All about dinosaurs, fossils and prehistoric animals by Everything Dinosaur team members.
30 03, 2014

A Morning Studying Dinosaurs

By | March 30th, 2014|Educational Activities, Teaching|0 Comments

Christ Church Primary School Pupils Study Dinosaurs

Year 1 pupils at Christ Church Primary School (Stoke on Trent, England), got the chance to get up very close to some dinosaur fossils as they studied prehistoric animals as part of their term topic.  Under the tutelage of one of the school’s Key Stage 1 tutors Miss Bryant, ably assisted by teaching assistant Mrs Dyer, the children have been learning about life in the past and how fossils are formed as they study dinosaurs over the spring term.

Schoolchildren Study Dinosaurs

A team member from Everything Dinosaur had been invited into the school to assist with the teaching work and to undertake a whole morning of dinosaur themed activities and exercises as part of a dinosaur workshop.  The classroom was very colourful with lots of dinosaur artwork and posters on display and the children were very keen to complete morning registration so that the dinosaur themed teaching activities could start.

Casting Fossils

The children were challenged to have a go at casting museum quality replica fossils from Everything Dinosaur’s own fossil collection and with one group of children led by Mrs Dyer and the second group supervised by Miss  Bryant, two lovely replica fossils were cast.  The size and scale of some dinosaurs was considered and the children were encouraged to compare bones in their body to those of famous dinosaurs.  The brain of an armoured dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous being confirmed as being about the size of a six-year old child’s fist, whilst the same dinosaur could happily sit five Year 1 pupils in its body cavity.

Thank you Letter Sent in by Ocean

Ocean says thank you to Everything Dinosaur for school visit.

Ocean says thank you to Everything Dinosaur for school visit.

Picture credit: Ocean (Christ Church Primary School)

There were lots of questions asked and the pupils showed a good degree of independent learning as the Everything Dinosaur team member discussed meat-eating dinosaurs and compared them to plant-eating dinosaurs.  Over the course of the morning, a lot of different types of fossil were examined and at the end of the visit an Everything Dinosaur “pinkie palaeontologists challenge” was set before the class.  Could the children demonstrate the ability to recall information and write a thank you letter to our dinosaur expert?

Dinosaurs as a Teaching Topic

Dinosaurs as a teaching topic lends itself to all sorts of innovative learning activities that dove-tail into the outcomes and aims expected from the National Curriculum.  Creating a thank you letter permits the teaching team to introduce a recounting element into the teaching work.  This helps to check understanding and reinforce learning.

Often a problem when developing literacy exercises for Year 1 pupils is how to give the children  a purpose for writing, a thank you letter to a school visitor fits the bill nicely.

School Children Send In Thank You Letters

Wonderful writing from Year 1.

Wonderful writing from Year 1.

Picture credit: Phoebe (Christ Church Primary School)

 All the letters that we received were carefully read by our team of dinosaur experts and we have posted them up onto a big display board, a special thank you to all the budding palaeontologists who wrote thank you letters.  It seems that the teaching staff had fun teaching about dinosaurs in school and the school children loved learning all about prehistoric animals.

To learn more about Everything Dinosaur’s range of toys and gifts including replicas of iconic fossil animals: Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal Models including Fossil Replicas.

30 03, 2014

Christ Church Primary School Pupils Study Dinosaurs

By | March 30th, 2014|Key Stage 1/2|Comments Off on Christ Church Primary School Pupils Study Dinosaurs

Year 1 Study Dinosaurs All Morning

Year 1 children at Christ Church Primary School (Stoke-on-Trent, England), were visited by Everything Dinosaur and they took part in a series of fossil themed activities as part of a dinosaur workshop.  The children had been learning about life in the past over the spring term and they were keen to demonstrate their knowledge and to explain to our expert how fossils were formed.

A team member from Everything Dinosaur had been invited to attend the school and conduct a dinosaur workshop with the enthusiastic young palaeontologists.  The classroom was filled with examples of the children’s work, including some excellent posters and clay models of dinosaurs.

Dinosaur Workshop

As part of our work with the children, we challenged them to have a go at casting museum quality replica fossils from the company’s own extensive fossil collection.  We compared our bones and bodies to that of a typical dinosaur (ornithopod) and we learned all about how the dinosaurs lived and when they become extinct.

An Example of the Writing Extension Exercise

Dinosaur notebooks created by pupils on display.

Helping to encourage young children with their writing. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Our dinosaur expert set a “pinkie palaeontologist challenge”, could the children write a thank you letter to Everything Dinosaur?  Would they be able to use proper sentences?  What would be the best way to start the letter and to conclude it?  Could they include a comment about their favourite part of the morning?

With the teaching team’s help the children set about this challenge in the afternoon.  A few days letter we received a set of thirty thank you letters from the children.  In this instance, dinosaurs as a subject area is helping Lower Key Stage 1 children to write more confidently and to expand their vocabularies.

To see the extensive range of toys and gifts available from Everything Dinosaur: Everything Dinosaur Toys and Games.

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