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Rationale
for choosing the book:
This book has been chosen not only because it was conceived by Alan and
Janet Ahlberg, possibly one of the most popular children's writer/illustrator
team in the U.K., but also because it was conceived in school with the
pupils help. It, therefore, reflects the world of school, in England,
as seen through the eyes of children.
Re-telling:
Starting
School follows a multicultural group of children as they begin their education
England. On the first day, they are seen as they arrive - some on bikes,
others in cars, and many on foot. They meet a cheerful lollipop man who
guides them across the road towards their new school. where their teacher
introduces them to the daily routine. As time goes by, and the children
become more secure in their surroundings, the story goes more deeply into
the minor conflicts that can occur during the school day. It ends, however,
on a high note with preparations for the end-of-term Christmas play.
Activities
for use in school:
1. Get the children to look carefully at each page in the book to see
which things are the same in your school and which things are different.
They can then choose ONE thing, describe it, illustrate it and put it
in a class booklet 'Our School', which could be kept in the reading corner.
2. You might like to write a letter on behalf of a child in another European
country, asking to be told about schools in England. The children can
then respond, rather like the replies to the ladybird letters in chapter
one of Nigel Hall's book 'Writing with Reason'.
3. Get the children to make a brochure of their school that could be used
by parents, or children who are about to begin at the school. It could
also be sent to a partner school in another country.
4. Older children might like to reflect on what they can remember
about starting school. Have things changed very much? Do they have a particular
incident that sticks in their minds that they would like to re-tell. This
could be recorded on to tape and made into a radio documentary. In addition,
the children might like to interview parents/grandparents about their
memories of starting school. You could read part of chapter three in Laurie
Lee's 'Cider with Rosie' (Penguin, 1979) which recounts his first day
at school, as a stimulus:
I spent that first day picking holes in paper, then
went home in a smouldering temper.
'What's the matter, Loll? Didn't you like it at school,
then?'
'They never gave me the present!'
'Present? What present?'
'They said they'd give me a present.'
'Well, now, I'm sure they didn't.'
'They did! They said: "You're Laurie Lee, ain't
you? Well, just you sit there for the present".
'I sat there all, day but I never got it. I ain't going back there
again!'
Reflection:
Early school memories.
NB Further
literature and language-based activities can be found in
Picture Books sans Frontières available
from tb@trentham-books.co.uk
or www.amazon.co.uk
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