Book Week 2019 was a huge success at Krylatskoe Lower Campus. The theme of the week ‘In the times of kings and queens, an unexpected character must turn to the power of magic to overcome evil’ was inspired by our special guest, Samuel Gayton, a children’s writer.
The week kicked off with a fabulous assembly from Sam, getting the children up on stage to act out some of the most exciting sections of his stories. After this, Sam visited all of the classes, leading workshops on how to create effective characters as well as developing settings. He focussed on a tactic ‘show don’t tell’, which provided the students with an understanding of how to give clues to the reader or inspire to delve deeper into the story.
There was a huge range of activities taking place on Lower Campus throughout Book Week. Year Four created choice stories where the reader was able to decide upon the actions of the characters, which led to a range of different endings. In Year Three, children broke down their legends into different parts, putting them together at the end of the week to create some exciting stories. They also had an evil villain in their story who was a long lost relative of the protagonist. This was very creative. Year Two were cast away to a world being run by animals, unhappy with the way they were treated by humans. Humans had to fight to survive and eventually overcome the evil animals.
Year One developed a fantastic understanding of the legend genre, thinking about what character traits would be suitable for protagonists and antagonists. Reception spent Book Week delving into comic strips, planning their stories effectively before displaying them as comics. They were able to apply their illustration and writing skills when creating their comics.
Overall, Book Week 2019 was a huge success. Children took part in an inspirational week of reading and writing that culminated in them developing into young authors. The work they created was simply outstanding and it was an experience that they will never forget.
A huge thank you must go to Sam Gayton for his energetic and knowledgeable sessions with each class on Lower Campus.
Written by Elliot Smith, Krylatskoe Lower Campus English Coordinator
