Who doesn’t love Esio Trot? Teg reggib, esio trot, teg reggib!
There was a time when I knew the book so well that I could say the whole chant that Mr Hoppy tells Mrs Silver to deliver to little Alfie. Have you come across the tweet about how children’s books should not be given star ratings but ‘again’ ratings based on how many times a child asks to read the book?
By that reckoning, Esio Trot is very high up on my list!
It’s one of those perfect transition books – neither a short story nor a chapter book. Neither a picture book nor a book with just words. That makes it ideal for my reading programme for seven and eight-year-olds!
Backward Games
A book club is all about having fun with books. It’s about celebrating the joy of reading. And that’s why one of the things we’re going to do is talk backwards, just for a bit. Plan what you want to say and write it down before saying it aloud. Let’s see whether we can figure it out!
'Say it with expression'
That’s what Mr Hoppy tells Mrs Silver. Just saying the words isn’t enough; magic words need expression.
Children love to recite poems, especially rhyming ones, so here is the perfect opportunity. During one class, I will ask them to read or recite something – with expression! How much drama can they bring into what they read?
Growing
How do children grow? How does anything grow? Can we watch something grow?
Mrs Silver does not even notice that Alfie grows to double his weight. With Esio Trot, I hope to have the children do an experiment of their own. Especially as most children come back for one edition of the programme after another, this should be fun. They’ll measure their height at the beginning of this book and then again when we end the next reading programme. Let’s see what we find!
Additionally, if we can, I’ll ask them to plant and water mustard seeds. I enjoyed doing that as a child. I’m sure they will too!
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REGISTRATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED FOR THIS PROGRAMME. The next edition of the programme will be held in August.
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