Write a Book to Change the World
Learning Sequence 8
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Introduction
This week’s lesson is focused on empowering students with determination and creativity. We’ll delve into the art of book illustration and designing compelling back covers. Teachers will guide students in harnessing their creativity for concise, impactful writing, particularly in crafting blurbs that captivate.
Emphasizing the importance of persistence, we aim to have our students’ books ready for publication shortly. This lesson not only enhances their creative skills but also instils a strong sense of commitment towards completing tasks.
This week, we will continue to illustrate our book and add a special feature to the back cover.
During this week’s lesson, we will show you a few special features to make your book stand out and also show you exactly how to write a blurb that gets the attention of your audience.
You see, when people are searching for a book to read, they often look at the front cover first and then move to the back cover to read about the message the book holds.
This week, we will continue to illustrate our books whilst making sure we have our back cover ready for publication in just two weeks!
How exciting!
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 may already know some of these words however practice makes perfect!
First, read the words and then try to define them as simply as possible.
An example has been completed 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 '
This activity involves partners reading pages 30-33, recapping the book’s content thus far, and engaging in applied questioning. It emphasizes using personal life experiences to enrich understanding and responses.
The focus is on deepening comprehension through real-world connections, fostering reflective and critical thinking among students.
Read pages 30-33 with your partner and answer the following questions.
Make sure that you recap the whole book and discuss what has happened so far before starting to read this week’s pages. . This week focuses on applied questions. These are questions that require you to use your experience in life to help answer.
Once you have read this weeks’ pages, proceed to the next task where you will be able to answer them in detail.
Good luck.
Weekly Comprehension (Discussion)
In this week’s comprehension discussion, after reading pages 30-33, students will delve into applied questions that challenge them to draw on personal experiences for insights.
These questions encourage exploring deeper meanings within the text and illustrations, fostering a rich, critical discussion about the characters’ motivations and emotions.
This activity is designed to enhance critical thinking and applied reasoning skills, as students debate diverse perspectives and connect the narrative to their own lives, encouraging a profound understanding of the story’s themes and lessons.
After reading pages 30-33, review the following questions and discuss the answers with your peers. These questions are all applied questions which means that they will ask you to use your experience to find the answers in the story, the images or in your thoughts.
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Why did Sergio drop the coal on the ground? What do you think the boys in the background are thinking?
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Why did the sky change to a beautiful orange colour?
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Why did the girl pick up the coal?
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Was Sergio’s father happy to see them?
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How does the girl know Sergio’s name?
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Do you think that Sergio has found happiness? How?
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How was Sergio feeling when the girl put her glasses on?
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What have we learned from Sergio?
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What do you think will happen next?
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What will you do in future when times get hard?
Perfecting Your Illustrations - A Few Tips From Gavin
This activity encourages children to persist in illustrating their book while honing their Canva skills to ensure their work looks as professional as possible.
It focuses on developing artistic techniques and familiarity with digital tools, emphasizing the importance of a polished final product.
Through guided practice and creative exploration in Canva, students will learn to refine their illustrations, adding depth and professionalism to their storytelling, thereby enhancing the overall presentation and impact of their book.
As you continue to illustrate your story, you will want to keep your reader engaged by ensuring your illustrations change and evolve throughout the book. This may mean adding new details, providing inferential clues, and changing the setting where needed.
Watch the following video to help you keep your illustrations fresh and your readers enthralled by the creative genius you have become!
We are going to cover features such as:
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Including some space for the writing to fit within the illustrations.
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Adding a background with small, distant features to create depth.
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Creating a foreground with large features to capture attention.
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Hiding a tiny creature that young children can spot for added fun.
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Providing inferential clues within the illustrations for extra meaning.
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Using shadows and shading to give the illustrations depth.
Write - How to Write Your Blurb
Ask the children to answer the questions on the task card as succinctly as possible, summarising their book’s essence. Once these questions are answered positively and with confidence, they can then combine all three answers to craft their unique story blurb.
Remember, this section sells the book; it entices the reader to open the pages and start reading. Children should use the provided example to understand how to answer the three questions effectively.
After writing their blurb in text format, students may wish to refer to the video below on adding their blurb to their book.
This week, you will need to dedicate some time to writing your blurb. The blurb appears on the back cover of the book and is typically concise and engaging.
