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Bookbot a virtual reading assistant for your child

Sun, 26 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT

Learning to read

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How your child can learn to read confidently using phonics

Thu, 26 Sep 2019 00:00:00 GMT

How your child can learn to read confidently and independently using Phonics.

What is phonics?

I first came across the term ‘phonics’ when my little was in prep. Many scientific studies have proven that explicit systematic phonics instruction is the most effective way to teach children to read. That sounds pretty complicated, but in simple terms: Teaching phonics means teaching children the sounds made by individual letters or letter groups. So, the letter ‘c’ makes a ‘k’ sound. Once the sounds are learnt, the little reader learns to merge - or blend - the separate sounds to make a word. So, the sounds ‘k’, ‘a’ and ‘t’ make ‘cat’. It’s about teaching children to decode letters into their corresponding sounds. Teaching explicit phonics means that children are taught directly about the associations between letters and sounds. Alternative approaches expect children to learn that indirectly. Learning the code is like a journey: you have to start at the beginning. The process starts with simple letter sound rules and then moves on to more complex patterns and rules. It is a methodical, or systematic, process. Poor reading and comprehension will impede your child’s potential. There's nothing worse than feeling helpless if your child is struggling to read. That's why we created Bookbot: a virtual reading assistant that will listen to your child read out loud, helping them as they go along.

Decodable books follow the phonics system of learning to read (see What is phonics?). BookBotKids has a library of decodable books specially created to follow a systematic programme of phonics. The little reader is introduced to letter patterns and sounds and taught to blend them to decode the words: ‘k’ ‘a’ ‘t’ makes cat - that’s why they’re called decodable books. The books introduce new letters and sounds as they progress through the levels. Bookbot’s library of decodable books is growing all the time.

Bookbot is an app that supports your child as they learn to read. When you subscribe to Bookbot, you can download the app and access a library of specially-written ‘decodable’ books. Here’s the magic bit: Bookbot listens to your child as they read the books, helping them as they go. Bookbot will guide your child through their reading journey. If they struggle with a word, Bookbot will highlight it and allow your child to try again or to get Bookbot read it aloud for them. Bookbot will guide your child in this way through the levels until they become confident, independent readers. Try it today free link to pricing page

8 Ways to Boost Reading Motivation

Fri, 19 Apr 2019 00:00:00 GMT

8 Ways to Boost Reading Motivation [For Struggling Readers]

Motivating students to read or encouraging good reading habits for your child can be really difficult.

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Some kids take to reading naturally, and others don’t have the interest.

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They may have had bad experiences at school, find the practice of reading frustrating, or just prefer to be doing something else.

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In these cases, encouraging kids to explore books can be a real chore.

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When it is hard to motivate students or your children to read, it can leave you wondering where you are going.

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It is easy to take it personally, and you may find yourself comparing their reading habits to others in their class, your friends’ children, or even yourself at that age.

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The most important thing, whether your aim is in motivating students or your own children, is to encourage reading in a fun or relaxed manner.

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Some kids see reading as ‘work’.

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If this is the case, it is understandable that they don’t seek it out in their free time.

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Every child will bond with books in a different way, but here are some reading strategies that might be able to help. This will assist them in gaining literacy skills that will guide them in high school and beyond.

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When we think about getting excited for reading, we can split techniques up into two types of motivation: intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation.

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Of course, children will usually experience an overlap between these types of motivations, and they feed into each other.

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Grouping strategies into methods regarding intrinsic and extrinsic motivation helps us to make sure we are using variation.

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Intrinsic factors involve internal motivation that comes from the child themselves.

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While you can shape or encourage a child to be intrinsically motivated, in the end the main push comes from the individual.

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Within this type of motivation, we will discuss value, choice, self-efficacy, and goals.

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Extrinsic motivation refers to external factors, meaning that these are ways that you can change the reading environment for the child.

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As you will see, these often have the potential to create intrinsic motivation for a reader. Here we will look at book availability, social factors, routine, and rewards.

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Intrinsic Motivation

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This step is all about what value the child puts on reading.

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This can come from a lot of different sources, but it ultimately ends with whether the child has the internal drive to pick up a book and read independently.

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You can boost value by finding materials that your child is likely to be interested in to drum up excitement for reading time.

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Alternatively, you might want to pick something that they are working on at school.

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While they might not be too interested in this topic, they may see that this will make activities at school easier due to the new knowledge that they acquire.

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Talking about books will help as well, as this is something to bond over.

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Numerous studies have found that reading habits pick up and drop off in direct relation to a reader’s sense of autonomy with materials.

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If you mean to motivate students to read when they are in younger grades, they are often more excited about this process as they have a wide range of choices, making it feel personalised.

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As students get older, motivating students to read gets tricky. They have to read specific books for class and these are often not the sort that they would pick for themselves.

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In the home environment, allow your reader to engage with materials that they can connect with.

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If these are comic books or ‘silly’ novels about poop and vomit, try not to worry.

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They are building their relationship with reading. If reading can be something fun that they do in their downtime, this is an excellent thing.

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This is a word often thrown around in reading education circles, and it is all about how up to the task the reader feels.

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If they are confident in their reading abilities, they will be able to approach a book with enthusiasm as it will not be a painful or disheartening experience.

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If they struggle with reading, they need to have strategies for how to cope with feeling inadequate for the task.

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This is particularly the case when reading out aloud or in a public setting.

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Needless to say, the capacity that a child thinks they have to read a book is not always the same as their skill level.

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Often they will be self-conscious for being put in a lower bracket of reading or because of comments they have overheard.

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For self-efficacy, encouragement and being aware of your child’s ever-evolving reading level is the key.

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Helping your child to set and adjust reasonable goals is an excellent way to fuel their motivation for reading.

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At a young age, it is difficult to understand how to break a large task down into small, manageable pieces.

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It may also be difficult for them to judge how they are going with their reading aside from a level that they have been assigned or comments by teachers.

