This week, our first week together as a class group, we introduced the children to the picture book, Go Away Big Green Monster! Written and illustrated by Ed Emberley.
The children very much enjoyed this book, with squeals of delight as each part of the monster is added in the first half of the book, and then taken away again in the second half of the book. The children wanted to hear the book again and again throughout the week.
A group of children chose to read Go Away Big Green Monster! together one morning during free exploration. This was a great opportunity for the children to practice role-play reading, using their oral language skills as well as their knowledge about reading and stories to take turns of 'reading' the book to each other. It was also a great opportunity for the children to develop social skills through taking turns with the book.
Later in the week, some of the children were using the playdough. The teacher invited them to make monsters using playdough. Again, the children's keen interest in monsters was a valuable context for the them to express themselves creatively and through speaking, while modeling with playdough. As the children worked, they animatedly described their monsters in detail . . .
Valentino:
"I've made the hair and this is the sharp teeth . . . It's the biggest, huge monster . . . It's the hugest . . . Wow, look at this! My one is big, sharp feet . . . Those are called tentacles."
Illyas:
"Scraggly hair! . . . The teeth is sharp, they eyes are big and there's scraggly hair! . . . And the mouth is biiiiiiiiiig!"
John:
"Look at my monster's eyes! I'm using the pencil to make lots of eyes!"
Samuela:
"Look, mine has a big mouth! It's got fire inside (his mouth) because it like to eat something hot. Look!"
The children showed a similar delight when they were introduced to the character Scarface Claw in the story, Hairy Maclary Scattercat, by Lynley Dodd. In response to the excitement and creative energy generated around scary things, we will continue to explore scary things in weeks to come.