It captures the reader’s attention, enticing them to begin reading the book through the use of persuasive and uplifting language!
Stay positive and don’t hesitate to tell the reader how incredible your story is. Remember, positivity is an excellent way to engage people with your ideas.
Special note – When designing your back cover and blurb, follow the instructions on duplicating your front cover to simplify the process!
Watch - Adding your Blurb to Your Book
The children are beginning to enhance their graphic design skills and digital literacy proficiency.
Watch the accompanying video as a class, and then instruct the children to add their blurbs to their books as soon as possible.
This task not only brings the project’s completion into clearer view, encouraging motivation but also integrates digital tools and design principles, reinforcing their digital literacy and graphic design understanding. Completing this step will help them stay on track to finish their books within the given timeframe.
Now that you have written your blurb, it’s time to add it to the last page of your book.
Watch the video provided as Gavin demonstrates the easiest way to incorporate your blurb into your book.
Taking Notes - Choosing your Charity
This task involves the children selecting a charity to support with their book sales. Teachers are asked to guide the students in accessing information about various charities using the task card provided.
Additionally, teachers should share a personal story about a charity they particularly admire and explain their reasons for choosing it. This not only helps students make informed decisions but also adds a personal touch, encouraging empathy and a deeper understanding of philanthropy’s impact.
We’re getting close to publishing your first book, which is really exciting! We’ve talked about how your book can make a difference in the world, and now we’re at the part where it starts to happen.
When your book is out and people start buying it, they will pay money for it. The best part? Each time someone buys your book, you can choose to give some of that money to a good cause!
This week, we want you to start thinking about which charity you’d like to help with the money from your book. Use the task card to jot down notes about your favourite charities. Take a look at the information on the next page to help you decide which one you feel good about supporting.
We’ll talk more about this next week. Right now, it’s all about looking into these charities and deciding which one you like best.
Closing Video With Gavin
You are doing such and astounding job. As you continue to illustrate your book in the background, we we want you to start adding some of the smaller features such as the blurb and other extra pages. This will allow you to get ready for publication, which will happen in two weeks’ time.
Remember to spend as much time as possible illustrating your book and adding the extra details over the next two weeks.
Ongoing Follow-Up Activities
Extension Activity - Buddy Program Week 8
This week, our educational leaders will assist their buddies with the finer details of incorporating new elements into their existing books.
They will also introduce the concept of promoting their book through effective letter-writing techniques. Buddies will guide their partners through the structure of a letter and help them decide which influential person to send it to.
The blurb structure enables the children to describe their book in the most concise manner. The task card provides a prescribed formula for creating a blurb that not only promotes the book but also employs emotive language and persuasive techniques.
As the saying goes, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
This week, you’re going to mentor your buddy on the significance of various settings in your book. You’ll need to explain how to introduce new elements and pages effectively.
Additionally, you’ll support your buddy in crafting their blurb and even reach out to someone famous who might be interested in attending the book launch!
As we approach the final weeks of the course, your buddy might need extra guidance from you to ensure the book is completed on time.
Your efforts are not just helpful; they exemplify leadership, which is an invaluable skill in today’s world.
Remember, you’re a leader!
Extension Activity #2 - Inviting an Important Person to Your Book Launch
This activity empowers children to use the information gathered during the book writing process to convince a real person to attend their book launch or read their story online.
Children can further develop this letter in upcoming literacy lessons and have the option to physically send the letter or letters to as many individuals as they desire.
This task will involve applying persuasive writing techniques and emotive language to capture the recipient’s attention. It necessitates extensive research to decide whom to send the letters to, potentially sparking a whole class discussion on selecting appropriate recipients.
This segment of the session brings the concept of writing with a purpose to life for the students, especially if the invited person actually attends!
So far, we’ve prepared the book cover, established the story’s theme, created illustrations, and written a blurb that shares the valuable lesson your text offers.
Now, it’s time to share your story with the world and explain why they should read it.
This week, you have the opportunity to write to someone significant and invite them to your book launch. The more people who know about your story, the more readers you’ll attract. And the more readers you have, the greater the impact your story will make!
Use the task card to guide you in writing a letter to someone who could help spread the word about your book.
Remember to aim high! No one is too famous to receive your letter.
