For anyone new to this blog, the idea is simple - each day my boys (Joshua - 9 and Archie - 8) choose a stimulus that drives the learning. We hope that you enjoy the blog and can take some inspiration from what we love doing - making learning as engaging as possible!
Myths
Myths are well-known stories, typically rich in morals, gods and elements of creation. A myth is also a widely held yet false belief. Having recently completed the next Talk for Writing home-schooling unit for year 6/7/8, in which the focus is exploring the character flaws of villains, I knew which myth would capture the boys’ interest. We hope you enjoy.
English
Reading comprehension skills
Summarising
Story boarding
Speech and thought bubbles
Comic strips
Like many working parents, sometimes the challenge of homeschooling is considerable. Knowing that today was going to be a busy day, I decided to choose an activity that would both capture the boys’ interest and encourage them to work independently.
We began by watching the following fun animation:
As we watched the animation, I showed the boys how to create a simple story board, listing the key events that happen in the story. Not only is this essential when creating a comic, it is also an excellent reading skill. The list we came up with was as follows:
King Midas (KM) loved being rich.
KM found a satyr in his garden and returned him to Dionysus (D).
G granted KM a wish.
KM turned things to gold in celebration.
Then KM turned food and drink to gold.
Finally, KM turned his own daughter into gold.
KM returned to ask for the power to be removed.
KM bathed in Pactolus and everything was restored.
We then discussed the key events in the stories and I introduced the boys to how comic strips were formed. This included a discussion around speech and thought bubbles and captions to move the story forward.
Having modelled how to create a simple comic strip (with terrible drawings) the boys set off on their own creations. I think that they underestimated how long this would take them...but we got there in the end.
If you are enjoying this blog, please do share it and spread the word. Thank you to all of you who have got in touch and shared some of the outcomes from what you have tried - we love to hear from you.
Do tune in tomorrow for:
The Great Outdoors
My thanks to Pie Corbett, Julia Strong and the Talk for Writing team for inspiring many of the ideas explored in this blog.
Comments