more poetry

Covering again today so, following on the success of yesterday - did another poem! We're having quite a big turn over of pupils at the moment with lots leaving and quite a few arriving. We decided to do a poem about a new (fictitious) classmate. Each line/page is supposed to be read in a questioning tone;

 

Did you spot the spelling mistake in my dummy draft? Must have had brain fade by that point. Again, the 'book' was created from one (A3) sheet of paper with the same pop-up mechanism - but this time with the addition of the 'fire' coming out of the dragons mouth!

poetry

At short notice today I had to cover one of our Y2 classes. They've been studying dinosaurs and are about to do a Literacy unit on poetry - so I combined them and, together, we created a collaborative poem. After brainstorming rhyming words we drafted out a simple 4 line poem. I then showed them how it could be presented as a small booklet where the surprise (the loud roar) isn't revealed until the last page by means of a pop-up! This is my example that I quickly mocked up whilst the children were in assembly. I guided them step by step through creating their own - which they eagerly took home at the end of the day to 'scare' their parents!

 

Front cover;

 

 
This pic shows how we constructed the book from a single sheet (the standard origami book).

dummy mock-ups

Been playing around with the box thingy idea that you might have seen previously on this blog. I must fathom out how to put those links to previous postings at the bottom, like everyone else seems to do. Am tentatively thinking of going with Q'oobs or possibly CUBEz ( the latter would fit in better with my overall 'branding' ! - please don't hurt yourself laughing) as a concept name. These two rough dummies came about because Y3 are studying the Ancient Greeks whilst Y1 are looking at 'water, water everywhere' as a theme - it's supposed to be a piranha!

 

 

I'm thinking of putting a little book together detailing how to make a variety of models all from the same very simple starting point. I would welcome any thoughts or ideas. I'm aiming to self-publish and sell through Etsy/Folksy as per my best-selling (!!) book - 'A is for Art' (please check it out in my shops on the right of this post).

ideal stocking filler

'A is for Art' booklet back in stock in time for Chrimble! An ideal stocking filler for young or old at an incredible price!
Am just wondering why this book sells exceptionally well whilst other stuff in the shop seems to languish. Any thoughts welcome.

A is for Art - update

My 'how-to' booklet, 'A is for Art' is flying off the shelves - well, it's sold 2 copies so far, which to me is absolutely tremendous! Hopefully the purchasers will find it so marvellous that they can't wait to tell their friends, who in turn etc etc....we all have our dreams.

character box

Came up with a 'character box' (there must be a better name!) today - probably not an original idea, but not a clue as to where I might have seen it. If it is original -yay!, if not, then I would be very happy to give credit where it's due if anyone has the relevant info.

I'm thinking of using it in class where the figure, with an appropriately altered design, could be historical (Roman soldier, Victorian child etc), fictional or famous. I envisage the children writing facts/info on the enclosed booklet and maybe also putting small objects in the tray ie. button, coin. I could've used matchboxes but didn't have any to hand. Anyway, just thought I'd share.

It would also work for stories - it'd be especially good for nursery rhymes, with the main character (Humpty Dumpty, Jack/Jill etc) on the front and the text inside the box. For emerging readers the narrative could be told as a picture sequence.

how to booklet

Just dug out a 'how to' booklet I produced a while back. It details a very simple method whereby anyone can draw easily recognisable pictures. It doesn't promise to turn you into the next Leonardo but it will equip you with a way of going beyond stick-men.

Shortly to be in my Etsy shop.