Little Red Riding Hood

Learning Objectives

• Spoken Language (Year 2, National Curriculum)
  • Pupils should participate in discussions, presentations, performances, role play/improvisations and debates.
  • Pupils should justify answers, develop and consistent use of spoken language through appropriate vocabulary and connect ideas clearly.
  • Use spoken language to develop understanding through speculating, hypothesising, imagining and exploring ideas.
• Phonics and Reading (Year 2, National Curriculum - English Programme of Study: Phonics and Word Reading)
  • Apply phonic knowledge and skills to decode words.
  • Read accurately by blending sounds in unfamiliar words containing GPCs that have been taught.
  • Read common exception words, noting unusual correspondences between spelling and sound and where these occur in the word.

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Success Criteria

• I can sequence and orally retell the story of Little Red Riding Hood using pictures.
• I can use story language and vocabulary confidently in groups during role play.
• I can read and spell CVC words linked to the story.
• I can record my oral retell and reflect on my speaking with Seesaw.

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Resources

• Story sequence cards with key scenes from Little Red Riding Hood (15 cards)
• Vocabulary flashcards: CVC words (e.g., cap, red, big, run, etc.) and story words (wolf, basket, woods, granny)
• Role play props: red cloak, basket, wolf ears mask, grandmother shawl
• Tablets/laptops with Seesaw app for oral recordings and video reflections
• Whiteboard and markers
• Phonics whiteboards and pens for group work
• Printed oral retell sentence frames with repeated story language (e.g. "Once upon a time...", "The wolf said...")

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Lesson Outline (30 minutes)

1. Engage and Explore (5 minutes)

• Gather children on the carpet; briefly introduce Little Red Riding Hood using a large storybook or digital picture slides.
• Show story sequence cards on the board. Ask children open-ended questions to activate prior knowledge:
  • “Who do you remember from this story?”
  • “What happened first, do you think?”
• Model an oral retell using the cards, with repeated story language and expression.
• Explain that today they will work in small groups to explore the story through role play, retelling, and listening to sounds in words.

2. Small Group Work: Role Play & Oral Retelling (15 minutes)

• Divide the class into 5 groups of 5. Allocating roles: Little Red Riding Hood, Wolf, Grandma, Narrator, and Basket carrier.
• Each group receives:
  • A set of story sequence cards
  • Vocabulary flashcards and props
  • Oral retell sentence frames
• Activity:
  • Groups look at sequence cards and arrange them independently.
  • Practice an oral retell taking turns, using sentence frames and story language. Teacher circulates, modelling good pronunciation, encouraging use of connectives ("then," "so," "because") and story phrases (“The wolf said, ‘...”").
  • Role play a short scene using props; encourage expressive language.
  • Use open-ended questions to push thinking:
    • “How do you think Little Red Riding Hood feels here?”
    • “Why do you think the wolf says that?”
    • “What might happen next?”
• Differentiation: For children needing more support, provide extra scaffold cards with simple prompts ("Who? Where? What?") and encourage peer support.

3. Phonics Focus: CVC Words in the Story (5 minutes)

• Back in whole class or smaller groups: Teacher introduces CVC flashcards (e.g., cap, red, run, big) related to the story.
• Play blending and segmenting game orally with the children. Example:
  • Teacher says “c-a-p” slowly, children blend to say “cap.”
  • Children then attempt to write or read these on individual whiteboards.
• Use the vocabulary flashcards to link words back to the story, reinforcing meaning.
• Encourage children to identify the sounds in the words, linking phonics to story content.

4. Seesaw Oral Recording & Reflection (5 minutes)

• Children use tablets to record a short oral retell individually or in pairs using the story sequence cards and sentence frames as prompts.
• Teacher supports with open questions to encourage full sentences and story language.
• After recording, children watch/listen to their own recordings and talk briefly about what they did well or what they found tricky (guided by teacher).
• Children upload their recordings to Seesaw for teacher review and ongoing assessment.

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Teacher’s Role

• Facilitate: Organise groups, manage resources, prompt participation.
• Model: Use clear, expressive language, demonstrate oral retell and phonics blending.
• Observe & Assess: Monitor participation, note ability to sequence story, use language, apply phonics knowledge. Use Seesaw recordings as formative evidence.
• Support: Provide scaffolding (sentence frames, prompts) and extend able students with open-ended reasoning questions.
• Differentiate: Adjust support and challenge to meet a range of abilities; encourage peer collaboration.

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Assessment

• Observe children’s participation in discussion and role play using a simple checklist aligned to:
  • Use of story language and sequencing
  • Accurate oral blending and segmenting of CVC words
  • Engagement in phonics reading activities
• Review Seesaw oral recordings to assess spoken language development (clarity, fluency, vocabulary use) and story comprehension.
• Use reflections to inform next steps in teaching narrative comprehension and phonics.

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Curriculum Links Summary:

• Spoken Language:
  • Participate in discussions, role play, and presentations (NC English Year 2 Spoken Language)
  • Use appropriate vocabulary and retell stories in sequence
• Phonics:
  • Apply phonic knowledge to decode and spell words (NC English Year 2 Phonics and Word Reading)
  • Recognise and read CVC words linked to familiar contexts

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By embedding playful, hands-on activities and well-structured technology use, this lesson supports confident spoken English and foundational literacy skills in a motivating, accessible way for Year 2 learners.