I had a great time at Pembroke Dock Library on Wednesday afternoon, 11th October, 2017. I was leading a session as part of Libraries Week with twelve pupils from Pembroke Dock Community School. These were Reading Ambassadors for the school so they were really keen. They came with one of the teachers, Mrs Morris, and I also had the help of a library assistant, Vicky. First we talked about Fact and Fiction. I asked them to define these words and they gave some excellent answers. We talked about some examples such as the Harry Potter stories, where Kings Cross Station is a fact but the Platform 9 3/4 is fiction. Then I read them the opening chapter of Charlie Lupton and the Secret Satellite. As soon as I had finished, one pupil asked: ‘where can I get a copy?’!
Then it was time to divide into three groups. Each group had to work through an activity sheet which related to a particular topic found in the Charlie Lupton adventures. All the activity sheets can be found on my Resources page. One group worked through an activity on Australia. As Luptonites will know, there is an Australian in Charlie Lupton and the Cavalier’s Treasure. As part of the activity the pupils had to decorate a boomerang made out of card with patterns similar to the Aboriginal boomerangs. They used some books out of the library to give them an idea and Stuart Croxford, the library Co-ordinator, had printed off some great colour pictures of Aboriginal boomerangs which were a big help. I also took a real boomerang which everybody passed round (but throwing wasn’t allowed!).
Another group did an activity about Mount Everest. This of course related to Charlie Lupton’s Sherpa Adventure. I took along some climber’s chalk which the pupils were able to look at. As part of the activity the pupils had to design a pennant for their school which could be flown at the top of Everest.
The third group did an activity about meteorites, which related to Charlie Lupton and the Secret Satellite. The children had to design a front cover of a newspaper covering the dramatic news that a meteorite had landed on their school field. They were also able to look at a sample of a real meteorite. Vicky told us that she had been to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC and had actually touched a moon rock!
The pupils worked really hard and were very well behaved. They produced some excellent work. Thank you to Mrs Morris and Vicky, and to Stuart and the Head Teacher, Mrs Thomas, for making all the arrangements. When can we do the next session …?!
