The Iron Man by Ted Hughes
A three/four week teaching sequence
The Iron Man is a short children’s novel by the poet Ted Hughes. Written forty years ago
this modern fairy tale has become a children’s classic. Hughes instantly engages the
reader with a dramatic opening and memorable language. The novel tells the story of a
mysterious iron giant whose destructive quest for food alarms the local farming
community. During the novel The Iron Man turns from villain to hero in the eyes of the
public as the world faces a bigger threat, the arrival of a colossal space monster. The
story unfolds through the eyes of a young boy, Hogarth, who forms a friendship with the
Iron Man.
The sequence aims to engage the reader through exploration of this powerfully written
story. Children learn to empathise with the feelings of the characters through drama
approaches and writing in role. They develop their abilities to form and give opinions
through taking part in discussions about the central dilemma; what to do with The Iron
Man. Children will develop their own ability to use language creatively through listening
to the strongly patterned and descriptive language read aloud, re reading, shared poetry
writing and performance.
Key teaching approaches
Reading aloud and re reading
Drawing and annotating
Role play hot seating freeze frame
Writing in role
Shared writing
Visualisation
Discussion and debate
Cross curricular opportunities:
Maths Estimation and measurement of length, area and perimeter
Science Sort materials to find suitable ‘food’ for The Iron Man.
Find out about space, the solar system
Construct a circuit to light up the Iron man’s eyes.
ICT
Explore control devices using an ‘Iron man roamer’ - guiding him into the pit or
The scrap yard
Art
Class or individual collages of the space-bat-angel-dragon ‘When all his fatness
had been changed by the fires of the sun into precious stones.’
Music Create mechanical music to represent The Iron Man or the music of the spheres
Dance Create group or individual dances linking mechanical movements to mechanical
music represent the Iron Man.
Session One.
Reading aloud, re reading and performance reading
Read the opening of the story aloud until:
‘A few rocks tumbled with him.
Then
Silence.’
Invite the children to respond to this and encourage discussion by posing questions
such as ‘What kind of story do you think this might be? Or ‘What might happen next?’
Have the text of the first two pages displayed on an IWB or a flip chart. Read these two
pages again inviting the children to join in with the refrain ‘Nobody knows’ in the style
© CLPE/ SM/Power of Reading Project 2007
The Iron Man by Ted Hughes
A three/four week teaching sequence
of a ‘call and response’. It would be helpful to highlight this phrase in the text to
indicate when the children should read.
Ask half of the children to stand in a space and imagine they are the Iron Man standing
on the edge of the cliff turning their heads to the left and right while the other half use
their voices, or alternatively musical instruments, to make the sounds of the sea and the
wind. Then repeat this activity asking two children to read the opening at the same time
to create a mini performance of the opening of the book.
NB If space is limited it might be better to plan to use the hall for this activity.
For homework:
Ask the children to draw a picture to illustrate the opening of the story.
Session Two
Drawing and Annotating
Read the rest of the first chapter. Ask children to work with a partner and give each pair
a copy of the opening of the story. Ask them to reread this together and then to make a
large drawing of the Iron Man annotated with all the information they have found out so
far. Gather the class together and record the information collected onto a flip chart
under the heading ‘What we know about the Iron Man’. Then ask children to go back to
their annotated drawings and think about what they would like to know, the puzzles in
the text. Hughes has included several in the story opening (such as, ‘Where has he come
from?’) the children could use these and then see if they can add more of their own.
Start a wall display with the children’s annotated drawings and their questions.
During art sessions the class could make a large collage or 3D version of the Iron Man
as the centrepiece of the display.
Session three
Role play and writing in role
Start the session by reading the rest of the first chapter.
Ask the children to think about the arrival of the Iron Man from the gulls’ viewpoint.
Talk with the children about what they would have seen. Ask them to imagine what the
gulls might have said to each other or to their chicks about what they saw on the beach.
Organise the children into groups of four and ask them to role play this imaginary
scene. Share some of these ideas as a class and scribe a selection of the phrases the
children use during their role-play. Then ask the children to choose some of their ideas
about what the gulls might be saying or thinking and record them on thought or speech
bubbles. Images of the gulls and their speech bubbles could be added to the wall
display.
In preparation for the next session ask the children to measure their bedrooms.
Session four
Visualising and drawing comparisons
Talk about the size of the children’s bedroom and agree an average size with them.
Then in the playground or the hall measure this out with the children and draw the Iron
Man’s head ‘shaped like a dustbin but as big as a bedroom’ using chalk or masking
tape. Ask the class to sit inside the shape to visualise and experience and how small
they are in comparison with the Iron Man. Then, in the classroom, ask the children to
work with a partner and write about the shape and size of other parts of the Iron Man’s
body, drawing comparisons in the same way as the text. For example, his body was
shaped like a drum but as big as a swimming pool. Use the [grid] attached to help the
© CLPE/ SM/Power of Reading Project 2007
The Iron Man by Ted Hughes
A three/four week teaching sequence
children organise their ideas. Share the descriptions as a class and ask each pair to
choose one or two to copy and add to the wall display.
Session five
Visualising and mind maps
Read the first two pages of the second chapter aloud. Ask the children to close their
eyes and visualise the scene by the stream when Hogarth saw the Iron Man for the first
time. Ask them to imagine they are Hogarth and think about what they can see, hear
and feel. Share some of these as a class. Make a collection of the words and phrases the
children use when they describe the scene on a flipchart or onto separate cards and
then demonstrate how to record these onto a mindmap. Then ask the children to work
individually and create their own mind maps of the scene. This will help the children
when they write in role as Hogarth in the next session.
