Year 3 and 4 – The Lost Words

This week we have studied the book, ‘The Lost Words’.  This poetry book is full of poems about the natural world, in particular, words that we rarely use and are slipping out of common usage e.g. adder, dandelion, ivy, barn owl etc. This book aims to bring them ‘back to life’.

Taken from the book:

"All over the country, there are words disappearing from children's lives. These are the words of the natural world -- Dandelion, Otter, Bramble and Acorn, all gone. The rich landscape of wild imagination and wild play is rapidly fading from our children's minds.

The Lost Words stands against the disappearance of wild childhood. It is a joyful celebration of nature words and the natural world they invoke. With acrostic spell-poems by award-winning writer Robert Macfarlane and hand-painted illustration by Jackie Morris, this enchanting book captures the irreplaceable magic of language and nature for all age"

Task

Can your child think about any words they feel have been lost or will be lost? Write down a list of ‘Lost Words’. Present this creatively if you can.

Extension

Can they do one of the following tasks:

Draw, make, paint or take photos of the one of the ‘Lost Words’ you have identified.

Create a poem like those found in the Lost Words book.

Write a story about one of the ‘Lost Words’.