Pancake Day story unit · KS1 (Reception to Year 2)
The Pancake That Wouldn’t Stop Flipping
Learning objective: Retell a tale in order, joining in with its repeated line and its three tries.
Suggested story settings: Genre: Comedy · Length: 2 chapters · Time: 10–15 minutes · Story world: Flipton Green
Talk questions
- Who tried to catch the pancake, and in what order?
- Why do you think the pancake would not stop flipping?
- How did our hero help the pancake land safely?
Writing task
Draw the pancake flipping down the lane. Retell the story in three sentences, starting with ‘Once upon a time’ and using the line ‘Flip, flop, flip!’
Word bank
- pancake
- a thin, flat, round cake made from batter and cooked in a frying pan
- batter
- a runny mixture of flour, eggs and milk, used to make pancakes
- flip
- to turn something over quickly, often by tossing it up into the air
- frying pan
- a wide, flat pan with a long handle, which grown-ups use to cook food on a hob
- Shrove Tuesday
- the proper name for Pancake Day, the day before Lent begins
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
- “recognising and joining in with predictable phrases” (Year 1, Reading – comprehension (statutory))
- “recognising simple recurring literary language in stories and poetry” (Year 2, Reading – comprehension (statutory))
- “sequencing sentences to form short narratives” (Year 1, Writing – composition (statutory))
Sample opening (written for litsee.com, to read aloud)
Once upon a time, in the village of Flipton Green, it was Pancake Day.
Grandpa Joe stood at the cooker with the frying pan. Our hero sat at the table, a safe step away. “Hot pans are for grown-ups,” said Grandpa Joe, “and watching is for you.”
He poured in the batter. Sizzle! Then he gave the pan a little toss.
Up went the pancake. Over it went. And then, instead of coming down, it flipped right out of the open window!
“Flip, flop, flip!” sang the children. “The pancake just won’t stop!”
Down the lane it went, flipping all the way to the duck pond, where a cheeky goose was waiting.
Notes
Pancake Day story unit · KS2 (Years 3 to 6)
The Great Flipton Pancake Race
Learning objective: Write a newspaper report that answers the five Ws, quotes a witness and keeps facts apart from opinions.
Suggested story settings: Genre: Comedy · Length: 2 chapters · Time: 10–15 minutes · Story world: Flipton Green
Talk questions
- Which things people said at the finish line were facts, and which were opinions or rumours?
- Why do you think Nell went back, and what does it tell us about her?
- Were the judges right to make a new prize? Give a reason.
Writing task
Write a newspaper report on the Flipton Green pancake race: a headline, an opening that answers who, what, where, when and why, a quote from a witness, and a last paragraph about what happens next.
Word bank
- tradition
- something people have done in the same way for a long time, such as a race every Shrove Tuesday
- Shrove Tuesday
- the day before Ash Wednesday, also called Pancake Day; its date changes every year
- Lent
- the weeks of getting ready for Easter, starting on Ash Wednesday, when Christians often do something different
- spectator
- someone who watches an event, such as a race or a match, without taking part
- witness
- someone who saw something happen and can say what they saw
Success criteria (newspaper report)
Years 3 and 4: I can write a headline. I can answer who, what, where, when and why. I can include a quote.
Years 5 and 6: I can answer the five Ws in my opening. I can use direct and reported speech. I can write formally, using the passive where it helps.
National Curriculum statements
- “distinguish between statements of fact and opinion” (Years 5 and 6, Reading – comprehension (statutory))
- “identifying main ideas drawn from more than one paragraph and summarising these” (Years 3 and 4, Reading – comprehension (statutory))
- “using brackets, dashes or commas to indicate parenthesis” (Years 5 and 6, Writing – vocabulary, grammar and punctuation (statutory))
Sample opening (written for litsee.com, to read aloud)
The bell rang at eleven o’clock exactly, and twelve frying pans flashed in the February sun.
Our hero stood at the finish line outside the village hall, pencil ready, notebook open at a clean page headed THE GREAT FLIPTON PANCAKE RACE.
“Nell’s going to win again,” said Mr Doyle from the greengrocer’s, who said this every year. “Four in a row. You can write that down.”
Sure enough, Nell was already out in front, tossing her pancake as neatly as a chef: up, over, catch.
Then, halfway down the high street, she stopped. Nell turned round and walked back up the hill, the wrong way, her pancake balanced in its pan.
“She’s tripped!” someone shouted. “Her pancake’s stuck!” called someone else. “She’s given up,” said Mr Doyle, shaking his head.
Our hero wrote down all three. Then, underneath, came a question in capital letters: WHAT DID PEOPLE ACTUALLY SEE?
Notes
