Cut out and match the opposites...
Big
Small
Fast
Slow
Fat
Thin
Long
Short
USING STORY WHEELS : THE GRUFFALO
Here is a great way to help young children retell a familiar story. It's really a retake on the story map, yet this becomes an interactive visual aid to assist with retelling. Draw or copy images of the characters/objects onto a circle in the correct order, as they appear in the story.
Gruffalo Story Wheel Adding numbers to the wheel scaffolds the activity, just leave them off
to create more of a challenge. Place a second circle on top, with a window removed just the right size to reveal one character or object at a time. Secure with a split pin. The story wheel has mouse on the top, so he faces each new character in turn!
What negative problems and issues can you find in this story?
What are the risks with Mouse’s plan to be
known as the scariest animal in the forest?
Draw mouse in the box below. Then explain the problems with
his idea.
What negative problems and issues can you find in this story?
What Problems can you see on the mouse’s
walk?
Draw and write down each problem you find.
What are the negative points and problems in this story?
Which animal has the most problems?
What are the creative possibilities in this story?
Design A Gruffalo Trap.
The mouse wants to build a gruffalo trap. What would he need
to do to make a really good one?
Draw and label your design for a gruffalo trap.
What are the creative possibilities in this story?
Gruffalo has a big family—what do they look
like?.
What are the creative possibilities in this story?
Mouse sits down for a nice cup of tea.
What sort of cup do you think mouse would drink from?
Decorate the cup for mouse.
Lets focus on feelings and emotions
How does the mouse feel now?
Let’s focus on feelings and emotions
How do they feel now?
Let’s focus on feelings and emotions
What was the mouse’s hunch?
Draw the mouse telling the gruffalo that he is the scariest
animal in the wood.
Explain what was mouse’s hunch (inside feeling) and how did
he feel when he was telling the gruffalo his idea?
Facts and Information
How many questions can you make using
these words?
Ask questions using each of the words below. Don’t forget the
question mark!
Facts and Information
What does a gruffalo look like?
Look at how a gruffalo is described in the book. How would
you draw one if you didn’t look in the book?
Describe your gruffalo—How many useful words can you use?
Useful words
Terrible claws
Terrible teeth
Terrible jaws
Knobbly knees
Turned out toes
Poisonous wart
Orange eyes
Black tongue
Purple prickles
Write these
words next to
your drawing.
Facts and Information
What does each animal like to eat?
Fill in the rhyming words.
log mat dish road cake twig den heap book
carrot plant
Where are you meeting him?
………
………
Here, by this………..
And his favourite food is………
………..………..
………..………
…
Find the rhyming picture.
rocks
cake
log
twig
dish
Fill in the rhyming words.
tree bee log dog duck den hen road toad dish
fish
Here, by this………..
And his favourite food is………
Where are you meeting him?
Here, by this………..
And his favourite food is………
Here, by this………..
And his favourite food is………
Gruffalo Hunt
Hide pictures or cuddly toys of the different characters in ‘The Gruffalo’ in the school grounds or a park and set up clues to help the children find the
characters. e.g.
Down by the hut where the children learn and play Out comes an animal who sleeps during the day?
When all the characters are found you could have a Gruffalo Tea Party.
Writing From This
A Recount
Poems/Riddles in the style of the clues A Tea Party Menu
A comic Strip – using pictures from the day and children writing speech bubbles about their adventure
Instructions for how to make food for their Tea Part
Design Own Creature
Using the description from the Gruffalo , get the children to try and design their own creature
Descriptive writing Labels
Make Gruffalo Puppets or Masks
Children can make different sorts of puppets looking at different types of materials to use. Children could then do a puppet show to each other, the
school and their parents.
Writing From This
Instructions – How to make Puppets A simple Play/Story
The Gruffalo – Play
You and your class, using your masks, or puppets could retell the Gruffalo.
Writing From This
Simple Playscript
Gruffalo Café
As your role play area or/and a Special Project Day you could set up a Gruffalo Café, selling different foods from the book, like Scrambled Snake,
or if you don’t fancy finding and then scrambling a snake, maybe you could just make spaghetti. The children could also make up their own recipes. Children could then invite their parents to their Special Day, where they too
could be part of the Treasure Hunt or The Gruffalo Hunt and then sit down in the Gruffalo Café looking at the children’s work that they have been doing based on the Gruffalo. (maths links to problem solving and using
and applying and data handling too!)
