reading show give away

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Umpa Duze
Posts: 183
Joined: June 5th, 2008, 8:27 pm
Location: Humboldt County CA

reading show give away

Postby Umpa Duze » June 5th, 2009, 3:20 am

Hi All,
I have been working on a magic of reading show for our local schools. I wanted to use the show to get the kids reading. So, I am planning to provide the schools with a pdf magic book that they can reproduce and give to students who read a certain number of books in the month after the show.

I am leaving the actual distribution/plan to the schools. For example, one school might give a book to every child who reads four books during the month following the show, another might give it to every student in a class that collectively reads 50 books.

This is for elementary school students. If anyone would be willing to take a look at the book/pdf and make suggestions, that would be great. If you are interested, please let me know and I will email a copy. Once I get a finished draft, I will be happy to share it with anyone who feels they can use it to promote student reading.

Cheers,
Umpa

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Spellbinder
Posts: 472
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: New Jersey
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Re: reading show give away

Postby Spellbinder » June 5th, 2009, 9:00 am

I'd like to see your book. I've always felt that a good magic book for beginners would contain a lot of history passages to read, followed by directions for performing a favorite trick of the magician discussed. Just giving away secrets does not promote reading. There should also be references included to other books commonly found in libraries, both magic books and literary works with a magic theme. This would guide the young reader to get deeper into topics of interest.

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Phineas Spellbinder
The Magic Nook

Umpa Duze
Posts: 183
Joined: June 5th, 2008, 8:27 pm
Location: Humboldt County CA

Re: reading show give away

Postby Umpa Duze » June 5th, 2009, 5:09 pm

Hi Spellbinder,
I appreciate your thoughts on this. I spent hours trying to write a short, but meaningful history section, but was stymied by the fact that the book was going to 1st-3rd graders. I know children at this age can understand much more than they can read, so some of the problem might be addressed by assuming a parent is involved. If you can think of any examples of magic history presented at the young reader level, I would sure love to look at it.

The reference page is a great idea. I will send you a copy. The book itself is intended to be a reward for reading more than a text to help them read.

Thanks,
Umpa
Cheers,
Umpa Duze

mag6969
Posts: 4
Joined: June 24th, 2009, 5:44 pm

Re: reading show give away

Postby mag6969 » June 24th, 2009, 6:13 pm

I think it sounds like a good idea overall, and the good intent is there, but making the kids work for a prize gives them nothing to work for if there is no prize. It makes them think they should be rewarded for everything they do, but that is not the case in life.

I think a similar idea could be maybe to use magic to make the kids WANT to learn. Show them education is important and cna be fun through magic.
http://www.mypubtricks.com/
one stop magic shop.


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