Literacy
resource
Travel Smart Story Telling
ABOUT THE RESOURCE
EXPECTATIONS
This resource has been developed as a creative way of deliver a road safety and sustainable
travel message through story telling.
at the end of this unit
most children will:
Understand the message and structure of the story and be
able to plan their own story using a setting, characters,
complication and resolution of their own.
some children will not
have made so much
progress and will:
Sequence the story events and with help of others, alter the
events in the story to feature alternative characters or
outcomes
some children will have
progressed further and
will:
Choose words, and phrases to develop and explore the poetic
form of the story and incorporate this into their own writing.
WHERE THE UNIT FITS IN
This resource could link to work looking at narrative types - dilemma or poetry
(reading & response) After reading the story children can:
retell the story focusing on the sequence of events.
Identify the characters. Use role-play to retell the story from one character's point of view and
explore different courses of action.
Children select a character and describe what they do in the story, orally and in writing.
(Analysis): Review the story. Discuss the way that one event leads to another.
Begin to tell another story. Invite predictions about characters' actions and the sequence of
events.
(Writing): Demonstrate how to plan the structure of a story: opening, something happens,
events to sort it out, ending. Demonstrate how to write the beginning of the story.
focus could be made on effective use of language, poetic form and rhyme.
Children plan and tell story. They use the structure from shared writing to write their own
complete stories.
VOCABULARY
Children use a variety of adjectives to describe setting and characters, as well verbs to describe
their actions.
RESOURCES
Bloo the Gnu story book – or Caribou’s Journey PowerPoint. (available from Derbyshire County
Council) or Turtles Tale.
EXTENSION AND FUTURE LEARNING
Design and make puppets or masks and use drama or ICT stop frame animation to perform the
story.
Make links to wider issues surrounding sustainable travel, safety and the global dimension –
consider how people might travel in other countries, the influence of travel choices on climate
change. See
Travel the World with Travel Smart Green Flag for development website for other ideas and
links.
ENRICHMENT
Visit the road safety web site to loan the role play resources. (Derbyshire Schools only)
Integrate the theme in to Travel Smart week, World Book day, national poetry day, or road
safety week
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
POSSIBLE TEACHING ACTIVITIES
LEARNING OUTCOMES
CHILDREN SHOULD LEARN
POINTS TO NOTE
CHILDREN
READING AND RESPONSE
Sequence story events
Introduce the story characters.
Invite predictions as to what the story might be about and how
Understand the moral or they characters might act.
message of the story
Read the story (either Bloo the Gnu Caribou’s journey or
Turtles Tale)
Understand:
time and sequential relationships
link story themes with own experience
Making of puppets/masks could link to
Technology – moving parts, joining
materials
The story could be used to make links
to:
promoting and encouraging walking
identifying issues regarding polar
environments and global warming
Use puppets or masks to retell the story.
Identify how each character acted in the story and draw
parallels to real life situations.
types of crossings
Zebra
Pedestrian Light Controlled
Pedestrian User Friendly intelligent
Two Can cross (bikes & pedestrians)
Ask:
What does the river/sea represent?
What do the crocodiles/killer whales/piranhas represent?
Who is the gnu/caribou/turtle like?
How did the other characters think they could cross the
river/sea?
How does this reflect some people’s behaviour on the road?
What is the message of the story? – i.e. use a crossing; stop,
look and listen.
Consolidate children’s understanding of different types of
crossing and how to use them safely.
ANALYSIS
Understand and identify
the structure of a story
Use the premise of a variety of well known stories to identify:
the setting
the plot
the main characters – hero, villain and mentor
the problem/resolution
message
Understand reasons for events in stories
Some stories have more than one villain
or hero, mentor – some characters are
shape shifters – who role is unclear and
changes through the story.
The story may also have other underlying
messages.
Reflect how the school travel story fits this sequence and how
the setting and characters can be changed to deliver the
message of using an alternative type of crossing.
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LEARNING OBJECTIVES
POSSIBLE TEACHING ACTIVITIES
LEARNING OUTCOMES
CHILDREN SHOULD LEARN
WRITING
How to plan and tell a
story
POINTS TO NOTE
CHILDREN
Identify a different type of crossing (toucan, pelican or zebra)
Consider and agree a setting that would suit this character.
Think about which other characters would suit this setting and
the role they will play in the story.
How will they act?
What will they do?
How might this relate to a real life experience?
Use:
story structure to write about own experience;
The setting could reflect place linked to
Geography topic
language of time to structure a series of events.
Use the internet or library to look at
different habitat and associated animals –
or use those suggested with this scheme
of work.
Collect words to describe the setting, characters and their
actions.
Identify the mentor, the hero, the villain and other characters
and assign words or phrases to these characters, look for
words that are particularly effective or fit the pattern and rhyme
of the story.
Working in groups – give each group a character and the words
used to describe them.
Decide, and describe in the writing, what the character is like,
their action and result of this.
Use ICT to write and edit the story
Each group present back their portion of the story to create an
overall story. Use words to connect the sequence of events –
i.e. next, then, after that
Children could create their book and
illustrate it, for reading to others.
Evaluate the effectiveness of the story and edit to improve.
Are there any other environment or safety references in the
story? How could these be used/developed
Present the final version
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