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Year 2

Exploring the meaning of family in 'And Tango Makes Three'

I can explore the meaning of family in the story.

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Year 2

Exploring the meaning of family in 'And Tango Makes Three'

I can explore the meaning of family in the story.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. A theme is a big idea, topic or message that appears in a story.
  2. 'And Tango Makes Three' tells the story of a penguin family that has two dads.
  3. 'And Tango Makes Three' explores themes of love, family and identity.
  4. Families come in many different forms, shapes and sizes.
  5. Love is the most important element in a family.

Keywords

  • Theme - a big idea, topic or message that appears in a story

  • Love - a strong feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection

  • Family - a group of people who look after each other and love one another

  • Identity - the different aspects of who we are

Common misconception

Children may struggle to understand how the concept of identity links to family.

Explain that our family is a big part of who we are and can influence our identity. Offer a variety of examples demonstrating this.


To help you plan your year 2 english lesson on: Exploring the meaning of family in 'And Tango Makes Three', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Offer an opportunity for children to share their own family set-ups and what family means to each of them. Teachers should be mindful of the different types of families in the class.
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Teacher tip
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Equipment

You will need a copy of the 2007 Simon & Schuster UK Ltd edition of ‘And Tango Makes Three’ by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell for this lesson.

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Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
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Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

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Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Sequence the following to retell the beginning of the story of 'And Tango Makes Three'. R & S refers to Roy and Silo.
1 - R & S were different to other penguin couples because both of them were boys.
2 - R & S spent all their time together and lived just like the other couples.
3 - R & S realised the one thing they couldn't do was produce an egg and have a baby
4 - R & S tried to hatch a rock so that they could become parents.
Q2.
Sequence the following to retell the rest of the story of 'And Tango Makes Three'. R & S refers to Roy and Silo.
1 - The zookeeper realised what was happening and gave R & S an egg to hatch.
2 - R & S spent all of their time caring for the egg.
3 - The egg hatched and R & S became fathers to a penguin who was named Tango.
4 - R & S taught and loved their daughter in the same way as the other families.
Q3.
What is a theme within a story?
the main characters
where the story is set
Correct answer: a big idea, topic or message
Q4.
True or false? All families look the same.
Correct Answer: False, false
Q5.
Select all the ways in which Roy and Silo were similar to the other couples?
Correct answer: They loved to spend their time together.
Correct answer: They shared a home together.
Correct answer: They wanted to be parents.
They could produce an egg to hatch.
Q6.
What made Tango unique in the penguin home?
Correct answer: She had two dads.
She was hatched from an egg.
She went swimming with her parents.

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of the following themes occur in 'And Tango Makes Three'?
good vs evil
Correct answer: family
greed
Correct answer: love
Correct answer: identity
Q2.
Match the themes from the story to their definition.
Correct Answer:love,a strong feeling of personal attachment or deep affection
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a strong feeling of personal attachment or deep affection

Correct Answer:family,a group of people who look after each other and show love
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a group of people who look after each other and show love

Correct Answer:identity,the different aspects of who we are
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the different aspects of who we are

Q3.
How can we uncover themes within a story?
Correct answer: by looking for recurring ideas or messages
by reading the blurb
by finding specific details
Q4.
True or false? Families come in many different forms, shapes and sizes.
Correct Answer: True, true
Q5.
True or false? A family is defined by who is in it.
Correct Answer: False, false
Q6.
Which of the following aspects are important to the meaning of family?
Correct answer: love
Correct answer: protection
money
Correct answer: kindness
gender