Santes Dwynwen
Seasonal Suggestions
Santes Dwynwen's Day falls on January 25th. This is the day upon which Welsh people celebrate their love for the special person in their lives (some would call it the Welsh version of St Valentine's Day). Before teaching any of these activities, make sure you know the story of Santes Dwynwen, the Welsh patron saint of lovers. Click here (BBC) or here (Visit Wales) to read more.
Dwynwen's Story
Read the story of Dwynwen and Maelon to your pupils and let them draw the characters or write the story.
Dwynwen's Story
Nur/Rec - Yr 1/2 - Yr 3/4
St Dwynwen's story is worth teaching to your pupils, so why not give them the opportunity to practise their drag and drop or typing skills by retelling the story through pictures or words. This activity varies significantly depending on age and ability.
Begin by reading Dwynwen's story to the pupils.
Nursery
- Using Purple Mash or J2E, pupils should draw a picture of Dwynwen and type their name or initials underneath.
Reception
- Pupils draw pictures of the main characters (using Purple Mash or J2E). They should then type the name of the characters underneath their image.
Years 1/2
- Using 2Create a Story on Purple Mash, pupils draw and type the story of Dwynwen in simple sentences. Word and sentence banks can be given of course.
Years 3/4
- Type out Dwynwen's story yourself and share a digital copy with your class. Pupil edit words in the story to create an outlandish version. See 'Rewriting a Fairy Tale activity in Year 4 3.2 'Creating'
Success Criteria
Nursery
- I can draw a picture with the mouse.
- I can type letters on the keyboard.
Reception
- I can draw a picture with the mouse.
- I can type names on the keyboard.
Years 1/2
- I can type sentences, using capital letters and full stops.
Years 3/4
- I can change the colour, size and font of text.
- I can insert, resize and crop images from the computer and the web.
Framework Elements
Main Framework Element(s)
3.1 - Planning, Sourcing and Searching (Nursery/Reception)
3.2 - Creating (All ages)
Other Framework Element(s)
2.3 Storing and Sharing
3.3 Evaluating and Improving
Coding Dwynwen's Maze
Years 5/6
Our traditional stories of saints and love can seem outdated and irrelevant to some pupils. What better way of giving these stories relevance than by asking your pupils to create a computer game featuring Dwynwen and Maelon?
- Teach 'The Untouchable Maze' activity from Year 6, 4.1 'Problem Solving & Modelling' but using Dwynwen as your game's main characters and aspects of her story as the objects she interacts with, for example:
- The background could be the forest she ran into.
- The collectables could be an image that represent her three wishes.
- The church at Llanddwyn could be the 'goal' of the game.
- For the more confident pupils, Maelon and Brychan could be the 'enemies' you must avoid.
Ability Variation
Advanced
- Add 'enemies' which the player must avoid. These can be stationary or moving and could be modelled on Maelon and Brychan.
- The code needed for this activity is the same as the code for touching the walls, but with 'touching colour' changed to 'touching sprite'.
Success Criteria
- I can code a game on a full visual platform using example code.
- I can vary sprites, backgrounds and codes to make my game interesting.
Framework Elements
Main Framework Element(s)
4.1 - Problem Solving & Modelling
Dwynwen's 3 Fact Video
Use iPad video editing skills to create a simple video with facts about Santes Dwynwen's Day.