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Story Maps

Having three children means I get to test lots of my workshop ideas out on them which can be really helpful. This week, I worked with the top class of a kindergarten (equivalent to Year 1), "making a story" and trying this out with my kids first…
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I wonder

I am three quarters of the way through my Coursera online course, Teaching character and creating positive classrooms, and at the moment we're focussing on building the teaching of character strengths into lesson plans. With this in mind,…
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The Magic Bed

Prolific children's book writer and illustrator John Burningham's book 'The Magic Bed' remains a firm favourite in our family. I used the story with my after-school writing club as a starting point for the children to think about what their…
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A Piece of Pie

I think I might just be Pie Corbett's latest, greatest fan. And not just his name. Until recently, I hadn't even heard of him, but now I can't get enough of him and am confident that he is going to help me a great deal in the coming months to…
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How to get children to be 'Sound Detectives' before producing great writing

Of course there will be examples to counter this but the Kenyan education system, on the whole, is not known for getting children to think for themselves, ask questions or be creative. So it's a challenge to take creative writing and poetry…
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Haiku: The perfect poem in miniature to get kids writing poetry

Perfect three lined poems/ Encapsulating the pulse/ And breath of life. Now. What more wonderful way to introduce children who are wary of poetry than to share Haiku with them. Deliciously short and sweet, even young children grasp the concept…
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Story Cubes: A fantastic gift to ignite a child's imagination

I do so love these Story Cubes. They are perfect to get little imaginations fired up, even from as young as two or three. (My 3 year old always enjoys creating a story after rolling the dice.) A child can tell their own story from start to…
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Lorem ipsum

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu,…
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A wonderful poem to share with nine year old's

The prolific children's writer Allan Ahlberg grew up, by his own admission, with "a fair few clips round the ear, no books and not much conversation." But that hasn't stopped him from writing over 140 books for children, many of which his wife…
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Why is a pen magic? Read this poem with kids and find out

The Thin Prison was written by Welsh poet Leslie Norris and perfectly encapsulates the excitement and magic of unleashing words from a pen. I looked at this today with a large group of Year 4's (in a school that borders Nairobi National Park…