Session six
Feeeze frame and writing in role
Organise the class into groups of four and ask them to freeze-frame the moment when
Hogarth arrives home to show how each of his family is reacting. Share some of these
asking children to voice their character’s thoughts at that point in the story. Spend some
time focusing on Hogarth and discussing his reactions to what he has seen.
Then give all the children a mini book to use as Hogarth’s diary. Click here for
instructions on how to make a simple book. Ask them to write in role as if they are
Hogarth and describe the night he saw the Iron Man. Encourage the children to use the
mind maps they prepared during the last session to support them as they write.
Session seven
Discussion and debate
Continue reading chapter two until the point when the farmers decide they will have to
do something for themselves:
‘They couldn’t call the police or the Army, because nobody would believe them about this
Iron Monster. They would have to do something for themselves’.
Have a whole class discussion about the problem of the Iron Man, asking the class to
imagine they are the farmers meeting to discuss the situation. Taking the role of chair
of the meeting yourself, scribe the farmers’ concerns about the Iron Man. Then ask the
children to work in small groups and discuss what to do in role as the farmers. Still in
role, draw the class back together and end the ‘farmers’ meeting by listing the ideas and
asking the children to vote on the favoured course of action.
Finish the session by reading to the end of the chapter and allowing time for the
children to respond to this.
Session eight
Re reading and writing in role
Re read the last two pages of chapter two (The Return of the Iron Man) which describes
Hogarth’s idea. The children could join in with the clinking sounds using triangles. Ask
the children to talk with a partner about why they think Hogarth feels guilty about
trapping the Iron Man. Then give the children a copy of the [mini journal] and ask them
to use the first page as to write in role as Hogarth, describing the night he trapped the
Iron Man, showing not only what happened but also how he felt about this.
© CLPE/ SM/Power of Reading Project 2007
The Iron Man by Ted Hughes
A three/four week teaching sequence
Session nine
Shared writing
Before this session read chapter three, ‘What’s to be done with the Iron Man’. Talk about
the scrap yard and all the things that were there. Have the section of the text that
describes the scrap yard displayed for the children to see on a flipchart or an IWB. Click
[here] to download a copy of the extract. What does the Iron Man think of the scrap
yard? Pick out some of the phrases describing the objects in the scrap yard eg greasy
black stove. Talk to the children about other metal objects that might be in the scrap
yard and ways to describe them. Ask the children to turn to a partner and using mini
whiteboards scribe about three phrases describing the objects in the yard. Ask each pair
to select one of these to read out and then put their ideas together on a flip chart or the
IWB to create a class scrap yard poem. Ask the class to help you improve the rhythm and
structure of the poem. For example, phrases such as ‘clink clink’ could be used as a
refrain. Read the poem out as a class. The poem could be displayed on the wall and
possibly performed to another class or during an assembly.
For homework ask the children to write a menu for the Iron Man in their mini journal.
Session ten
Poetry writing
Ask children to write their own poem, about the Iron Man this time, They could use the
images they created on day four and the puzzles or questions about the Iron man
displayed around the room to help them create a poem which not only describes the
Iron man but also reflects the language of the text. They could use a repeated phrase
such as the ‘clink clink’ in the class poem or Nobody knows to help them structure their
Iron Man poems.
Session eleven
Shared writing and drawing
Read chapter four, ‘The Space Being and the Iron Man’. Look at a globe or large map
find Australia and ask children to think about the size of this creature. Ask children to
imagine the world’s reaction to this dramatic event asking questions such as ‘How might
the leaders of the world be feeling?’ ‘What could be done?’ ‘What might the newspaper
headlines say?’
It would be helpful to have a few headlines to display, which demonstrate journalistic
style. Compose headlines with the class as a shared writing activity. Ask the children to
choose one of these headlines and then draw a picture and write a caption to illustrate
this dramatic event.
For homework the children could write a newspaper report of the Iron Man’s challenge
in their mini journals
Before the next session read chapter five, the ‘Iron Man’s Challenge’. Find time to
discuss the children’s responses to the end of the story. What they liked or disliked and
anything they would have liked to ask the author.
Session twelve
Visualising and responding in role
Organise the class into groups of four or five and ask them to visualise the scene and
think about what eyewitnesses might have said about the spectacle of the Iron Man and
the space monster engaged in the challenge. One child could take on the role of
interviewer, perhaps with a microphone as a prop, asking each witness in turn for
© CLPE/ SM/Power of Reading Project 2007
The Iron Man by Ted Hughes
A three/four week teaching sequence
comments. Then ask the children to record their comments onto ‘post-it’ notes or in
speech bubbles. Gather the class together and ask the children to read out their
comments to indicate the crowd’s reaction. The notes could then be stuck onto a central
board.
Session thirteen
Hot seating
Discuss with the children the kinds of questions they would ask the Iron Man if they
interviewed him and how he might respond. Ask them to work with a partner and jot
down some questions to ask the Iron Man and think about what his answers might be.
Then ask them to role-play the interview. Share some of these as a class, with one child
in role as the Iron Man and questions from the rest of the class or from a single
interviewer. If the children are not familiar with ‘hot seating’ then demonstrate by taking
the ‘hot seat’ yourself.
Session fourteen and fifteen
Narrative writing in role
Start the session by discussing the ideas generated about the Iron Man and his story
during the hotseating activity.
Ask the children to imagine they are the Iron Man and write a prequel to the book from
his viewpoint, unravelling the mystery of where the Iron Man has come from and why he
is there.
Allow time at the end of session fourteen and the beginning of session fifteen for the
children to share their ideas.
If additional time is available the children could work with a partner to edit and improve
their work and then write a best copy of their prequel to be included in a class book.
The children could continue with the other activities in the mini journals for homework
or during class reading sessions.
After finishing the book watch The Iron Giant (Warner Bros
1999) and compare the film interpretation with the original
text
© CLPE/ SM/Power of Reading Project 2007