The activity I would choose is Space and Aliens.
The Trigger: The Smeds and the Smoos by Julian Donaldson
We will begin the lesson by delving into what prior knowledge the children have on space and aliens. We will discuss the different planets in the solar system and watch a short video/song on the planets on YouTube.
We will then focus our attention to the planet Mars and watch a short video on Mars and its landscape – ‘What if we had to live on Mars’ by Dr Binocs Show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oupKhIPIh7g. We will discuss living on Mars and what it would be like for humans. The conversation will then progress onto ‘What do you think a Martian would look like? Do they think it would look like the ‘Smeds or the Smoos’? We will sketch and discuss our Martian and the similarities and differences compared to humans. We will then try and create the Martian that we have drawn using different materials.
English – The book ‘The Smeds and the Smoos’ will also feature in English as we explore the theme of the book and what the book might be about – describe how the families are the same/different.
Maths: The Martian figures will be used for early number work and classifying.
History: The sequence of the story.
SPHE – similarities and differences between people.
Art – create another planet that The Smeds and the Smoos could live on.