PEFaL Children’s Programme Development

Session: Module 4 Week 7 Focus: Writing and Play Parents / Children: Joint

Session Making a Comic

7.1

General Developing creativity and imagination

Objectives Making reading a fun activity
Encouraging reluctant readers and encouraging good readers to write their own stories
Show parents suitable ways of supporting emergent writers as well as encouraging creative writers

Development Targets Resources

2.25 p.m. Food, toilets, change • Preparation for session • Food
• Sanitary facilities
20 • T-shirt put on
minutes

2.45 p.m. Transition Activity/Activities1:

15 Energiser: Robots Oracy: • Open space

minutes • Giving commands • Obstacles
• The children are put in pairs. • Articulating sounds
• One is the ‘robot’ and has his /her eyes
closed. Motor:
• The ‘robot’ must also make ‘robot noises’. • Physical movement
• The other is the ‘robot controller’. • Body awareness
• The controller has four commands for the • Co-ordination
1
Focus on energiser.
 robot:
GO – a tap on the head PSD / Social:
STOP – a tap on the head • Listening skills
LEFT – a tap on the left shoulder • Trust building
RIGHT – a tap on the right shoulder • Partnership building
• The controller starts up the robot and then • Predicting sequence of
directs the robot safely around the room events
among the other robots, making the journey • Turn taking
as interesting as possible. • Leadership and group skills
• Having fun
This game can be played in another way.
• The children are in groups of three or four.
• Each group decides upon its own ‘robot
noise’.
• One child from each group is the robot
controller.
• The controller starts the robots (by twisting
a key in their backs or pressing a button).
• The robots start walking but they can only
walk in straight lines.
• When a robot reaches the edge of the
room, or collides with another robot or an
obstacle, the child must make his /her noise
until the robot controller arrives to set
him /her off again.

3.00 p.m. Circle Time • Cooling down activity • Cushions or other

• Introductory discussion seating
5 minutes • Recalling what was done
 during the previous session
• Instruction giving

3.05 p.m. Big Group Activity2:

30 Space Alien Masks Oracy: • Brown paper

minutes • Communicating and shopping bags (or
• These masks are very easy to do and cost interacting freely with others old pillow cases)
next to nothing. • Talking about ideas, opinions • Scissors
• The tutor gets some brown paper shopping and activity • Glue
bags (not plastic as there is the danger of • Able to comprehend • Paint and paint
suffocation – this should be pointed out to message and giving brushes or felt pens
the children). feedback about instructions • Coloured paper and
• If brown paper shopping bags are difficult to • Articulating sounds other bits of
find, an old pillow case will do just as well. stationery
• The tutor gives written instructions to the Motor: • Writing paper
children describing what they have to do. • Manipulation of craft • Pencils
• The tutor tells them they are going to make materials and creating mask • Drawing materials
space alien masks. (drawing, scissor handling,
• The tutor models the activity as well. co-ordination of hand
• All the people have a brown paper shopping movements to stick and
bag each. paste objects, etc.)
• They put it on their head and lightly mark • Role playing
where their eyes are with a pencil.
• They take the bag off again and design what Reading:
kind of eyes they want to have – simple • Reading, understanding and
circles, a large rectangle, stars, etc. following instructions
• The children draw out the outline of the eyes • Recognising and pointing out
2
Step-by-step development
 and cut them out. known vocabulary
• Then with paints and brushes, or coloured • Spelling and attempting to
felt tipped markers if this is easier, the read new vocabulary
children can design their own mask. • Sounding / reading letters
• The children can create what they think is a stringing sounds / phonics to
space alien. create own words
• Extra bits of paper can be stuck on the
paper bag to imitate hair or a big nose. Writing:
• After the children have finished their mask, • Knowing difference between
the tutor asks them to sit in a large circle. drawing and writing
• The tutor gives the children paper and • Writing individual letters
pencils. clearly
• The tutor asks the children to make an alien • Use letters from previous
sound to match their monster mask. knowledge of alphabet, one
• The children can practice until they find a letter representing correct
sound that they like. sound
• When they choose a sound, the children • Reading back own writing
have to write down the sound they think • Knowing that letters stand for
they are making - spelling mistakes do not different sounds
count. • Knowing that letters can be
repeated
• Using spaces between words
appropriately
• Writing from left to write

