World Book Day 2024

Open up your imagination . . .

by Hannah Taylor

Suitable for Whole School (Pri)

Aims

To consider the benefits of reading and story-writing.

Preparation and materials

• You will need the PowerPoint slides that accompany this assembly (World Book Day 2024) and the means to display them.

Assembly

1. The theme of today’s assembly is World Book Day, which is happening on 7 March this year. It will be an exciting day full of imagination, creativity, dressing up and expanding our learning through reading.
   
   It was created 29 years ago as a worldwide celebration of books and reading. Every year, schools from all over the world join in the celebration. It’s amazing to think that we are all reading at the same time!
   
   
2. To start us off, let’s have a game of ‘Guess the story’.
   
   I’m going to show you some slides and I want you to look at the pictures and see if you can guess the title of the book.
   
   Show Slides 1 to 5, pausing after each one to listen to the children’s responses.
   
   Encourage the children to raise their hands if they want to guess.
   
   - Slide 1 shows Charlotte’s Webb by E. B. White
   - Slide 2 shows The Smeds and the Smoos by Julia Donaldson
   - Slide 3 shows Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
   - Slide 4 shows The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
   - Slide 5 shows We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
   
   
3. Ask the children to turn to the person sitting next to them and tell them whether they have read any of these stories and what they liked about them.
   
   If the children haven’t read these stories, ask them to discuss any book that they have read and enjoyed.
   
   
4. Ask the children, ‘What makes a story great?’
   
   Listen to a range of responses.
   
   
5. Ask the children, ‘Why do we love certain stories so much? What makes them feel so magical?’
   
   Show Slide 6.
   
   Suggest that each story is made up of five main elements: plot, setting, characters, conflict and resolution.
   
   
6. The plot is the storyline of the book: what happens at the beginning, middle and end. We need an idea of what will happen in the story to make it interesting and fun to read.
   
   In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the plot is that the eccentric owner of a chocolate factory, Mr Willy Wonka, is looking for someone special to take it over.
   
   
7. The setting is the main place where the story happens. This could be a school, a desert island or even a fantasy land.
   
   
8. The characters bring the story to life. Sometimes, we can almost hear their voices! Stories often have some strong characters that we can admire, some characters who support the main characters - like a best friend or a family member - and some villains.
   
   
9. The conflict is the big problem in the story that needs to be fixed. Think of the Smeds and the Smoos. The red group (the Smeds) and the blue group (the Smoos) really dislike each other, which makes it difficult for Janet and Bill to be friends.
   
   
10. The resolution brings together all the key points of the story and shows how everything is fixed in the end. So, in The Smeds and the Smoos, the two groups only realize how much they love Janet and Bill after they have left their planet. Janet and Bill teach them that love is found with every creature and that our colour does not matter.
    
    
11. Ask the children, ‘Do you think that you could write a story?’
    
    If we’re a bit worried about writing a whole story, we could start by changing the ending of one of our favourite books. Or perhaps we could write down the plot, setting, main characters, conflict and resolution of our favourite book and use it as a guide for our own.
    
    Reading brings a lot of adventure and joy to our lives. Let’s keep up the good work and carry on reading!

Time for reflection

Let’s close our eyes and think back to the best book that we have read recently. What did we like about it? Was there an inspiring hero or heroine?

Let’s think of ways in which we can encourage reading and improve our story-writing skills.

Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you for blessing us with wonderful books.
Thank you for our teachers, who help us to read.
Thank you for creating us so that we can enjoy what the world has to offer.
Amen.

Song/music

‘World Book Day song (Shotgun - George Ezra)’ by Tom Peters and Siôn Watson, available at: https://youtu.be/oK41hBv8HU0 (3.11 minutes long)