8-10 yrs old
Reading and Writing
The sequence aims to engage the reader through exploration of this powerfully written story.
July 13, 2018
The Iron Giant
Clip from the movie
Students will use Minecraft in creative mode to create a model of a setting in the story Iron Man by Ted Hughes. Students create their interpretation of the world and its characters introduced to them through the reading of the story.
'Where had he come from? Nobody knows.'
'How was he made? Nobody knows.'
' All the people of the village think that the Iron Man is a monster. He has been eating every single piece of metal in sight. He has been destroying farms everywhere. They might all be right. But will he change from villain to hero when the real monster comes?
Discussions and planning will take place in line with the descriptions provided in the story. This will enhance their abilities to create a representation of the Iron Man and the first land that he visits.
1. Read the first few chapters and focus on what the text says explicitly about the setting and make logical inferences from it.
2. Make a list of words and phrases that the author uses to describe the locations in the story.
3. Using Google Earth or Google Maps, have students research the areas of the world in order to gain understanding of the terrain from the story, a country town, farm land, ocean cliffs etc. (Based in England)
4. Have students research farms they may want to create. Help them manage the scale and complexity of their choice based on Minecraft skill.
5. Help them find and save images of their chosen landmark from multiple angles.
6. If possible, allow students to create a display of their images around the room for easy reference
7. Reflect on the Iron Mans Size 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 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.
8. Discussion - The Iron Man likes eating metal. How many different types of metal can you think of? Can you plan a tasty meal for him using different metal objects? How can we represent the machinery in Minecraft?
9. In 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 an IWB. 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.
10. Have students in groups use Minecraft in creative mode to create a model of their understanding of a setting in the story based on the information found in the book and the research they have done.
Group 1 -3 Creating the farms
Group 4 Creating the scrap yard
Group 5- The Pit to trap the iron man
Group 6 – The Iron Man Creating Iron Man
Group 7 - Machinery
Understand the importance of digital citizenship and what it looks like in the context of a shared Minecraft world.
Describe the basic requirements for a farming area.
Design and build an accommodation structure that fulfils the needs of a farming community represented throughout the story.
Discuss the imagery used to describe the Iron Man.
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