Tag: teaching resources

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Teaching Young Children About The Gingerbread Man

If you are teaching early years children about trust in others then at one time or another you may be focussing on the story of The Gingerbread Man and specifically issues of trust. You will need comprehensive key stage 1 resources, material about issues of personal safety as well as top quality teaching resources looking specifically at the story of The Gingerbread Man.

The Gingerbread Man is one of a number of classical fairy tales that engages children from the very outset. This is an especially well-liked story for children in the age range of 3 to six years old.

To create the best program of work with The Gingerbread Man you will benefit from teaching resources for The Gingerbread Man. This tale is one of a series of very useful key stage 1 teaching resources.

The story tells the tale of a gingerbread cookie made in the shape of a man who comes alive and determines to make his escape. He evades a multitude of pursuers, taunting them as he is going. He meets his demise by the hands of a cunning fox who manipulates The Gingerbread Man into relaxing his guard. The tale makes in depth use of rhythm and repetition. In some versions The Gingerbread Man cries out as each quarter of him is devoured.

The Gingerbread Man may be used to draw out standard features such as story language, characters, plots and offers many options to cover objectives for conversation and listening. Young people can re-tell the story orally using photographs as visual cues. As children become acquainted with the text and repetition of The Gingerbread Man they will be able to re-tell the tale themselves after having had it read to them a number of times.

It is good practice to provide puppets and other interactive objects related to the story so the children can re-tell or re-enact the tale using using pictures, puppets and story props in small groups. Children could use masks and act out the story outside or in the role-play area. Young children are sometimes enthusiastic to perform this kind of activity independently, without adult intervention.

Allowing children to re-tell stories themselves helps to develop their story telling abilities, builds their self-esteem and develops the social skills for working in a tiny group. To form extra interest, the story might be recorded, filmed or said in some other way to what’s left of the class.

Fairy tales are useful tools for identifying basic story elements the beginning, the middle and the end. There are a few versions of The Gingerbread Man and they can form the root of an exercise in comparing one with another.

There are lots of activities of a creative nature that early years children can indulge in. Collages and paintings can be created and once displayed the lecture room will look vibrant and full of colour. Every child will be able to have their work displayed.

One specific activity that is inspired by this story is for children to cook their own real gingerbread men following a time-honoured recipe and decorate their culinary masterpieces using a spread of icing and fruits.

The Gingerbread Man inspires many different ideas for creative writing. The process of making different versions and endings can be a valuable exercise. Telling the story of The Gingerbread Man from a different character’s perspective can also be challenging and a good stimulus for inspiring extra creative story writing abilities.

It is sometimes useful to perform in a dramatic stage setting and use drama in advance of creative writing and hot seating some of the characters gives a good understanding of character portraits. The children can create their own versions using different settings, characters and props. All of these practical ideas and activities inspire young children to think in a theatrical way and act as a stimulus when it comes to writing. It is widely thought that boys in particular gain from active drama and role-play experiences before being asked to write.

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How To Teach Young Children Using Story Sack Teaching Resources

If you are involved in the education of young children then you will soon find yourself enlisting the help of a not inconsiderable number of story books. You will need a considerable quota of additional resources to put to work alongside the story books so you will probably save a considerable amount of time if you use thoughtfully compiled key stage 1 teaching resources. It is possible to find complete story sacks but you can compile your own relatively easily using story sack teaching resources.

The vital component of a quality story sack is the main book that the story sack is based upon. A good quality story that captures young children’s imagination and fosters their enjoyment of books and reading is a must. Authors of children’s books have produced prize winning stories that have become favourites for many generations of children. The actual storage of the resources that support the story are often stored in a sack made of a soft fabric. They can be stored and hung with a drawstring and are easy for young children to handle. The contents of story sacks vary but the main resources that should be included are soft toys, puppets, games, a story tape, DVD, photographs, books closely associated with the main title and perhaps a CD of resource materials that can be used for teaching. Factual books associated with the main book should also be included.

Story sacks are now used in many schools and pre-school settings. Some childminders and parents are beginning to see the excellent opportunities that story sacks provide for developing young children’s language skills. The activities and props are designed to bring the story to life and for the young children to interact with the story. This involvement of the children brings the reading to life and helps young children to become confident with books and reading.

There are many institutions that get volunteer groups to create story sacks for them. As yet, story sacks are not for sale in shops. You may be lucky enough to have a toy library that has a selection for you to borrow. Many story sacks lack appropriate resources or may have few resources within them. If you are looking on-line spend some time looking because story sacks can vary enormously in quality.

Some of the better story sacks include a wide variety of materials for you the user to save time with preparation. The best have a guide that will include further ideas, activities and links to relevant sources. They include ideas that can be used across the curriculum and not just literacy skills. They may link with early maths and science concepts and include craft activities, singing and cooking ideas.

