Reading and Writing Workshop
Llegó el cartero!!! (The Postman’s arrived!!!) is a show that combines in a unique way the artistic -the play in itself- and the conceptual -the letter-, which is an important starting point to raise this topic with children and therefore wake up in them the need to communicate by means of it. As well, writing letters make children achieve a better quality in their reading and writing.
Our aim is that children can discover another communication link such as the letter and revalue the place it has lost against new technologies.
Objectives:
This project aims at waking up in children the need to communicate through a letter using a theatrical show as a means, and therefore achieve a better quality in their reading and writing. The starting point is the play Llegó el cartero!!! (The Postman’s Arrived!!!) which is an adaptation based on the short story by Eduardo Galeano, Sucedidos 2 (Happened 2) from El libro de los Abrazos (The Hugs Book).
In this activity, we work on the oral and written language with a final task where children will be able to create and discover another communication link such as “the letter”.
Activity of the play:
The activity starts with an informal conversation with the students, where the teacher suggests some features of the characters (adjectives), and the children guess who the character is; for example: grumpy, sweet, angry, bad, etc…
Afterwards an informal conversation as regards the play goes on:
• Which characters appear in the story?
• Main character: the postman.
• Why?
• Is it important to be a postman?
• Was it important for Don Carmelo?
• Why?
- There are different kinds of letters, what kind of letters did Don Carmelo receive?
- Is it the same to receive a letter than to receive an e-mail? (We claim the value of the letter).
- Value of the letter as a means of communication.
- Elements to write a letter: pencil, sheet of paper, envelope, address.
- Function of the envelope: sender.
- Function of the envelope: recipient.
- As a final activity, children are invited to write letters to children in their 4th or 5th year at a rural school in Argentina. These children - have already written letters to children living in the different villages of Jaén.
- Argentina: geographical location in the globe.
- Spain: geographical location.
This step in the activity is important so that the child can, according to his possibilities, differentiate between continents (America – Europe) and consequently place himself in the right space to write his letter.
Indirect topics: Social Sciences
From this activity, other topics that can be worked with children emerge, such as differences and similarities between continents.
. Continents
. Oceans
. Old and modern means of transport
. Ways of travelling from America to Europe and from Europe to America.
. Differences and similarities between cultures
. The seasons of the year
. Day and Night
. Housing type according to the climate