Novel Suggestions

 I have put together the following novel suggestions based on responses from teachers on Instagram. They might come in useful throughout the year or in Term 3.

You can also find more novel ideas in this post.

Lollipop Stick Questions

I made these to use with some of the children I work with this year.

Rather than writing answers to questions based on a text, we will use these sometimes.  I made them thanks to posters from A Crucial Week, which I laminated and popped onto jumbo lollipop sticks.

I like to turn them upside down and allow the child to choose one.  I then use the question word to ask them a question based on the text we have read.  The children love to take on the role of the teacher and ask the questions too!

They could easily be used to discuss pictures too.

Example Questions:

- Who helped with the costumes?
- When was the concert on?
- Where do you think the children are?
- What is your favourite costume in the picture?
- Why do you like this costume?

App Alert: Borrow Box

This app allows you to download books from your library for free from your home!

I only came across this app lately and it is suitable for students and teachers alike.  I have used it during the summer to download and read some books.

What you need:

A library card Device to download the app

What I like about it:

-It is free! (new books can be expensive) -Saves trips to the library (handy for busy parents) -Option to download 5 books and 5 audio books at a time (I like the audio option for some children who may be reluctant readers or just like to listen to a story sometimes).
-You can select a filter for 'Children' or search a specific title.

It is definitely one I will be recommending to some parents in September who want to encourage their children to read more.

Books Worth a Look #3 'The City of Ember'

This is the third post in Books Worth a Look. (I have purchased these books myself and do not receive sponsorship/freebies for reviewing them!)

Next up is 'The City of Ember' by Jeanne DuPrau. It has been made into a movie aswell so it could be a good one to read with the children and then compare and contrast the film.



I had never come across this book before until the summer when I ordered it online. I feel it is most suitable for the senior end of the school. (It is important to note that the main character has lost her parents and also loses her grandmother during the story).

Theme/Overview
The book is set in the fictional city of Ember which has been built to be self sufficient from any outside world. However, the city is now running out of supplies and the generator is having more and more failures as the city is plunged into darkness repeatedly.  People are becoming more anxious about the future. The main characters need to try and find an escape route to see what lies beyond the city boundaries.

Activities

• Science: explore Electricity and how it works

Check out http://www.primaryscience.ie/ for experiments based on Electricity.

This link has some videos that are worth a look.
http://www.primaryscience.ie/activities_activity_movies.php

Discuss ways to conserve electricity and different ways to generate electricity.

Explore the different sources of light, both natural and artificial.

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• Art: create city scapes of buildings.

I really like these ones make using newspaper.

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• Visualisation: This book would be good to challenge children to visualise it in their heads and illustrate it. They could contrast 'the City of Ember' and the land they arrive in.

• Get creative and plan their own city (Maths and Art). In groups they could construct a city using a variety of materials

• Pack your bags! Discuss what treasured belongings you would bring if you had to move to a new home.

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Check out the other Books Worth a Look posts:

Books Worth a Look #1 The Dot

Books Worth a Look #2 Pax

Books Worth a Look #2 'Pax'

This is the second in a series of blog posts on some good books that I have come across while teaching a variety of classes. (I have purchased these books myself and do not receive sponsorship/freebies for reviewing them!)

The second book is 'Pax', a new-ish book to me. It is one that I really enjoyed reading myself. It is written by Sara Pennypacker and has lovely illustrations by Jon Klassen.

Theme/Overview

The main theme of this book is friendship. It is about two friends who are separated, it just so happens that one of them is a boy (Peter) and one is a fox (Pax).In order to be reunited, both of them face many obstacles including war (yet war is not the main focus of the book).  The book explores how true friendships can overcome even the most difficult and dangerous situations.

I particularly liked how it is written from perspective of both Peter and Pax, in alternate chapters. Personally, I would do this with a senior class as it does refer to war from time to time. It is important to note it does deal with the loss of a parent so may not be suitable to do if a child has experienced such a loss.

Activities/Ideas

• Research foxes- create a report piece of writing (click on image to get blank templates)

• Use the book as a stimulus to explore the theme of war (book does not specify which war)

• Fill a backpack (Peter brought some useful items and treasured possessions with him), ask the children what they would bring. They could draw a backpack with their chosen items inside.

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• Visualisations: This story lends itself nicely to working on the comprehension strategy of visualisation. 

• Traits of a good friend: Discuss the important traits of a good friend.

• Friendship recipe: similar to the idea above, choose the most important traits of friendship.

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• My pet: Discuss or complete a project on their pets and their favourite things about them. If some children don't have pets try the next activity.

• If I could have any pet it would be.....

• Read the poem 'The Dentist and the Crocodile' by Roald Dahl

• Do some art inspired by foxes!

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Check out the other Books Worth a Look posts:

Books Worth a Look #1 'The Dot'

Books Worth a Look #1 'The Dot'

This is the first in a series of blog posts on some good books that I have come across while teaching a variety of classes. (I have purchased these books myself and do not receive sponsorship/freebies for reviewing them!)




First up is 'The Dot' by Peter H. Reynolds which I will be doing with my new students on the first day of school as I introduce our classroom rules.

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Theme/Overview

The book is about a child struggling with an Art activity (but really I think it can be applicable to all subjects). It is about trying, even when it is difficult and you feel you can't do it...YET!  Even though it may be daunting or make us feel uneasy, making a start is important or as we say in Irish 'Tús maith leath na hoibre!' It ties in nicely with the idea of Growth Mindset. 

It encourages us to be creative in our learning and teaching (that there isn't just one way to do something) which is why I have chosen to read it on the first day back to school.

