My Story Book

Here is an example of a story book.... it's meant for preschoolers . However , there are some flaws that need attention . Flaws ..?? Where ...???

Writing 

When writing , whether it's the cover or the words inside , bear in mind the font case that we use . As we can see from the example below ( Picture 1 ) ,writing in full uppercase is incorrect . This is giving the wrong idea to the pupils . It should be written in sentence case where the capital letter starts the sentences . Please take serious note of this matter because the book is going to used by preschoolers or primary school pupils . 

Picture 1

Pictures

If the picture that we use is taken from a magazine , newspapers or other sources , make sure that the picture is cut out nicely so that it would look nice and not take up space in our book . Look at the picture of the snake below. It is taking some space from the upper page . If it is cut nicely according to its image, a lot of space can be saved .

In Picture 1 above , as the cover of the book , the picture SHOULD be more vibrant , colourful  and brighter  than that . This is because , in a story telling session , we start with the cover which is the essence of the book / story. We talk about the cover and explain the title as we begin . 

Picture 2

Colours

Make sure that the background colours that we use are able to highlight the words that we write . If you are using a dark background , please use bright colours for the lettering and vice versa . This would ensure that the wordings are readable even from a short distance . The example above ( Picture 2 ) uses a dark background as well as dark lettering . It is still readable if we are holding the book and read but for story telling sessions , where the pupils are sitting in front of the teacher in a group , they would have trouble looking at the words .


Facts

Please proofread your work before putting them on the board , worksheets or in this case , the book . As can be seen in the example above ( Picture 2 ) , " Ular sawa ada bisa" ( Pythons are poisonous ) , the sentence gives incorrect fact. Do not mislead your pupils especially preschoolers .

Writing activity

Assalammualaikum and a good day to all .....

Here is an idea on a writing activity . We will write a story as a group but the most important thing is DO NOT TELL THEM THAT THEY ARE GOING TO CREATE A STORY BOOK. This element of surprise will add more fun and excitement in the activity .You will need :

1. old newspapers
2. scissors
3. glue sticks
4. A4 papers

Firstly , divide the students into groups of 4 or 5 .
Next , give them some old newspapers
Ask them to find 5 pictures . Make sure that the pictures are big enough .
Tell the students to paste the pictures on 5 pieces of papers .
Write 5 sentences to describe each picture .
Collect the pictures and arrange them to form a story .
Use sentence connectors ( For, And, Nor, But,Or,Yet,So ) to connect the sentences forming a story .
Create a cover , title and illustration for your story .
Compile the pictures together with the cover , staple it and you have a story book .

Ask the students to send a representative from each group to come to the front to tell their stories .

Suitable for upper primary (Years 4,5 and 6)

Add- ins.....

1. give a theme for the books or a theme for each book.
2. instead of using pictures from newspapers, use black and white pictures such as the one below.

Ask the pupils to colour them . That would be more meaningful for them . This is suitable for pre-schoolers.