The Book Corner Project: SLC Universal Support

Aims

This training course consists of 4 x half day training sessions. It is open to all practitioners who wish to develop and enhance the book area/corner within their setting. The aim is for you to re-think how you use books and stories to support chidlren's language development, PSED outcomes and other areas of the curriculum. Each session will build on the one before, so that our understanding of the importance of books, stories and creating an area for children to experience the wonderful world of books deepens. 

FREE resources for you to keep will be shared during this training, including a copy of Owl Babies as the core book we shall be using in session four

Please read the summary for an outline of the four sessions 

Summary

An outline of the four sessions as below;

Session 1: We will start the project with auditing your current book corner, what is there?, what needs to be there?, how to build an inclusive, communication-rich area?. We shall take the opportunity to share ideas and thoughts and to consider space and ocation that is it loved, cared for, accessible and inviting etc. We will also think about how to create an inspirational space for children to develop a love of books and reading now and to sustain this later in life

Session 2: Why are books so important to Speech, Language and Communication (SLC) outcomes? We shall discuss during week two, 'the what, why, how of books'. We shall also link this to early literacy strands and to the ELG of ‘Reading for Pleasure’ so that we are embedding this now in early years. We shall also touch upon recent initiatives such as the National Literacy Trust's projects: Early Words Together series and Small Talk. We will also focus on the '50 things to do before you are five' App and the BBC's Tiny Happy People 

Session 3: The art of story-telling, it is all in the telling! Different ways to tell a story, props, linking this with 60 minutes:10 ideas for story-telling, what are some of the techniques and strategies we can use to capture children's interest in story-telling 

Session 4: In the last week of the project we will plan around a core book to support word and vocabulary development, the moral fibre of the meaningful text of a core book, what makes a story a core book. We shall be focusing on Owl babies for this session