Tyrannosaurus Drip
This is an excerpt from the daybook I keep at work. Written, I notice, with the slightly insane bounciness that is part of my preschool teacher persona.
The preschool children are particularly enamored with Tyrannosaurus Drip - another wonderful story by Julia Donaldson (who in my opinion should be canonised or something). In the story, there are two clans of dinosaurs, the Duckbills and the T. Rexes, on different sides of a river. Each has their own clan culture and chant, and the landscape differs considerably. The story is about a duckbill who is accidentally raised by the T Rexes.
This story really lends itself to an exploration of geography, so we are planning to make a diorama to help us understand the book better. This morning in group time, we looked closely at the book, and worked out what was in each part of the landscape. This was what the preschoolers came up with.
Duckbill Land
· water
· lots of trees
· water weeds
· reeds
· ferns
· vines
T. Rex Land
· volcanos
· skeletons
· rock
· burned down trees
· water
· a spiky nest
· some plants
The River
· water weed etc.
· bones
· trilobites
· a waterfall
· a log
The visual literacy of pre literate children amazes me. They see things I simply don't notice, text obsessed creature that i am. They pointed out for example, that the parent T's can be distinguished not only by the subtle colour difference, but by the fact one has an overbite and the other a lantern jaw.
The preschool children are particularly enamored with Tyrannosaurus Drip - another wonderful story by Julia Donaldson (who in my opinion should be canonised or something). In the story, there are two clans of dinosaurs, the Duckbills and the T. Rexes, on different sides of a river. Each has their own clan culture and chant, and the landscape differs considerably. The story is about a duckbill who is accidentally raised by the T Rexes.
This story really lends itself to an exploration of geography, so we are planning to make a diorama to help us understand the book better. This morning in group time, we looked closely at the book, and worked out what was in each part of the landscape. This was what the preschoolers came up with.
Duckbill Land
· water
· lots of trees
· water weeds
· reeds
· ferns
· vines
T. Rex Land
· volcanos
· skeletons
· rock
· burned down trees
· water
· a spiky nest
· some plants
The River
· water weed etc.
· bones
· trilobites
· a waterfall
· a log
The visual literacy of pre literate children amazes me. They see things I simply don't notice, text obsessed creature that i am. They pointed out for example, that the parent T's can be distinguished not only by the subtle colour difference, but by the fact one has an overbite and the other a lantern jaw.