Writing From This
Instructions and Recipes – How to make different recipes Menus and Signs for The Gruffalo Café
Invitation to parents to Special Day
Animals that come out at Night Project
Children could find out about lots of different Nocturnal animals. You could also set up a ‘Night Walk’ evening if you have school grounds,
when the children come back to school in the evening and set up small camps, bring torches and see what animals they can see and hear. When I’ve
done this, we made a bit of an evening of it for the children and gave them hot dogs, hot chocolate and watched a DVD!
Writing From This
Recount based on the Night Walk Evening Information Texts
Non- Chronological Reports
Rhyming Snap Cards
Using the brilliant rhyming in The Gruffalo, the children could make rhyming cards. Using the cards they can then use them for poetry or simple games
like snap. You could also use them for party games such as:
Pass the Parcel
Have the children sat in small groups of four to five
Have a parcel with each layer containing a word which is in the Gruffalo (or not – doesn’t really matter)
Play music and the children pass the parcel around the group When the music stops the child who has the parcel opens it up to
reveal a rhyming card and they have to think if a corresponding rhyming word
If they do, they can win a small prize, table point or whatever links to your whole school positive behaviour policy
Musical Chairs
Chairs need to be arranged like you would do for Musical Chairs and children will need whiteboards and whiteboard pens
In a whole class situation children to come up with words that rhyme and write them on a post-it note
Children stick their post-it note onto their chair
Play music, and the children walk around until the music stops The children sit on a chair and have to write a word that rhymes with
the word on their chair
Continue this – but don’t remove chairs
Extension – Children can write sentences with their words in them
Board Game
You can make simple board games for the children based on snakes and ladders and rhyming words on them.
Writing From This
Boring I know now, but instructions again – how to play the games Poems
Simple Rhyming Words 7 Play 8 9 6 5 Snake 4 1 2 3
Treasure Hunt Organisation
Contents of the Treasure Box
Treasure Box Six Teams worth of Differentiated Clues 10 Clues per Team
Teacher Answer Sheet Children’s Recording Sheets
Teaching Ideas
Organisational Ideas for the Treasure Hunt Certificates
Prize Ideas
How To Organise the Treasure Hunt
How the Treasure Hunt is organised is completely up to you as a teacher and obviously depends on the age of your class and the ability of your class and at what
time of the year you are doing this.
The common factor in organising the Treasure Hunt will have to be organisation and space. You need both.
I have held treasure hunts indoors (halls and around school buildings) and outdoors and I wouldn’t say there is much difference in managing either. The key to making
it fun and purposeful is how well the Treasure Hunt is organised.
My first reason for creating these Reading Treasure Boxes is to try and engage children further in their reading, and hopefully to inspire children to pick up a book
that may not have done before.
The second reason for creating these boxes is to try and help teachers who love to do these sorts of activities, but having the time to make, stick and laminate is very,
very hard to find – so this resource is designed to help teachers too. I also feel that this resource is good in developing children’s actual reading,
recalling of information and deduction skills, but,
how you choose to use this Treasure Hunt is completely up to you.
I have always run Treasure Hunts with whole classes and made sure that I have had enough adults on the day. Some teachers choose to do Treasure Hunts with
groups at a time. It really depends on the purpose of why you are doing the Treasure Hunt. For example if it is going to be used as an assessment tool, then it
would probably be best done in small groups or to support Guided Reading, however, if it is to celebrate the end of reading a text and children learning to become more independent readers, you may choose to do this as a whole class.
How the Clues are Organised
There are six Teams worth of clues at three differentiated levels. See below Team 1 Below Age Related Team 2 Below Age Related Team 3 Age Related Team 4 Age Related Team 5 Above Age Related Team 6 Above Age Related 10 questions These two teams have the
same questions
10 questions These two teams have the
same questions
10 questions These two teams have the
same questions
Each set of questions has an answer guide sheet for the teacher to use to support the marking and assessments from the Treasure Hunt.
The clues can be set up anywhere in the school. It would probably be a good idea for each Team to have a copy of the text whilst they are doing the Treasure Hunt.
Prizes
I have not included prizes in the Treasure Boxes for you apart from certificates, as I felt that different teachers like to give their children different sorts of prizes.
Suggestions though are provided below: Gruffalo Tea Party for the winning Team
Design and make Gruffalo Smoothies Medals
House/Table Points Cheap Gruffalo Merchandise
Lastly, I know that this Treasure Hunt box has lots of information and may be a bit confusing. This is definatlely not a quick and easy lesson to organise, and it is for
those who like to take a risk and have lots of fun – but still learning at the same time. I have not given step by step instructions as to how to organise the Treasure Hunts as I feel that you know your classes and you have to do what works best for
you.
