The Dam by David Almond – Cross-curricular KS2 activities

What's included?

Three-page PDF featuring cross-curricular activities for KS2

Key Stage

KS2

Age

Years 3-6

Subjects

Art & Design, English, Maths, Music, STEM

Explore learning opportunities among the sparse, lyrical prose, stunning landscapes and naturalistic vignettes courtesy of The Dam by David Almond and Levi Pinfold.

This PDF is packed full of ideas based on the book, including debating, roleplay and persuasive writing. There are also music, art and writing activities.

What is The Dam by David Almond about?

The Dam tells the story of a pilgrimage: a journey to the heart of an abandoned community in a remote Northumbrian valley where people are constructing a dam.

The story at the heart of this book is true. A dam created the Kielder Water reservoir. A village was flooded to make way for it, and early one morning a father and daughter really did play and sing in every house.

The Dam won the 2019 Teach Primary KS1 Book Award. It has been nominated for others, including the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal.

Starter activity

Before reading, talk about change. What has changed in your lives? What is changing now? How does this make you feel? Does change involve loss? How can we help ourselves embrace the possibilities of change?

Share The Dam by David Almond, making sure everyone can see the pictures. Some are tiny so you might want to project the spreads onto a screen or use multiple copies.

Make time to talk about your reactions and responses. What did you like about this book? How did it make you feel? Did it raise questions? Bring back memories? Make you imagine something?

How would you describe The Dam by David Almond? What makes it interesting for older readers? It’s rare for an engineering project to inspire a picture book. Can you think of other picture books inspired by unusual subject matter or real-life stories?