Design your own creature
Write a Pokédex-style entry for an original creature: a name, a type, sizes, a habitat and a few careful sentences.
Learning objective
Pupils plan and write a short fact file for a creature they invented, with a name, a type, a height, a weight, a place it lives and a special ability, and use sensible units.
Curriculum links
England, KS1 and KS2
- KS1 and KS2 English: composition, writing a description with detail
- KS2 English: non-chronological writing (a fact file)
- KS2 Maths: measures with units, such as metres and kilograms
United States, broad grade bands
- Grades 1 to 5 writing: informative and explanatory text
- Grades 2 to 4 measurement: using metric units for length and mass
What you need
- A projector for the example entry
- Paper and pencils (drawing is optional)
- A planning grid on the board or a worksheet
- Optional: the Who’s That game for the warm-up
The plan, minute by minute
- Warm-up, 5 minutes: Shapes first. Show two or three shadows from Who’s That. Ask pupils for what they can see, then for what they cannot: where does it live, and what does it eat? Note that a Pokédex page is a fact file: for example Pikachu is Electric type, 0.4 m tall and 6 kg.
- Main, 7 minutes: Plan the creature. Fill in a planning grid: name, type, height, weight, home, one special move and one weakness. The creature must be new. It cannot be a copy of one that already exists. Pupils can make up a name from syllables they like, then say it aloud to a partner.
- Main, 13 minutes: Write the entry. Write four to six sentences, written like a fact file rather than a story. Use present tense. Include a measurement with the right unit, and one sentence that begins with “Although”.
- Plenary, 5 minutes: Read it, guess the type. Volunteers read their entry without saying the type. The class guesses it from the clues, then checks the guess against the entry.
Projector game
Who’s That Pokémon?. Use it for the warm-up only, to get pupils looking at shapes and thinking about what they cannot see.
More to use
- The eighteen types. Pupils can pick a type from the chart for their creature.
- Lesson: Reading a stat card. Shows what a fact file for a creature contains.
- Lesson: Say it right. For inventing a name that is easy to say.
Differentiation
Easier
Provide a fill-in frame: “___ is a ___ type creature. It is ___ tall and weighs ___. It lives in ___.” Drawing may replace one sentence.
Harder
Ask for a second paragraph that explains how the creature would survive in the habitat they chose, and for the entry to include a surprising fact and a careful “however”.
Talk about it
What makes a creature feel real even though it is made up? Which detail in your entry could you not have made up without thinking about the place it lives?
Numbers used in this plan
| Pokémon | Type | Height | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pikachu | Electric | 0.4 m | 6 kg |
Previous: Heavier or lighter? · All plans · Next: Evolution and real life cycles