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Setting goals with your reader will make them feel like the process is back in their hands.

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You can make sticker charts and posters to have this experience be even more tangible.

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If they are logging or ticking something every time they read, they are going to feel like they are taking small steps towards where they want to be instead of looking at a seemingly impossible, long journey ahead.

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Extrinsic Motivation

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Linking in with the intrinsic motivation of book choice is book availability.

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While your child will have options available to them at the school library, they may not feel confident about the types of books they should choose for themselves.

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Furthermore, it might be ‘embarrassing’ to go to the library at lunch to check out a book when their friends are playing.

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Give your readers other avenues so that they have a space away from school where they can choose books.

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Heading to the local library together is an excellent option, as this allows you to talk about the sorts of things that they would like to read for fun.

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This is a special experience that will also boost their perception of value as you have taken time out of your day to take them to this building full of books.

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Ebooks and reading apps are also a good option, as they are often cheaper than titles at a bookstore and offer a huge range of variety.

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Social factors are interesting parts of extrinsic motivation for reading, as they can have both positive and negative effects.

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Negative effects of social factors might include times that your reader has been put down by peers, or perhaps teased for enjoying reading.

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With the friendship group that your child is in, their peers might value other activities over reading, making it harder for your child to have an interest.

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A good way to balance this out is to make reading a social activity at home.

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By putting half an hour aside of a nighttime when everybody is in the living room interacting with books or newspapers or magazines, this can make reading feel like a fun, communal activity.

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This can be a private reading session where you each read your own materials, or a time when members of the family read something out aloud.

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By creating an opportunity for bonding and fun, this can open an environment that encourages healthy reading habits.

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A sense of routine is a good step for motivating any little reader, but it is particularly important for those that find the experience difficult.

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While they might not enjoy structured reading time at home at first, as it may ‘feel like school’, getting them in the habit of engaging with text-based media on a regular basis will help to alleviate some of the anxiety of reading.

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This should be a low-pressure time when they are free to read whatever they like, and it would be good for it to have a social element, such as having a casual chat about what they thought about their book afterwards.

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It is alright for a reader to express negative opinions about the things that they read, but encourage them to be able to justify these opinions.

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By interacting with books on a regular basis and in a more critical capacity, they will have a broader frame of reference for their future reading.

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For students who are struggling with other forms of motivation, the external rewards may be a good option.

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You can decide with your reader how this will be measured, such as by book, amount of words, or time spent reading.

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Pick things that they will really value working towards, like screen time or getting to choose what the family has for dinner.

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Make the increments between rewards short enough that they aren’t going to lose their steam.

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One option that you might consider is a reading bingo card.

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This is where you write different types of books on a bingo sheet and the reader needs to fill a row by ticking off squares.

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This can help them to read genres or materials that they might not usually consider, while still giving them a sense of choice as they get to determine their own path on the bingo card.

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By integrating some of these methods into your child’s reading practice, or using them as inspiration for more tailored methods for your reader, I hope that you can give a boost to their reading motivation.

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A love of reading has lifelong benefits and rewards, and it is well worth investing time and effort in.

77 of the Best Quotes for Kids

Tue, 26 Feb 2019 00:00:00 GMT

In the context of the seven wonders, we are just looking at the Greco-Roman world, which were the civilisations around the Mediterranean Sea.

When we read quotes, they often affirm something that we know already but can’t put in so many words. ‍

Having quotes around us or sharing them with friends can help us to keep simple yet important principles in mind that we can often forget about in our busy lives.

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Here we have collected a series of quotes about children. I hope that some of them strike a chord with you and give you a little bubble of inspiration as you go about your day.

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Back to Bookbot Blog

12 Fun Activities for Kids That Encourage a Love of Books

Thu, 25 Oct 2018 00:00:00 GMT

12 Fun Activities for Kids That Encourage a Love of Books (Indoor Activities, Outdoor Play, and Anywhere Games)

Loving books isn’t always about sitting down and reading them. Passion for literature often comes from having a culture around these stories.

As adults, we can comfortably discuss books and have favourites that work their way into being a part of our identity.‍

We can reflect on the books that we enjoy, pick apart the ones that we don’t, use them as muses to create, and otherwise be inspired by characters and tales that give us motivation to do things in our lives.

For children, it can be hard to see what book can be aside from reading material. They might not yet have the specific language for talking about why they love or hate a book. They just know that they do.

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One great way to help your child love literature is to show them how much more books can be through play. In this article we will discuss different types of play that can help little readers to use the words, pictures, and concepts in their books to see the world that lies beyond them.

I hope that some of these types of play spark brain-tingling moments that forge a life-long love of books for your child. We will talk about 12 different types of play across indoor activities, outdoor options, and things that can be done anywhere.

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Whether you are looking for party games, fun moments in the classroom,or some activities for kids at home to keep the boredom at bay, here are some great ways to involve books in your play.

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Craft

Whether the book is one that you read recently, an old favourite, or something that has to be endured for school, a craft activity can really bring the story to life. Give the reader some agency in what the craft will be centered around so that this can help with their expression about different parts of the book.

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Also think about what type of craft you want to do together. Is it something that they are making as a gift? Is there a spot in their room that could do with a little decorating? Instead of just making something, help them to think about purpose.

A discussion about materials is also important. While it might be possible to get a few items from the craft store, try to encourage them to think about day-to-day items around the house that they can use for the activity, particularly things that were destined for the recycling bin.

Comic Strips

This is a good one for reluctant readers who prefer graphic novels and comic books. Pick a story that they are familiar with and get them transforming this tale into a comic strip.

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If they are particularly excited about the task, you might even want to extend this task to be a couple of pages. However, this will require quite a lot of drawing so it is understandable if this might be intimidating. Start with the strip and see how they go.

For kids who like the idea but aren’t so confident in their drawing abilities, try searching some picture of the characters in the text and printing out a preset strip without words that they can add to. You can involve the reader in the selection of the pictures, and the ways in which you resize and flip them to make them suit the boxes in the comic strip.

