- Year 2
The theme of protection in 'The Planet in a Pickle Jar'
I can explore the theme of protection in the story.
- Year 2
The theme of protection in 'The Planet in a Pickle Jar'
I can explore the theme of protection in the story.
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- A theme is a big idea or lesson that the author wants you to explore and understand through reading the story.
- Readers can interpret themes and their importance within a story in different ways.
- ‘The Planet in a Pickle Jar’ explores the theme of protection relating to environment, family and belongings.
- The importance of protecting the world’s natural wonders and the environment is a key lesson communicated in the story.
- There are many natural elements in our world that need protecting and a variety of ways to help with this.
Keywords
Theme - a big idea, topic or message that recurs within a story
Protection - any action taken to guard something against damage
Environment - the natural world around us
Common misconception
Children may have questions around the role they can play in protecting the world. They may not understand the link between actions they can take and the positive effects of it globally.
Discuss some examples of simple actions we can take and how far reaching the impact can be even if we can't see it. E.g. Reducing our use of energy will combat global warming which will protect sea ice for polar bears.
To help you plan your year 2 English lesson on: The theme of protection in 'The Planet in a Pickle Jar', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 2 English lesson on: The theme of protection in 'The Planet in a Pickle Jar', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 1 English lessons from the 'The Planet in a Pickle Jar': book club unit, dive into the full primary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
You will need a copy of the 2023 Flying Eye Books edition of ‘The Planet in a Pickle Jar’ written and illustrated by Martin Stanev for this lesson.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Why does the grandma preserve items in pickle jars?
Q2.True or false? It is actually possible to preserve the world's wonders by pickling them.
Q3.Sequence the following events to retell the beginning of the story 'The Planet in a Pickle Jar'.
Q4.Sequence the following events to retell the rest of the story 'The Planet in a Pickle Jar'.
Q5.What is a theme within a story?
Q6.How do we uncover themes within a story?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is the key theme explored in the story of 'The Planet in a Pickle Jar'?
Q2.What is protection?
Q3.Which other themes are explored through the overarching theme of protection?
Q4.Match the theme to its definition.
the natural world around us
a group of people who look after each other and love one another
a person's possessions
Q5.Match the types of items to the examples given.
the ocean, plants, creatures
family, memories, smells
a book, yarn, a ukuele
Q6.Match the actions we can take to the benefit they have on protecting the environment.
This cuts down on waste of natural resources.
This reduces air pollution.
This helps us understand and share knowledge with others.