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National Year of Reading
The National Year of Reading (NYR) launched on Tuesday 1 April and is a year-long celebration of reading in all its forms. It aims to help build a greater national passion for reading in England - for children, families and adult learners alike.
Website: National Year of Reading
Website: Wikireadia - Geography and Story
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You are what you read: cultural, personal and local identity
Everyone knows the expression 'you are what you eat', but have you ever thought about the impact reading has on you - in other words 'you are what you read'? The books and magazines you choose to read are often influenced by your friends and family, your culture, personal likes and dislikes and your connection with places. The great thing about reading is that it can transport you to different places and give you an appetite for understanding what makes other people tick...
We've prepared some materials to help you get involved with the September theme, plus a 'Geography and Story' competition for students where you could win a free GA membership and a selection of story books.
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Geography and Story Competition |
As part of the September theme, we've teamed up with Random House and Walker Books to offer prizes for the best stories in three age categories. We'd like students aged 5-16 to write a story about somewhere important to them - it can be fact or fiction, set at any time in the past, present or future. We'll be looking for creative and exciting stories which bring places to life and bonus points will be awarded for including photographs or drawings.
Further information about the challenge, prizes and how to enter is available to download below:
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Primary Handbook Extension Project |
In this new Project area you'll find material which builds on the excellent resources and ideas in the Primary Geography Handbook - a must have book for all subject leaders and teachers from Foundation to KS2.
The first section focuses on Maps and Stories, linking well with our commitment to the National Year of Reading:
4-7 - Everyday Lives, Grandfather and I
6-9 - Changing Environments, Belonging and Window
8-11 - Mapping Landscapes, Stig of the Dump
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Visit the Project homepage to find out more and view the resources...
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| Young Geographers Project |
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Journeys, Place and Landscape, designed for a half term unit at the Foundation stage, was created as part of the Young Geographers Project by Austrey Primary School, Warwickshire. The fictional text The Journey was used as a starting point and inspired a series of activities which included fieldwork in the school grounds and local area. Skills in investigation and enquiry were developed and a sharing of ideas encouraged. Concepts of place, space, environment, and ESD were explored. For more details and activity plans for this project see the Austrey page in our Young Geographers Project area.
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What is it like to live in Shelley? was another Young Geographers project created by the geography co-ordinator at Shelley First School in Yorkshire. Books based in Kenya were used to help with contrasting locality studies. The children mapped their local area using a combination of sketches and online tools before creating a 3D map of their village. They then shared information about Shelley with a partner school in Kenya. Find out more about the project on the Shelley page.
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Refugee Boy
Benjamin Zephaniah
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (2001)
ISBN 978-0747550860
Year 6 pupils at Woodberry Down Primary School have been involved in a project based on Benjamin Zephaniah's book Refugee Boy. After following the central character's journey in the text, they then went on a real life trip to places featured in the story. The project crossed into many areas of the curriculum including literacy and geography.
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Refugee Boy requires reading and re-reading to obtain full understanding - the search for geographical truth provided the motivation not only for reading but also for subsequent role play and writing prose and poetry.
Head teacher Greg Wallace wrote an article for Primary Geographer all about the project and the innovative approach to planning it required.
Download: Refugee Boy article (GA members only)
Download: Article extract (Free)
Website: Woodberry Down Primary School - Project Homepage
Website: Woodberry Down Primary School - Reading Campaign
As part of Refugee Week, 16 - 22 June, workshops helping young people to better understand why people become refugees will be available for schools in the Sevenoaks area. Workshops are free. More information can be viewed on the Kent and the Wider World website.
To find out what is going on in your area to celebrate Refugee Week go to the Refugee Week website.
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The Great Snake
Sean Taylor, Illustrated by Fernando Vilela
Frances Lincoln (2008)
978-1845075293
Geography is all about observation, noticing detail, putting two and two together to make sense of a place. This book is a brilliant example for showing that everything you see has meaning...
Ann Hamblen writes:
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Sean Taylor is a skilled and impassioned writer, whose voice we trust straight away - well, voices, actually, because in this book he uses two - his storyteller's voice, and the voice of the sensitive, alert traveller, with all his senses and his brain switched on, as he sets off on his journey up the Amazon, from the Atlantic coast, inland to Manaus in the middle of the Amazonian rainforest, on the ferry boat, Rio Afuá, taking us with him...
Read the full review
Activity ideas:
- Locating the River Amazon and Northern Brazil on a map/globe
- Locating the area using aerial photos and Google Earth
- Creating concept maps of the country and our perceptions of it
- Comparing the lives of those in Amazonia to ours
- Diary writing and journalistic writing as though in the story
- Fable writing from the stories in the book - but applied to an area familiar to the children - get them reading local tales
- Contacting the Mamirauá Institute for Sustainable Development which has an excellent location map
- For further ideas visit the WWF's Local to Global Conservation website to map where other sustainable projects are happening in the world
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The GA publishes two packs ideal for linking geography and reading, Storylink Llandudno and Storylink Kochi.
The innovative Storylink concept is designed to promote the use of fiction in Key Stage 2 geography. The packs suggest geographical enquiries that focus on real issues in real settings and are supported by differentiated children's stories.
Each pack comprises a teacher's guide, resource sheets and three or four storybooks, set in the locality and with very contemporary themes. The stories can all be bought separately.
Find out more >>>
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| Read the World – Using stories to explore Global Citizenship |
Thursday 12 June, 9:30 - 13:00
Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent
A CPD course aimed at primary teachers and literacy coordinators and any other interested staff. It is an interactive afternoon to look at the use of texts and stories to explore Global Citizenship themes with children. For further information and bookings please contact Beverley Pearless at Kent School Library Advisory Team.
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| Your contributions and ideas are welcome |
They may arise out of welcoming the cultural diversity in your locality, or highlight the understanding local writers have given about your area. We will include your ideas on this website and in articles on Wikireadia. If you would like to contribute your ideas or resources, please contact Rachel Bowles.
Watch this space for further information!
(23.09.08)
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