Reading for Pleasure
World Book Day is on 3 March 2022
by Hannah Taylor
Suitable for Whole School (Pri)
Aims
To encourage us to read and make up stories in celebration of World Book Day.
Preparation and materials
- You will need the PowerPoint slides that accompany this assembly (Reading For Pleasure) and the means to display them.
- More information about World Book Day is available at: https://tinyurl.com/2rrphdrx
Assembly
- World Book Day is a celebration of books and reading. It is an exciting time for children and adults, and many people like to dress up as their favourite book character. Over 100 countries around the world celebrate World Book Day.
- If we piled up all of the books in the world, imagine how high they would reach into the sky! Each book is special: it might take us on an adventure where we use our imagination or it might teach us fun and important facts. Books can help us to imagine new worlds and creatures all around us.
- Imagine if we could jump into a storybook so that everything in the book came alive and happened right in front of our eyes.
- Which books would you like to leap into?
- Which books do you wish could come alive?
Listen to a range of responses. - Getting to know and understand the characters in books is very rewarding.
Show Slides 1-6.
For each slide, ask the children whether they can identify the character shown, and then click to reveal the answer. - Ask the children to name some of their favourite characters from books.
Listen to a range of responses.
You may wish to take a vote on the most popular book or character. - Ask the children, ‘Did you know that there are many different ways to enjoy books?’
Listen to a range of responses.
Suggest some ideas to the children.
- You could take a book that you love and use your imagination to create your own story based on it.
- You could play a story game, where you take it in turns to write a sentence, cover it up, pass it on to the next person to write theirs and so on. You may end up with the funniest story you have ever read!
- You could pause a film or stop reading a book at a certain point and think of what could happen next, or come up with an alternative ending.
- You could create a storyboard, which is a great way of using drawing skills to make a story.
- You could read books out loud to friends and family, giving a different voice to each character.
- You could draw a character from a book that you have read. What do you think they would look like?
- You could go to a shelf in the library, close your eyes and select a book at random. Who doesn’t like a surprise?
Encourage the children to choose one of these ideas and carry it out this week. Alternatively, the whole class could have a go at one of them. - For World Book Day, every child in the country is given a special book token that they can use to buy a book of their choice. This is so that all children get the chance to read a book, even those who may not have much money for books. Your teacher and your parents or carers will be able to help you spend your tokens. Have fun reading, everyone!
Time for reflection
This year is particularly special for World Book Day because we are celebrating its twenty-fifth birthday!
Let’s pause to think about the gift of reading. We are so fortunate to have the opportunity to learn to read. Many children in other parts of the world never get that chance. Maybe there is something that we can do to help.
Let’s pause to think about our favourite books and quietly say thank you for them.
Prayer
Dear Lord,
Thank you for our school.
Thank you for our learning and friendships.
Thank you for all the good things that you give.
Thank you for 25 years of celebrating World Book Day!
Amen.
Song/music
‘What else can I do?’ from the film Encanto, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBeZSuHI4Qc (3.04 minutes long)
‘How far I’ll go’ from the film Moana, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPAbx5kgCJo (2.35 minutes long)
