ABSTRACT

In a Year 1 class in a small primary school in north-west Kent, a group of children are desperately trying to help Batwoman free their favourite superheroes. Outside, children are using small world props to retell the story of “Supertato”; they are shooting water pistols at words which they then use in a sentence and designing their own superheroes made from real vegetables. Both indoors and outside, all children are engrossed in their tasks, collaborating happily and fully engaged. Two years earlier, in another school, a class of Year 1 children were sitting at tables, laboriously trying to write a story opening. The classroom was very similar to a Year 4 room – there were tables and chairs set out in groups, lists of words on the walls and vocabulary mats on the tables. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.