Conclusion References Introduction

Organising a book corner
Although the storybooks are not initially intended to be read by the children, you will find that once an entire story has been introduced and practised, many children will know all or part of the text by heart. At this point, it is a good idea to add copies of the storybooks to the book corner to enable children to read them independently.
The following tips may be useful for anyone wanting to set up a book corner:
● A bookcase or shelving is ideal but a table or cardboard boxes covered in coloured paper can be used to display or store books.
● Flowers, plants, a carpet and cushions will make the book corner cosy and inviting.
● If possible, display books with the cover showing. This is more attractive and makes selection much easier.
● Try to involve your children in the organisation and maintenance of the book corner to encourage responsibility for the care of books. The class could elect monitors/librarians each week to keep the book corner tidy.
● Decorate the corner with any artwork or writing inspired by stories read to pupils in class. Children could also write comments about different books and stick these on the wall. Ask children to organise a Top Ten Books chart and display the results in the corner.
● Draw your childrens’ attention to other books in English (or in the mother tongue) related to a topic you are covering.
As far as possible, allow children to have open access to the book corner. This will encourage them to visit it as often as they can, without feeling they have to use it at specific times.
If your children can borrow books, you will need to devise a lending system. A simple one is to use an exercise book in which children write their name, the title of the book(s), the date borrowed and the date returned. Decide how long the lending period should be. The book corner monitors/librarians can take responsibility for checking that books are returned on time. It is useful for the children to keep a personal record of books they have looked through or borrowed. You could design a record card that enables children to do this (for an example see Brewster, Ellis and Girard 2002: 201).
Similarly, children could design a poster to keep a class record of books read. Suggest they write the titles of books horizontally and the names of children vertically to form a grid. When children have read a book, they put a tick in the corresponding box. At the end of a school term or year, they can collate the results: e.g. eight children read The Very Hungry Caterpillar, ten children read Meg’s Eggs, etc. The most popular book was…
Effective organisation and imaginative display in your book corner both play a vital role in helping your children develop a positive attitude towards books, reading and the foreign language.
Part 2 of this handbook offers detailed story notes on 12 stories – ten selected from the Puffin list and two that are provided as ready-to-go photocopiable stories – which apply the principles and methodology described in Part 1.