Entries tagged 'books'

Heroes, Poetry and Finding What We Are Good At

By Nigel Godfrey, posted 28th November 2011 at 5:00PM | Comments

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Our summer term musical theatre show Ready, Steady, Go will be timed to help schools look at the Olympics and some of the issues it raises.
We want to use topical classic and contemporary children’s literature to drive our story along, and would love to know if you have any favourite books which might be appropriate.
In particular we want to explore:

  • heroes, and people we admire
  • competition
  • finding what we are good at
  • striving for excellence
  • teamwork

We love well illustrated picture books, but we want to make sure that the three or four books we finally choose will contain something for every class teacher from Reception to Year 6.

 

The show is also...

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World Book Day

By Nigel Godfrey, posted 28th November 2011 at 4:56PM | Comments

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Of course we say "World Book Day" as if there is just one, but it isn’t quite like that.

There are in fact two "World Book Days".  In the UK and Ireland we do it on 3 March (apparently to avoid having the day during the Easter holidays).  The rest of the world does it on 23 April.

However the date is not the only confusing thing.  The real title is World Book and Copyright Day, although in some places it is known as International Day of the Book.

But whatever it is called and whenever it is done it is a UNESCO organised event to promote reading and publishing, and it started in 1995.
23 April was originally chosen as a day to celebrate books in 1923, by booksellers in Spain in...

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Book of the Month: I Don’t Want to Be a Pea!

Just Imagine Book of the Month - August 2011

By Nikki Gamble (from Just Imagine), posted 03rd September 2011 at 8:50PM | Comments

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By Ann Bonwill, with illustrations by Simon Rickerty

A hippo called Hugo and a bird called Bella are getting ready for the Bird-Hippo Fancy Dress Party. They decide to go as 'The Princess and the Pea' but neither wants to be the pea. Well, you wouldn't, would you? Because they both want their own way, they can't agree on a costume and they almost don't go to the party at all.

Ann Bonwill's witty dialogue has some laugh out loud moments and it reads aloud very well making this a super choice for the primary classroom.

'I will be the mermaid and you will be my rock. You make a very fine rock.' Bird tells her friend. Hippo isn't convinced 'I don't want to be a rock. It is too grey and...

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Wanted: The Perfect Pet

Just Imagine Book of the Month - July 2011

By Nikki Gamble (from Just Imagine), posted 17th July 2011 at 2:03PM | Comments

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Wanted: The Perfect Pet by Fiona Roberton, published by Hodder Children's Books

Henry wants a dog. He wants a dog so badly. He wants a dog more than a frog (he already has hundreds of frogs and they don’t impress him one bit). He wants a dog more than a Cowboy outfit and  even more than an all expenses paid trip to the moon. There’s only one thing to be done. Henry places an advert in the newspaper: Wanted the Perfect Pet… and he waits…

Meanwhile, far away a lonely duck sits waiting for someone to mail or call him. He’s so lonely, that he has to play ping pong all by himself and that's not much fun. Then one day he picks up the newspaper and he reads Henry’s advert, and that...

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Just Imagine

Inspiring and enabling well-informed approaches to literacy teaching

By Nigel Godfrey, posted 10th July 2011 at 11:58AM | Comments

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Last Autumn the inspiring literacy coordaintor in my daughter's primary school introduced me to teacher, lecturer and writer Nikki Gamble, proprietor of the new Just Imagine Story Centre in Chelmsford.  Nikki has helped our writer Craig Christie to select appropriate books for all our 2011/12 musicals, and I'm thrilled that she has agreed to write a regular "book of the month" column on this blog.

Just Imagine was set up by  Nikki Gamble with the aim to inspire, motivate and enable creative and well-informed approaches to literacy teaching and children’s literature for all education professionals.  I should add that they are a fantasticly well informed children's  and education book...

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Two annual book weeks

Which is more relevant?

By Nigel Godfrey, posted 03rd June 2011 at 3:05PM | Comments

Having toured out literacy focused musicals to Primary Schools for nearly two years now, World Book Day, which in the UK is usually celebrated on the first Thursday in March is a big day for us.

Schools book our musical in "book week" and within a month either side of the day as they work hard to find new ways to engage children with books and reading and it has by far been our busiest time of the year.

In the first full week of October there is another children's literacy event - the Book Trust's Children's Book Week.  This is intended as a celebration of reading for pleasure, which is great, but perhaps because it falls early in the school year it has not been such a busy time for...

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Choosing Books

By Craig Christie (writer and composer), posted 30th March 2011 at 11:40PM | Comments

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When adapting our West End in Schools shows from their original Australian version my most important task is to ensure that the shows achieve the intention of creating an active interest in books and reading by selecting the books that are going to feature in the British version of the show.

Firstly we have given teachers who have seen our current show Rev It Up! the opportunity to suggest titles that they believe may be appropriate for next year's equivalent show Jump To It! This gives me insights into what titles are popular and more common in schools having decided to include at least one book in each show that is familiar to a wide audience.

We also refer to experts in the...

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