PSD / Developmental:
• Following instructions
• Practicing listening skills
• Developing communication
 and turn taking skills
• Sharing and co-operating
• Developing imagination and
creativity
• Developing co-ordination
• Developing manipulation
skills
• Developing group skills
• Developing awareness of self
and others
• Associating learning with fun

3.35 p.m. Small Group Activity:

30 Making a simple comic Oracy: • Writing paper

minutes • Communicating and • Space alien picture
• When the children are satisfied with their interacting freely with others handouts
alien, they are ready to write a story about it. • Talking about ideas, opinions • Handout with
• The parents interview the alien – they ask it and activity speech bubbles
its name, where it lives, what it likes to eat, if • Able to comprehend • Glue
it has a family, what is its hobby, etc. message and giving • Scissors
• The alien can understand human speech feedback about instructions • Pencils and writing
but it cannot speak it. • Articulating sounds and materials
• The alien can only make its noise so it has forming words, sentence and • Drawing materials
to write its answers down on paper. proper speech • Large sheets of
• The parent helps the ‘alien’ translate its blank paper
‘noises’ into proper ‘human’ words – the
children mime their alien sound and the Reading:
 parent had to guess what it is saying. • Reading, understanding and
• To do this the child must mime as well as following instructions
slowly start introducing human sounding • Recognising and pointing out
sounds to form words. known vocabulary
• After the alien has introduced itself, the • Spelling and attempting to
parents and children have enough material read new vocabulary
to write the comic. • Sounding, reading letters
• Then, the tutor hands out a handout with six stringing sounds / phonics to
pictures of an alien and six speech bubbles. create own words
• The children cut out the aliens and the • Attempting to read using
speech bubbles and arrange them into a intonation and voice
story. effectively
• They glue the cut out papers on a larger • Reading sentences using
sheet of paper to create the outline of their correct word sequence
simple comic.
• When they are ready, the children fill in the Writing:
speech bubbles. • Knowing difference between
• The children can write down alien sounds as drawing and writing
well as ‘human words’ to form a simple • Writing individual letters
comic about the alien. clearly
• If the children are able to draw more • Use letters from previous
pictures and write more sentences, they can knowledge of alphabet, one
make a longer comic story. letter representing correct
• Lastly, the children decide on a title to give sound
their comic and draw it upon the large sheet • Reading back own writing
of paper. • Knowing that letters stand for
• Remind the children to write down the name different sounds
of the author (their name) as well. • Knowing that letters can be
repeated
 • Using spaces between words
appropriately
• Writing from left to write
• Writing using words from own
bank of vocabulary
• Attempting to spell new
vocabulary by sounding
words
• Spelling out easy words to
write new words
• Use of basic punctuation
• Use of basic sentence
structuring and word
sequencing

PSD / Developmental:
• Following and giving
instructions
• Practicing discussion and
listening skills
• Developing communication
and turn taking skills
• Developing group skills
• Developing idea of self and
others
• Developing awareness of the
world around us
• Sharing and co-operating
 • Expressing and sharing
opinions
• Developing imagination and
creativity
• Developing co-ordination
• Developing manipulation
skills
• Associating learning with fun

4.05 p.m. Closure:

10 Distributing the home link-up activity

minutes • Concluding activity • Cushions or other
• At home, parents and children can look • Review of things learnt during seating
through magazines or old comics to find the session • Handouts with
their favourite characters – old TV • Establishing the session’s activity instructions
guides often have a lot of pictures of home link-up activity
cartoon characters as well.
• The parents help their children cut out a
few of these characters and create a
story based around them.
• Then the children can take a sheet of
paper, write down the title of their story
and create their own scene from a
comic.
• The children can use speech bubbles to
make the comic seem real.
• Older children can draw their own comic
story, creating more than one scene.
In Portfolio:

The instructions and the Space Alien Mask, the comic created during the session and the comic created at home when it is
completed.