Farms and Families

Overview

In this first lesson of “Farm Engineers and Problem Solvers”, students explore what a farm is and why farms are important in their local community. They learn through a teacher story, picture prompts, and short comprehension checks.

Learning intentions

Students will be able to:

• identify what farms are (where people grow food and care for animals)
• connect key details from a story to picture clues
• retell simple information using sentence starters
• notice and respond to new words about farms

Success criteria

Students can:

• tell one thing a farm has (plants, animals, people, machines)
• name one way farms help our community (food, jobs, places)
• answer questions using “I think… because…” or “I remember that…”

Curriculum links

• English: EN1-RECOM-01 — students comprehend independently read texts by activating background and word knowledge, connecting ideas across sentences and whole text, and monitoring/recalling details.
• History (Stage 1 focus): Students develop early understanding of change and continuity in familiar local contexts by identifying features of places in the community and how people use resources to meet needs.
• Cross-curriculum capability: Literacy — students use listening, visuals, and sentence starters to interpret meaning and express ideas.

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Welcome and routine. Teacher gathers students on the mat, reviews classroom listening expectations, and shows a “farm” photo collage; students do a quick turn-and-talk: “What do you notice?”
2. 5–10 min · Activate background knowledge. Teacher asks 2 questions (“Have you visited a farm?” “What did you see or smell?”) and records key student words on an ideas chart; students point to one idea on the chart that matches their experience.
3. 10–20 min · Story introduction (teacher read-aloud). Teacher reads a short age-appropriate story about a family visiting a farm (with clear repetition of key ideas: plants, animals, food, caring, and helpers). Students hold up an “I’m thinking” card when they hear something new and place a simple emoji sticky-note beside a picture during pauses.
4. 20–28 min · Visuals and key words. Teacher displays 4 farm pictures (field/vegetables, barn/animals, farmhouse/people, and a vehicle/machine like a tractor) and introduces 5 key words with actions: farm, grow, care, animal, food. Students match a word card to the correct picture and repeat chorally.
5. 28–38 min · Comprehension check (connect sentences). Teacher re-reads the story but stops after each short section and asks one question that requires connecting details across sentences:

• “Where did the family go and what did they see first?”
• “What did they do to care for the animals?”
• “How did the farm help the community?” Students answer using sentence starters on the board (“First…”, “Then…”, “Because…”).

6. 38–45 min · Independent/partner “Think and Draw”. Students receive a half-page prompt: “A farm helps us by…” and a box of farm pictures. Students choose one picture and draw it, then complete one sentence with support (sentence frame strip: “A farm helps us by ____.”). Teacher circulates, checking understanding and using prompts to recall details.
7. 45–55 min · Group drama link: act and retell. In small groups of 4–5, students choose one farm role from picture cards (grower, animal carer, farm worker, visitor). Teacher demonstrates one simple action sequence (walk, “care”, “feed”, “plant”, “pick”). Students perform a 10–15 second enactment and then retell one detail using “I remember that…”.
8. 55–60 min · Exit ticket (quick assessment). Students complete a one-question check at their seats: “What is one thing on a farm?” with an option to circle a picture (plants, animals, house, food). Teacher collects as they leave.

Resources

• Farm photo collage (4–6 images) displayed for the whole class
• Short teacher-read story with repeating sentences and clear farm details
• Picture cards for: plants/field, animals/barn, people, tractor/vehicle, food
• Word cards: farm, grow, care, animal, food
• Sentence starter strips (“First…”, “Then…”, “Because…”, “A farm helps us by…”)
• Emoji sticky-notes or small cards for “I’m thinking”
• Half-page “Think and Draw” worksheet with picture options
• Role/action cards for quick drama retell

Assessment

• Formative: Teacher listens during turn-and-talk, story pauses, and group retell to check recall and connections to picture details.
• Formative: Teacher reviews “Think and Draw” for correct use of one key farm idea and a complete or partially complete sentence.
• Exit ticket: One-picture/one-word response (“one thing on a farm”) to confirm understanding for most students.

Differentiation

• Support: Provide sentence starter strips, enlarged word/picture cards, and a model drawing example on the board.
• Support for EAL/SEN: Allow pointing to pictures and using a “choose and match” response before writing; pre-teach key words with actions and repetition.
• Challenge: Invite a second sentence on the worksheet (“A farm helps us by… and I saw…”) or ask students to answer an extra question: “Why do we care for animals?”
• Comprehension scaffold: Use the same picture set during each story pause so students can connect each question to a visual cue.