Write a Book to Change the World
Learning Sequence 6
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Introduction
By now the children should have completed their manuscript. As well as enabling the children to be extremely creative, we’ll also focus on the challenging skill of using inferences to impart meaning in our writing and through our pictures.
The children will understand the importance of scale, ratio, and proportion, as well as the aspects of a front cover that can allow the reader to start imagining the story before they’ve even begun reading.
This week, we’ll allow the children’s imaginations to come alive!
This week, we’re going to get creative.
Now that you’ve written your full manuscript, we’re first going to learn how to edit it together, and then, it’s finally time to start translating the words into pictures.
This week, we’ll understand what needs to be included on your front cover, how to create deep meaning using your drawings, and how inferential clues can open up the imagination of the reader before they’ve even begun to read your story.
Make sure that you follow all of the steps in this week’s learning sequence and get ready to bring those words to life!
Let’s get creative.
Weekly Keywords
Introduce the spelling word list and choose from this list of tasks that can be repeated and expanded upon if necessary.
Copy the words into a spelling list/Vocabulary book for later reference.
Put each of the new words into a sentence and underline the new vocabulary in red pencil
Place the words in alphabetical order in a list.
Use a dictionary to define each of the words and place them into a vocabulary book.
Try to represent each of the words using a picture or a symbol and play the guessing game. (which image is matched to which word)
Write a paragraph containing all of the new vocabulary.
Make a vocabulary wall containing all of the new words.
Use a thesaurus to find synonyms for the words and create a synonym list.
These words will help you during this week’s lesson. You might already know some of these words, but remember, practice makes perfect!
First, read the words and then try to define them as simply as possible.
An example has been provided for you. You can write these into your books, and draw a picture to match, or simply complete the task card.
Read and Discuss - ' Weekly Warm-Up Activity '
By this point, the student will have decided on the main focus of their narrative, the setting and the characters. It is now important that we try to make a link between the writing process and the reading process.
Explain that writers often leave clues in a text which will help us to understand the characters more. For example: if a character is described as frowning with his arms crossed, we may assume as the reader that he is feeling angry, confused or annoyed. These are called inferential clues.
This activity aims to deepen students’ comprehension by discussing last week’s book events and reading pages 22-25 together.
Encourage recapping the entire book for broader understanding. This week focuses on answering literal, inferential, and applied questions about the text, emphasising the importance of supporting answers with evidence.
Weekly Comprehension (Discussion)
By encouraging children to search for clues to these answers using only the images, we are fostering the development of intuitive understanding.
This approach will be instrumental in the coming weeks as the children begin to hone their graphic design skills while illustrating their books, promoting a deeper engagement with visual storytelling.
After reading pages 22-25, take a look at the following statements. Once you have read the sentence, decide if they are true or false and discuss the reasons why you think this?
What was the clue that told you the answer?
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Most of the penguins looked happy.
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The girls liked Sergio’s piece of coal.
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Sergio showed determination.
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Some of the penguins were cuddling.
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The sky looked happy.
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Sergio was feeling happy.
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It was daytime.
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Many other penguins were alone too.
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Some penguins were wearing clothes.
How to Edit Your Manuscript. The Author’s Checklist
During this activity with your students, it’s vital to ensure the clarity and quality of their writing before proceeding to illustrate their books. Partner up and use the author’s checklist to guarantee all aspects are satisfactory. Completing the checklist is crucial; unticked boxes could lead to rejection by the Upschool library.
Before we embark on illustrating our book, it’s crucial that we are completely satisfied with the words we’re using and that our message is crystal clear for the reader.
Before we begin designing your front cover, we’re going to ask you to sit with a partner and ensure there’s nothing inside the book that might need editing.
Find a partner, grab yourself a copy of the author’s checklist opposite, and make sure all the boxes are ticked with green ticks before you proceed.
Remember, if you upload the book to the library and any of the boxes are left unticked, the book may be rejected by the Upschool library.
One final check, and we’re ready to start illustrating.
What are Inferential Clues?
In this activity, students explore hidden clues within writing and illustrations, fostering inferential understanding and discussion skills. Pairs analyze a task card, identifying and interpreting these subtle details to deduce deeper story elements.
They then share their insights with the class and the teacher. This collaborative process enhances their ability to infer meaning and encourages thoughtful dialogue. Emphasise the importance of embedding inferential clues in their own book illustrations to enrich the reader’s experience and engagement.
Sometimes, writers and illustrators leave hidden clues in their writing or illustrations to reveal more about the characters or the setting.
Examine the task card and discuss with your partner what these clues suggest about the story. After your discussion, share your insights with your teacher and the rest of the class.
Today, you’ll begin illustrating your book, and it’s important to incorporate inferential clues on every page.
