Writing a Viking legend using Dance and oral story-telling Year 3 at Gloucester primary school BCAP project written by Philippa Beagley and Kathy Bor

Vocabulary banks and development of super sentences on the learning wall

Dance introduction - A group task to make huge tidal wave from 4 people

Dance introduction – group task to make a Viking dragon boat with 5 people

Shared writing to write a paragraph of a Viking legend, using dance, oral story-telling and visual images as stimulus

Students found it helpful to order the visual images as a prompt for the structure of the paragraph, and to rehearse the writing orally first, using the pictures.

The boys, especially, responded well to the opportunity for sprawling on the floor, being able to move about, and the use of large pens and paper.

Mixed ability groups enabled everyone to contribute and achieve without the pressure of having to write.

Spelling was not an issue in these sessions, as work was transcribed onto the computer, and copies stuck in the childrens books.

The lower attaining children had the confidence to write while supported by an adult or their peers.

Rehearsing for a performance of their writing – one child will act as story-teller while the others move

After two weeks of input and immersion the children plan to write their own Viking legend

Children are wearing writing cloaks, fastened with Viking brooches made during art sessions

The brooches are 3D, made from card, and burnished with gold paint

Examples of shared writing and super sentences are displayed across the room

As Eric continued his journey to discover new lands they saw something but they did not know what it was. Then they took a closer look and a tornado came crashing over the sea. Also they saw a huge wave coming towards them and started to panic. One stormy night Eric Bloodaxe and some Vikings sailed across a huge wave. The boat started rocking and crashing madly. The sky started getting covered with clouds and many Vikings fell out of the boat and died by drowning. The winds died and the rain started to calm down a little and you could see a little bit of stars. Alfie, Damilola

A few days later Eric and his men sailed through the stormy sea. Suddenly they saw Greenland. They jumped out of their boat and crept through the village and they took their sword out and went to the villagers houses and killed many people and stole all the gold that they could find. They decided to stay in Greenland and they kept some slaves. Emdadul, Mustapha

When you look at their sentence structure this also has improved through the oral work that theyve had…. They have developed confidence and seen what they could achieve Luba [Year 3 coordinator, Gloucester ] I cant over emphasise the impact that this has had on the whole class, particularly the less able children. One of my students usually writes 2 lines and yesterday he wrote a whole paragraph David Fielding [ Year 3 teacher, Gloucester]