Movies

For those kids that like a little bit of drama in their lives, consider scripting a short movie based on a book that they enjoy. There can be a lot of elements to this, and it is a great idea for a group task during the holidays.

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Readers can work on a script together with your guidance. With this, try to make sure that the parts are balanced even if characters in the original get more lines than others. Then, they can even think about a few props or costumes that they might want to make together to make the story come alive.

Finally, help to record their creation while they are acting. Have a copy of their script with you so that you can help out with lines for anybody that gets nervous. When you are done, you can even consider some basic editing like giving the production a title, credits, or some intro music.

Book Hunts

This is a personal favourite of mine, and it works very well in a small party situation. It takes a fair bit of preparation time, but it is guaranteed to be a hit with readers and get them thinking a little deeper about their books.

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Put together a list of clues the same as you would for a treasure hunt.Make some of these clues things about the house, and some of them relating to certain books. Some clues that the students find will lead them to the place where you have hidden a book.

Upon opening this book, there can be a riddle or cryptic clue about the content of the book. Try not to make this too difficult so that readers who have experience with the book will be likely to be able to answer from memory.When they have the right answer, you can present them with an envelope with a clue for the next location.

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While there are some opportunities for sensory play inside, it is always more fun outdoors when you can be messy and crazy. This will particularly appeal to readers who can never seem to sit down or stay in one spot.

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Messy Art

I really enjoy doing messy art with kids because they don’t feel like it as to be good. It is more about the feeling and exploring the medium than producing something that they can judge as not looking nice.

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Having a book setting like under the sea or space can be great for this sort of art so that kids don’t feel stuck with ideas. You can look through the pictures in the book together first and brainstorm the types of things that are often seen in that setting.

There are so many options for messy art, and it will depend on what type of setting you choose. There’s blowing paint with straws, soap bubble art,finger painting, painting on glass/clear plastic, splatter painting, water balloon painting, and lots of other options. It is also a good time to talk about how you make your ‘paint’ to be sure that it is garden, kid, and pet friendly.

Experiments

Some books might spark an idea for a science experiment that you can carry out in the yard. This might be because it was the topic of a non-fiction book or simply an idea that you got while talking a character.

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Things like slime and foam are always a good go to as this can help them with the sensory descriptions, but there are an enormous amount of free science experiments online to browse through. Completing the experiment will help to give readers a better sentence of the experience of characters or the content that the book regarded.

This is a great opportunity to get kids who like to race ahead to slowdown and think, because you often have to follow the steps in an exact manner.The excitement of the experiment itself is often enough to do this, and I have seen lots of high-energy kids calm down and focus so that they can achieve the results that they want.

Active Comprehension

This is another good one for little readers who wriggle and move about.After reading a book together, get them doing certain actions to ask questions.This will get them thinking while they burn up some their excess energy.

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At first, try to make these questions with only two answers. These can be direct comprehension questions about whether the character was wearing this or that, or whether they did this or that. You can either make a destination in the garden the place that they have to run to to show their answer, or make the response a silly action so that they show which answer they have chosen in a fun and active way.

Once they have gotten the hang of this, you can start to ask more complex questions that might have more variety. For example, you can ask them to imitate how they think a certain character would move and talk or show you the way that characters reacted to a certain situation.

Item Search

This is a fun one, but you might have to put some rules down about fragile items. It can be gone as a group or competitively depending on how many readers you are doing the activity with.

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If you are having students work as a group, assign either an individual page of a picture book or the whole text. Tell them that they have to find a certain number of things around the house or outside that they can see in the book, such as spoons, hats, pencils, or shoes.

If you want to try this as a competition, make sure that you have two different books so that they aren’t madly flipping through and causing damage to them. For a harder level, you can have a preset list of things that you found in the book. The readers will have to note down the page numbers that they appear on and also find the physical examples of those objects.

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For our final category, we are thinking about things that might not necessarily be done exclusively indoors or outdoors. You might have a spare fifteen minutes while you are waiting for an appointment or a car ride where your passengers a restarting to get bored. These are some book-based options for making the time fly.

Stories in the round

This one can take a little practice before they really get into it, but it can be an excellent activity whether it is with two people or a group. You will take turns to add to parts of a story and see how long and crazy it can get.

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Start by introducing the first character. I like to leave the story contribution to just once sentence so that nobody is dominating the storytelling. In your first sentence,try to include a problem for this character so that the reader responding to this doesn’t have a hard time of figuring out what to follow up with.

For those who are a little sheepish about making up new characters, try using characters that they know well from one of their books. This will help them to think about what the character might be likely to say or do as they will have experience with them.

20 Questions

For a retake on the classic car game, consider playing twenty questions about books. It is probably a good idea to have a series in mind in case the reader guesses the characters quickly. This way, they still have to narrow down which title you are thinking of.

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If you are the one guessing the character or title, try not to guess too quickly. Getting the reader to think about the different situations and descriptions that you use as questions is really good practice for how they will categorise different books and character types.

You might even want to extend this to also include movies and TV shows. This can help children in the way that they think about different media, and to draw connections between different sorts of characters that they might not have thought about having any common ground.

Ispy

If you have a book handy, consider playing I spy with the objects and landscapes within the pages instead of the things that you can see in the real world. Sometimes this might offer more variation than you have available to you with the direct things around you.

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Let the reader leaf through the pages and spy something. Then, they can hand the book to you and you can begin your questions. Obviously this isn’t a good option if you are driving unless you have a couple of passengers.

Try getting the reader to have variety in their initial clue. They can spy something that starts with a certain letter, spy something that is a certain colour, spy something that is in a certain setting, or even give a hint at the way in which it is used.

Poop sandwich

Last of all, we will talk about the much adored ‘poop sandwich’ approach to criticism. The idea is that you start with a piece of bread (a good comment about the thing in question), then have the poop (the thing that they didn’t enjoy about it) and then end off with another round of bread.

