Farm Fun Animals

Overview

In this second lesson of the “Farm Fun Learning Adventure” unit, students explore farm animals (cow, pig, chicken) through listening, speaking, sorting, and creating. They practise early word making through simple animal labels and describe how animals are shown using blocks and animal figures.

Learning intentions

• Students will recognise and say farm animal names and animal sounds (e.g., moo, oink, cluck).
• Students will sort animal figures by type and place them on matching colour/shape spaces.
• Students will make a simple animal scene using building blocks and figures, and talk about what they made.
• Students will attempt to write simple labels for animals using initial and extended phonics (e.g., c-ow, p-ig, ch-ick-en).

Success criteria

• I can point to the correct animal when I hear the sound or animal word.
• I can sort the animals into the correct farm groups on the mat.
• I can create a small farm scene and explain it using a simple sentence starter.
• I can write or trace an animal label and show the sounds I hear.

Curriculum links

• Visual Arts — CA1-VIS-01: make artworks using materials/techniques to represent subject matter and ideas, and describe how artists convey ideas in artworks.
• Phonic knowledge — EN1-PHOKW-01: use initial and extended phonics to decode and encode words when reading and creating texts.
• Creating written texts — EN1-CWT-01: plan and create simple short texts for a purpose using vocabulary and sentence structure.
• Spelling — EN1-SPELL-01: apply phonological/orthographic generalisations and strategies when spelling simple words.

Lesson structure (240 minutes)

1. 0–15 min · Welcome routine and animal sounds. Teacher greets students, plays/uses animal sound prompts (voice or prepared sound), and introduces three animal figures; students respond by choosing the matching figure and saying the sound.

2. 15–45 min · Direct teach: Meet the animals. Teacher holds up cow, pig, chicken and models key words and sounds with clear mouth movements; students repeat, then match each animal word card to the correct figure (teacher supports pointing and early word recognition).

3. 45–80 min · Sorting stations: cows, pigs, chickens. Teacher sets up a sorting mat with three labelled spaces (simple pictures/words) and provides blocks and animal figures; students sort by type, placing each figure into the correct space and using “This is a…” to tell what they sorted.

4. 80–110 min · Building farm scenes (blocks + figures). Teacher shows a quick example: a “farm pen” made from blocks and 1–3 animal figures; students build their own small scene and place animals carefully, then describe what they built using a starter such as “I built a pen for…”

5. 110–135 min · Phonics focus: animal labels (choose one). Teacher displays label cards for cow, pig, chicken and points to sounds; students choose a label to write or trace, saying the sounds as they go (teacher prompts with initial sounds and common sound patterns, without requiring perfect spelling).

6. 135–155 min · Shared writing: one sentence text. Teacher demonstrates a very short sentence plan: “I see a ___.” on a wipeable board or paper strip; students participate by choosing the animal word, then the teacher writes while students echo-read and attempt the word with phonics support.

7. 155–185 min · Second building round: add details. Teacher prompts students to add one detail to their artwork (e.g., a barn area, a fence, or more blocks for ground); students add and place the remaining animals, then tell one additional idea: “I added…” or “The animals are…”

8. 185–220 min · Art describing and turn-taking talk. Teacher uses sentence starters and asks: “Which animal is this?” “How do you know?” “What did you make?”; students take turns to describe their scene while the teacher listens for use of animal names and simple descriptions.

9. 220–240 min · Clean up and exit check. Teacher organises a quick tidy-up routine and finishes with a brief check: teacher says a sound, students show the animal figure; students also show their chosen label card (written/traced) to confirm participation.

Resources

• Cow, pig, and chicken animal figures (small)
• Building blocks (variety of sizes) and/or cardboard block-like pieces
• Sorting mat (three sections) with picture supports and/or simple word labels
• Label cards: cow, pig, chicken (with clear initial/extended sound emphasis)
• Sentence starter strips: “I see a ___.” and “I built a pen for ___.”
• Paper for tracing/writing labels, crayons/markers, pencils
• Visual sound prompts (teacher-made picture cards) or printed sound cue cards
• Glue sticks or reusable tape (optional)
• Timer and visual schedule cards for the lesson

Assessment

• Teacher observation during sorting: can the student match sounds/words to correct animals and place figures accurately.
• Writing/trace check: students attempt a label using phonics strategies (e.g., they represent the initial sound they hear).
• Speaking check: students use a simple sentence starter to describe their artwork (e.g., “I built a pen for…”).

Differentiation

• Support: provide picture-only label options, tracing first, and consistent sentence starters; allow pointing/choosing before full verbal responses.
• Support for early writers: accept invented spelling for labels if the initial/known sound is represented; use teacher scribing for the shared sentence.
• Extension: students who finish early can add an extra animal from a prepared set (only if available) or write a second label with the same phonics routine.
• EAL/SEN: pre-teach mouth movements for key sounds, use consistent gestures for “moo/oink/cluck,” and accept non-verbal responses (pointing, matching) while gradually building verbal participation.