These hints will ignite your readers’ imagination as they delve into the story.
How to Create Your Own Front Cover
This activity involves students using Canva to create their book’s front cover, which they will then add to the first page of their existing manuscript.
The video tutorial provided outlines specific design principles, such as the effect of distance on object size, the importance of shadows for realism, and the necessity of including the title, author’s name, and key characters on the cover, while still leaving elements to the reader’s imagination.
It’s crucial for students to integrate the cover seamlessly with their manuscript, ensuring all text and vital images remain within the safe zone for a professional finish.
NB – Students are instructed to just use their first name inside their book!
Watch the video provided to learn precisely how you can use Canva to design the front cover of your book.
Remember:
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Objects appear smaller when they are further away.
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To bring objects to life, add shadows beneath them.
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The front cover should include the title, author’s name, and a few characters.
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Don’t reveal everything. Leave room for the reader’s imagination.
Use the first page of your manuscript from last week to design your front cover. Remember to keep all of the text and important images inside the safe zone
Let’s get creative!
Create - Designing Your Front Cover
In this activity, students utilize Canva to design their book’s front cover, incorporating it into the first page of their manuscript. A critical component is a seven-point checklist, which they must follow diligently to ensure their cover includes all necessary elements.
This checklist serves as a comprehensive guide, emphasizing the importance of each aspect for a successful design.
Teachers should ensure students have addressed all seven items on the checklist before they proceed to the subsequent activities, reinforcing thoroughness and attention to detail.
Now that you’re familiar with how Canva works and know all the features needed to complete your front cover, it’s time to get creative and start designing your very own front cover.
Keep in mind everything we’ve discussed and use this opportunity to experiment with the system. You’ll be using it over the next few weeks to illustrate your entire book, so it’s important to become comfortable with it.
Ensure you create your front cover on the first page of your existing manuscript.
The task card provided includes a seven-point checklist to guide you through this design process. Before moving on from this task, make sure you’ve incorporated all of the features mentioned!
Front Cover Checklist
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Main Title
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Background
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Main Character
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Foreground
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Shadows
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Author’s Name
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Secondary Characters
Closing Video With Gavin
This week we have really started to get creative and our story book is truly coming to life. Next week we will start illustrating the internal pages of the book and designing our book launch poster.
You are really doing an amazing job!! Keep it up!!
Ongoing Follow-Up Activities
Weekly Comprehension
(Discussion)
Let’s start our journey into the world of picture books together. Each week we will be reading a few pages of this book, ‘Are These Your Glasses?’ to see how picture books are written and what we can learn from books like this.
Let’s Start by reading pages (2-5) together and then we will discuss what we have see inside the pages of this book.
After we explore pages 2 to 5, I have some questions for you to think about and answer:
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What material was used to build Sergio’s house?
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Can you tell me the color of Sergio’s trousers?
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Why do you think there was smoke coming out of the chimney?
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Was Sergio excited to see his father? How can you tell?
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Imagine being by yourself every lunchtime. How would that make you feel, and why?
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If you noticed someone else sitting alone, what would you do? Why is that your choice?
As we discuss these questions, we’re not just talking about the story. We’re also learning how to understand different kinds of comprehension questions and figuring out strategies to find the answers.
Extension Activity - Buddy Program Week 6
During this week’s buddy activity students will start to work together to talk about the importance of designing a front cover and some of the hidden inferential clues that may be included in this design. Students will read pages 22 to 25 and discuss if statements are true or false and ask the younger children to point out how they came to the answer.
Students will explain the understanding of inferential clues and what comprehension means and finally, buddies will work with their younger counterparts to design their own front cover and introduce them to the skills required to use Canva and creative design technologies.
As Einstein said ‘To teach something is to learn it twice.’
This week your job as a buddy will be to meet with your partner and discuss the different aspects of a front cover of a book. What will be very important is that you have a collection of front covers to discuss and look at while you are explaining.
Read pages 22 to 25 with your partner and play a game of true or false. Make sure that you ask your partner how they know the answer. This will be very important.
Next, we will discuss what inferential clues are and explain what comprehension is.
Next, you will need a computer or a tablet to introduce the system of Canva to explain to your buddy how they are going to design their own front cover. You may need to show them how to log in and even use the mouse and keyboard!
This will take a lot of patience, time and care as this will be very difficult for the younger students.
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Extension Activity #2 - Adding Your Own Drawing into Canva
The process of transferring a drawing into a digital form is quite a technical process.
Students may wish to watch the following video and follow the instructional task card to be able to transfer their thoughts into a digital format and then incorporate them into their story.
You may wish to design your own character by hand and add this to the Canva system before you start to illustrate the internal pages of your book.
If this is something you wish to do, then follow the instructions on this task card and in this instructional video and make your creation come to life forever!