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At first, it will be difficult to get a reader thinking about a balanced approach to criticism. It is likely to be all bread or all poop. Get them thinking about something simple that isn’t a book first. They can think about a friend or a type of food. Getting them to think about times when they weren’t so fond of a certain behaviour or way in which something was cooked is helpful for the spectrum of emotional intelligence and opinion.

Then get them to transfer this skill to talking about a book that they read recently. They will soon pick up on the habit. You can also use this when they ask your opinion about something they have done, such as a homework task. This shows them what it is like to be on the receiving end of the poop sandwich, and why a balanced approach to criticism is valuable.

Thanks for reading, and I hope that some of these types of play can help your readers to see that books are good for so much more than just reading.

Back to Bookbot Blog

10 Barriers to Creative Learning (And How You Can Smash Them

Tue, 02 Oct 2018 00:00:00 GMT

10 Barriers to Creative Learning (And How You Can Smash Them)

Have you ever found yourself searching for a new way to get a concept across to your student or child?

For one reason or another, the way that you learned it or the way that the rest of the class responds just isn’t clicking. Time for some new teaching strategies.

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If you have found yourself in this situation, whether you are trying to help them out with reading, math, science, or any other topic, you probably found yourself directed to Pinterest or a similar collection of creative activities.

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Sometimes you will be looking for creative kids who will enjoy almost any activity, and sometimes that isn’t the case.

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While Pinterest and other sites can be amazing sources for kids activities, it can also be quite an overwhelming experience.

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Coming up with a creative curriculum or kids activities can have its share of barriers to get through.

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Some of these challenges come with finding the right arts and craft for kids, and others when you are looking for creative education techniques.

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Perhaps the pins lead you to paid content that isn’t within your budget. Maybe you don’t feel confident enough in your abilities to pull the activity off. Perhaps you don’t have the time to scroll through hundreds of ideas to find the perfect fit.

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You may even just find the sheer mount of information intimidating.

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In this article, we will talk about some different approaches to fun activities for kids that will take the stress out of the search.

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Whether you are looking for something for a whole class, a student who needs some extra help, or your child, these creative activities for kids can apply across the board.

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This article will be separated into ten challenges that can make the process of creative learning difficult. Not all of these might apply to your situation, but the ideas could still help to generate a new way of thinking about a task.

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Creativity is all about flexibility, so it is important to be ready to alter your approach as you go.

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The challenges that we will cover are:

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If you don’t have a teaching or crafty background, coming up with a creative learning process can be really difficult.

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Even if you set aside half an hour to try to find an interesting way to put a concept across, you might come out of that time feeling like you haven’t achieved anything.

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The best advice here is to go into the ‘searching’time not expecting to come out with a solution immediately.

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Even though it can be frustrating, a lot of creativity doesn’t just happen. It is enough to seed the idea.

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After scrolling through a few ideas, go about the rest of your day or week like normal.

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Let your brain tick things over in the background. Your idea will probably hit you when you are doing something totally unrelated.

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It is true, some craft calls for very expensive things. There are a couple of ways around this.

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The first is that you can restrict yourself to some of the thriftier pins and posts, as there are plenty of teachers and parents in the same boat.

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This will especially be the case if you are doing a large-scale activity, like in a classroom or for a party.

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Alternatively, you can substitute.

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While it might be nice to have something covered in glitter or looking like you could buy it in a toy store, the main point is the creative and educational value behind it.

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Cheaper materials can very often be swapped out for costly ones, and can even add their own charm to a piece.

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A wonderful way to put a twist on a craft activity or creative education tool is to recycle materials.

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Kids love reusing things like milk and egg cartons as they are in a different context to how they usually see them.

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This way, you can add an ecological element to the target thing that you are wanting to teach or practice.

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In some cases, you may be able to substitute. However,you should try this ahead of time.

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As an example, I have tried a wide variety of different types of substitutes for borax in slime, and the results have rarely worked out.

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The best thing to do in this case would probably be to tweak the activity.

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Whenever I am looking at craft and activity ideas, I often imagine new directions for it.

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This might be as simple as doing a different animal to the one represented in the activity, or a near total-rehaul that just uses elements for inspiration.

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Confidence about creativity can be really tricky, particularly when you are looking online at all of the amazing things that people have created.

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Probably the biggest thing to keep track of here is not verbalising this too much, as it might get your child doubting their own creativity.

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Being creative can be anything from rearranging the furniture in your house to thinking up a new routine for exercise.

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Our ideas of creativity are very locked down to the arts and professionals in these areas.

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Try to give yourself credit for the aspects in your life where you are creative in your thinking and execution of tasks.

The last thing to factor here is probably the hardest,and that is to just let yourself be bad at doing something.

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We are not used to doing things that we don’t do well at, and this can be a really big step.

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When you are trying out arts and crafts or a home science experiment, try not to put pressure on yourself for it to be perfect first time.

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There are plenty of people who are not ‘naturally good’ at these things who improve purely through practice.

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If this is something that you want to do, give yourself the right not to be amazing at it straight away and just play around.

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This can be a tough one, but it is something that you will get better at in time.

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Try not to worry too much about the theory behind the best approaches,and just go for something that looks like it will be engaging and fun for your students or children.

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As you try different sorts of activities, you will have light bulb moments about how well that activity could translate across to helping out a child with another skill.

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For example, you might have started out by using a set of cards for a language or math game, but find that they would be excellent for application to memory activities.

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Materials can be so flexible.

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I was recently doing a magnet activity with my students, but they got through the set task really quickly.

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After all, magnets are exciting. I picked up a handful of pipe cleaners that I had on my desk and a bucket of magnetic letters.

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We tied the pipe cleaners into headpieces with the magnet hanging off a longer piece on the front.

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We called it ‘angler fish spelling’ and I had them competitively and joyously spelling words with the magnetic letters for the next twenty minutes.

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Sometimes on the spot ideas are the best ones.

