Pupil Voice year 3 - Year 4: The best cow in show by Andy Cutbill and Russel Ayto

I always begin the academic year with Pupil Voice lessons. The aim is to lay the groundwork for the year of equalities education by promoting an ethos where all children in the school are speaking up, joining in and making their voice heard.

Text: The best cow in show- Andy Cutbill and Russell Ayo Lesson plan by Andrew Moffat / www.equalitiesprimary.com

Resources: -

LI: Speak up for others

Success criteria: I know sometimes speaking up is hard to do / I can help someone to feel confident

Starter: What is a family? Do all families look the same? Children give different examples of a family e.g. foster families, adoption, step families, same sex parents

Main : Read text. How does Marjorie feel when the other cows talk about Daisy? Does Daisy have a voice? Who speaks up for Daisy? What would happen to Marjorie if Daisy didn’t speak up for her? Does Marjorie feel ashamed because Daisy is different? Does she ever tell off Daisy for not being more like a cow? When everyone laughs at Daisy for eating a worm, how does Marjorie feel? What does she say? What do you think of the ending? What makes a Marjorie a perfect Mum? Role play: Role play the part of the story where Daisy eats the worm on the woman’s hat. Have Daisy eat the worm and everyone in the circle laugh (stop the laughter at a signal from you) then have a child acting Marjorie being cross and telling off Daisy for not being a proper cow. What things might Marjorie say to Daisy to make her behave like other cows? Then repeat the role play and this time have Marjorie act like she does in the book so that we reinforce a different way of responding to difference. Use the text: “Daisy might not be like your babies but she’s mine and I love her!”

Activity: Write dialogue for the two role plays; show the difference between Marjorie supporting her child and Marjorie trying to get her child to change.

Plenary: Do you think if Marjorie keeps trying, Daisy will change? What should Marjorie be saying to Daisy? If Marjorie continues to speak to Daisy as she did in the story, will Daisy grow up to be proud or ashamed of herself?

AFL questions: What have we learned about today? / If a child is different the parent should….