Teaching Drama: Autumn lesson plan

Here's a new drama class that I really enjoyed doing with Year 1 and 2 of Primary; Autumn and Scarecrows. Most of the students have been learning English at school since they were 3 years old, so by this time they have a very good understanding and are starting to gain confidence speaking.

Drama lesson: Autumn and Scarecrows

The lesson starts off with a quick discussion about the different things that happen in Autumn. I try and teach them as much new vocabulary as possible, and consolidate any words they already know. I like to talk about how they feel in autumn, what we see and how things change, and the typical things that we see and do during this time of year.

This leads my nicely onto the second part, where we look at scarecrows; what they are and what they do. I show them a short clip of the scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz, and then we sing and dance "Dingly-dangly Scarecrow". 

After that, I read them the story "Scarecrow's Wedding" by Julia Donaldson. It's a fantastic story and is beautifully illustrated and always seems to capture their attention.

To finish the class (if I have time), I like to teach them the song "Nut Tree", also by Julia Donaldson. It's a nice song which has simple actions and is the perfect to finish the class.