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If you haven’t had a lot of experience on the teaching side of things,moving away from structure of the homework book can be a little intimidating.

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One of the best ways is to keep the troublesome concept or question in mind and run with it.

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For example, if it is a worded math problem, you can use the same context but different numbers to try to teach it in a physical way.

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You can use objects around the room or get the kids moving about and doing actions to depict the sentences.

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After having the fun, you can check in on how they understood the concept.

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Often, making a concept physical instead of words on the page makes it a lot easier to understand.

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What’s more, because you used different numbers to the activity in question, they will then have to apply their knowledge to the homework book problem.

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If your child has come home from a long day of school or your student is having to approach a task that they knew they have difficulty with, it can be hard for them to be enthused about it.

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While it may just seem like a small task to you, try to remember how much they are having to learn and comprehend.

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It is exhausting.

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Finding the right time to do this activity is going to be key.

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You can also have a reward for playing or being involved, which can make them more likely to participate.

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Another good idea is to personalise the activity to something that they love.

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If they really aren’t responding, try not to push them too hard on it.

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Put things away and try another time. If the process isn’t feeling natural and fun, it isn’t very likely that you are going to have much creative learning happening.

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Sometimes you try activity ahead of time and it works out just fine, but it is a total flop on the day.

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However, this is an excellent teaching moment.

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Sometimes things don’t work out, and the way that you deal with that is going to shape their own behaviour when something flops.

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If they are not too upset about the activity not working, you can use the opportunity to think about why it didn’t work.

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Try to make things that didn’t go well a communal ownership.

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Use words like ‘we’ and‘us’ for a part of the activity that might not have been done properly, as this communal ownership of mistakes is less harsh to deal with.

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Then, you can think critically about these mistakes and how they might have contributed to the outcome.

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The best part of mistakes is thinking about cause and effect, as well as the ways that you would alter your approach in the future.

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Try a similar activity a week or so later and apply this understanding.

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When kids feel that they aren’t good at something, it is very common for them to say things like the activity is ‘stupid’ or ‘boring’ because this is safer than admitting that they want to do it but don’t feel that they can.

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So even though it can be frustrating, remember that this might be a reason why a child is voicing these feelings.

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If they seem to genuinely not like the activity, it can be an exercise in critical thinking and opinion.

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Get them talking about the specific parts of the activity that they don’t like, and have them offering reasons to justify these feelings.

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Aside from helping them to express their thoughts in greater detail, this can also help you to tailor your future activities to things that they are more likely to enjoy.

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It can be hard to accept when you have to let an idea go if you love it or put a lot of preparation time into it,but flexibility, change, and a personal approach is what makes creative learning so effective.

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Last of all, there is always the potential that your student or child still doesn’t understand the concept when you have run through the craft or activity.

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Don’t despair, this activity was still of value and you will probably come back to it and use it again in a different context.

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Understanding doesn’t always come at once.

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Even thought they might not feel like the activity helped them to ‘get it’, it make have allowed them to take some baby steps.

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With the next activity, they will still be carrying context from the previous one.

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They might not ever realise it, but the initial activity was what got the train rolling.

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For the next activity that you try, make sure that you take a really different approach.

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If it was a loud and energetic activity, try something that required spatial thinking or focus.

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Mix up your activity types until something clicks.

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And if they have the interest, they can always pick out some activities to try with you.

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Owning the process of their learning is an excellent thing to encourage at a young age, particularly when they are chipping away at concepts that are hard for them to grasp.

Thank you for reading, and good luck with your creative approaches!

Back to Bookbot Blog

The 7 Wonders of the Ancient World

Tue, 25 Sep 2018 00:00:00 GMT

What is the ancient world?

When we discuss the period of the ancient world, we are talking about cultures that occurred between 8th century BCE and 5-6th century CE. In the context of the seven wonders, we are just looking at the Greco-Roman world, which were the civilisations around the Mediterranean Sea.

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Are B.C. (Before Christ) and A.D. (Anno Domini) the same as BCE and CE?

Yes. It was changed so that it would not refer to religion.

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What makes something a wonder of the ancient world?

During this period of our history, many people used to travel around the region. Sometimes it would be to share resources through trade. Other times it was for war or diplomacy. As people travelled around, they saw different marvels. The ancient Greeks called them ‘theamata’, which means ‘sights’ or ‘things to be seen’.

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Did these civilisations always have good or poor relations with certain places?

No. Enemies and allies sometimes changed, so a presence in different regions was important.

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When and how was the list made?

The first reference to a list of the seven wonders is from Diodorus Siculus, a Greek historian. Several others follow this, such as lists from the poet Antipater of Sidon and the mathematician Philo of Byzantium. However, all of the lists were composed of structures from the Mediterranean and the Middle East.

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How long were all of the seven wonders in the world at one time?

The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only wonder that we still have today, and all of the wonders existed together for only 60 years.

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What is the Great Pyramid of Giza?

The Great Pyramid of Giza is a tomb that was built for Pharaoh Khufu. It is 146.5 metres tall, took 10-20 years to build, and was finished around 2560 BCE. While we cannot be sure how it was built, most studies from scientists and historians find evidence to suggest that large stones were dragged from a quarry and lifted into place.

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Can we still see any of the old surface of the pyramid?

Yes, some of the smooth stone surface can still be seen around the base.

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What were the Hanging Gardens of Babylon?

It is generally thought that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon never existed. We have come to this conclusion because we cannot find mention of them in Babylonian texts or a site with traces of the gardens. They were meant to rise up out of the city like a green mountain, with different trees, shrubs, and vines on their many tiers.

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Could the legend of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon be based on another garden?

Yes. They may be based on the garden of the Assyrian King Sennacherib.

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What was the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus?

The Temple of Artemis was built in dedication to a local form of the goddess Artemis, who represented the hunt, forests, hills, the moon, and archery. The temple was built and destroyed three times. In the 7th century BCE it was destroyed by a flood, in 356 BCE the temple was destroyed by arsonist Herostratus, and in 401 CE it was torn apart for pieces after having been closed by Christians.

