the ring – that’s not such a good genie, he can have that one. Magician: Aladdin. There’s a ring in there. Find it, rub it and the genie will get you out. Can you find it? Aladdin: I can’t find it. Magician: Well, I’ll go back to Morocco. If he doesn’t get out, well, too bad. If he does I will come back and take the lamp. I will have the greatest genie in the world, and I will have the Princess of China and the palace and the treasure. But I will never tell him about the genie of the lamp.

The magician seemed very happy to leave poor Aladdin locked in the dark cave. What do the children think of this behaviour? How could Aladdin escape and what could he do to the magician?

Retell the story: Children can use ‘small world’ toys or storyprops to act out the story in their own words. I wish: In shared writing, ask the children to write a collection of sentences beginning with: ‘My genie has………’ and ending the sentence with ‘My best wish is….’. Their wish could be part of the story ending.

Speech bubbles: Break the story down into small manageable chunks in which the characters are talking to one another. Children canthen draw the characters and put their dialogue into speech bubbles. For example: Magician: Have you found it? Aladdin: I’m looooking Magician: Have you found it? Aladdin: I’m looooking They then write a dialogue exchange that takes place right at the end of the story.

Shadow puppets: Design and make shadow puppets using card shapes on sticks. Use a sheet and the light from a torch to cast the shadows. Use this technique to act out how the story ends. While some members of the class improvise the story ending with their puppets, the others could watch and make alternative suggestions.

Additional resources

Story planning: As part of a shared activity the following grid can be used with any of the story starts to help plan each of the endings.

Story Title: Villain

Setting

Events/drama

Hero/es

Ending

Programme review: After watching all the clips in this Story Starts programme children can add their comments using the grid below.

Story Starts Review: Traditional Tales My favourite story was

The story was about

I liked it because