All about dinosaurs, fossils and prehistoric animals by Everything Dinosaur team members.
26 01, 2018

Dinosaur Workshops at Green End Primary

By | January 26th, 2018|Educational Activities, Main Page, Teaching|0 Comments

1B and 1EN Classes at Green End Primary Study Dinosaurs

It was an exciting end to the week for the children in Year 1 at Green End Primary (M19, Manchester), as the school was visited by a team member from Everything Dinosaur.  The children in 1B and 1EN have started to learn all about dinosaurs, fossils and life in the past and Everything Dinosaur was invited in to help launch this challenging term topic.

Fossils and Life in the Past

Two workshops were conducted with the enthusiastic, young dinosaur fans over the course of a morning, one for each of the classes.  During a short briefing with the teachers, our proposed lesson plan was reviewed and steps were taken to ensure that our dinosaur expert covered key points that the teaching team wanted to emphasise.  As well as acting as a provocation for the topic, the teachers were keen to reinforce learning about food chains and as Mary Anning was going to be studied in class, our dinosaur expert was able to adjust his lesson plan to accommodate this learning need.

A Beautiful Dinosaur Display in One of the Year 1 Classrooms

Year 1 dinosaur display.
Year 1 children at Green End Primary have created a wonderful dinosaur display. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur/Green End Primary

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

Making Salt Dough Fossils

As part of a wide range of challenging activities, the children had been making their own salt dough fossils.  These fossils were on display in the sand tray. Our dinosaur expert was invited to examine the children’s work. The children enjoyed making the fossils and learning about life in the past.

Children in Year 1 Make Salt Dough Fossils

Key Stage 1 children make salt dough fossils.
Salt dough fossils created by Year 1 children (class 1EN and 1B). Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur/Green End Primary

Ammonites

During the workshop, the Year 1 children were given the chance to handle some real fossils and to learn how fossils form.  The ammonite fossils proved to be very popular, especially the very large ones.  These fossils are typical of the “sea shells on the sea shore”, that Mary Anning collected.  We included a tongue twister all about Mary Anning with the additional teaching resources that our dinosaur expert provided.

As part of our work in schools, we encourage the teaching team to take lots of photographs of the children during the workshops.  These photographs are very helpful when it comes to recall and recounting activities after the workshop has been concluded.  Can the children, simply by looking at a photograph, recall key points from that part of the lesson?  We recommend the children are asked without prompting initially, teachers are often surprised by the amount of information that the children have retained.

A Dinosaur Themed Display in One of the Year 1 Classrooms

A Year 1 dinosaur display.
A horned dinosaur is at the centre of this Year 1 dinosaur display. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur/Green End Primary

One of the teachers promised to send in a picture of some of the children’s work, we look forward to seeing the results of the research conducted by the Year 1 classes.

Contact Everything Dinosaur team members: Email Everything Dinosaur.

26 01, 2018

Year 1 at Green End Primary School (Dinosaurs)

By | January 26th, 2018|Key Stage 1/2|Comments Off on Year 1 at Green End Primary School (Dinosaurs)

Classes 1EN and 1B Learn About Dinosaurs

Children in Year 1 at Green End Primary (Manchester), have embarked on a new topic for the rest of the Spring Term.  They are learning all about dinosaurs and fossils.  The eager young palaeontologists have already conducted some dinosaur themed research, learning about herbivores such as Brontosaurus, Diplodocus and Stegosaurus.  The children in classes 1EN and 1B have produced fact sheets all about the dinosaurs they have been studying.

Year 1 Children Write Fact Sheets About Plant-eating Dinosaurs

A Year 1 dinosaur display.
A horned dinosaur is at the centre of this Year 1 dinosaur display. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Green End Primary/Everything Dinosaur

Dinosaurs and Fossils

Some carnivorous dinosaurs have been studied too.  The teaching team are using different types of dinosaur to help support the children’s learning when it comes to considering simple food chains.

As part of a provocation to help enthuse the two classes, Everything Dinosaur was invited into the school to lead two dinosaur and fossil themed workshops, one for each of the classes.  These workshops were held in the superbly appointed communications room.  The children are really lucky to have such a well-resourced school.

The Communications Room Became a “Dino Den” for the Morning

Key Stage 1 children make salt dough fossils.
Salt dough fossils created by Year 1 children (class 1EN and 1B). Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Green End Primary/Everything Dinosaur

Dinosaur Displays

The spacious classrooms already contained some wonderful dinosaur themed displays and plenty of evidence of the creative approach of the teaching team to this particular scheme of work.  It seems that the teachers, ably supported by the teaching assistants and learning support have designed a challenging scheme of work that appeals to a wide variety of learning styles.

A Dinosaur Display in a Year 1 Classroom at Green End Primary

Year 1 dinosaur display.
Year 1 children at Green End Primary have created a wonderful dinosaur display.

Picture credit: Green End Primary/Everything Dinosaur

For dinosaur themed toys and games: Dinosaur Themed Toys and Gifts.

The children will be learning all about the famous, British fossil hunter Mary Anning, our dinosaur expert ensured that Mary Anning was introduced during the dinosaur and fossil workshops.  In addition, we set the classes a number of challenges in the form of extension activities.  One of the teachers promised to send into our offices a picture of some of the children’s work to demonstrate how enthusiastically the children had responded to the morning of dinosaur themed workshops that we had conducted.

We are looking forward to seeing the children’s work.

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

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