Amanda’s butterfly

A class of five year olds are listening to a story with the teacher. They have just come in from playing outside after a sudden downpour of rain. They talk about what's happening in the story and make links with their experience of the real world.

Good for looking at

• Listening
• Communication
• Understanding the world
• Sustained shared thinking
• Adult led activity
• Effective practice

 

A class of five year olds are listening to a story with the teacher. Previously they were all playing outside when there was a sudden down pour. They talk about what’s happening in the story.

Notice

• How are the children learning? Which areas of development, engagement and characteristics of learning can you observe?
• In what ways does the adult support the children’s learning?
• What is valuable about the choice of book as a learning resource?

Reflect

What are your thoughts about:

• How the children were communicating and what they understand?
• How the children are learning during story time?
• The role of the adult in this interaction – how did she support the children?
• The value of story time?
• How effective was the chosen story?

Respond

What would you do to:

• Support the children’s enquiries about the the world and how it works?
• Use the children’s interest in certain parts of the story to continue investigating in the classroom?

What next:

• Do you need to make more time for story telling in your setting? How do you make sure all of the children are engaged in the story if you have a large group? How do you change your style of story telling depending on the age of your children?