The Whoosh Bible: 50 interactive Bible stories for children's groups
An excitingly different approach to sharing Bible stories with children
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Title | The Whoosh Bible: 50 interactive Bible stories for children's groups |
Author | Gill Robins |
ISBN | |
Description | An excitingly different approach to sharing Bible stories with children What is a Whoosh? The Whoosh was created by Professor Joseph Winston of the University of Warwick and it is now widely used to support children as they develop understanding of narrative, from ancient sagas to Shakespeare and contemporary novels. It is a form of physical storytelling in which key actions, objects and words are represented physically. It is much more than acting out the story: it means actually becoming the story.. How do you Whoosh? To whoosh, pupils stand in a circle, creating a performance space. They then take it in turns to become characters, objects or sounds as the leader reads the story. When you say 'Whoosh' everyone returns to their place in the circle, ready for the next section of the story. There are plenty of advantages of whooshing. It's a circle activity in which everyone gets a go, regardless of age, ability or command of language. It's a safe medium within which to explore new ideas and experiment with new roles. It helps to develop empathy as pupils become active participants rather than passive recipients. They are more likely to engage with the story by doing it, rather than simply reading or listening to it. Why Whoosh? It enables children to retain details of the narrative more effectively and to discuss the meaning of a story with greater understanding and insight. And it's lots of fun! What's in this book? 50 Bible stories for use with 7 - 11 year olds, follow-up activities, discussion starters and prayers, and tips for leaders on how to use the whooshing technique. How do I use this book? It can be used with minimal preparation to provide a full Bible story teaching programme or to supplement an existing one, and is suitable for a range of contexts: Sunday school, midweek group, family service, holiday club, Messy Church celebration, or primary school. Gill Robins is an educational consultant and writer, and an experienced church children's worker. Watch an introduction to Whoosh from the Royal Shakespeare Company |
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An excitingly different approach to sharing Bible stories with children
What is a Whoosh?
The Whoosh was created by Professor Joseph Winston of the University of Warwick and it is now widely used to support children as they develop understanding of narrative, from ancient sagas to Shakespeare and contemporary novels. It is a form of physical storytelling in which key actions, objects and words are represented physically. It is much more than acting out the story: it means actually becoming the story..
How do you Whoosh?
To whoosh, pupils stand in a circle, creating a performance space. They then take it in turns to become characters, objects or sounds as the leader reads the story.
When you say 'Whoosh' everyone returns to their place in the circle, ready for the next section of the story. There are plenty of advantages of whooshing. It's a circle activity in which everyone gets a go, regardless of age, ability or command of language. It's a safe medium within which to explore new ideas and experiment with new roles. It helps to develop empathy as pupils become active participants rather than passive recipients. They are more likely to engage with the story by doing it, rather than simply reading or listening to it.
Why Whoosh?
It enables children to retain details of the narrative more effectively and to discuss the meaning of a story with greater understanding and insight. And it's lots of fun!
What's in this book?
50 Bible stories for use with 7 - 11 year olds, follow-up activities, discussion starters and prayers, and tips for leaders on how to use the whooshing technique.
How do I use this book?
It can be used with minimal preparation to provide a full Bible story teaching programme or to supplement an existing one, and is suitable for a range of contexts: Sunday school, midweek group, family service, holiday club, Messy Church celebration, or primary school.
Gill Robins is an educational consultant and writer, and an experienced church children's worker.
Watch an introduction to Whoosh from the Royal Shakespeare Company
Wow - I wish I had had a copy of The Whoosh Bible when I was a school teacher. Storytelling is an integral element of the Christian faith and The Whoosh Bible offers a way of interacting with Bible stories that children will love. One of its most endearing features is that it can become a regular practice that will draw children into the text and help them to experience as well as understand their meaning. This is an indispensable resource for both church and school.
Trevor Cooling, Professor of Christian Education, Canterbury Christ Church University
Human beings of all ages are story-makers. The Whoosh Bible is a ground-breaking new resource written for story-making children and those who teach and learn with them in churches and schools. It can provide them with a way to walk into the stories of the Bible and live in them and thereby to find meaning for the stories of their own lives. I look forward to the day when whooshing the narratives of Scripture becomes a familiar activity in school and church.
John Shortt, Senior Adviser, European Educators' Christian Association, and Professorial Fellow in Christian Education, Liverpool Hope University
Gill Robins is an educational consultant and writer who received the UKLA John Downing Award for creative and innovative approaches to teaching English in 2010. She worked as a Deputy Head in the primary sector until 2011 and is also an experienced children's worker in a church context, including Sunday school teaching, weekday clubs and summer camps. Her published works include The Whoosh Book, a collection of literacy activities for classic and contemporary text for 7-14 year olds (Routledge, 2013).
Church Times 5 February 2016
Children love stories, and, until the grim reality of adolescence takes hold, they also love acting them out. The Whoosh Bible, by Gill Robins, is a joyous production, with an impeccable pedigree. The title is a catchy way of describing a strategy first developed by the Royal Shakespeare Company's education unit.
Gill Robins has a background in English teaching, and it shows. She has applied the 'whoosh' technique to the most familiar of Bible stories. Children will stand in a circle and take turns in acting out the story.
The intention is that each participant becomes the story. ' Whoosh' is the code word for moving on. It's buzzy, it's simple, and the stories are easily accessible. I suspect that Year 3 and Year 4 will love whooshing. There is a delightful set of images at the end of the volume for colouring in. Children love colouring in, and it gives the teacher a welcome breather. But OFSTED will probably hate it. What is the learning objective, it will parrot? Spoilsports.
Dennis Richards