Room on the Broom

The witch and her cat fly happily over forests, rivers and mountains on their broomstick until a stormy wind blows away the witch's hat, bow and wand. They are retrieved by a dog, a bird and a frog, and each animal asks for a ride on the broom. One after the next climbs on, until the broom is so heavy that it snaps in two! What will happen next as they tumble into a bog and meet a greedy dragon?

Book Author: Julia Donaldson

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Teaching Ideas and Resources:

English

• Look at the rhyming words in the book. Is there a pattern to the rhyming? Can you think of other words that rhyme?
• Draw your own character and create a rhyme to describe them.
• Look at the use of punctuation within the story. Can you explain why each type of punctuation has been used?
• The dog 'bounded' with a hat in his jaws. Think of other words to describe how a dog moves.
• Create another page for the book, on which a new animal finds something else that the witch has dropped.
• The 'horrible beast' that rises from the ditch makes lots of strange noises. Can you think of other animal noises? Can you find other examples of onomatopoeia?
• Peter Fogarty has kindly contributed a set of Thinking Hat resources linked to the book (see Resources below).
• Could you plan and record a puppet show based on the story, like these?

Maths

• Measure a broom and investigate what different objects could fit along its length.

Science

• Investigate the strength of the wind and how we can protect ourselves from it.
• Find out different ways of repairing a broken broom. Which materials would be the best?

Computing

• Use Switchzoo to create a new creature (like the 'horrible beast') by combining other animals.
• Could you make your own stop-motion animation based on the book, like this one?

Design Technology

• Design a new broom that can carry the witch and all of her animal friends.

Art

• Draw or paint a picture of the witch and her animals, or the dragon that they encounter.
• Read the description of the 'horrible beast' that rises from the ditch and use it to draw the creature.

Music

• Could you record the story, with music and sound effects, like this one?

Geography

• Look at how the weather changes throughout the story.
• Find out about how wind strength is measured.
• Draw a map showing where the witch and the animals travelled to.
• Look at the different types of landscape the witch flies over.Can you find similar landscapes near your local area using a map or an atlas?

PSHE

• Look at the expressions of each of the characters in the illustrations. Can you describe how they are feeling? Could you draw your own pictures which show different people's emotions?
• The witch is grateful to the animals for saving her life. Think of things that you are grateful for. How could you say 'thank you' for these?