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Why did Herostratus burn the temple down?

He wanted fame. As a result, a law was passed forbidding anybody to mention his name.

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What was the Statue of Zeus at Olympia?

The Statue of Zeus was 13 metres tall and made out of wood, ivory, and gold. It was also decorated with ebony and precious stones, as well as other pieces of ivory and gold. It was in the Temple of Zeus, who was the king of the gods of Mount Olympus. It was sculpted by Phidias around the year 435 BCE and intentionally destroyed during the 5th century CE, though we aren’t certain how.

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Why was the statue destroyed?

It was likely because of a Roman emperor at the time who banned the worship of gods aside from the one in his own religion.

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What was the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus?

The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was a tomb for Mausolus, who was a satrap in the Persian Empire.The mausoleum was covered with detailed ‘reliefs’ of famous stories, such as the battles between the centaurs and the lapiths and the Greeks and the Amazons. We now use the word mausoleum to mean above-ground tomb.

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Do we still have some of the reliefs today?

Yes, we have sections of the reliefs in the British Museum.

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What was the Colossus of Rhodes?

The Colossus of Rhodes was a 33 metre statue in Rhodes Harbour that depicted the Greek sun-god Helios. The Colossus of Rhodes broke off at the knees and fell to the ground during an earthquake in 226 BCE. There are plans to rebuild this statue, but we are not sure of the exact place that it was located.

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Why wasn’t the statue rebuilt after the earthquake?

Ptolemy III offered to pay for its reconstruction, but the people of Rhodes were worried that the earthquake had happened because they had angered Helios.

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What was the Lighthouse of Alexandria?

The Lighthouse of Alexandria was built sometime between 280-247 BCE during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus. It was badly damaged by three earthquakes that occurred from 956 – 1323 CE. Some of the stone was used to build a medieval fort on the site, and the submerged remains can be explored today by scuba divers.

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Are the submerged remains of the Lighthouse of Alexandria protected under world heritage?

Not yet. As of 2018, UNESCO is working to add the Bay of Alexandria to the World Heritage List.

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What are some other ancient wonders?

There are many other ancient structures that could have been considered wonders. These include Machu Picchu (the 15th century Inca citadel) and the moai statues on Easter Island which were carved after the likeness of the ancestors of people in that region. Two other contenders are the Taj Mahal, which is a marble mausoleum in India, and the Terracotta Army in China which depicted the soldiers of the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang.

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When were the Moai statues carved?

Between 1250 and 1500 A.D.

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Why is it important to protect our ancient wonders?

Whether an ancient wonder is on the list, off it, in ruins, or still intact, it is important for us to look after them. Understanding the history of our species can give us amazing insights into where we have been and where we are going. These wonders are also important for the identities of the places that they come from, and for humanity as a whole.

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What does it mean when a site is listed as World Heritage?

These areas are protected from development that would harm the structure or alter it in any way.

Back to Bookbot Blog

20 Stories About Friendship

Tue, 28 Aug 2018 00:00:00 GMT

and Why These Friends Often Become Our Favourite Characters

Sometimes the best thing about a character isn’t who they are, but the dynamic that they have with somebody else. This can often make for a favourite character in a series, or even two! Let’s take a look at some of the best fictional characters in children’s books, from childhood characters who have stood the test of time to story book characters from some more modern classics. We will explore five categories:

Furry Friends
FamilyTricksters and Rule breakers
Opposites Attract
Connections of Care

Furry Friends

Stories about friendship between a child and their pet or animal companion are a well-entrenched trope in children’s and young adult literature. The pair often end up as favourite book characters. Kids connections with animals are deep and meaningful, the bond being as close as (and sometimes even closer than) they would have with a human. Whether the animal pal is able to speak or not, the loyalty and love of the friendship shines through.

Henry and Mudge

Whether Henry and Mudge are doing something day-to-day or going on a special adventure, this boy and his 182 pounds of best friend are always ready to take things on together. The series first began in the 80s and went through until 2007, becoming a staple of children’s libraries and collections.

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Henry first got Mudge when he felt lonely as he had no siblings, and the pup quickly filled the empty spaces in his life. Whether a reader remembers this journey themselves with their own pet, or has always longed for that sort of connection, this wholesome friendship shows how everything is more fun in the company of a best pal.

Clifford and Emily Elizabeth

While Mudge might be a big dog, he’s got nothing on Clifford. A lot of the tension in the Clifford books comes from his size and the ways in which Emily Elizabeth must help to deal with the situations that he creates. While he isn’t a naughty dog, being fifteen times the size of a normal dog means that when he makes a mistake, it’s a big one.

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This friendship gives us points to think about with regard to responsibility and helping those that we love through difficult times. Friendships aren’t always perfect, and the way that we deal with tricky occasions defines the sort of mate that we are.

Lyra and Pantalaimon

For older readers, one of the most striking companion friendships in young adult literature is that between Lyra Silvertongue and her dæmon Pantalaimon from the series His Dark Materials. In the story world, characters each have a dæmon which manifests as an animal. The type of animal fluctuates through the person’s childhood, but becomes settled as they enter their teenage years.

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These relationships provide wonderful insight into the character pairs, as the dæmons not only compliment many aspects of that person due to their close connection, but also balance out many of their faults. For Lyra (as well as readers), it is an interesting opportunity to explore weakness, strength, and the value of friends along journeys of the self.

Mowgli and Baloo

Our final set of companions in this section is Mowgli and Baloo from The Jungle Book. Mowgli has many friends growing up in the jungle, but his connection with Baloo enables him to branch out in a way that he hasn’t before. While Bagheera provides structure, protection, and caution, this is a parental role that Mowgli can’t be on the same level as.