I hope that you and your classes have fun doing the Treasure Hunt and that the children become enthused about reading and will want to read another book as
mouse
Gruffalo
fox
Learning Objective To identify and describe characters in the Gruffalo.
Success Checklist
I can make a list of words to describe characters in the Gruffalo, what
they look like and how they behave.
Extension
I can write sentences explaining why I chose the words to describe
the characters behaviour. (because)
owl
MY GRUFFALO
Next to each picture write a word that describes that part of the
GRUFFALO!
MY GRUFFALO
……
MY GRUFFALO
……
He has teeth.
Its claws are
It has knees.
At its mouth hangs a
tongue.
It has on its back.
The Gruffalo- Speech
1) What do you use your white horns for?
3) Where do you sleep?
One day a
_______________________
Went for a walk in the
_______________________
On the way he met a
_________________________
a________________________
And a ___________________
They all wanted to eat him so he
_____________________
Them. The Mouse then met the
Gruffalo who wanted to _______
___________________________
The Mouse took the Gruffalo into
the woods and all the
animals were
_____________of him.
The Gruffalo ________________.
The Mouse then could eat
his nut in peace.
______________________
Activities for the Foundation Stage
Read the story of The Gruffalo aloud to child, allowing them to look at the engaging illustrations by Axel Scheffler. Make the storytelling as lively as possible, and don’t be afraid to accentuate the rhyme scheme to make the book take on a sing-song tone.
• Once you have familiarised your child with the story, talk with them in detail about the book – what was their favourite part of the story? Did they like the little mouse? How did they think the other animals might have felt when they saw the Gruffalo?
• Go back to the first page of the book and talk about the setting – the ‘deep dark wood’. Ask child if they have ever been in a ‘deep dark
wood’. If not, explain that a deep dark wood is an area where there are lots of trees growing so close together that the sunlight can’t get in. • Ask them to talk about how it might feel to be in a deep, dark wood. Encourage them to use lots of their senses as they talk about what they might see, smell, touch and hear in the wood.
• Tell child that they are going to go on a little adventure into a
deep,dark wood to see what they can find. In advance, prepare an area of the house to be a ‘dark area’. This can be done by placing a blanket over a table so that it drapes down and touches the floor on all four sides, or draping a blanket over a pop-up tent. If you can’t get complete darkness, then provide child with a blindfold before they go into the ‘wood’
(make sure this is done in a fun/exciting way not in a scary way!). • Ensuring that any solid surfaces or sharp corners child could bump into are covered with pillows or cushions, invite your child to crawl
into the ‘deep dark wood’ and see what they can find. In advance, place a smooth stone, a pine cone, a nut, a mushroom, a small plant, a stick, some bark, a small tray of sand, a flower, a feather, moss, and a leaf in the dark area.
• As child discovers an object, invite them to describe the object
based on its texture. Prompt them to use words such as ‘smooth’, ‘rough’, ‘soft’, ‘grainy’ and so on. Can they guess what the object might be?
Remove the object and place it with the book, and then invite them to find something else, and repeat the process for as long as it is enjoyable. • Once all of the objects have been discovered in the ‘deep dark wood’, return to the story of The Gruffalo and read it through one more time, this time pausing to spot the objects your child discovered in their own deep, dark wood in the illustrated pages of the book.
Support:
Make the dark area a little lighter for any reluctant children and do not encourage them to wear a blindfold. Allow them to describe the objects in turn by looking at them too.
Extension Activity:
draw a picture of the deep, dark wood in the story, including as many of the objects they found as possible.
How do these activities help child’s learning? Early Years Foundation Stage:
This activity helps child’s Communication, Language and
Literacy, focusing on the strands Language for Communication, Language for Thinking and Reading, and has cross-curricular links to Knowledge and Understanding of the World.
Activities for Key Stage 1
The story of The Gruffalo is wildly popular among young children at the moment, and child may already be familiar with the story. If this is
the case, skip straight to the second part of this activity. For children who have not read or seen The Gruffalo book, prepare the first part of the activity by covering your copy of The Gruffalo with brown paper, so that the cover illustrations are not visible.
• Read the story of The Gruffalo aloud to child, and enjoy their
reactions to the fun tale. Be careful as you are reading not to let them see any of the illustrations in the book – if they try to peek, explain that they can’t see the pictures just yet because you are going to do something fun in a minute, but that they can see them later.
