Magic potions.
Superpowers. Word games.
Adjectives, homophones, homonyms, mazes.
Codes, recitation, performance.
What fun my first reading programme was!
The first book we read together was Trouble with Magic by Asha Nehemiah. A reading programme involves more than simply reading the book, though, so we used our imaginations. What would we get if we put different ingredients together? A medicine? A magic potion? An explosion?
Each of the children came up with something different, and it was such fun! Take a look at just one of them.
Our second book was Shrinking Vanita by Manjula Padmanabhan. Apart from word games, where we attempted to unscramble words from the book, we created our own superheroes. What if everyone suddenly shrinks to half their size? What superpower would you need to save the world?
And on the other hand, what if you could stretch your body infinitely? What special things could you do to help other people?
Our third book was The Sheep-Pig by Dick King-Smith, a childhood favourite. Babe the sheep-pig has to follow a specific set of instructions in order to win the sheep-dog trials. Reading and following instructions, the children followed a path too, determining how a dog would herd the sheep to their pen.
We also worked with adjectives. How would you describe Babe? What characteristics come to mind when you think of the sheep-pig?
The last book we worked with was Manya Learns to Roar. This was the book where we had the most interaction, as children deciphered the code at the beginning of each chapter. They wrote their names in code and figured out the notes inside the book. We had such fun!
Instead of a ‘come as a character’ activity, I had each of them recite a poem. One child did such a lovely, dramatic recitation of ‘I opened a book’ by Julia Donaldson. I loved another child’s performance too, but I cannot remember much of the poem except that it was a lot like ‘Sick’ by Shel Silverstein.
And that’s the end of my first reading programme; watch out for the next one!
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