Ideas contributed by OZTL net members

Primary Schools

Book Week Trivia

This is an idea which has been successful in previous years.

Each class has been allocated a book to read and explore. The class will then create a bank of questions and answers about that book.

During Book Week we will hold a Trivia Picnic. The children join their sport house teams, thus creating mixed groups of K-6. (This could be organised any way which suits the school.) A Trivia competition is them held using the questions created by the classes. As each team has members from every grade, they should all have an equal chance of knowing the answers. Bini Szacsvay, St Mary's Primary School, North Sydney NSW

The most popular activity I have is chalk drawing on the playground. Each class takes one shortlisted book and draws either the cover or a page from the book on the playground (really BIG drawings- a class effort). They love it.

Michele Walters, Teacher Librarian /ICT reference teacher, St Thomas More's Primary

High Schools

We usualy run some sort of competition that requires kids to look at the books for answers and we have either lollies or books for prizes.  Secondary kids love poster comps too if prizes are involved.  We usually run a staff comp. too.  Bronwyn Hughes, Teacher - Librarian, Maryborough State High School

Magetic Fridge Poetry

Verse Novels like Herrick's "Do Wrong Ron" are terrific for getting kids to finish books because they don't take long to read yet the issues and the humour and pathos are so concentrated in the poems, which when read in linear order, form a narrative. This activity worked well with Bateson's "Rain May & Captain Daniel" last year in the middle school & was a great way to introduce Herrick's verse novels & one or two other authors of verse novels we had in the collection e.g. Margaret Wild etc, many of which are written for the young adult readers.

Read upper primary, middle school or secondary groups samples of some of the poems in "Do Wrong Ron". Depending upon their age read samples from some of Herreck's other books too.  Then break the class into groups of 4-5 students and give them each a set of Magnetic Fridge Poetry.  If you don't have many sets, then make some up with individual words - about 40 or so (each set a different colour) and laminate them for working on a desk or carpet. Australian Geographic stores sell them I know. Groups are challenged to write the most profound poem in about 15-20 mins. Ask their teacher or someone to judge. Groups walk around & read the other groups' efforts at the end of the time. IT integration could be done by taking a photo of each poem before it is packed up. Surprisingly boys groups can write some profound lines when restricted in their word choice!  The next lession you can follow up with the virtual fridge magnet poetry sites on the www and reduce the groups to pairs, so that they are composing their poem by moving the words around the monitor screen. Just do a search of the internet but a good site with a number of different poetry kits to choose from is:

http://www.magneticpoetry.com/magnet/    There are even sites that allow you to upload all the words from another site, for using to create poems on a particular theme.  Alt/printscreen cuts & pastes the poem window for saving it. You can judge the poetry again and/or print the poetry for display. Doorways being the theme this year, old fridges could be brought into the library with the poetry sets on the door for some interactive displays.

Deborah Robins

I had thought of erecting a large door and then asking the students to create an A4 door and put a quote message, poem, story or picture behind it so people could open the doors to read the messages behind.  Have a quiz using the OPACs with a "door" search:   Have a continuing story to which one liners can be added starting with Behind the door was ....

Usually show a video but have not come up with a title yet. 

Gail Clarke        Rochedale SHS                                                

As far as high school activities are concerned, I think it would be great to compare the varying styles of illustrations on the picture book shortlist this year - charcoal, computer generated, lino cuts, pastels etc

Aveen

I think it would be good for an Art class to actually paint the classroom doors using ideas from the shortlisted books or just with different books.  It would also be great to do similar with some old donated doors and display them. Regards Judy Paddison (Regional Campus, Port Macquarie)

Doors in Literature

Ghiberti's doors - http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/ghibertinorth/ghibertinorth.html

Open Sesame

When the piper came to the dark rock, he played his pipe even louder still and a great door creaked open. Beyond lay a cave. In trooped the children behind the pied piper, and when the last child had gone into the darkness, the door creaked shut. http://www.ims.uni-stuttgart.de/~jonas/pied.piper.of.hamelin.html

In Roman Mythology, Janus was the god of gates, doors, beginnings, endings and doorways.

http://www.campusprogram.com/reference/en/wikipedia/j/ja/janus__mythology_.html

Janus, as a god, was always portrayed with two heads, one looking forward, and one looking behind. Watch your back was something one never had to say to Janus, because he did. He was called upon by Jupiter to protect the beginnings of all endeavors. It was his association with past and future that gave him the title of God of Doorways. The first month of the year was named after him. http://www.tyler-adam.com/196.html

The door to success

French doors

Alice found a key to a tiny door http://www.bookrags.com/notes/aiw/OBJ.htm

Famous doorkeepers - e.g Cerberus

Interesting titbit about doors http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_18-6-2003_pg9_6

A Norwegian family of four is facing eviction for painting their front door green. Tor Ole Eriksen's colour choice has put him at odds with his local homeowners' association in Kristiansand. The Brattbakken homeowners' association allows doors to be painted only blue, red, gold or white, reports Aftenposten. "When someone wants to throw out a family of four because I won't repaint my door, it's going too far," said Mr Eriksen.

Winnie-the-Pooh lived in the Hundred Acre Wood under the name of Sanders, which means that he had the name in gold letters over the door, and he lived under it.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076363/quotes

Hobbit-holes are at ground level, with short tunnels connecting its rooms. The doors and the windows were perfectly round, but especially striking was the door of Bag End, which was painted green, and had a yellow brass knob in its exact middle.

http://www.khazad-dum.com/e/au.htm

The gates of Moria

http://hobbitstuff.tripod.com/moriatour.htm

Kerrie Smith

Schools Information Officer, EdNA Online

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