• Provide each child taking part in the activity with an outline drawing of the Gruffalo. This simple shape can either be drawn freehand (for the more artistic among us!) or traced using the bold illustrations in the book. The page where the little mouse finally stumbles across the Gruffalo contains the best illustration for this. Be sure to only trace the outline, missing out details such as claws, teeth, and the prickles on his back – but do add a pair of eyes, the outline of his arm and a line for his mouth. Give child a selection of coloured felt-tip pens or pencils.
• Read the story of The Gruffalo through to child again. As the little mouse names each of the Gruffalo’s physical attributes, pause and encourage child to add this detail to their Gruffalo picture. Discuss their drawings as they are adding details - what do they think ‘terrible tusks’ might look like? What would be a good way to draw knobbly knees? and so on.
• Stop the story at the place where the little mouse first meets the Gruffalo.
Invite child to complete their drawing with any other features that they imagine the Gruffalo to have and to colour him in. When their drawings are complete, have a big fun ‘reveal’ of the real image of the Gruffalo. Talk about how similar or different he looks to their drawings, and to how they imagined him to look. Do they think he looks scary or friendly? Is that what they expected? Complete the story.
As a variation or extension of this activity (for children who already know what the Gruffalo looks like), explain to child that they are going to make their own monster, based on a real person.
• Create the template Gruffalo again using a simple outline, but this time in place of his head stick a picture or photograph of the head of someone real. This can be a celebrity’s head, cut out from a magazine or newspaper, or the head of a family member from a photo. Encourage your child to name their monster in a similar style to the Gruffalo (i.e. the Grannyalo, the Dadalo, the Britney Spearsalo).
• Read the story of the Gruffalo, substituting every mention of the Gruffalo for child’s made up monster. Encourage them to add
all the details in the book to their picture as they come up in the story. Finally, encourage them to colour in their finished picture and help them label it with the monster’s name.
Support:
Help and guide child as they fill in the features of the Gruffalo or their made up monster.
Extension Activity:
Encourage child to identify the initial letter sounds in the full
description of the Gruffalo (on the page where he meets the mouse), such as ‘purple prickles’, ‘terrible tusks’ and ‘knobbly knees’.
How do these activities help my child’s learning? Key Stage 1
These activities help your child’s Key Stage 1 Literacy, in the strands for
Listening and Responding and Engaging and Responding to Texts.
Activities for Key Stage 2
Some older children should be able to read the simple rhyming text in the story of The Gruffalo independently. Encourage them to read aloud, if they
feel confident about doing so, and make sure you listen actively and show your enjoyment of the story (even if you have heard it a hundred times before!).
• Tell child that you are going to organise a Gruffalo party for the rest of the family, using the foods in the book and a few more that you are going to invent.
• Take a look through the book together and decide what foods you could use to represent each of the items mentioned. For example, ‘scrambled snake’ can be scrambled egg, ‘roasted fox’ could be chicken and ‘Gruffalo crumble’ could be a big apple crumble.
• Tell child that they can add items to the menu at their Gruffalo
each of the foods in the book is introduced by the little mouse meeting a different animal who wants to eat him, and him scaring them away by telling them the Gruffalo is coming along to meet him, and is very partial to a dish made from this particular animal. Point out to child that
this is done in rhyming form.
• In order to get their chosen foodstuff accepted onto the menu at the Gruffalo party, child must decide on another animal that could
have been in the story, and what part of it the little mouse would have said was the Gruffalo’s favourite. For example chips could be ‘slices of bear’; peas could be ‘Squirrels’ eyes’ and fruit juice could be ‘juice of a crow’. In the book, foods are introduced in a rhyming form. For example, the Gruffalo is apparently meeting the mouse ‘here by these rocks’ and the dish that he is set to enjoy is ‘roasted fox’.
• Encourage child to make up a rhyme to fit their foodstuffs into the story. This should be in the form of a ‘W’ question – so they will ask ‘where/why/when are you meeting him?’ followed by a rhyming answer. If your child struggles to grasp the concept, give them some examples, such as ‘Where are you meeting him? Here by his lair – and his favourite food is slices of bear’, or ‘Why are you meeting him? Because he’s so wise – and his favourite food is squirrels’ eyes’.
You might also want to set a maximum limit on the number of items that they can choose to serve up!
Support:
For younger or less confident children, simply encourage them to think up rhymes for the animal they have created an imaginary foodstuff for (i.e. bear, care, dare, fare... etc) rather than trying to invent a new line for the story.
Extension Activity:
Write and decorate an invitation, inviting them to your Gruffalo party. This can be in rhyming text.
How do these activities help my child’s learning? Key Stage 2
These activities help child’s Key Stage 2 Literacy, in the strands
Word Structure and Spelling, Engaging and Responding to Texts
