In March, we celebrated our annual Book Week in Upper Primary, with great success. This year’s theme of ‘Magic and Mystery’ was a big favourite amongst our children, as they already felt very inspired by some of the famous books from this topic.
We were lucky to have the accomplished children’s author, Sam Gayton, visit our school from the United Kingdom. During Sam’s visit, he led an inspirational assembly to ignite children’s imaginations and give them some inside tips on the art of creative writing. The children learnt about the importance of adding small details to stories that the reader can infer, rather than just know from the start. In English lessons we often use this ‘show, don’t tell’ technique. Sam went on to lead workshops with each class about this technique. The classes then started a story of their own, using Sam’s expert guidance. Children really benefited from these sessions and buzzed with enthusiasm afterwards.
“I really enjoyed Story Week because I learnt a lot of new writing techniques from Sam Gayton. He helped us understand how to make an interesting story starter” - Tatyana Markova, 5A.
The excitement of meeting a real author was also a highlight for many students. They had the opportunity to ask him questions and listen to his personal story of how he became a writer.
The highlight at the end of Book Week is always when children (and teachers) dress up as their favourite book characters. This year, there was a strong theme of magical characters, which children were able to show off in our Book Week assembly. Looking forwards to next year, we will have a new theme and author. Book Week 2019 will live long in the memories of our children.
Written by Melissa Danby, Krylatskoe Upper Primary English Coordinator
