Use natural history clips from Sir David Attenborough to spark excitement about fronted adverbials in KS2…
In this lesson, your pupils will be transported to the Namib Desert. Introduce them to the fascinating nighttime world of the aptly named marshmallow frog.
After watching a short film clip of this desert-dweller attempting to catch juicy termites, children will have opportunities to read, discuss and write fronted adverbial sentences about the stumpy, slow-moving amphibian and her sandy habitat.
The lesson is based on material from the Natural Curriculum. This is a teaching and learning platform designed to improve children’s knowledge, understanding and interest in the natural world.
KS2 fronted adverbials learning objectives
- Craft sentences with fronted adverbials showing where, when, how and how often actions occur
- Use ambitious vocabulary in descriptive fronted sentences about marshmallow frogs
- Deepen science knowledge of adaptation and food chains
- Develop oracy through rich discussion, turn-taking and active listening
Starter activity
Play a clip from A Perfect Planet showing a marshmallow frog waddling across the Namib Desert in search of termites.
Use Google Earth to locate the desert and help children build a strong sense of place. Highlight that, unusually for an amphibian, the frog lives far from water, linking this to prior learning about animal classification in science.
Deepen curiosity by asking: would you rather live beside a cool pond or survive in the hot desert? Follow with a short hot-seating oracy task, where partners take turns as reporter and marshmallow frog. Encourage the reporters to ask probing follow-on questions.
David Millington teaches across the primary age range in Bristol and works with the Educational Recording Agency, where he is the creator and producer of the multi-award winning Natural Curriculum teaching and learning platform.
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