Activities/Ideas

These are just some ideas to pick and choose from that you could use alongside the book.

• Discuss before reading the story what it feels like when faced with a new beginning or start (first day back to school, new pupil in the class etc.)

• Read the story again but change it to another subject, for example Maths to show the children that the main idea of the story is applicable to more than just Art

• The book could also be a stimulus for an Art lesson for the children to make their 'own mark'

• Chat about how the children could make their mark this year (what they would like to achieve, what they would like to improve on) 

• Do some Pointillism Art using dots and look at artist Seurat

• Do some Kandinsky inspired 'Dot' Art

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• create a class contract for the year to always try our best and 'make our mark'. Each child can sign their name beside their dot (perhaps their fingerprint).

• Design a Growth Mindset Poster for displaying in the class. Have a look here at some examples or click the image for others.

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They now even have an International Dot Day which is the 15th September this year! More details can be found here where they have more ideas for the book.

5 printable resources for First Day Back (all Freebies!)

Here are five sheets I will have printed for my first day or two back in the classroom.

1. Checklist Page for Homework Diary

I print this out each year and get the children to attach it to the inside cover of their homework diary. It does take some training in getting them to use it, but it does give them clear expectations on what you expect from homework.

You an download it here.

All About Me Sheet

A nice way to get to know the children on the first day back. Other ideas of Back to School Activities can be found in another post by clicking here. Click on the image to download it for free.

Mental Maths Sheet

I stick this into the back of their mental maths book.  During the first few weeks back to school, we add key maths language for addition, subtraction etc. as we come across them in our book. This can be used as an aid for the children as the year progresses. Children can also add in their own facts and maths language that they find tricky. You an download this freebie  here.

                                                 

Bookmarks

I print these on card to make them a bit more durable. The children can decorate them and the idea is each time they complete a book they record the name of it on the bookmark, seeing their collection grow (hopefully!) as the year progresses.

                                

Summer Memories Worksheet

This is another freebie that is differentiated and can be used in all class levels. It is useful as an oral language activity,  to revise recount writing and to see the starting point for each child. I sometimes bind them altogether and make our first class book of the year. Click on the image to download 3 different options.

                                               

If you find these useful, please rate them on my TPT store! :)

Find other Back to School Posts here:

First Day Back to School Activities

(An Actual) Back to School Checklist!

The Back to School 'Survival' Checklist for Teachers

Novel Ideas and Activities

This year, my class did 'Kensuke's Kingdom' as their novel. It was a real hit and here are some ideas that could be used for any class novel.

Design a book cover

Usually I get the children to do this after finishing the novel. It is a nice art activity to do. I download a book cover template on card for them and we discuss the elements of an effective book cover.

Letter to author

Rather than a book review, it can be nicer to use the medium of letter writing to show the author what you liked/disliked about the book. If you do decide to post them, you might be lucky and get a response!

Diary entry

Choose a specific part of the book and a character and ask the children to write a diary entry about what is happening. For Kensuke's Kingdom we used cold teabags to give them an old appearance.

Questions for main character

This can be a fun activity as we are usually the ones asking the questions rather than the children.
   

It can lead on nicely to the next idea:

Hot seat character

Choose a student to assume the role of a character. The other children then question them on various topics that arise in the novel.

News Report

In this, the children could create a news report for a main event in the novel. For example, in Kensuke's Kingdom we created a news report announcing that Michael was missing. The children can also record the news reports incorporating ICT.

Debate

We were doing persuasive writing this term so debating (either written or oral) is a great activity to do with novels. We choose specific points of the novel and debated the various pros and cons.

Chapter Activity Sheets

I designed some activity sheets that I used for some chapters. It includes the strategies of prediction, visualisation, summarising as well as vocabulary and character study.

Create a model/diorama of favourite scene

Another art idea where the children could select a scene from the novel and create a 3D representation or a clay model.

Design a comic strip of favourite scene

Again, a nice art activity. I choose a scene in the book and asked the children to illustrate what each character might be thinking or saying at that particular time.

Create a quiz

A fun way to assess their knowledge of the novel is to get the children to create a quiz. It is also a nice way to peer assess. Why not get the children to use ICT (maybe Powerpoint) to create an interactive quiz?

   



Alter the Ending

The children could write an alternative ending to the story or continue on the story to show what might happen next.

Letter to a character in the future

Imagine the book fasts forwards 10 or 20 years. Write a letter as if you are a character in the book writing to another character.

Create a wordsearch/crossword based on story

This is a nice way to summarise keys words and vocabulary from the novel. A wordsearch may be easier for younger classes or challenge them to create a crossword for their partner.

Character Profile

I gave the children a blank template to draw a character as they imagine them to look like. They also add some adjectives to describe the character and explain why they chose those specific ones.

 

Dramatise/mime a scene

Put the class in groups and assign a part of the novel to each group. They can dramatise it or mime the part while the rest of the class try to figure it out.

Create Movie Music

I asked my children to imagine the novel is being made into a movie. Using instruments or body percussion they create music for a particular scene.

Sense Response

Using a chapter in the book the children created a senses page and listed all the senses that the chapter appealed to. For example the waves crashing may appeal to the sense of hearing and sight.

I hope this gives you some ideas for studying novels. Feel free to comment with some other ideas below.


Here are a few that relate directly to Kensuke's Kingdom:

This was an art lesson inspired by Michael in the cave. The children used oil pastels and black paper for the cave.

  

 The children designed a map of the island based on what they imagined it to be like.

Missing Posters