Teachers' Notes

WALKER BOOKS TEACHERS’ NOTES @BIGPictureBooks @BIGPictureBooks £12.99 • Hardback • For Ages 4+ • ISBN 9781406395570 @burstofbeaden walker.co.uk WALKER BOOKS TEACHERS’ NOTES THE ROCK FROM THE SKY BY JON KLASSEN These notes have been written by the teachers at the CLPE to provide schools with ideas to develop comprehension and cross-curricular activities around this text at school or in the home environment. They build on our work supporting teachers to use picture books to enhance critical thinking and develop creative approaches in art and writing. They encourage a deep reading of and reflection on the text, which may happen over a series of reading sessions, rather than in just one sitting. We hope you find them useful. These notes have been written with children aged 5-9 in mind. However, this is a sophisticated picture book which has scope for it to be interpreted in different ways with pupils of different ages. It is important that you use your knowledge of the children you are working with to select questions and activities from those suggested that are most appropriate and that best suit their age and emotional maturity. INTRODUCING THE TEXT: . Share the front cover of the book with the children, and encourage them to focus on the illustration of the characters, before revealing the title. Who or what are these characters? What do you think you know about them? What might have brought them together? What do you think they might be thinking about at this point? You could encourage the children to write some of these ideas in thought bubbles around a copy of the illustration. Come back to think about the story that might lie inside of this book. What do you think might happen in their story? What makes you think this? . Now reveal the title of the text,The Rock from the Sky. Look at the placing of the title on the front cover and the dark font used for the title. What are you thinking about now the title has been revealed? What are you feeling or thinking now about the story that could lie ahead? What is making you think or feel these things? What do you see in your mind as you think about the title The Rock from the Sky? How do you feel about the two characters now? You could give mixed pairs or groups of children a copy of the front cover to record their thoughts and ideas, or collect and scribe the thoughts of the whole group around an enlarged copy of the cover. Now turn to look at the first inside illustration. Is this what you imagined when you thought about The Rock from the Sky? How is this similar or different to what you imagined? What are you thinking or feeling about the story now? Turn to the inside title page, look at what has happened to the rock. What does this suggest about the rock? What are you thinking or feeling about the story at this point? What makes you think or feel this? Now, look at how the title is presented on the opposite page. Compare this with the way the title was presented on the front cover. What is different? What does this text layout make you think about? Why do you think the author has made this change to the layout of the words? 1. THE ROCK: . Turn the page to look at the first section header 1. The Rock and the accompanying illustration. Look at the opposition between the words and the illustration. What can you see in the illustration? Where have you seen this image before? What is different about it? Where do you think the rock is? Why do you think the words are focussing our attention on the rock, but the picture doesn’t? Do the pages you have seen so far confirm or change what you thought might happen in the story? Give some time for the children to consolidate their thoughts around what might happen in this story, linking The Rock from the Sky Teachers’ Notes © The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education You may use this teaching resource freely in your school but it cannot be commercially published 2 walker.co.uk or reproduced or used for anything other than educational purposes without the express permission of CLPE. their thoughts to what they have seen so far and get them to note their predictions on a post it note to display around a copy of this spread to come back to after reading. Read the first page of the text and spend time looking at the illustration. What do you know about this character? Who do you think they are talking to? What makes you think this? Re-read the text again. Why do you think this is its favourite spot to stand? Spend time thinking about the final line of text, which has been separated off from the rest I don’t ever want to stand anywhere else. Why do you think this line might be significant to the story? Think about how the turtle might say this line. Which word might they place an emphasis on? Have a go at reading this line out loud. Think about the word ever, and how it might make a difference to the story. Compare this with the line I don’t want to stand anywhere else. What might happen if the turtle doesn’t ever move? . Now turn the page and think about the impact this page turn has on you. There is no text on this page, the illustrator has chosen to make this a full illustration spread. What does this make you think about or feel? What makes you feel this way? Turn back to the front cover and read this section of the text again. What do you think might happen on the next page turn? What makes you think this? Turn the page again to reveal the next spread. Read the text on this spread and look at the accompanying illustration. Is this what you thought might happen or are you surprised by what you see? Look at the text again. How do you know which character is saying which words? Do you think the armadillo should come and stand with the turtle? Why or why not? . Read on to I will go and stand in it, to see if it feels better than this spot.What does it mean to have a bad feeling about something? Have you ever been in a situation where you have sensed that something might not be quite right? Do you think the armadillo might feel happier in the new spot? Why do you think this might be? Look at the impact of the page turn between these two pages, where the layout shifts from a vertical perspective to a horizontal perspective. Look at how the armadillo’s gaze, and the point of its finger leads us across the page. What does this make us think or feel? What does it suggest about the new spot? Do you think the armadillo will feel better over there? Why or why not? . Turn the page and keep reading to I CANNOT HEAR YOU. YOU ARE TOO FAR AWAY. I AM GOING TO COME BACK. Why do you think the author has chosen to change the text to capital letters? What does this tell us about how we should read this part of the story? Do you think the armadillo should turn back? Why or why not? What might happen if it does? Turn the page to reveal the next illustration. What would you say to the animals if you could talk to them right now? How close do you think the rock is? What makes you think this? . Now, read on to YOU ARE TOO FAR AWAY TO HEAR. What do you think you know about these characters so far? What are they like? How do you know this? Write down some words or phrases to describe each character, discussing what it is in the text or illustrations that makes them think these things of the characters. Now, read on to the double page illustration where the rock lands on the ground. What do you think encouraged the turtle to move in the end? What would have happened if it hadn’t moved? What do you think the characters are thinking or feeling at this point? What can you tell from the way their eyes change? How might what they say reflect their personalities? Encourage the children to work in groups of three to write in role as one of the characters, creating a thought bubble to reflect this. How might you convey the turtle’s stubbornness or air of superiority? How might the armadillo feel at this point? Do you think the armadillo will be smug that its bad feelings were right or just thankful that the turtle wasn’t hurt? And what about the snake, who hasn’t spoken yet? What might we learn about them from the way they have been portrayed in the illustrations? Give the children time and space to compose their thoughts and ideas and time to write these up and draw thought bubbles around them. Then cut these out and stick them onto a copy of the illustration. Stick these up and allow time and space for the children to view, compare and contrast each other’s ideas. What was similar? What was different? Why do you think this might be? The Rock from the Sky Teachers’ Notes © The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education You may use this teaching resource freely in your school but it cannot be commercially published 3 walker.co.uk or reproduced or used for anything other than educational purposes without the express permission of CLPE.

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