Somebody Swallowed Stanley

Somebody Swallowed Stanley

This thought-provoking picture book charts the eventful journey made by Stanley, a discarded plastic carrier bag, who is swept into the sea. As he drifts through the ocean waves, he is mistaken for a jellyfish and swallowed by a series of unsuspecting animals.

First, an enormous whale scoops him up in her cave-like mouth, then the sharp yellow beak of a seagull pecks and snaps at him, until finally, he is eaten by a turtle with paddle-like flippers and a wrinkly head. As Stanley passes from one animal to the next, he unwittingly endangers their lives, but thankfully a kindly child comes to the rescue and repurposes Stanley so he is no longer a hazard to wildlife.

Written by an animal behaviourist and environmental campaigner, this gentle tale subtly educates children about the damage a simple plastic bag can do to wild animals. It is an ideal springboard for further discussion about protecting the natural world. Lively full-page illustrations accompany the rhythmic, repetitive text, which is perfect to read aloud.

Main Focus: Word Mat & Cloze

This is a word mat and close activity for your KS1 class to use or complete whilst reading Somebody Swallowed Stanley.

Your class will use the words on the word mat to fill in the blanks on the sentences.

Main Focus: Phonics

This activity is linked to phonics and focuses on phases 3-6.

We have also includes blank versions of this resource for your Year 1 / Year 2 class to read the passage and choose sounds of their own.

Main Focus: Rhyming Words

This activity encourages your class to identify rhyming words within the passages of the book.

Your class will identify the two words that rhyme at the end of the sentences and colour them the same colour. Then your class will match up the rhyming words again and think of their own rhyming word for each. 

The activity at the bottom can be then used to highlight to the class that although words rhyme, they can have different endings. E.g. do, blue, chew -oo sound.

Main Focus: Punctuation

In this activity, your Ks1 class will read through the sentences and add in the capital letters and full stops to punctuate the sentences.

We have differentiated this resource six ways duo you can choose which best suits your Year 1 kids and Year 2 kids.

Main Focus: Questions and Answers

This activity focuses on questions and answers.

Your KS1 class will use the information in the answers to write suitable questions.

We have also included an activity whereby your class will match the questions to the answers. This would be best completed after cutting out the questions and answers and allow your class to rearrange should they need to.

Main Focus: Vocabulary Extension

We have taken some of the lovely vocabulary used in Somebody Swallowed Stanley and create this resource.

In this activity, your class will use the word bank to complete the sentences. They will then identify synonyms of the vocabulary used to consolidate their understanding of the word.

Main Focus: Story Sequencing

In this activity, your Year 1 / Year 2 class will read the extracts from the book and place the events into chronological order.

Again, this might be a useful activity to cut out the passages to allow your class to work and rework their sequence should they need to.

Main Focus: Comprehension

This is a comprehension linked to the full story.

Your can choose from a range of resources within this activity to see which best suits your KS1 class.

We have differentiated by style of question, multiple choice or scaffolded the answers. 

We also created a nice activity at the bottom of how different pieces of litter can be recycled.

Main Focus: Adjectives

We have created this adjectives activity to help your class identify adjectives and also try to use them in context.

External Resource: Plastic Pollution

This is a colourful fact sheet that encourages your class to learn more about plastics in the sea in a simplistic way.

Rescuing a Fish

Steve Backshall goes diving in Bali in search of the elusive sunfish. Along the way he helps rescue a trumpetfish from a plastic fishing net that is damaging the coral reef.

Help our Oceans

This is a useful animation that highlights the dangers of plastics in the oceans around the world.

It follows little Jeffrey, a fish who seems to swim himself into a range of plastic disasters.