KS: Lower KS2
Year Group: Year 4
Literary Theme: Unearthing Civilisations
Author(s): Grahame Baker-Smith
This is a three-session spelling seed for the book The Ever-Changing Earth by Grahame Baker Smith. Below is the coverage from Appendix 1 of the National Curriculum 2014.
Spelling Seeds have been designed to complement Writing Roots by providing weekly, contextualised sequences of sessions for the teaching of spelling that include open-ended investigations and opportunities to practise and apply within meaningful and purposeful contexts, linked (where relevant) to other areas of the curriculum and a suggestion of how to extend the investigation into home learning.
There is a Spelling Seed session for every week of the associated Writing Root.
centuries, guide, history, learn, material, reign, believe, different, interest, popular, exercise, opposite, position
The /I/ sound spelt y elsewhere than at the end of words
The suffix -ous
A Writing Root is available for The Ever-Changing Earth.
Informal letters, explanatory leaflets, list poems, dictionary of terms
Narrative sequel as a class book
3 weeks, 15 sessions
This is a three-week Writing Root for The Ever-Changing Earth by Grahame Baker-Smith in which children learn about the history of planet earth within a narrative context. The sequence of sessions starts with the arrival of an ammonite in the classroom and a letter from the main character of the book with questions for the class to answer. Children go on to identify terminology and respond to Kûn’s questions. They create an explanation leaflet for the Northern Lights and go on to continue Kûn’s cyclical story.
Kûn likes to imagine life on Earth millions of years ago when the sky boomed with the wild beat of pterosaur wings. Thousands of miles away, Solveig gazes at the sky as she admires the beauty of the northern lights. Learn how these children are connected in this spellbinding journey through the evolution of Earth’s surface from water world to ice age to the familiar landscape we know today.
This is from significant author and Greenaway awarded illustrator, Grahame Baker-Smith, who has created a trilogy of books about nature and the world; this is the third in the series, although they are unrelated in narrative. The book expresses awe and wonder through showing the passing of time. The mesmerising artwork showcases natural phenomena around the world through the eyes of two children who live on opposite sides of the Earth to each other. Relevant curriculum links include themes of environment and natural disasters/phenomena, as well as understanding that the planet is a legacy.
Planet Earth, evolution, natural phenomena, dinosaurs, natural history, looking after the planet, timelines
Date written: May 2023
View The Ever-Changing Earth Writing Root
