Overview and Outcomes:

This is a three-week Writing Root using The Odd Egg by Emily Gravett. Within this Writing Root, children begin by identifying different types of eggs and guessing who they might belong to. Children then begin to read the text, meeting Duck and the other birds and connecting with the characters’ thoughts and emotions as they journey through the main events in the book. They write short guides for how to look after eggs, thought bubbles to capture how characters are feeling, awards to celebrate Duck’s egg, supportive letters of advice to Duck and congratulations cards to welcome the baby birds. The main outcome is a non-fiction ‘Egg Spotter’s Guide’ after researching different types of eggs from the book and making short videos about these. It would be particularly beneficial to cover this during the late spring or early summer term near to Easter and linking to themes of ‘new life’ or when learning about animals and their young.

Synopsis of Text:

All the birds have eggs to hatch. All except Duck. When Duck is delighted to find an egg of his own to look after: it's the most beautiful egg in the whole world! But all the other birds think it's a very odd egg indeed - and everyone's in for a big surprise when it finally hatches.

Text Rationale:

This charming story by award-winning illustrator and author Emily Gravett provides opportunities to talk about different family structures and adoption. Children will engage with a host of endearing animal characters to help them understand the themes woven throughout. Furthermore, links can be made with identifying and naming a variety of common animals including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.

Links and themes:

Eggs, families, adoption, parenthood, bullying, science, different family structures and family relationships

Date written: November 2015.

Updated: December 2024

NB: This is an updated, 3 week version of the Writing Root for The Odd Egg. If you would like the original 10 session Writing Root, please get in touch.