La Luna

Watch this animated fable of a young boy on his first day at work with his father and grandfather.

Then try some of the suggested teaching and activity ideas below!

Teaching Ideas and Resources:

English

• Watch the section from 0:44 – 1:07 and write some dialogue between the characters.
• Compare this to other stories and films about the moon, for example, Man on the Moon by Simon Bartram.
• Research other fables and myths about the moon and compare them, for example, the ancient Greeks and Romans believed that the moon was driven across the sky in a horse-drawn chariot.
• Write an advert for this job. What kinds of qualities and qualifications would you need?
• Make a collection of adjectives to describe the moon.
• Write your own fable to explain the phases of the moon or the movement of the tide.
• Stop the film a various points (for example, 1:36 and 5:25). What are the characters thinking? What language could you use to describe them?
• Write a set of instructions explaining how to do the job. How would the father’s be different from the grandfather’s?
• Write the story from the boy’s point of view. What did he think about his first day at work?

Science

• Investigate floating and sinking by making boats in various designs and testing them.
• Watch this BBC video and make a poster showing why we see the phases of the moon.

Computing

• Visit the NASA site and explore the surface of the moon.
• Use an online Moon Phase calculator to find out what the moon phase was on important dates in your life. For example, what was the phase of the moon on your birthdays? Is it the same every year?

Design Technology

• Research hats associated with different jobs. What makes a hat suited to a particular job?
• Design a broom or a new tool to use to clear the stars from the moon.

Art

• Look at a range of paintings of boats on water and make your own. Good examples include The Row Boat by Claude Monet and Edward Hopper, Study of a Man in a Rowboat, and Fishing.
• Stop the film at 1:38 and create your own silhouette picture.

Music

• Compose your own soundtrack to the film.

History

• Create a fact file about moon exploration.

Physical education

• Explore different aspects of climbing using the gymnastic equipment.
• Create a dance that tells the story of the film.

Religious education

• Compare beliefs about the moon from different religions and traditions.

PSHE

• Why do you think the father and grandfather quarrel so much?
• The boy solves the problem with the big star by looking at it in a different way from the adults. Can you think of a time when you have solved a problem by looking at it from a different angle?
• The father and grandfather disagree about how the boy should wear his hat, but in the end, he wears it a different way entirely. Why do you think that is?