Over the past two weeks all pupils in Keir Hardie Memorial Primary have participated in a whole school Literacy Fortnight. The aim of this was to raise standards in literacy and develop our pupil’s enthusiasm towards story writing. All children worked towards creating a book with the pupils taking on the role of author and illustrator. Each class based their book around their current class theme and this resulted in a diverse range of topics from Under the Sea to Fairytales, and The Hobbit to the Hunger Games.
Throughout the fortnight, all classes visited the local library in Newarthill. Some classes also participated in Storytelling Workshops carried out by a librarian from Motherwell library. Primary 4/5 went online and visited a website called ‘Author’s Live’ where they saw interviews and discussions with authors about how they write their book, their favourite being Michael Morpurgo.
At the end of literacy weeks we held a school assembly where the children shared their learning from the weeks and staff and pupils dressed up as a character from a book. We were treated to a spectacular range of costumes ranging from a shark, fairytale characters, Harry Potter and many more. Pupils were also given the opportunity to visit all the other classes to enjoy and appreciate each other’s work. It was a huge success and the children felt a great sense of achievement producing their own book.
Pupil Feedback
Kelsey Hulme (P5)
“Some pupils were very confident and shared their learning at a special assembly in front of the whole school. All children made a piece of writing which they were proud of, as this was a published piece of work. All the teachers got involved too by dressing up as characters, this added to the fun. I feel that this was a great success for the school and the pupils loved making their own books and dressing up. This shows that learning in literacy can be fun and enjoyable when you link it with other areas of the curriculum.”
