Spark the imagination and curiosity of your group with this wonderful and whimsical resource inspired by the cinema release of The Cat in the Hat, brought to you by Into Film and Warner Bros. Pictures. Aimed at primary learners, this resource will help develop English and literacy skills through a variety of fun and engaging activities.

The lesson starts with learners thinking about how we communicate with others and developing an innovative method to play the ‘What am I?’ game. Embracing the chaotic mishaps caused by the Cat in the film, learners will also do an oracy task, which will help them to construct interesting stories about the chaos in the film trailer by thinking quickly and creatively. Drawing upon the consequences of the Cat’s chaotic mishaps, learners will complete a quick sentence-matching activity to understand what is meant by ‘cause and effect’. Building
on this concept, learners will then consider the ‘if-then’ rhyming poetry structure. Using a differentiated version of the If-Then Poetry activity sheet, learners will write their own poem about an imagined character using rhyming pairs of ‘if-then’ statements with creative language and interesting adjectives. Afterwards, there will be the opportunity to share their poetry using their preferred method of communication.

A home-learning activity is featured at the end of the lesson, based on the Cat’s inquisitive nature. The Curious Inventions home learning sheet highlights the importance of asking questions and being curious, prompting learners to think about an interesting and useful household invention they wish existed, which they will then draw and label. Finally, learners can complete the Helpful Hat Competition activity sheet.