A book a day keeps boredom away!

Students will be introduced to classic or modern literature and will participate in collaborative creative activities which will enable them to grow emotionally and socially.

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“There are perhaps no days of our childhood we lived so fully as those we spent with a favourite book.” – Marcel Proust The activities in this kit focus on literature. Students will be introduced to classic or modern literature and will participate in collaborative creative activities which will enable them to grow emotionally and socially. Students will work in mixed nationality groups to discuss, interpret and comment on various books and work together on creative activities.

Objectives

• To underline the multicultural quality of literature and its power to cross boundaries and make people realize that they share many of the same values and concerns. • To familiarize students with various literary genres and their characteristics. • To bring to the surface the personal interests of each student and highlight their individual talents and creative ability. • To motivate students to improve their use of the English language through reading authentic texts and through creative writing. • To foster creativity and development of the child’s imagination. • To motivate learners to read other literary works on their own.

Introduction of partners

If I were a character in a book… Students update their Twinspace profiles by answering the following question: ‘If you were a character in a book which one would you be and why?’ A list of personality adjectives created and provided by teachers could help younger students complete this activity. As a profile picture, students can draw a portrait of their favourite book character or create one by using an avatar creation tool. Students should be encouraged to post at least one question to three different walls and be prepared to answer their partners’ questions as if they are the fictional characters themselves. Example tool: Superherotar.framiqLiterature Bookworms’ quizzes Students work in national groups and create an interactive quiz with questions related to famous authors of their country and their work. Each quiz should not contain more than 10 questions. Partner schools arrange a live session through the TwinSpace, where students present their quizzes to their partners and have fun answering the questions in real time. Example tool: Quizizz

Orientation

‘What is Literature to you?’ Questionnaire Students complete an online questionnaire written collaboratively by all partner teachers where they answer questions such as ‘what is your favourite book?’, ‘what books have you read recently?’, ‘which of the following are considered as types of literature?’, ‘what do you gain or will you gain by reading literature?’ etc. The results of this questionnaire can be published on the TwinSpace and presented in an online meeting by all partner schools. Example tool: SurveyplanetOur Reading List Students from each partner country, with the help of their teachers and/or the school librarian, create a list of books that they would enjoy reading while working on the project. The titles of the books along with the name of the author and the back cover blurbs are collected in a ‘virtual bookcase’ and students vote to choose the 10 most popular books that will be included in their reading list. Example tool: Dotstorming‘How to start a book club’ Guide Students work in national groups and share their ideas on how to start their own book club. They can then create a step by step guide sharing all their useful tips as an infographic. Example tool: Visme

Collaboration

Useful Tip: Working on one activity per month is ideal, however, if your students need more time to complete a task, allow this and reduce the number of project activities. The quality of the materials produced is what matters the most.CommunicationStart a Reading Club! Students are teamed up in mixed nationality groups (no more than ten groups in total, so that teachers can supervise all of them effectively). A forum is created for each group, where students meet online to get to know each other and collaborate. Each one of the groups chooses a name for their book club, decides how often they will meet online, nominates someone to be in charge of the book club, creates a logo and selects a book from the reading list that every member of the book club should read. All groups announce the opening of their book club by creating a short trailer that includes all the above information. Example tool: AnimotoKeeping our Book Club’s Journal The first month of the project will be dedicated to book reading, but it is also the most suitable time for communication and team building among group members. That’s why each one of the mixed nationality book clubs should create and keep their own journal that they keep up to date as they read their books. In this journal the members of each team can write down their thoughts and impressions, record their reactions/emotions, connection with the characters, write about or draw their favourite scenes and share their favourite quotes etc. Example tool: Google DocsCollaborationIllustrated timeline of the author’s life/diary entries Younger students from partner schools create illustrations based on the timeline of the author’s life given to them by their teachers. Older students pretend they are the author themselves and write diary entries for each of the key events in his/her life. Example tool: TimetoastBook covers Students read the blurb at the back cover of the book and redesign the front cover. All book covers are displayed on Twinspace. Example tool: TwiddlaBio poems and portraits Students write ‘bio poems’ (poems that are written to describe a person, usually a fictional character or famous person and follow a specific pattern: Biopoems worksheet) and draw sketches of each of the characters of the book. A poetry collection eBook which includes the students’ poems is created and illustrated by the students. Younger students can draw portraits of the main characters of the book or make 3D models of them. Example tool: FlipsnackBook Mobile/Book Mindmaps Younger students create a mobile (a decorative structure that is suspended so as to turn freely in the air Wikihow Make a Mobile) using the following four story elements (setting, character, plot, theme). They can display their mobiles in their classroom or elsewhere in the school. Older students create interactive mindmaps containing the most important elements of the book they have read focusing on author, theme, setting, main characters, most important events, rating of the book etc. Example tool: MindmupBreaking news For this activity students will be acting as newspaper reporters. They will write an article describing the most important event from their book for the front page of a newspaper. Students can choose the name of the newspaper they work for, create the front page and publish their articles. Example tool: FodeyComic Books: Bringing our books to life! Students turn the book or part of the book they have read into a comic strip. They have to work together to choose the key scenes, the appropriate landscapes and compose the appropriate dialogue for the main characters. Example tools: Storyboardthat , Makebeliefscomix

Evaluation & Assessment

European Book Club Conference: Each mixed nationality group should find a creative way to present their work to an audience. They should refer to the book they worked on, their final products and the highlights of their collaboration. They will have five minutes in total to present their work to their partners during a scheduled online meeting. They could create a poster, video, presentation, photo album, game, quiz, panel discussion, documentary film etc. The rest of the groups will comment on their work and vote for the most impressive presentation. Teachers will also provide feedback on each presentation. Example tool: Live event in Twinspace Goodbye Gifts: Bookmarks Each student will create their own bookmark (Wikihow Make a Bookmark) inspired by the books they read. They can draw their favourite scene or quote, write their impressions of the project and a goodbye message etc. Each child will make one bookmark for each member of their team. The Bookmarks will be sent by post to each partner school and will be kept as souvenirs by the students participating in the project.

Follow up

Documentation: -The initial project plan along with a project task list should be published in a separate activity page created in the TwinSpace -Separate activity pages should be created for each one of the activities of the project. They should include a short description of the activity and the final common products. -Any communication that takes place in the chat room, the forum, or during a live session should be documented. All this material should be displayed in the appropriate activity pages. -Teachers and students should regularly update the Project Journal on the TwinSpace. Dissemination: Celebrating World Book Day On 23 April, all partner schools should organize activities to celebrate World Book Day. Students can write articles for local newspapers presenting their work and the importance of reading. They can also organise a bookcrossing event, where students and the local community will be invited to bring books they have already read and leave them at school, so that they will be picked up and read by others. The event should be promoted through local newspapers, radio stations and TV channels. Literature Day at School Students present their work to the rest of the school community. They can involve them in interactive activities, like online games and quizzes and teach them how to create their own bookmarks inspired by their own favourite books. They can also invite local authors to talk about the benefits of reading and involve them in experiential activities, storytelling and creative writing workshops etc. Books on our walls With the help of the art teacher, students can decorate their classroom/school walls with murals depicting scenes from the books they have read during their participation in the project. Useful Tip: Material from the dissemination activities should be also displayed in the relevant activity pages in the TwinSpace.

Additional information

Age from:

9
Age to:

19
Difficulty:

Intermediate

A book a day keeps boredom away!

A book a day keeps boredom away!

Additional information

School subjects

Vocational subjects

Key competences