Usain Bolt - The Boy Who Learned To Fly
Click the image to watch the animation and see teaching ideas.

BBC OLYMPICS Trailer - Rio

The BBC have done it again and brought out a brilliant trailer for their sports coverage which is a gift for teachers. 
Never gonna break me shows animals in the rain forest in training to become athletes, which they turn into at the end. 

Lesson ideas:
  • Descriptions of the rain forest, 
  • Descriptions of the creatures in the forest, developing show not tell before the reveal, for example describing the creatures eyes in the trees, their powerfully muscled shoulders covered in fur as black as the night before revealing it is a cheetah. 
  • Research forest creatures and create fact files
  • .Linked to the research find out which creatures would be suited to which sports.
    • Cheetah = sprint
    • Migratory birds = marathon
    • Flamingos = Gymnast (balancing on one leg) 
    • Leaf cutter ants = weight lifting 
    • Gorilla = wrestler 
  • Create a commentary between one or more of the creatures.  Use a human model and adapt.
  • Describe in 1st person monologue becoming the creature from human to creature or creature to human - human to creature could describe the heightening of the senses, the ability to move in certain ways, the sensation of having a tail etc.   Lines such as suddenly I could smell the scent of meat lingering in the air, it hadn't been there before. I heard a noise in the grass in front of me, the sound of a mouse breathing etc etc
  • In KS1 you could compare to 'If I were a lion'
  • Poetry - Create 'If I were...' poems
    • If I were a monkey I'd climb the tallest tree.
    • If I were a monkey no hunters would catch me. 
    • If I were a monkey I'd swing from branch to vine. 
    • If I were a monkey I'd be cheeky all the time.    (sorry I wrote that in 2 mins) 
  • Click here for some more poetry resources from Jo Payne @MrsPTeach
  • Create similes and metaphors to decribe the athletes using animal characteristics. 
  • Compare human records with animal records from Guinness Book of Records for example the world record for the highest jump by a dog is 172.7cm - the high jump record for humans is 245 cm. Students could find out if humans or animals would win overall. (idea from @teslagirls2 on twitter) 
  • Link to the Carnival of the animals - ask children to listen and see if they can guess which animals are being portrayed in the music and why they think this is the case, maybe they can create their own to go with this. 
  • Link to Rainforest Stories, The Catch and Ride of Passage in the 'Other Cultures Shed'