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?
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?
today!
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