In the picture- Anthony Browne

This week will be my first hosting of a twitter chat. Set up by a group of teachers and educators, #inthepicture aims to celebrate using picture books in the classroom in a variety of ways across the curriculum and age ranges.
Chats take place on Wednesdays from 8 til 9 pm and have covered a range of books so far including "Where the Wild Things are." and "One is a snail."
I have chosen the author and illustrator Anthony Browne  as my focus. http://www.childrenslaureate.org.uk/previous-laureates/anthony-browne/
 I have used a selection of his marvellous books with Y4 and 5 children to stimulate writing in class, as well as to read for pleasure.
http://www.walker.co.uk/contributors/Anthony-Browne-1481.aspx
This site showcases some of his illustrations
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/gallery/2009/jun/08/childrens-laureate-gallery-anthony-browne

One of his more recent projects, the Shape game http://www.childrenslaureate.org.uk/previous-laureates/anthony-browne/shape-game/ looks fascinating and will be one to flag up tomorrow as I haven't used it (yet)

During the discussion I hope to flag up how I have used many of Pie Corbett's talk for writing techniques in my teaching.
http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/news_blogs/email_updates/interviews/pie_corbett and  http://www.cfbt.com/lincs/PDF/Talk%20for%20Writing%20Handout.pdf
One of the English units I teach is stories by the same author, and I would always get frustrated by having to choose sections of books and not having time to share the whole story with the children,  This is one of the strengths of choosing picture books; they are easy to finish with a class thus having the satisfaction of seeing a book through, and provide children with stories that they can use as a basis for their own retelling or continuations regardless of their reading ability.
This is in no way meant to infer that picture books are for the less able reader; Anthony Browne's books have so many meanings and sub plots that they are perfect for developing questioning skills, for inference and deduction,. What is not written is almost more powerful than what is (and in some cases most certainly is e.g. Zoo, Voices in the Park, The Tunnel, Into the Forest... the list goes on)

Here is a list of Anthony Browne books- apologies if I have missed any off the list. I have highlighted ones I have used; just a mere fraction of his work. If there are any omissions please let me know and I will amend.

• Anthony Browne's King Kong: From the Story Conceived by Edgar Wallace & Merian C. Cooper 
• Bear Hunt 
• Changes 
• Gorilla 
• Hansel and Gretel
• I Like Books
• Into the Forest 
• Little Beauty 
• Look What I've Got! 
• Me and You
• My Brother 
• My Dad 
• My Mum 
• Piggybook 
• Silly Billy
• The Animal Fair 
• The Shape Game 
• The Tunnel 
• Things I Like 
• Through the Magic Mirror 
• Voices in the Park 
• Willy and Hugh 
• Willy the Champ 
• Willy the Dreamer 
• Willy the Wizard 
• Zoo 

I'm trying hard to advocate the idea amongst parents that picture books are valuable for older primary pupils. As part of our reading journal work, we encourage the children to read as wide a range of books as possible. Some parents have expressed their views about picture books being inappropriate for "able readers", but a book such as Zoo (Anthony Browne) has such a meaningful subplot (unwritten) which allows it to be interpreted differently by different ages/abilities.
 I have seen some stunning examples of work influenced by picture books and know they are an invaluabe addition to a primary classroom. Very much looking forward to #inthepicture and sharing ideas.

100 words for grown ups week 26

This week the challenge was 5 words- Aghast  Aquamarine  Aeroplane  Acted  After    to be used within a creative piece.

My first idea was to do a ten 0'clock news report but I couldn't get it quite right, so have gone for a news report instead.

All the details can be found on Julia's blog at 

http://jfb57.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/100-word-challenge-for-grown-ups-week-26/

These are such fun to do and have made me realise just how hard it can be to come up with ideas! I often talk to my class about doing these and have shared many of them with the children when we have been writing on similar themes. It has certainly made me much more understanding of the child who sits in class and says, "But I just don't know what to write!" It doesn't happen too often, but when it does I make sure that I have provided plenty of prompts and quality examples of writing. I love all the Pie Corbett resources and try to incorporate lots of the "Talk for writing" strategies into my teaching to empower the children.

Anyway, I digress.

Here is my effort at this week's prompt. 

I'm going to read the others at http://www.linkytools.com/wordpress_list.aspx?id=124425&type=basic

Dangerous  creature on the loose

Residents of Kensington were aghast to find their well tended gardens in disarray after an uninvited creature visited and acted inappropriately towards their prized pets. Witnesses have described a lizard-like creature, the size of a large family dog.

At the time of writing there are no photographs. Here is our artistic interpretation:

This creature should be easy to spot with its bright aquamarine skin. However, for safety, residents have been advised not to approach it , but to call the police. How it came to be here remains a mystery; perhaps concealed amongst baggage on an aeroplane or freight ship.