WORKSHOP "I CAN TELL IT"

In this post, I´m going to talk about the wonderful experience that we had some weeks ago in class with children from school "Daoiz" and "Velarde" in Alcalá de Henares.

The objective that we wanted achieve with the development of this workshop was to introduce and approach the children to literature, and make them to know the story and remember the most famous fairy tales of children's literature.

In this way, all of us divided in different groups to carry out the activities and work on a unique fairy tale. The different stories that were developed were:

• Aladdin
• Snow White and the seven dwarfs
• Hercules
• Alice in wonderworld
• Three Little Pigs
• Cinderella

Our group that was composed by: Enrique, Gonzalo, Sergio, Inma, Cristina, Jessica, Laura and me, chose the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to carry out our Workshop. The activities that we are prepared to develop the children were:

• The narration of the story by the protagonists of the history.

• A puzzle which consisted in order chronologically the different actions and facts that happen in the story.

• A quiz in which students were divided into two groups to form two teams. Each group was formulated 6 questions about something related to the story (characters, facts, events ...).

We used a projector to show to the children the story through images and an argument summarized. The seating of the chairs was in a circle, so that all children could see the screen and pay attention to us.

In addition, we were giving each child a cartel with the different names of the Seven Dwarfs (sleepy, happy, dumb, shy, grumpy, snotty and wise) so that they hanged it on the neck, and the typical hat which dwarfs used.

At the end all activities, we gave each child a small gift which was a bookmark with different images of Snow White.

All the activities that we did should last a total of 20 minutes with each group of students, because after that time, the children were changed to go through all the fairy tales.

Regarding the way in which we carried out the activities with children, in general was good, because the kids enjoyed and entertained with all the activities. The participation of children was very good, except in some cases in which they were distracted, but it's normal at this age.

Moreover, I would have liked that these activities are performed in more sessions, to spend more time with children, and to see the activities of other groups, because we did not have the opportunity to see other representations of the stories.

Finally, I can say that this activity has been one of the nicest and fun we have done in the four years at University. I think this type of activity in which you can deal directly with the children, is the most appropriate to learn and you can actually see if you like what you're doing. Moreover, this experience really helps you to observe if the activities that you have proposed and developed, serve to show them in the future.

I hope all people, both teachers and classmates, enjoyed with this activity and learned something new.

MOVIE "MULAN"

Hello everyone!!

In this post, I´m going to speak about the film "Mulan" because it is one of the films on which we treated and talked in class, a week ago. This is one of the most critical infant film at the cinemarespect to its argument, therefore I find very interesting to speak about this topic.

To show you the reviews and inform you more about the movie, here you can see a movie trailer and plot summary.

Mulan is a young woman of marriageable age, and consider her a dishonor to her family and culture. At that time, the Chinese empire goes to war against the Huns, and her elderly father is called to the army. However, she decides not to allow it and she is disguised as a man to replace her father without his knowing it.

Mushu, a small dragon, goes looking for Mulan, accompanied by a small cricket with good luck. Mulan enters the army with other name, and meets the leader of the troops (Shang Li), whose goal is to defend China from the Huns.

Later, the Chinese army and Mulan are found with the Huns, where almost they are defeated by Mulan when she causes an avalanche by throwing a rocket. Mulan is hurt, and when doctors will heal his wound, they discover that she is a woman, a crime that is punishable by law with death. However, Shang spares her life, because she saved him after the avalanche, and she is only expelled from the army.

In China receive the army with a huge celebration because everyone believes that defeated the army of the Huns. When Mulan enters the city tries to warn to people that the Huns were still alive, but anybody believes her, so the Huns appear and kidnap the emperor. Mulan thinks of a plan to rescue the Emperor, and with the help of Shang and her other friends rescue the Emperor and defeat the Huns.

Finally, Mulan is honored and Emperor offers her a position in the Imperial Court. When Mulan returns home, her parents received with great happiness and Mushu achieves its goal of becoming the guardian of the Fa family.

Mulan film is based on a true story that also happened in China. The whole story told previously is true, but with some changes like for example; the Chinese army does not realize that the girl is a female, and she confesses it to her partners at the end of the war.

