Lunar New Year story unit · KS1 (Reception to Year 2)
Little Goat's New Year
Learning objective: Describe how some families celebrate Lunar New Year and retell a simple traditional tale.
Suggested story settings: Genre: Myth & Folklore · Length: 2 chapters · Time: 10–15 minutes · Story world: Lantern New Year Street
Talk questions
- How did Mei's family get ready for the new year?
- How did the goat, the monkey and the rooster help each other in the Great Race?
Writing task
Draw a red lantern or a goat for the new year. Write one sentence: 'At Lunar New Year, families ___.'
Word bank
- lantern
- a light inside a cover; red paper lanterns are hung up for Lunar New Year
- festival
- a special time when people celebrate something together
- goat
- an animal with horns; 2027 is the Year of the Goat
- lion dance
- a dance by performers inside a lion costume, with drums, to wish people good luck
- new year
- the start of a new year; Lunar New Year follows the moon, so its date changes each year
Success criteria (traditional tale with a twist)
Reception to Year 2: I can start with 'Once upon a time'. I can use a repeated phrase. I can tell the events in order.
National Curriculum statements
- “becoming very familiar with key stories, fairy stories and traditional tales, retelling them and considering their particular characteristics” (Year 1, Reading – comprehension (statutory))
- “becoming increasingly familiar with and retelling a wider range of stories, fairy stories and traditional tales” (Year 2, Reading – comprehension (statutory))
- “being encouraged to link what they read or hear read to their own experiences” (Year 1, Reading – comprehension (statutory))
Sample opening (written for litsee.com, to read aloud)
On Lantern New Year Street, everybody was busy. It was nearly the Year of the Goat!
Mei’s family were getting ready. Swish, swish went the broom. “We sweep the old year out,” said Mei, “to make room for good luck.”
Zara helped to hang red lanterns by the door. Mei’s grandad stuck red paper cut-outs on the window. They looked like flowers and fish and little goats.
“Red and gold, new and bright!” sang Mei.
That night, Mei’s grandad sat down with a cup of tea. “Shall I tell you about the Great Race?” he asked. “Long ago, the animals had to cross a wide, wide river…”
Notes
Lunar New Year story unit · KS2 (Years 3 to 6)
The Race Across the River
Learning objective: Compare how different communities celebrate Lunar New Year and explain the message of a traditional tale.
Suggested story settings: Genre: Myth & Folklore · Length: 2 chapters · Time: 10–15 minutes · Story world: Lantern New Year Street
Talk questions
- What did the goat, the monkey and the rooster show us in the Great Race?
- Which traditions were the same for different families, and which were different?
Writing task
Retell the Great Race from the goat's point of view in a paragraph, using the first person and at least one fronted adverbial.
Word bank
- zodiac
- here, the cycle of twelve animals, one for each year, used in the Chinese calendar
- tradition
- something a family or community has done in the same way for a long time
- reunion
- when family members come back together, often for a big meal
- prosperity
- doing well and having enough; a common wish for the new year
- community
- a group of people who share a place, a background or a way of life
Success criteria (myth or legend)
Years 3 and 4: I can give my hero a special quality. I can set my hero a quest. I can end by explaining something.
Years 5 and 6: I can give my hero a strength and a flaw. I can build a quest with tests. I can write in an old, wise narrator's voice.
National Curriculum statements
- “increasing their familiarity with a wide range of books, including myths, legends and traditional stories, modern fiction, fiction from our literary heritage, and books from other cultures and traditions” (Years 5 and 6, Reading – comprehension (statutory))
- “making comparisons within and across books” (Years 5 and 6, Reading – comprehension (statutory))
- “using fronted adverbials” (Years 3 and 4, Writing – vocabulary, grammar and punctuation (statutory))
Sample opening (written for litsee.com, to read aloud)
Three days before the new year, Lantern New Year Street smelled of fresh paint and oranges. Red lanterns swayed above every doorway.
“At my house it’s called Spring Festival,” said Wei, balancing on a chair to hang a paper cut. “My nan says we’re cleaning to sweep out the old year.”
“We call it Tết,” said Linh. “We’re making a special sticky rice cake. It takes all night.”
Ji-woo laughed. “For us it’s Seollal. I’ll be bowing to my grandparents and wearing my new clothes.”
Then the string snapped and a whole row of lanterns tumbled into the road. Nobody could reach the hook. Wei looked at Linh, and Linh looked at Ji-woo, and all three thought of the same story at the same moment: the goat, the monkey and the rooster, crossing the river together on one small raft.
Notes
