Website review - The Teaching Library

Today I would like to point you to a fascinating reading website: http://www.teachinglibrary.co.uk/.

This is a site where teachers can find books to read to their class as well as some free lesson ideas on the books listed on the site. Each book has a list of activities spanning a few subjects. I came across this site through Technology Tidbits.

This post is actually going to be taken verbatim out of the teaching library website so that you can see its potential. It is taken from the page: http://www.teachinglibrary.co.uk/book/the-true-story-of-the-three-little-pigs/ (The books are linked to Amazon.com). What fascinated me about this page is the idea of telling a story from a different character’s point of view

The true story of the three little pigs

Author: Jon Scieszka

BUY THIS BOOK

Book Description…

"You may think you know the story of the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf – but only one person knows the real story, and that person is A. T. Wolf. His tale starts with a birthday cake for his dear old granny, a bad head cold and a bad reputation. The rest (as they say) is history.

Teaching Ideas…

Literacy

• Write another well know story from a different character’s point of view… Could you write Peter Pan from Captain Hook’s point of view… or the Three Billy Goat’s Gruff from the Troll’s point of view
• Alexander T. Wolf became know as the Big Bad Wolf. Can you write a story which explains how he got this nickname? Did he do something big and bad, or was somebody trying to get him into trouble?
• Write the recipe that the wolf used for his granny’s birthday cake.
• Write the newspaper article which reports on the Wolf’s activities that day.
• The wolf complains about being ‘framed’. Can you explain what this means? Could you write a story about another bad character who was ‘framed’ and didn’t really do the bad things that they are well known for?
• Compare this version of the story with this cartoon video:

The Big Bad Wolf - A silly Symphony made by the Walt Disney Studio

Science

• Explore the types of food that different animals eat. This could lead on to discussions about food chains and habitats.
• Think about different materials. Which would be the best to build a house with? Could you design an experiment which tests the strength / ‘huff and puff’ (wind) resistance of different materials?
• Why might the wolf have a sneezing cold? Explore how he can keep himself fit and healthy in future.

Life Orientation

• The pigs are very rude to Alexander. Can you think of reasons why this might be? How should they have behaved?
• The wolf gets very angry at the end of the story. What strategies could he have used to control his anger?"

Some of the other books...

http://www.teachinglibrary.co.uk/book/charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory/ (Raold Dahl)

http://www.teachinglibrary.co.uk/book/the-twits/  (Raold Dahl)

http://www.teachinglibrary.co.uk/book/double-act/ (Jacqueline Wilson)

http://www.teachinglibrary.co.uk/book/owl-babies/ (Martin Waddell)

If you are a Language teacher I think you will enjoy looking around this site.