Regarding the criticism that received this film were so varied,because there were people who were in favor and others against. The people who were in favor, said that it was a wonderful and entertaining film for all audiences, especially to children.

However, the people who were against the argument and the way in which the film developed, said that in the film was reflected different aspects of sexist topics, trying to identify Mulan as a simple housewife. In addition, in China it had no good reviews, because people said the heroism of women was not reflected in the film, it was only a fantasy world.

In my opinion, Mulan is one of the best films that Disney has produced because it is very entertaining, far from reality and makes you follow the argument carefully. I think that the criticism that have been raised about the film do not matter, because the public generally going to be infant.

LIBRARY PROJECT

In this post, I want to talk about the literature project that we did in groups some weeks ago in class.

This project consisted make a library with simple materials for Primary Education of any school.

In this case, our library is not made of cardboard or wood, but we have represented in the continuous paper, so that the students could decorate as they wished, and could stick the books that, then I will explain.

Our library project consists of each student must choose a book in his house, then read it and make a drawing on a sheet summarizing the story that was read. When the student has done the drawing, he should roll the sheet making a "loop" and stick with velcro in our library.

In this way, children can see the title of the book and through the drawing that have done their peers, they may know a little about what the story is. Students will observe whether or not they like the topic of the book, and they decide if read one or the other.

In the case that student chooses to read the book from a classmate, because he liked his "loop", he should ask his classmate, and so on.

These steps will be performed as often as the teacher and the students want, and it can be used with other students from other classes in order to expand the number of lectures and books.

Regarding the budget that we have used to create and develop this project, have been only about 5 euros, because you only need to buy the velcro to put the "loop" in the library. We think that the continuous paper, markers, sheets and other materials, are provided by the school so this project amounts to no more expense in terms of budget concerns.

In addition, to develop this project in any school, we think that is necessary a person who is in charge of the library. The function will be point in agenda, the books to be taking each student to read, and books that are returned. This person will be a student in the class, and will be changed every week.

The objective that we want to achieve through this project is that reading is promoted in the classroomthe communication between students, some values ​​such as companionship, and certain skills such as oral and written.

Finally, I think that this activity is a great way to develop literature in schools, not only focusing on the primary school students, but can also be done with students of infant education and even in the ESO. The only thing that would change is the type of contents of the books and expand the information of the "loop", making summaries, personal opinions, etc.

In addition, the library could be extended developing sections for different types of books that students read, such as adventure, action, humor...

AUTHOR: "ELWYN BROOKS WHITE"

Through this post, I want you to know more about this great author, his name is Elwyn Brooks White. I knew information about this author from research which my classmates and I had to present in class, as all of you. I found it quite interesting his life and his works, especially emphasizing children's novels.

Elwyn Brooks White was a writer, essayist and a leading American prose writer. He was born in Mount Vernon (New York), and in 1925 he published his first article in the magazine "The New Yorker". Along his next two years, he produced a series of essays about the fear of war, the internationalism and humor, that had a great repercussions in the society of the time.

During the late '30s, he began writing fiction for kids. His first novel for children was, "Stuart Little", then he created "Charlotte's Web" and finally "The Trumpet of the Swan".

          

Elwyn Brooks White won important national awards, both for his works as essays. Finally, Elwyn died on 1^st of October, 1985.

Regarding his most important works, we can find:

• "Stuart Little": this book is best known for its fun and entertaining argument and its transformation to world cinema where he had and continues to have great success.

The story tells that one day, the Little family adopts a little mouse (Stuart) who treat it as a child. The family is delighted with the Little, but George, his eldest son, does not know what to do with his "new brother". However, Snowbell, the family catthinks a plan to oust the home for good.

Both in the novel and the movie, are transmitted educational values ​​such as companionship and tolerance among family and friends. Therefore, we can work this kind of issues with children after reading or watching the "Stuart Little".

• "Charlotte's Web": in this novel is narrated as Wilbur, a pig who lives on a farm, learns that his destiny is to end up in the bowl of a table. He is determined to avoid this fatal outcome, and he will think a plan with her ​​friend Charlotte, the spider.

In this case, the message that the author wants to transmit with this story, is the value of friendship that can unite people in a wonderful way.

