I come from Slovenia, a small country in Europe, more specifically from its capital, Ljubljana. The symbol of Ljubljana is a --- you guessed it --- a dragon or a swamp monster that was supposedly encountered and defeated by Jason and the Argonauts who came to these parts while looking for a way back to Greece.
It comes as no surprise that when my best friend visited me with his family, he brought a dragon plush doll and also gave me the idea of creating a scrap book that allows children to take the dragon home with them, take photos and write about what they did together.
We held a name selection vote and decided on Cherry, since the fluffy toy is green and is holding a red heart, making her look like a cherry in a bunch of green leaves. I then purchased a scrap book and off our intrepid dragon went.
The way I do it is to start giving Cherry out towards the end of the first term to give the children more time to master writing. I give it to the first child on Monday and they have to bring it back on Wednesday. The next child gets it on Wednesday and has to return it on Friday. The luckiest little tyke gets it on Friday and has to bring it back on Monday.
But that's not the end of the story. After bringing Cherry back we then read the sentences that the child had written (both in English and Thai) and correct the mistakes. Because most children do similar things with Cherry, we also learn similar words which is great, because I believe that a lot of knowledge can be gained through repetition.
Here's what it looks like:
And here are some photos of Cherry and my students.
What about you? What is your favourite supplementary method of teaching writing? Drop a line in the comments.
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