Άρθρα με ετικέτα phonological awareness

“Party with Mr. Men and Little Miss”: Little Miss Contrary and Mr. Cheerful (with a visit from Little Miss Splendid)

The last two Roger Hargreaves books we dealt with in class were Little Miss Contrary and Mr. Cheerful. The students were willing to read the books this time, page by page, and I was very pleased they are feeling comfortable in Greek -it’s an important “step” if they are to be comfortable with English, a year from now. They also paid attention to what was being read, and even added their own “colour” as they read.

They were introduced to opposites like “black – white” and “day – night”, and also elements of British culture (with Little Miss Splendid). I explained to them that next time we are going to start working on creating our own “Little Miss” or “Mr. Men” character or book, and they were thrilled! It remains to be seen if we can actually do it, or if it’s too much to ask…

“Party with Mr. Men and Little Miss” – Mr. Tall and Little Miss Somersault (with a visit from Mr. Bounce)

For the past couple of lessons with my 2nd graders we’ve been discussing different body types, like Mr. Tall (also Mr. Tickle, Mr. Nosey, Mr. Greedy and Mr. Small, who appear in the book) and Little Miss Somersault (along with Mr. Bounce). Students were introduced to the idea that one’s obvious “drawback” may well indeed be a blessing, as is the case with Mr. Tall! And in the case of Little Miss Somersault, how delightful to see a girl character save the day like a super hero, only to discover that super heroes do sometimes need help themselves! Two lovely messages from Roger Hargeaves, worth the attention of younger learners.

The students drew Mr. Tall this time, easily following this wonderful video, which I only had to pause a little, and then there was also colouring and lots of “Jump! Bounce! Cartwheel!” singing! I think they carried on jumping for the next hour, as by the time we finished, it was time for their P.E. class.

These are the lyrics to the song, available here:

Bounce! (Bounce!)

Jump! (Jump!)

Cartwheel! (Cartweel!)

Little Miss Somersault, Little Miss Somersault

Stretch! (Stretch!)

Leap! (Leap!)

Tumble! (Tumble!)

Little Miss Somersault, Little Miss Somersault!

She doesn’t walk around, but leaps over instead.

She can do anything, even stand on her head!

Jumping, tumbling, bouncing up and down, Little Miss Somersault never touches the ground!

Bounce! (Bounce!)

Jump! (Jump!)

Cartwheel! (Cartweel!)

Little Miss Somersault, Little Miss Somersault

Stretch! (Stretch!)

Leap! (Leap!)

Tumble! (Tumble!)

Little Miss Somersault, Little Miss Somersault!

She’s so full of energy, there is no doubt.

Bouncing over and under, around and about!

Climb on a roof, or balance on a chair, she does it all with out a single care!

Bounce! (Bounce!)

Jump! (Jump!)

Cartwheel! (Cartweel!)

Little Miss Somersault, Little Miss Somersault

Stretch! (Stretch!)

Leap! (Leap!)

Tumble! (Tumble!)

Little Miss Somersault, Little Miss Somersault!

(repeat this a few times)

See you next time!

“Party with Mr. Men and Little Miss” – Mr. Quiet and Little Miss Sunshine

It was so enjoyable to see how the young students of 2nd grade reacted to the stories, they really liked them a lot. There was colouring of letters and figures, playing and letter making with play-doh, the kids loved it. They are also beginning to understand and accept the different characteristics of different personalities, portrayed in the series, which is good. Here are some pictures:

Can’t wait to see what’s next! Have a happy Clean Monday!

“Party with Mr. Men and Little Miss” – the inspiration

So many things in today’s society, factors outside the classroom, are ripping the students’ team spirit apart: The antagonism is sometimes insane, and it is often one of the roles of the teacher to reconcile different situations and to build bridges, so that students can co-exist peacefully and in a spirit of understanding.

In this context, I decided to invest in a project with 2nd grade students, called “Party with Mr. Men and Little Miss”, with the aim of bringing them closer to each other by primarily recognising aspects of themselves in the Mr. Men and Little Miss characters, getting to know themselves better, and then by realising how many things we all have in common with others. To do that, we are going to study 10 books by the English writer Roger Hargreaves, at the same time engaging in fun activities that will promote the students’ phonemic and phonological awareness in English, as well as building on their self-confidence and connecting English with a literature and a culture. The end product is going to be a story that the students themselves will have created. The project will also help students learn how to illustrate a story, with the help of the Art teacher, and how to value differences in playground games, with the help of the PE teacher.

This is the set of books that we are going to deal with:

  • Mr. Cheerful
  • Mr. Busy
  • Mr. Quiet
  • Little Miss Chatterbox
  • Little Miss Sunshine
  • Little Miss Wise
  • Little Miss Somersault
  • Mr. Tall
  • Little Miss Contrary
  • Mr. Messy

And of course, the books are going to enrich the collection of the school library, after we finish our project. I’m curious to see if the young students are going to be familiar with this series and talk about books that they have at home. We’ll see!