A Writing Root for Tadpole's Promise

A Writing Root for

Tadpole's Promise

By Jeanne Willis

R & KS1 Year 2 Change & Relationships

£5.00 Incl. VAT

Main Outcome:

Own version narrative / extended explanation | Simple explanations, speech bubbles, setting descriptions, thought bubbles

Length:

15 sessions, 3 weeks

Work Samples:

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Linked Resources:

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Overview and Outcomes:

This is a three-week Writing Root for Tadpole’s Promise by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross. To begin with, children write their own promises on lily pads to float in their class pond and record a simple explanation of a process of change they are familiar with. Children go on to re-enact sections of the story and consider the thoughts of the characters at certain points. This is in preparation for them to plan and write their own version of the narrative using characters of their choice (who also meet a grizzly ending!). Using information from the text children also create an explanation text in leaflet form to outline the stages in the lifecycle of a frog. It may be useful to ensure other books about changes are available, e.g. Changes by Anthony Browne and, if possible, have tadpoles in or near the classroom to observe their changes.

Synopsis of Text:

Tadpole loves his rainbow friend, the caterpillar, and she tells him she loves everything about him. "Promise that you will never change," she says. But as the seasons pass and he matures, his legs grow, and then his arms - and what happens to his beautiful rainbow friend? As he sits on his lily pad, digesting a butterfly, Tadpole little realises that now he will never know! Follow the predictable changes of a tadpole and a caterpillar to their natural conclusion in this award winning picture book.

Text Rationale:

This lyrical tale tells the love story between a tadpole and a caterpillar. It has strong links to science and life cycles as well as being an allegory for how people and relationships inevitably change over time. There is certainly a cautionary note struck during the final twist of this tale. This text won the Nestle Smarties Book Prize Silver Award in 2003 as well as being longlisted for the Kate Greenaway Award. Jeanne Willis is an award-winning and prolific author and Tony Ross has illustrated many well-known books.