Main Outcomes:
Narrative (dilemma stories), character descriptions
Overview and Outcomes:
This is a three- week sequence using the text The Heart and the Bottle by Oliver Jeffers, with explicit spelling (through vocabulary acquisition) and grammar objectives embedded within the sequence. It begins with children ‘discovering’ the setting from the text of the empty armchair and posing questions to make predictions about the text. Children explore the text further, writing character descriptions using a range of descriptive vocabulary. The story and the sequence have strong PSHE links and these need to be approached with sensitivity. Having explored the sequence of the story for ‘The Heart and the Bottle’, children then create their own stories where a dilemma occurs and there is an emotional response, e.g. getting lost, being bullied, running away etc. (again, with links to PSHE), initially sequencing them and later writing them and publishing them for an audience. If teaching text as topic, include opportunities to create their own artwork, which can be used when creating a published book as an outcome.
Synopsis of Text
Once there was a girl whose life was filled with wonder at the world around her…
Then one day something happened that made the girl take her heart and put it in a safe place. However, after that it seemed that the world was emptier than before. But would she know how to get her heart back?
