KS: R & KS1
Year Group: Year 1
Literary Theme: Similarities & Differences
Author(s): Isabelle Marinov
This is a Vocabulary Vine for Leo and the Octopus by Isabelle Marinov
A Vocabulary Vine is designed to be a sister resource to a Writing Root and Spelling Seed. It sits within our wider Teach Through a Text approach by explicitly identifying vocabulary from the book and providing additional opportunities for paired, small group and whole class experimentation with this vocabulary in context. Vocabulary Vines further complement spelling development too through exploration of the morphology (word structure) and etymology (origins) of words. They also provide oracy opportunities through a focus on talk tasks and on oral sentence construction. They are designed for short burst oral and vocabulary development.
A Writing Root is available for Leo and the Octopus.
Letters, first person recount, diaries, letters, posters, reports
Fact file
15 sessions, 3 weeks
In this three-week Writing Root, children will receive a letter with a cuddly toy octopus from Leo, the main character, asking them for advice. They will explore and discuss how everyone is different and how it is important to be considerate and respectful to how individuals feel. They will celebrate the uniqueness of individuals, discuss the importance of inclusion and indirectly explore some of the considerations around autism. Children will have opportunities to talk about their feelings and what can trigger different feelings in different people. They will explore a range of emotion adjectives and the non-verbal cues that can accompany them. They will then go on a journey with Leo to investigate and learn all they can about octopuses. They will learn a range of skills building towards writing a fact file exhibiting all they have learned. This will be published as a brochure for the London Aquarium. Children will have opportunities to explore writing in simple past and present tense, using plurals and different sentence types. This Writing Root will be enriched by planning a trip to an aquarium to look at octopuses firsthand. A great non-fiction book to accompany this unit is Obsessive about Octopuses by Owen Davey.
The world was too bright for Leo.
And too loud.
"I must be living on the wrong planet," Leo thought.
Leo struggles to make sense of the world. He doesn't understand the other children in his class, and they don't seem to understand him. But then one day, Leo meets Maya.
Maya is an octopus, and the more Leo learns about her, the more he thinks that perhaps he isn't alone in this world, after all.
"The sensitive descriptions throughout the book of what it is like to have autism are accurate and perceptive on so many levels" (Professor Tony Attwood, author of Asperger's Syndrome: A Guide for Parents and Professionals).
This story shows a strong relationship between an octopus and a child with autism. The text has strong PSHE and science links. This text explores issues around neurodiversity and provides opportunities for discussion as well as exploring strategies to cope in a neurotypical world. The story also encourages children to be curious and reflect on their relationship with the natural world.
Autism, Asperger's syndrome, octopus, friendship, underwater worlds, science, neurodiversity
Date written: September 2021
View Leo and the Octopus Writing Root
