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The traditional story of Jack and the Beanstalk is told by Nihal Arthanayake accompanied by members of the ±«Óătv Philharmonic Orchestra.

The video

Jack and the Beanstalk

Presenter: Nihal Arthanayake
Composer: Daniel Whibley
Instruments: Violin / Piccolo / Flute / Harp / Double bass

Synopsis

Jack and his mother live in a cottage in a village. They are very poor, because all their valuables have been stolen by a giant, who lives in the clouds.

One day Jack's mother tells him to sell their cow at the market, and not to return with anything less than five gold coins. On the way to market Jack meets a mysterious man, who offers Jack five magic beans as payment for the cow. He tells Jack that if he plants the magic beans he will never go hungry again. But when Jack returns home his mother admonishes him for selling the cow for five beans and she throws them into the garden.

The next morning Jack looks out of his window and is amazed to see an enormous beanstalk, stretching upwards into the clouds. Jack climbs the beanstalk and at the top he finds the castle belonging to the giant who has stolen the villagers' money. Jack goes inside but he is heard by the giant, who gives chase: 'Fe, fi, fo, fum, I'm a giant here I come!'

Jack hides behind a clock and later, when the giant is sleeping, he creeps out and returns home taking a bag of gold coins with him.

The following morning Jack climbs the beanstalk again and this time, following another close encounter with the giant, returns with a hen and the golden eggs that she lays.

On his final trip to the castle Jack picks up a magic harp to take home with him - but the giant wakes up and gives chase, following Jack down the beanstalk. Once Jack is safely on the ground again his mother takes an axe to the beanstalk and chops it down.

Jack returns all the stolen possessions to the villagers. They never see the giant again - though from time to time they hear his song drifting down from the clouds.

Curriculum links

Music
The film and the accompanying can be used to fulfil the following objectives of the Key Stage 1 music curriculum, which states that pupils should be taught to:

  • use their voices expressively and creatively by singing songs and speaking chants and rhymes
  • play tuned and untuned instruments musically
  • listen with concentration and understanding to a range of high-quality live and recorded music
  • experiment with, create, select and combine sounds using the inter-related dimensions of music.

English
The film and the accompanying Teacher Notes can also be used to target objectives from the Key Stage 1 English curriculum, particularly relating to Spoken language, Reading and Writing.

Resources

Download / print the Teacher Notes for this episode

Teacher Notes

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The instruments

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Vocabulary

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