Story sacks are a fun way for carers and children to share stories together. They were developed by Neil Griffiths, a Head Teacher from Swindon, as a popular, non-threatening way of encouraging carers to start to share stories with their children in a way that is positive, theatrical, special, interactive and fun.

Story sacks are now increasingly being used by other groups such as libraries, health visitors, speech therapists, social workers, children’s hospitals and family centres. Story sacks are also a great resource to use when working with children with autism and other learning difficulties.

One of the benefits of using story sacks with young children is that, after having introduced the book and the key characters, the children work independently using the story sack resources. This independent learning helps to develop young children’s social skills and develops their language skills as they re tell the story with puppets and materials on their own.

The best suppliers of story sacks also supply a selection of materials that teachers and practitioners can use for display purposes. Colourful labels showing key words and phrases with titles and illustrations ensure that rooms are colourful and stimulating. Some story sacks also have activities for children to colour and sheets for tracing, writing and early maths activities. Photographs are also an additional resource that enhance story sacks.

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Why Primary Teachers Need Visual Timetables In The Classroom

When you are involved in the education of young children, you will in all likelihood encounter a considerable spread of capabilities and differing degrees of comprehension among the various children. If you are faced with any particular specific learning difficulties then you will be faced with an even greater selection of issues in your attempts to ensure that the children all understand the schedule for the school week. If your class should be taken on any give day by a stand-in teacher then they will need to rapidly understand your planned schedule so that the class can continue following the correct program of work for the amount of time involved. To help staff and children alike understand what they should be doing and at what time, the visual timetable is a valuable tool among early years resources in helping to bring order to an already hectic environment.

Visual timetables help pupils to appreciate precisely what it is that they are expected to be doing over a period of time such as the school day. They give structure to the day and regularly help in reducing stress. Symbols or photographs are used to represent the jobs, activities or lessons and the import of their graphical representations are explained to the pupil. The visual timetable is then displayed to give a visible reference for what is planned across the time period in question.

Very often a visual timetable will show the word of the activity alongside a pictorial illustration of the activity. For a younger child it may be used simply for afternoon or morning activities. For an older pupil it may be a graphical timetable for the week. Visual timetables are changed and used according to the particular needs of the children in question.

A visual timetable is simple to make using symbols or photos and is a convenient tool in the school room, helping to give pupils some structure to their day. There are many benefits to using visual timetables as an aid to classroom management. They promote independence, reduce agitation, increase confidence and build upon a pupil’s strength as a visual learner. They also build upon a pupil’s need for routine, predictability and organisation. It will also help to instil a feeling of permanency.

Quite a number of children regarded as being on the autistic spectrum can struggle with the complexities of the school day and their early years resources should be chosen accordingly. They often prefer to have fixed routines as the world can appear quite unpredictable to them. It is hard for them to take change in their stride so it is best to give them warning well in advance to avoid nervousness or a feeling of loss of control. Visual timetables may be used to break an activity down into steps giving children a sense of structure to their day and making them feel safe. Visual timetables provide prompts to help children know what area of the curriculum they will be studying, what they are going to need to get their work done and what the social organisation of the class will be. This will reduce tension with the final result that children sometimes exhibit less anti-social, unattractive behaviour.

Visual timetables can be employed for the whole class or reserved for individual children. If they are to be used for the whole class they have to be displayed in a spot where they can be seen easily by everybody. If a visual timetable is employed for an individual child then a smaller version can be created. The teacher and any school room assistants will have to make reference to it in the school day until the children are totally familiar with it. The timetable should be designed either from left to right or from top to bottom.

Some children will benefit by being consulted regarding the particular symbols or graphical representations to be used. The child will feel better disposed towards the timetable and it will mean more to them as an organisational tool. Some children may require individualised visual timetables because they may be taking part in different activities to the rest of the class. A private timetable specific to particular children may include individual speech therapy, physiotherapy or medical needs that may not be relevant for the majority of the class.

Visual timetables can be useful to help control conduct patterns. The timetable will indicate when a break occurs so this should be helpful for a child on a behaviour intervention plan. She or he will know when to expect a break and how much longer they need to be moderating their conduct before a reward or break will be allowed.

Visual timetables can be a very useful classroom management and organisational tool for the classteacher in that if a supply or stand in teacher has to take over the class, they can right away see the structure of the school day. Teachers employing a visual timetable will find that their children become less reliant on teaching staff and verbal instructions and the class will generally benefit from a decrease in troublesome conduct and repetitive questions. A visual timetable can consequently be of significant advantage for any class room.

It will by the very nature of the beast be a challenge to fit the teaching resources employed on a day-to-day basis with every child’s personal needs. This challenge is one that each and every teacher faces and will continue to face, year-on-year, as new children join the school to learn their early years skills. The enlightened teacher will have at their disposal a wide collection of primary teaching resources which will be chosen with the goal of fitting the requirements of the greatest selection of individual needs so that the young children of every year can go forward to the next stage of their education, enlightened and better capable to face the challenges ahead.