Today I have been thinking about the activity that we have to do with the characters that each of us had to invent one month ago. I am going to write only one idea that I consider better or that it could be great to do with our characters.

I know that some of my classmates did a very good effort and a very hard work with their characters but other classmates did less work. Based on my opinion, we could work with our character, but instead of doing a poster and related with literature, we can do a little book with our character, with ten chapters more or less. The teacher, Raquel Fernández, could say for the chapter one you have to introduce a sword, for example. Then, the same with the second chapter, but instead of a sword, you have to introduce a tower, or a car… And for example, in the chapter five and in the ten we can collaborate with other characters also introducing something that Raquel said. You can decide the character that you want to introduce in each of the collaborative chapters. I think it could be great, but I know that we have no time, it was only a reflection that I wanted to share with you.

For all those with whom I could not speak I represented little María (bottom left) in front to a hillside with some slope, this was because when I was small (and though you may not believe) I did not like to read and I looked like a boring and impossible activity, just read a few books or comics (I love Mafalda) which are represented by my side.
But then (and as you watch the highlights) are the books “Finis Mundi” by Laura Gallego and “Molly Moon” by Georgia Byng. Both books were recommended to me, the first by my teacher in 6th grade; the second by my cousin when I was in 5th grade.

Both pleasantly surprised me since the first book approached me a story of mystery, adventure and yes … a little fantasy! (One of my favorite genres), and the second fascinated me with a story where I always imagined having the power of the main character … how I would have liked to!
The following books are the ones that made the difference. “The Thief Lord” by Cornelia Funke  reminded me of the story of “Peter Pan” (one of my favorite stories) and took me to one of my favorite cities, Venice. The other book “Greek Mythology” was a gift from my grandfather for the “Día del Libro”. He knew that I like mythology (at that time I liked the Egyptian mythology) but he decided that since our culture has a lot of Greek influence I should  read something of that culture, and you cannot imagine how successful that was, from then on, whenever I do not have any book to read, I read these little stories which bring me to the “Old Gods”.

From this moment, as I wanted to represent with the other a little older María climbing the slope on a mechanical escalator, reading for me was much easier.
Finally, I represent “the present”; and I think you can call me “Big Bookworm” I do not mind the book, the gender (unless detectives and fear), the time in which it was written or even the size; I read everything and I feel each book is special, leave something on you (this idea is the reflection of all quotes from many books that are written on the hillside), and for that reason most of my books are represented on the shelves.
Many of you are surprised by the originality, and of course, has an explanation because for me reading is very, very important in my life (I cannot go to sleep without reading at least one chapter) It could not be represented in another way ! I am glad to hear that many of you have been inspired with this Reading Map … and I hope you do see that reading it is not so bad!

corto winnie

We are Carolina and Miguel Ángel and as you know, last week was the Medieval Market in Alcalá de Henares. We love these days since Alcalá, for people who don’t know the city, dressed up to commemorate the baptism of Cervantes. We recommend you to visit it next year because there is a very friendly atmosphere and it is possible to learn many things about long time ago. In this market, you can find different handmade stands, animals such as predatory birds, donkeys or horses, troubadours or many different spectacles set in those times.

Making the most of the occasion, we would like to show you an interesting material we found there.  There was a stand in which we realized there were a huge variety of puppets, all of them inspired in fantastic and real animals. But, what is our point of view of this material? Obviously, they can be used as a didactic source.

As all of you know, some weeks ago, we have talked about storytelling and how to do it successfully. These puppets can help us to carry it out and it is a fun resource for children.

These handcrafted animals do not cost a lot of money, however, we can make them in our own so they are even cheaper and have a personalized design. As we know, on the internet there are a lot of interesting webpages to make materials guided with really good scaffolding. So, why aren’t we creative and drive an initiative for our classrooms as teachers?

If you are interest on this, we were talking with the clerk and he explained to us how to do it by ourselves. Firstly and of course, we need the materials: they are made with foam rubber, a glove and paint cans or sprays. Then, the most important element they require is: CREATIVITY.

Finally, as we are imagination engineers, we can use this beautiful material as inspiration to create innovative ones, and after that, to use them not just in storytelling, but performances to develop different multiple intelligences, language skills, teamwork and cooperation, or every activity you imagine.

We hope you like it! Thank you