Teach Students to Create a Book

Introduce The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to Primary Grades

Oct 14, 2009 Mary Quehe

With the aid of a teacher children can make their own book through a structured educational program centred on Aslan, other talking animals, and the Pevensie siblings.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (Clive Staples) [HarperTrophy, 1950] is appropriate for five to 10 year olds. Educators can introduce this novel to young children in a way in which they will feel part of the learning process. Read one or two chapters aloud at each gathering and then discuss the character(s) in or event(s) during the chapter. After each reading session have material accessible to the students that will help them create pages with sentences and pictures that will eventually turn into their own book.

C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia – The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Make these teaching modules educational, artistic, interesting, and fun. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a perfect example of the fantasy genre as it contains all the ingredients that make up a really interesting fantasy for children. There is a movement between worlds, personification of talking animals who portray human thoughts, a good versus evil theme, and magic. When the Pevensie children walk through the wardrobe into the "frozen in winter" land of Narnia the children will want to find out what happens next.

They will learn that in Narnia there are animals that talk such as a friendly faun, two helpful beavers, and a special lion called Aslan who possesses extraordinary powers. They will meet other animals and all sorts of characters including Santa who gives very important gifts to the children that hold special powers. They will see the dark side to the story when they learn that it is the White Witch who has frozen Narnia in winter and that she is wicked with all of those she encounters. In the end the children will be delighted when the four siblings become princes and princesses of this fantasy land of Narnia.

Book Making Activity – Primary Grade Educators' Resource

Subsequent to each reading session the children will work toward putting together a picture book:

Craft supplies required:

blank sheets of paper
a pencil
crayons
markers
scissors
glue
book binding material

Instructions:

The children will be required to draw free hand (character sketch of either a Pevensie sibling, Aslan, the beavers, Santa, White Witch or other character) using a pencil, and then colour picture with crayons, and/or markers.

In addition to colouring the page(s) there will be words to cut and paste onto the sheet. The children will learn to put the words in correct order to make the proper sentence to go with each picture.

Outcome:

Each child will have created her/his own book.
The colourful pictures will remind each student of what she or he learned during the reading session.
She/he can read her/his mini-book silently or out loud to her/his own audience.
She/he will recognize what words make up proper sentences.
She/he will have her/his very own keepsake of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Evaluation:

Observe how well the children follow instructions.
See if she/he/ has gained a deeper sense into the story through creating a mini-story book.
Have each child read her/his book out loud.

Through the reading and discussion sessions children will learn auditory and verbal communication skills. Through the hands-on activities such as writing, colouring, cutting and pasting they will practice cognitive and dexterity skills. Their imaginations will be enlivened as they are introduced to children’s fantasy in an enjoyable and suitable environment. With this introduction to C.S. Lewis’ story The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe students may decide to read the entire Chronicles of Narnia series on their own as they begin their journey into the world of reading.

Two more interesting articles are Exploring the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Literature Based Arts and Crafts Program. These too are useful resources for educators of young children.

The copyright of the article Teach Students to Create a Book in Teacher Tips/Training is owned by Mary Quehe. Permission to republish Teach Students to Create a Book in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.