Transcript Helping Children Make Their Own Simple Books

Helping Children Make
Their Own Simple Books
Singapore Book Development
Council
7 July 2007
Thanks to the Book
Development Council & Toa
Payoh Library
[email protected]
Internet:
www.georgejacobs.net
9389-8360
Agenda
 Why
books are important
 Encouraging reading & choosing the
right books
 The why and how of children making
their own books
 Lots of chance for you to make books
Why Books
Are Important
 Language
learning
 General knowledge
 Self-initiative
 Imagination
 Academic and career success
 Positive attitudes towards reading
Ways to Encourage
Love of Reading
 Read
aloud to children
 Be a model for reading
 Make books easily available
 Help children find books that are right
for them – suggestions to follow
Authors
 Joy
Cowley
 Dr Seuss
 Suchen Christine Lim
 Roald Dahl
 Judy Bloom
 James Lee
Books from Movies, TV Shows
 Finding
Nemo
 Barney
 PowerPuff
Girls
 SpongeBob SquarePants
 Cars
Pictures and Drawings
 Do
the children like the drawings and
pictures?
 Do drawings, etc. help kids
understand?
Length
 Some
books are long
 Some books are short
 Which length do the children prefer?
 We hope they will gradually move
towards longer books, especially if they
like the book
 “Home Run” books – “Milestone” books
Ask Friends
 What
books did they like?
 What books did they not like?
 Are friends exactly the same as you?
 Tell friends about the books you read
Learn Categories
 What
types of books are there
 What topics
 Where to find them in
bookshop/library
 In libraries, children’s books are
categorized by ages
Award Winners
 Caldecott
 Newbury
 International
Reading Association:
www.reading.org
Ask Older Kids and Adults
 What
books did they like when they
were your age?
 What books do they think you will
like?
Rereading
 Another
way to find a book to read is
to reread
 It’s great to read the same book again
 Books become our friends – It’s nice
to see our friends again
 We can see new things when we read
a book again
Choose Carefully
 Read
the book a little bit before
choosing it
 Are there too many hard words?

 Is
Maybe it is better to have a book that is
too easy than a book that is too hard
it interesting?
It’s Okay to Change Our Minds
 We
can choose a book
 And then return it before we finish it
 If we do not like it
Your Turn
 What
are your experiences with
children choosing books?
 Which of the ideas suggested have
you seen children use?
 Which ideas might work with the
children you know?
 What about when you choose books?
Why Children Should Make
Their Own Simple Books
+
Reading skill
 + Writing skill
 Demystifies books
and authoring
 + Self-esteem
 Provides
appropriate
reading material
+
Organising skill
 + Observation skill
 + Communication
 + Love for reading
 + Self-reliance
 + Bonds between
kids and adults
Your Turn
 When
you were a child did you ever
write something, no matter how short
or simple?
 Have you ever written something for
children or seen children write?
 Any other reasons to help children
write?
How to Help Children Make
Their Own Books

Use other books as models
 Tap children’s life experiences
 Connect to children’s interests
 Help as little or as much as needed
 Story boarding
 Don’t forget non-fiction
Use Other Books as Models:
Change ______
 Place
 Time
 Characters
 Objects
 Plot
 Ending
 Moral
 Type
of art, e.g.,
cartoon
 Length
 Title
 Sequel/Prequel
 E.g., Cinderella
Tell Your Stories
A
Kannada story narrated by A K
Ramanujan, who collected and edited
collections of Indian folktales
 There
once lived a woman who knew
a story
 But she kept it to herself; she never
told anyone the story
 Imprisoned
within her, the untold story
felt choked, trapped
 It decided to run away
 One day, as the woman slept with her
mouth open, the story escaped
 It turned into a pair of shoes and sat
outside the woman’s house
 The
new, unknown pair of shoes
caused the woman’s husband to be
very suspicious
 That evening, in a rage, the husband
picked up his blanket, and went off to
the nearby temple to sleep
 The
flames in the lamps of the town,
once they were put out, did not really
go out
 Instead, they moved to the temple,
gossiping together
 On this night, all the lamps from all
the houses had reached the temple  except one, which came in much later
 "Why
are you so late?" the others
asked when the last lamp arrived
 "Because at my house, the couple
quarrelled late into the night about
some new shoes", said the flame
 The other flames asked: "But where
did the shoes come from?"
 "The
lady of our house knows a story
but she never tells the story
 So, the story felt suffocated, escaped
and turned into a pair of shoes
 Seeing this made the husband furious
 It seems the story has taken revenge"
 The
husband, lying under his blanket
in the temple, heard the Lamp’s
explanation and forgave his wife
 He went home, woke his wife and
asked her about her story
 "What
story?" she asked
 She had, sadly, forgotten it.
 The End
 Moral
of the story: Write your stories
into books, so that you won’t forget
them!
Your Turn
 Look
at the possible changes on the
next slide. Any questions?
 Select 3 of the possible changes and
give examples
Use Other Books as Models:
Change ______
 Place
 Time
 Characters
 Objects
 Plot
 Ending
 Moral
 Type
of art, e.g.,
cartoon
 Length
 Title
 Sequel/Prequel
 E.g., Cinderella
Tap Children’s Life Experiences
 Where
they study
 Trips they have taken
 People they have met
 Future plans
Connect to Children’s Interests
 Hobbies
 Favourite
foods
 Favourite tv shows/movies
 Computer games
Your Turn
 What
about the children you know?
 How can you connect to their life
experiences, to their interests?
More Tips
materials – cut out shapes,
magazine pictures, leaves
 Rebus
I
Singapore
 Pop-ups, lift-ups
 Add words to wordless books
 Do a drama; then make it into a book
 Vary
Writing Tips
 Write
as often as you can
 Carry a notebook
 Keep a diary
 Write about what you know
 When
writing poems, they don’t have
to rhyme
 Experiment with different styles
 Don’t expect things to turn out great
the first time
 Be easy on yourself and others
 Good
writing requires lots of rewriting
 Sometimes the ideas just don’t come
– so, try again another time
 Good writers read a lot – “Read like a
writer”
Age Level
 Children
who can write, draw or even
paste can do their own book
 Never too old – depends on type of
book
 Never too late to start
What Else Besides Books?
 Letters/email
 Birthday
cards
 Newspapers
 Brochures
 Games – e.g., Concentration
 ??
 ??
Your Turn
 What
else besides books could you
help children to write?
 Pls give specific examples
WordWrights
 Society
for Reading and Literacy
http://www.srl.org.sg/www/index.shtml
Please Thank
Your Partners