This is the first time I will be reading a spooky book with my book club for ages seven and eight! One of the British Council reading challenge themes was Creepy House, so I’ve worked extensively with slightly scary stories for all age-groups, but because it was never one of my go-to genres as a child, I took a while to bring myself around to the idea of introducing a scary book to the children I meet.
Yet, The School is Alive is the perfect mixture of thrilling and comforting. When Sam Graves becomes the hall monitor at Eerie Elementary, he has no idea that the school is hungry to eat its students! Sam finds an unlikely ally in the caretaker Mr Nekobi, and together with his other friends, he’s more than a match for his school!
Here’s what we’ll do with the book at my reading programme.
Creepy Alphabet
This is an activity I never tire of repeating. How many words can we think of that fit in with the theme of spooky stories? Can we think of at least one word with each letter of the alphabet?
In October last year, I moved to Zoom, and we’ve loved using the breakout rooms ever since. One child at my writing programme said that getting into a breakout room was his favourite part of each session! Let’s see how children can brainstorm together and develop word lists.
Creepy Characters
I used this activity long, long ago at a British Library workshop, and I’ve been itching to use it again. While I understand the challenges – one child may create a character that’s too scary for the others, for instance – I know that this is a good foundational activity for children to begin their creative writing journeys.
Sounds
Linking reading and listening once more, I will share a set of spooky sounds with the children. Although this activity starts off being scary, as the sounds change, it often leads to much hilarity, and don’t we all love to laugh?
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