The theme of collaboration in 'The Wolf, The Duck and the Mouse'
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explore the theme of collaboration in the story.
Key learning points
- A theme is a big idea or lesson that the author wants you to explore & understand through reading the story.
- Readers can interpret themes and their importance within a story in different ways.
- ‘The Wolf, The Duck and The Mouse’ explores the themes of collaboration, optimism, and resourcefulness.
- Collaboration is the action of working with someone to achieve something.
- Collaboration is a skill that we learn and practise which has a variety of positive impacts on us.
Keywords
Theme - a big idea, topic or message that recurs within a story
Collaboration - the action of working with someone to achieve something
Optimism - the ability to see the positive side of things
Resourcefulness - the ability to find quick and clever ways to overcome difficulties
Common misconception
Children may find it difficult to understand some of the themes and the connections between them.
Allow time to discuss the connections between the three themes at the end of cycle 1. E.g. Collaboration can be a form of resourcefulness.
Teacher tip
Allow an opportunity for the sharing of different interpretations and perspectives about the meaning behind the story. Use this as an opportunity to reiterate that readers can draw different meaning from a story.
Equipment
You will need a copy of the 2017 Walker Ltd. edition of ‘The Duck, The Wolf & The Mouse’ written by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Jon Klassen for this lesson.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Sequence the following events to retell the beginning of the story 'The Wolf, The Duck and The Mouse'.
Q2.Sequence the following events to retell the rest of the story of 'The Wolf, The Duck and The Mouse'.
Q3.What is a theme within a story?
Q4.True or false? The wolf was happy with the favour he granted the duck and the mouse.
Q5.What does inference mean?
Q6.What is the duck and the mouse's relationship like?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which of the following themes might be found in 'The Wolf, The Duck and The Mouse'?
Q2.Match the themes from the story to their definition.
the action of working with someone to achieve something
the ability to see the positive side of things
the ability to find quick and clever ways to overcome difficulties
Q3.How can we uncover themes within a story?
Q4.How does the duck show optimism?
Q5.How do the characters show resourcefulness?
Q6.True or false? Collaboration is an important skill which can have a positive impact on our lives.
To help you plan your 2 English lesson on: The theme of collaboration in 'The Wolf, The Duck and the Mouse', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 2 English lesson on: The theme of collaboration in 'The Wolf, The Duck and the Mouse', 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 Wolf, The Duck and the Mouse': book club unit, dive into the full primary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.