Here at Embleton View, we took it upon ourselves to make an event out of World Book Day on the 4 th of March, 2021. In today’s day and age of technology and smart devices, we opted to strip things back to basics and have a full day of books, books, books!
Students were prepared in advanced and encouraged to dress up as their favourite book characters. Although this wasn’t met with the greatest of enthusiasm initially and students claimed to not know many characters from stories, staff explained that famous characters such as Harry Potter and Superman were all products of books and comics alike. This opened up discussion with students, who showed intrigue and were inquisitive about whether or not the ‘films’ and ‘series’ they’ve seen on the screens fully replicate the books and comics they are based off of.
On the day itself, the staff boards across both sites at Embleton View were littered with staff’s favourite books and reasonings behind their choices. A variety of books, from fantasy and mysteries to comical and informative, were chosen by staff. This showed a sense of uniqueness; that not all books are similar and there is plenty out there to read. The normal Smart Board and laptops that help facilitate student’s lessons were replaced on the day, with an emphasis on research skills through the use of books placed on the school lesson of the day. All students were presented with a £5 voucher to purchase a book of their choice, which staff encouraged by taking their class out to a supermarket for lunch and a look around the book sections. Students were reminded, towards the end of the day, that reading books in our current world doesn’t even necessarily involve a hard or paper back book, as devices such as an Amazon Kindle or even a Smart Phone have access to books/stories for one to read through.
Although technology is clearly important in today’s world, which was pointed out numerously by Embleton View students, World Book Day helped emphasise the importance of books and just what they have done to pave the way for both teaching and learning today, as well as the film characters and gaming characters that the students are more familiar with. Students engaged throughout and finished the day having a greater understanding of the importance of books.