• "The Trumpet of the Swan": in this novel tells the adventures of the little swan Louie, that at birth, he realizes that he is mute. Louie will overcome many difficult situations until he makes friends with a boy named Sam.

In this case, the values that are transmitted are compassion and friendship, so it is a good book for children to start reading.

Finally, if we observe the argument of each of the books, we can see that all of them talk about the same topic and transmit the same values. Therefore, I think these novels could work in a school to treat all those values ​​that are specially aimed at children.

Also, all of these novels are adapted for the cinema and aimed to all audiences.

      

THE READING MAP

This activity "Reading Map" we did a few weeks ago and consisted to represent through a map, some of the most important books that you've read along your life, since you were going to school until today. In this case, you had to make as a chronological sequence, drawing and representing the books that you can be identified at all these stages of your life.

It seemed a very creative and interesting activity for both of us to remember what kind of books we read before, and to do it with primary students at school, promoting the literature.

When I started to develop this activity, it seemed a bit complicated because I did not know what kind of map could do, and I do not remember very well  the books that I had read as a child. For this, I had to start looking for my room, the books that I had of the school and ask my parents what kind of books I used to read as a child.

This activity "Reading Map" helped me:

- To remember a little more about children's literature.

- To remember the kind of books that have influenced me when I was young and nowadays.

- To know the literature that the teachers used to employ teachers to transmit a set of educational values ​​in some cases.

- To be able to represent and identify in a visual way the objective of this activity.

The activity of Reading map can also be used in other subjects, not just on the literature. As for example, in Science to represent the water cycle, photosynthesis, the order of the planets... because this type of activity has a lot of different ways to develop and achieve different goals.

However, in the subject in which it is focused more is in Literature, because the teachers are allowed to know the literary likes of students, organize groups and oral presentations as literary genre, develop murals, debates for the defense of a book, improvise class libraries, etc.

With all these complementary activities is encouraged reading books and the interest and motivation in the literature.

Finally, here I show you a photo of my "Reading Map" where you can observe the most important books related to the literature in each of the stages of my life:

- From 0-3 years old

- At school

- At high school

- Adulthood

If I have to highlight the books that I liked and influenced me until nowadays, were: The Three Little Pigs, Matilda, Manolito Gafotas and Harry Potter.

JOLLY PHONICS AND NURSERY RHYMES

JOLLY PHONICS

One of the questions being asked many people related to education, is how to work and develop the pronunciation in class.

One of the activities we have done in class, was related to the Jolly Phonics.

And What is Jolly Phonics?

Jolly Phonics is a method centred approach to teaching literacy through synthetic phonics. With actions for each of the 42 letter sounds, the multi-sensory method is very motivating for children and teachers, who can see their students achieve. The letter sounds are split into seven groups.

In addition, Jolly Phonics teaches children the five key skills for reading and writing.

• Learning the letter sounds
• Learning letter formation
• Blending
• Identifying the sounds in words
• Tricky words

This method is very motivating for children and teachers, because it has different ways to put it into practice in the classroom.

With this resource, you work mainly the pronunciation of students

Now, you can see a video with different songs to practise the pronunciation, including new sounds of the english alphabet.

The teacher showed us this video in class, and found it very interesting and useful to introduce and start practicing this method.

I didn´t know much about this resource; soI hope I can using it in the next period of practice with students.

NURSERY RHYMES

Other activity we have done in class, is related with "Nursery Rhymes"

And What is nursery rhyme?

A Nursery Rhyme, is a short rhyming story with music and designed for young children. This term began to be seen in Britain and other countries in the poems and songs for children.

I think nursery rhymes is very useful to know new vocabulary and different contents, and for children learn new skills in a funny and entertaining way.

It is also a good way to get students motivated and paying attention

This type of resource is frequently used in Primary Education for introduce the topic that children will see and to do all kind of activities in class.

Here, you can see a video that is a example of Nursery Rhymes.

Finally, I add a video of my group in the activity we did in class about a nursery rhyme.

WELCOME!!

Hi everyone! Welcome to my blog "Luismi´s thinking site". In this blog, I´m going to share with all of you, different opinions, thinkings and other things about some topics related with education, literature, activities done in class...
I hope you like it
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