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...