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Despite the depiction of Baloo as an adult bear, his priorities in life show Mowgli how to appreciate different aspects of the world. Through balancing this new perspective with the wariness of his upbringing, Mowgli becomes a more fully-formed person.

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Family

Another popular relationship that we see in children’s literature is the connection between family members. Being family doesn’t mean that characters can’t be best friends. Whether it is a parent and child relationship, between siblings, or older and younger generations, the support that these characters offer each other often had different dimensions to other classic friendship types.

Spot and Sally

In Eric Hill’s Spot books, some of the most engaging moments are when Spot and his mother Sally are together. Sally is a very calm and patient character that is happy to let Spot make mistakes in environments where he can learn and grow. This fosters a space of creativity and independence.

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They have a very playful relationship, and while she offers guidance as he grows up, she also learns a lot from the inquisitive nature of her son. Parent and child friendships can show little readers the perspective that kids are able to give to adults, as well as understanding how sometimes being a parent can be difficult.

Jack and Annie

A favourite sibling relationship of many readers in younger primary grades is that of Jack and Annie from the Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne. In each book of this rather extensive series, the brother and sister experience a different area of the world or period of history, and with it accompanying challenges.

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This is a classic skill pairing with each character being good at different things. Jack is the more bookish of the siblings, and had a talent for careful planning. Annie is the more intuitive, and often solves issues with empathy or instinct. By countering the weaknesses in their sibling, these best friends safely traverse geography and history learning more about their world.

Charlie and Lola

Another sibling pair that is a favourite for younger readers is Charlie and Lola: a patient older brother with an imaginative little sister who is always getting into mischief. Their friendship shows how important a sibling can be in helping somebody as they grow up.

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While siblings often have arguments and scuffles, they are also a crucial point of reference for the world. Highlighting the positive parts of a sibling relationship can help readers to remember the good times with their own best buddy in the house when they are fighting or don’t want to help out with a task.

Charlie and Grandpa Bucket

No section on family best friends would be complete without Charlie and Grandpa Bucket from Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This is an excellent example of how friendships can span generations. While some things have been very different about their life experience, their core traits cement in this family bond.

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The relationship between Charlie and his grandfather is also informed via contrast between them and the other children with their guardians. Throughout the novel, their experiences allow Grandpa Bucket to remember his past while Charlie forges a future that none of his family members ever could have imagined was possible.

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Tricksters and Rule Breakers

Some readers identify with character pairings who are more on the mischievous side of things, as these friendships are often marked with silliness or adventure. While these characters still often have opposite skillsets to each other, the main part of their friendship is a unified front in getting to the bottom of mysteries or challenging the status quo.

The Mad Hatter and the March Hare

Some of the most famous tricksters in children’s literature are the Mad Hatter and the March Hare from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alice experiences a great deal of frustration when interacting with these quirky and often combative pals, but they offer a great deal of enjoyment for the reader.

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The conversations that Alice has with the Hatter and the Hare are an important section of the book for understanding the power of wordplay, and how standing logic on its head can give somebody a fresh look on a problem. For readers who enjoy whimsy and out-of-the-box thinking, these friends are sure to be a hit.

Stanley and Zero

Another duo that act to reshape their world are Stanley Yelnats and Hector Zeroni from Louis Sachar’s Holes. The abstract setting that this novel takes place in, as well as the social dynamic and structure between the ‘prisoners’ there, provides interesting drive for plot and character development.

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The circumstances that Zero is in opens up a new way of understanding the world for Stanley, and their rebellion against the structure of the camp is a thrilling exploration of responsibility, consequences, and young manhood.

Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley

While the connection between Harry and Ron is not entirely about rule breaking, these are some of their more connected moments as friends. Harry and Ron are often not rebelling against an entire establishment, but more individual aspects of systems, and so are able to maintain something of the moral high ground.

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This is relatable for readers who are having difficulties with teachers that they don’t get on with in their own lives, or having to follow rules that they don’t perceive as worthwhile. Characters that challenge rules for purpose and ethically sound reasons can help to develop the moral compass of the reader when they have their own feelings of resistance against things in their lives.

Tom Natsworthy and Hester Shaw

While they do not have as much of an amicable relationship as the other examples in this section (at least at first), Tom and Hester from Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engines series provide an interesting take on a developing friendship around rejecting the norm. In this story world, cities have become traction cities that roam around eating each other, and anything static is considered to be primitive.

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Tom and Hester experience the corruption behind one of the largest mobile cities (London) firsthand, and find themselves dumped out in the static world. Their friendship grows through necessity as they find ways to survive and highlight the ways in which the inhabitants of the cities have been manipulated and used to allow those in charge absolute power over the population.

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Opposites Attract

Now we come to characters pairing up with somebody who either has a very different skillset to their own or is the complete opposite in personality. This is possibly the most common feature of best friend relationships in children’s and young adult literature, and it is often an aspect of the connections that have been described in other categories.

Elephant and Piggie

Over the last ten years, a blanket favourite in classrooms, libraries, and bookshelves all over the world has been Mo Willem’s Elephant and Piggie series. In all of their adventures, the driving motivation for conversation or action is the differences between their personalities.

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Gerald the elephant is a nervous and self-conscious but loyal friend. Piggie is outgoing and impulsive, which can sometimes get her into tricky spots. The thread that runs through all of their books is that looking after your friends takes priority, and that any problem gets easier when it is solved together.

Sophie and the BFG

One pair of best friends that are opposites in many different regards are Sophie and the BFG. For this friendship, readers are positioned to be familiar with one end of the spectrum more than the other. Sophie is depicted as a very normal, logical young girl with a decent grasp on the happenings of her world.

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The BFG is not only from a wildly different place and belonging to a different species, but also struggles with many concepts that readers will feel confident in (in particular, his issues with grammar and understanding social etiquette). While in most friendships the reader will feel they can bond with either one side or the other, this rather one-sided example does exhibit the value in shaking up what you think you know about the world.

