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History Detectives! Mary Anning, Dinosaur Hunter! (for 3-4 Year Olds)

In this onetime class, students will learn about the amazing life of Mary Anning, who discovered fossils on her local beach and changed our understanding of dinosaurs for ever!
Susannah, Masters from Oxford University.
Average rating:
4.9
Number of reviews:
(286)
Rising Star
Class

What's included

1 live meeting
25 mins in-class hours

Class Experience

Mary Anning was an amazing woman, who changed the face of palaeontology forever with the fossils she discovered on her local beach. I grew up near the very beaches where she scoured for fossils, and as a history teacher (and specialist in women's history) I am SO excited to bring this class to Outschool! I have been running this class successfully for 5-7 year olds and now, by popular request, I have adapted it for eager 3-4 year olds.

Come and find out about Mary Anning, dinosaur hunter extraordinaire!

The class will run as follows:

4 minutes: Introductions. Learners will have the chance to tell us their favourite dinosaur (and they can show us a dinosaur toy if they would like to!).

3 minutes: We will all chant the tongue-twister 'She sells seashells on the seashore'. Then we will talk about what the tongue-twister really means and where it comes from. (It is based on the story of Mary Anning!)

5 minutes: I will talk a little bit about Mary Anning growing up in Dorset, on the south coast of England (like me!) and about her and her Dad going out to collect fossils from the beach. 

5 minutes: We will find out about Mary's first big discovery, when she was only twelve. Learners will have the opportunity to look at the  sketch Mary made and to try to draw their own; can they work out what it was? Students will pretend to be History Detectives and try to solve the puzzle. (Spoiler alert! People at the time thought she had discovered the skeleton of a crocodile, but nowadays we would call it an ichthyosaur.)

5 minutes: We will find out about Mary's next big find; the first full skeleton of a plesiosaur ever discovered. But guess what happened? People didn't believe that it was real! She was not allowed to join the scientific community because she was a woman, and some people said that her discovery was a fake. I will show them my toy plesiosaur and we will talk about the features of a plesiosaur. 

3 minutes: We will look at a painting of Mary Anning, and try to think of as many facts as we can about her!

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This will be a lively and interactive class. Learners do not need to be able to read and write to attend the class. There is an opportunity for a small amount of creative drawing. I hope learners will enjoy listening to each other talk about their favourite dinosaurs, and learning all about dinosaur hunter Mary Anning! 

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I can't wait to meet your learners! This class is one of a series of 'History Detective' classes I run. I also run these classes for 5-7s, and 8-10s.

I have a Masters from the University of Oxford, a professional teaching qualification, and many years’ experience teaching English, History and Creative Writing. 

Classroom Policies:

We respect others and have fun learning together.

If you cannot attend the class you signed up to for any reason, please let me know and I am more than happy to transfer your student into any of my other class sections if available.

Please feel free to email me any questions you may have.

My most important policy: there is no such thing as a bad question! Please come into the class with an open mind and we will all learn from each other. I hope to see you in class!

Other Details

External Resources
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
4.9
286reviews
Rising Star
Profile
Teacher expertise and credentials
Non-US Teaching Certificate in Social Studies/History
Master's Degree in History from University of Oxford
I have a PGCE from the University of Oxford and years of experience in making history fun and accessible for learners of different ages! I run a successful series of 'History Detectives' classes here on Outschool. 

Reviews

Live One-Time Class
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$10

per class

Meets once
25 min
Completed by 8 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 3-4
2-5 learners per class

This class is no longer offered
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