Flotsam Project
Last year, all of Primary began the year studying the same text- The Lost Words. Pupils and teachers were surveyed after the project, and the responses in terms of their learning, collaboration, sense of community, creativity and outcomes was overwhelmingly positive. This year our text is Flotsam by David Wiesner. This is a text with no words, that allows children to create their own interpretation of the story. The narrative is multi-layered, meaning interpretation is open-ended and there is no sense of a right or a wrong reading. This book requires you to look and look again. 🐚
Beginning the year with a Curriculum Project allows children to experience a sense of cohesion across the school- helping existing pupils and new pupils settle into the new school year effectively. These are our pupils’ thoughts.
Year 1
We were talking with lots of classes about flotsam starting with year 1B.
They said to us that they like lots of things in the story because the story doesn’t have words. They like the starfish, the camera, the sea…. They were writing about the beach in the Flotsam story and they also did painting on shells to represent the underwater life.
Year 2
Year 2A liked the camera parts. But one thing that they were very confused about was that the starfishes were taller and bigger than the blue whales. They did a whole group write with Miss Nicola about the story.
Year 3
Gonzalo (my little brother) said a very interesting thing, they predicted what was going to happen in the book by looking at the front cover . They also did an illustration with a prediction.
Year 4
Year 4C put papers with pictures that they illustrated, to describe how they were because the book doesn't have writing.
Year 5
Year 5B did sketching with shells. They put some notes about flotsam on the wall and classroom door
by Miss Mercedes Coffman
Head of Primary