Hagrid and Dumbledore

Another example of close friends from the Hogwarts universe are Hagrid and Dumbledore. While they often see eye-to-eye in what needs to happen morally or as judges of character, the way that they lead their lives is very different. While Dumbledore is a wise and sage wizard, Hagrid has a pure heart but a fool’s luck.

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Their different ways of approaching situations often drives plot or creates forks in the story, but their agreement on ultimate solutions or action helps both the reader and the young students in the world ethically navigate issues in the magical realm.

Frog and Toad

To end on a note for younger readers, Frog and Toad are one of the best odd couples in children’s literature. Each story featuring these two buddies is set in their friendly, local community and surrounding woods.

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When they come across problems, like lost buttons or leaf-littered lawns, they learn that tackling the task together makes short work of it. Frog is positive and practical, where Toad is prone to seeing all that is wrong in the world. Their friendship can open up conversations about how to approach things that feel too big to deal with, and how to support those who always see the difficulties in life.

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Connections of Care

Lastly, we will focus on friendships that are based around care. In these relationships, one friend often puts their own well-being and life aside in order to look after somebody who is having difficulty. They take steps to build up this character so that they can stand on their own two feet.

Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh

A classic example of a relationship of care is the friendship between Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh, his beloved stuffed bear. While Christopher Robin is always ready to take care of any of his toys and the problems that they are having, he particularly spends time helping Pooh to grow as a character.

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As a result of the care and patience that Christopher Robin shows for him, Pooh bear finds himself in a position of care looking after the other toys. He learns a lot from his time with Christopher, and wants to pass his knowledge and skills to others.

Matilda and Miss Honey

One of the loveliest friendships in children’s literature between an adult and a child is that between Matilda Wormwood and her teacher Miss Honey in Roald Dahl’s Matilda. Many children can identify with having a special bond with one of their teachers, and the way that Matilda grows through Miss Honey’s care turns a situation of neglect and isolation into happy ending.

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Matilda isn’t appreciated by her family, and she has nobody in her life to connect with about the things that she loves. Miss Honey has her share of hardships too, living only just above the poverty line and being under the thumb of the Trunchbull. Together, Matilda and Miss Honey gain confidence to take what they want in life and spend time with the people who have respect for them.

Wilbur and Charlotte

One unforgettable friendship of care is that between Wilbur and Charlotte in Charlotte’s Web. While Fern cares for Wilbur when he is young, she is forced to have distance from him as he grows up. Wilbur struggles with this lack of connection, and bonds with Charlotte the spider who has a web in the barn.

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When Wilbur is still little, the other animals reveal to him that he is to end up as the Christmas ham. His desperation to prove himself as worthy of being more than just dinner is guided by Charlotte, who teaches him how to be calm and logical in the face of stress. Charlotte is rough on Wilbur at times until he learns to have strength by himself, but it always comes from a position of love and care for the pig.

Horton and Ned McDodd

Our final friendship of care, as well as the last friendship of our article, is between Horton the elephant and Ned McDodd, mayor of Whoville, from Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who. Horton discovers a clover with an entire town of whos living on it, but he is the only animal in the forest that can hear the creatures due to the size of his ears.

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The friendship is marked by many triumphs and pitfalls as Horton works to save his new friend the mayor, as well as all of the other residents of the town. In his efforts to move the clover to safer ground, Horton is ridiculed by the other animals in the forest, and even ends up in harm’s way for his insistence that whos exist and require assistance. This friendship shows us the importance of being open-minded about things that are outside of our own sphere of awareness, and the importance of sticking to principles.

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Thank you for coming on a journey with me through some of greatest friendships in children’s and young adult literature. Which was your favourite best friends story?

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Bookbot Awarded AMP’s Tomorrow Fund

Mon, 19 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMT

We were delighted to receive an AMP Tomorrow Fund awards grant.

AMP gives grants to amazing Australians doing great things in their communities. AMP recognised Bookbot’s vision to help struggling readers by awarding us with a grant to help us perfect our app.

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We were in great company at the awards ceremony and we loved hearing about all the inspiring projects that had also received grants. Here are just two of them:

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Paint the Town REaD

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Children benefit hugely from being involved in reading activities from a very early age; it gets them ready to learn to read when they start school. Unfortunately this doesn’t happen in many communities across Australia.

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Kate Arthur and her team at Paint the Town REaD works to motivate these communities by partnering with local agencies to form Paint the Town REaD groups. There are over 70 groups across Australia, and each one organises its own year-round reading events involving children from birth in talking, singing, rhyming and reading activities. They’re creating a ‘literacy culture’ within community groups, agencies and businesses that will sew the seeds of literacy for thousands of young Australians. Awesome stuff.

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Xceptional

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We loved chatting to Mike Tozer, the CEO of Xceptional. Having an autistic sister made Mike aware of the enormous challenges faced by people with autism: they are 12 times less likely to secure a job. But the challenges that those with autism face are actually strengths in some circumstances.

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People with autism are able to cope with repetitive tasks, have enhanced pattern recognition and possess a strong attention to detail. These are the very skills required to excel in software testing. That’s why Mike decided to lead the change by launching Xceptional, an industry-leading software testing company.

Bookbot was honoured to share space with these inspirational people who are also doing their bit to change the world. Thanks to AMP for giving us the opportunity.

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Must-Have Products Selected by Tyra's Editors

Thu, 04 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMT

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Three Eye Makeup Looks for Five Minute Mornings

Wed, 03 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMT

A Sweet Header

This section is going to have some awesome sample content for judging markdown typography.

Here comes a sweet blockquote:

The trick to amazing eyeshadow is using great colors.

That's looking decent! Sweet.

Smaller Headers Work Too

Let's try adding some links. Have you looked at the template author's github lately? She's always creating new stuff.

Of course, we can also emphasize text with the tools markdown gives us.

There's some sweet features to markdown
Like Lists
and more lists

Prismjs isn't included

But we can still have code blocks.

The Secret to Sincere Friends? Be Yourself.

Tue, 02 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMT