I recently used based a literacy lesson around this classic. In which farmer Brown is confronted by rights flexing cows, who make their demands plainly clear via succinct typewritten notes, which they pin to the barn door. They want electric blankets, and go on strike (i.e. no milk) until their demands are met. So compelling are the cows actions, that the chickens get in on the act too. In the end the ducks act as mediators of several more type written messages. Yet when a deal is forged they take the opportunity to use the typewriter to issue their own demands: the pond is too boring, we want a diving board. This book is short, imaginative, educational and above all fun for children to read. The illustrations are also excellent, and compliment the text wonderfully. I used this book with a mix of Years 1 & 2 students to great effect. The book is a great way to introduce the idea of letter writing to KS1 children; salutations, basic sentence writing, and starting to write for a specific reader in mind. All of this is put in place by this short but well written book. Children could write letters to the teacher, to their carers or parents, with specific demands of their own. This could be used with slightly older children, they could write letters of demands to the head teacher, the prime minister; or even to themselves. Using this book will inspire creative writing from another view point, to get the children away of writing from their perspective; from an animal's as in the book; or that of an object. This could be cross curricula, specifically history or geography. The object, be a fossil, a bone, a nail or ceramic pot could allow the children to tell about what they know about a certain period or place in the past (or present for geography). This book has much potential in the classroom. For EAL students the book could be translated (by the children themselves but supported by parents, carers or staff)in to their home language to make literacy lessons more open to them. Overall Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type has much to recommend itself to any teacher. I give it 5 out of 5, for the well written text, full as it is of humour and quirkiness; but also for the illustrations and for the way it promotes both reading and writing, through such a simple but refreshing tale.
I used this book with a mix of Years 1 & 2 students to great effect. The book is a great way to introduce the idea of letter writing to KS1 children; salutations, basic sentence writing, and starting to write for a specific reader in mind. All of this is put in place by this short but well written book. Children could write letters to the teacher, to their carers or parents, with specific demands of their own.
This could be used with slightly older children, they could write letters of demands to the head teacher, the prime minister; or even to themselves. Using this book will inspire creative writing from another view point, to get the children away of writing from their perspective; from an animal's as in the book; or that of an object. This could be cross curricula, specifically history or geography. The object, be a fossil, a bone, a nail or ceramic pot could allow the children to tell about what they know about a certain period or place in the past (or present for geography).
This book has much potential in the classroom. For EAL students the book could be translated (by the children themselves but supported by parents, carers or staff)in to their home language to make literacy lessons more open to them.
Overall Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type has much to recommend itself to any teacher. I give it 5 out of 5, for the well written text, full as it is of humour and quirkiness; but also for the illustrations and for the way it promotes both reading and writing, through such a simple but refreshing tale.