P4 Writing Project – A Book in a Box

A great English P4 writing project for lower Primary students!

During the Circuit Breaker period, I decided to get my P3 and P4 students to read in a big way. Stuck at home with nothing much to do, I felt that these months were the perfect time for them to take out all the story books that they had buried away or never had a chance to read.

Every week, at the start of our lesson on Zoom, the students would present the book that they were reading for that week. They would discuss the characters and plots and I would pose questions to them. The goal was to teach them how to analyze a book and to discuss as a class what really makes a good story? Plot? Characters? Action?

In May, I gave the students a project to work on. The project was called Book in a Box. Students were to pick their favourite books and they were to use a box or bag (it was during the Circuit breaker period so materials were not easy to come by) . The box was to be decorated to resemble the book that they had chosen. They could colour, draw or stick pictures on the box to represent the title, genre or plot of the book.

In the box, the students had to place items, made or found in the house, that represented certain key points of the story. Some students created Character cards – drawings of different characters from their storybook on one side and a write up of who they are on the other side of a card. Others found/made items that represented key points in their books.

On the last lesson of the school holidays, each student presented their boxes and showed each item in their boxes. They explained how each item was linked to their stories.

I was really proud of both the P3 and P4 students. They had put in a lot of effort despite the lack of materials available to them 🙂 Below are some examples of both the P3 and P4 Book in a box project.

Most importantly, my goal of getting each student to read on a weekly basis was achieved. Our little project was such a success that a parent decided to work on a project of her own with her daughter 🙂

Reading and writing go hand in hand. Writing exercises do not need to be just compositions. Short vivid paragraphs on characters, writing the ingredients list and instructions of your favourite recipe or a diary entry are all forms of writing practices.

The aim of writing at our centre is to develop a love and joy of writing, especially in our younger students. Sometimes, it is good to introduce them to new ideas and writing forms, especially to those who are less reluctant to write.