Animal Centre
Author: Julia Walshaw l Suitable for: Early Years, Key Stage 1, Planning
The Theme
Traditional tales – life processes and caring for living things – measurement and reading scales – chronological understanding
Background
The Curriculum
Knowledge and Understanding: Why people/animals do ‘bad’ things and what others can do to help for the overall good of the community.
That living things have needs in order to survive and prosper as part of a community.
Skills: Using and applying imagination – working together – asking questions – thinking about the needs of others - communication.
Values: That caring for other living things and trying to help them are important parts of being human.
Developing the Situation
Inquiry Questions
- What do animals need to survive?
- Why should we help animals?
- Should we discriminate when deciding who to help?
- Is our moral and emotional well being as important as our physical well being?
- Do ‘bad’ characters deserve to be helped?
- Should we impose our own morals and beliefs on others?
Situation
A range of animals from traditional tales are taken to the animal centre after suffering various injuries. Whilst at the animal centre, their physical injuries are healed. The issue of their moral and emotional well-being often arises, for is it responsible of the animal centre to release the ‘bad’ animals if they might cause further harm to others in their community? This animal centre therefore focuses on healing the animals’ moral character as well as their physical body.
Designing the Expert Frame
Team of Experts
An animal centre with a successful history of rescuing and caring for a range of animals from across the world, and where appropriate rehoming them in a suitable environment. The centre tries to cure all aspects, including moral and ethical.
Client(s)
Various clients from fictional traditional tales who need help, for example…
1. The woodcutter who wants to make the woods safer for himself, his family and his neighbours (Little Red Riding Hood)
2. Red Hen who is feeling guilty after causing Sly Fox’s burns and wants the animal centre check up on the fox (Sly Fox and Red Hen).
There are many more possibilities from various traditional tales!
Commission(s)
Various commissions from the clients listed above:
1. A woodcutter contacts the centre reporting a sighting of a wolf with a bump on his head and a large stitched up stomach (Little Red Riding Hood.) The woodcutter asks the animal centre to take the wolf away to treat him and to make the woods a safer place. Should the animal centre treat such a ‘bad’ animal? Should they return him to where he came from when he is healed?
2. Red Hen contacts the animal centre (Sly Fox and Red Hen). She caused Sly Fox to get burnt and is feeling guilty, but is too scared to go back and help him herself. She asks the animal centre to go and sort out the situation.
Again, there are many other possibilities!
Possible Steps in
1. Start through ICONIC representation. You can start by gathering the children round a large piece of paper, and drawing the wolf. Talk as you draw, guiding but not explaining. You might say something like, “you know sometimes animals in stories get into all sorts of problems. I’m going to draw something that has happened to this wolf.” Draw a big bump on the wolf’s head (from Grandma hitting it on the head), and large stitches down a bumpy tummy (from Grandma sewing onions into his stomach).
2. Discuss the wolf and which story it might be from. It doesn’t matter if they give the ‘right’ answer or not – if the children are not familiar with Little Red Riding Hood, you can read the story later, outside the frame, and piece together the ‘evidence’ of the wolf’s injuries.
3. Teacher in role (TIR): Tell the children that we are going to see someone important in the story. Negotiate and sign the role of a woodcutter, for example by putting on gloves. TIR: Woodcutter explains that he has seen this wolf in the woods. It looks like it has something wrong with it, but he has heard rumours that the wolf has done bad things so he doesn’t want to go near it. “I can’t possibly deal with it myself; I need to find somebody who really knows what to do with the wolf.” Leave TIR: “We’ll just leave the woodcutter there for a moment…’
4. Ask a general question e.g. “I wonder what people would need to help an animal like that?”
5. Task: Children have a sheet of paper each and go to draw a ‘tool kit’ for going to help the wolf. As they are drawing, go round and start discussing/ asking questions to support and extend their work. Through your questions you can start to sign the room as the animal centre – e.g. “Can you just show us where those special gloves are kept.” Give the children paper and blu tac to label the different parts of the centre. With your support, the children will start to refer to the animal centre from within.
It is difficult to advise beyond here, as the work will evolve your own way. It is highly likely that the team will go into the woods to try to capture then heal the wolf. During this time, the team’s HQ and area around it may well evolve, as well as the team’s history. Questions may arise as to what to do with the wolf when his physical wounds are healed. Should he go back into the woods? Should the animal centre try to change his behaviour patterns?
Once the children are familiar and comfortable with the work of the animal centre, introduce other clients and commissions with different physical, moral and emotional needs – more animals from the traditional tales as described above.