Moth resources
Winner of the 2020 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books
Moth: An Evolution Story is a story of light and dark, of change and adaptation, of survival and hope, beautifully illustrated by Daniel Egnéus.
It captures the struggle of animal survival against the background of a changing human world while introducing children of all ages to natural selection. Find out about the background to Moth here.
Moth gallery
Over the last two years, teachers have sent me the most amazing examples of the spectacular work pupils create in response to Moth. To celebrate publication of the paperback edition of Moth in August 2020, I’ve set up this gallery to share some of the work, with special thanks to the team at CLPE. I would love to feature your class’s work too – you can send it to me using the form below!
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- @MissHallreads asked I asked her year 6 class to present the facts from Moth in any way they wished. One of her EAL pupils created this absolutely stunning poem
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- @CLPE shared how #PowerOfReading teachers use Moth to inspire cross-curricular writing
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Y6 pupils at Miriam Lord Primary School were inspired by the illustrations of Daniel Egnéus from the book ‘Moth’ to create this most stunning collaborative artwork of their own @clpe
#powerofreading
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- As part of the year 6 science unit ‘Evolution and Inheritance’, Myddelton College pupils enjoyed Moth before creating their own story boards to explain the process of evolution.
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- At Cherry Tree School in Watford, Watermelon bubble drew and painted ‘speckled, freckled’ moths using pointilism, and created the most beautiful pictures!
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- Inspiring children to write their own books is the absolute BEST feeling so I was over the moon when CLPE shared these amazing books created by pupils at #hawkhurstprimary
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- Children from years 1 & 2 at Egremont Primary have created some wonderful work. Their last few moths flew up today. Well done!
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- At Cherry Tree School in Watford, Watermelon bubble drew and painted ‘speckled, freckled’ moths using pointilism, and created the most beautiful pictures!
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- A stunning display of writing by pupils at Harrow Gate Academy, whose teachers used Moth as part of CLPE’s Power of Reading
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- Pupils at Holbrook School in Coventry practised writing very concise non-fiction by crafting tweets to summarize the peppered moths life cycle!
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- Y6 pupils at Holbrook Primary used Moth to inspire non-chronological report writing
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- Otter class at Braeburn Primary Academy used Moth in their lessons about adaptation and evolution, and created these beautiful non-fiction diagrams
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- Pupils at Holbrook School in Coventry used Readers Theatre to read and perform the peppered moth’s life cycle – amazing!
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- Cogan Primary ran their own Biodiversity Picture Book Award #GwobrLlyfrLluniauBioamrwyiaethCogan2020 for picture books which show concern for and celebrate our environment. I was so happy that Moth got nominated by the pupils!
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- Harrow Gate Academy had a focus on Moth for World Book Day – I absolutely love this!
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- Children from years 1 & 2 at Egremont Primary have created some wonderful work. Their last few moths flew up today. Well done!
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- Cherry Tree School in Watford plotted their feelings about moths before and after reading the book!
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- As part of the year 6 science unit ‘Evolution and Inheritance’, Myddelton College pupils enjoyed Moth before creating their own story boards to explain the process of evolution.
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- Pupils at Holbrook School in Coventry practised writing very concise non-fiction by crafting tweets to summarize the peppered moths life cycle!
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- Inspiring children to write their own books is the absolute BEST feeling so I was over the moon when CLPE shared these amazing books created by pupils at #hawkhurstprimary
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- Inspiring children to write their own books is the absolute BEST feeling so I was over the moon when CLPE shared these amazing books created by pupils at #hawkhurstprimary
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- Children from years 1 & 2 at Egremont Primary have created some wonderful work. Their last few moths flew up today. Well done!
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- Beech Class at Christ Church Walshaw used Moth as one of their @clpe1 Power of Reading books. They designed their own moths after listening to the description and then wrote some poetry based on what they read. Wow!
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- Inspiring children to write their own books is the absolute BEST feeling so I was over the moon when CLPE shared these amazing books created by pupils at #hawkhurstprimary
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- At Cherry Tree School in Watford, Watermelon bubble drew and painted ‘speckled, freckled’ moths using pointilism, and created the most beautiful pictures!
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- Beech Class at Christ Church Walshaw used Moth as one of their @clpe1 Power of Reading books. They designed their own moths after listening to the description and then wrote poetry based on what they read. Wow!
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- Otter class at Braeburn Primary Academy used Moth in their lessons about adaptation and evolution, and created these beautiful non-fiction diagrams
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- Moth inspired pupils at Egremont Primary’s Forest School to build a bug hotel!
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- Year 1 and 2 pupils at Egremont used Moth to explore symmetry and create artwork
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- Children from years 1 & 2 at Egremont Primary have created some wonderful work. Their last few moths flew up today. Well done!
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- Otter class at Braeburn Primary Academy used Moth in their lessons about adaptation and evolution, and created these beautiful non-fiction diagrams
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- Year 6 pupils at Grange Farm Primary School in Coventry worked in small teams to explore the impact of pollution on the peppered moth, natural selection and survival!
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- Year 5 and 6 pupils at West Park Primary School were tasked with retelling the story of the peppered moth as a Shakespearean sonnet
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- Year 6 pupils at Grange Farm Primary School in Coventry worked in small teams to explore the impact of pollution on the peppered moth, natural selection and survival!
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- Egremont Primary School had a creative idea for creating Moth artwork by recycling pencil sharpenings – I love it!
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- Parish CE School in St Helens used Moth to inspire every class to create a stunning collaborative moth artwork
Pupils at Harrow Gate Primary performed Moth beautifully in a Readers Theatre
Readers theatre #moth #CLPE @isabelwriting @MsSpenceHGPA pic.twitter.com/1J4G7DtOCL
— 4CR (@HGPAMissR) May 9, 2019
teaching resources for Moth
I hope the gallery above gives you lots of ideas about how to use Moth in your classroom, from Reception right up to Year 6 and beyond! The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) chose Moth as a Core Book for 2018/19 and 2019/20 and produced an excellent unit of work to help Power of Reading teachers plan integrated science and arts teaching using Moth. Bloomsbury UK have also produced teaching resources, which are available to download here.
For a longer look at natural selection and the story behind Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace’s theory, I have written a book especially for KS2 readers, published by Oxford University Press – The Misadventures of Charles Darwin. Have a look inside here.
Daniel and I have created a second picture book that answers a different big question that children ask about life. Fox: A Circle of Life Story looks at what happens when an animal dies, and publishes in October 2020.
Moth downloads
Coming soon! I’ve produced my own free downloads to help you use Moth with different age groups, from art activities focusing on camouflage for KS1 to an deeper exploration of natural selection for KS2. Please check back soon!
Moth workshops
If you would like me to run a Moth-themed science, writing and art workshop at your school, please get in touch!
feature in the Moth gallery
Please send your pupils’ work to isabel@isabelthomas.co.uk or via Twitter @isabelwriting