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Educational programs at Saita Publications!

Saita Publications welcomes the new school year with a series of educational programs, which are modeled from chosen fairytales. These programs take place on the wings of the “saita”. The program plan and the events which will take place, aim to give stimulation to the teachers and the parents, so they can get more involved. With the fairytales from Saita Publications, the programs shall enhance our love for reading; grow the imagination and the creativity of the children.


To all of you who would like to participate in our educational programs, please share with us your expectations, your photographs from the handcrafts, or maybe a new idea for an activity, and lastly, your ideas which have helped you to adjust better to the needs and skills of your child to our programs. Send in at the address: info@saitapublications.gr
Our first educational program is about the fairytale: «Ο Μαγικός Σελιδοδείκτης» (The Magic Bookmark), written by Iraklis Lampadariou and illustrations by Apollonia Paramythiotis. It is for students, aged 7-12 years old, the duration of the program is 45-50 minutes, and the suggested number of participants is 15-20 children.

Program Summary

1. Introduction of Saita Publications and about the idea behind their vision for the free journey of books!
2. Introducing the eBook, «Ο Μαγικός Σελιδοδείκτης» (The Magic Bookmark), with the children participating.
3. A game of search for the Magic Bookmark, which has hidden itself among the books on the shelves.
4. Creating a big bookmark, with the help of the children, so they can decorate their classroom (dimensions: 50x50 inches)
5. Creating your own bookmark. A solo project for each child. (dimensions: 5x5 inches)
6. Playing the movement and observation game, “Guess who has the bookmark”.

1. Introduction of Saita Publications and the idea behind their vision for thefree journey of books.
There are two countries, one is Fantasia (Imagination), which has houses that are full of fairytales and the other, Reality, which is the homes we live in, here in our town, and in between them on a hill our “saita” landed on, (you may create your own “saita” with the colors on our publications’ logo or click on our website from your computer screen). It picked this spot to land, because it was too windy over there. It created the windmill which you see (you may buy it or make a colorful windmill, yourself), and as the windmill turns when the wind blows, our imagination, which helps create beautiful stories, turns as well. It is the creativity, which is always awake, and it “nudges” the imagination into creating new things. Did you see its wings, how many colors they have? We will be painting with our stories much more today.

2. Presenting the fairytale, «Ο Μαγικός Σελιδοδείκτης» (The Magic Bookmark), with the children helping.
Aside from the pdf file of the eBook, a Power point presentation which will only have the illustration from the fairytale may be used. The second choice requires great confidence and a better preparation, although the first choice is “safer”. With those two choices, the presentation will be done with the help of the children. With their questions about the storytelling, the children both expand their imagination, and gain an understanding of the progress in the plot. We also endeavor, in the place where it is offered (Jason’s office, and with the materials to create the bookmark, on page 15), to awaken the children’s storytelling skills, with materials which we have brought with us ( they are colored pencils, pencils, erasers, cardboard, ruler, buttons, ribbons, staples, glue and paper bags). We will do our best to keep the children’s interest and attention, and that is why we will finish with the presentation portion of the event quickly, and keep within a specific time frame, as we want the biggest part of the action to be the game and the activities.

3. Searching for the Magic Bookmark among the books in the library.
The aim of the game is that the children find the Magic Bookmark, which is hiding in a book in the classroom’s library.

Preparing the game
-We set up, beforehand, 6 cards (3 for each team) with messages such as:
Card 1:
“Hi guys! After the presentation I hid in the pages of a book right here in your classroom! So what do you say? Want to come and look for me? I’ll help you out and give the first clue: I am in a book, which I visited a moment ago. When it is found (we write down the book title and the author’s full name in parenthesis). Good luck!
Card 2:
“Did you find it already? Well done guys! You are one step closer to finding out in which book I’m reading and hiding in. The last clue is (we write down the book title and the author’s full name in parenthesis). I can’t wait to meet you!”
-We hide the card from the first team in the book which we have chosen in the right order. In the last book we hide one of the two bookmarks, which we have prepared (instructions for creating the bookmark can be found on pages 30-32 in the book), and we hide the cards from the second team with the second bookmark.
Playing the game
-We split the children into two teams (for the name of the team, we may ask the children to pick a saitacolor (purple, orange, blue and green), trying to be fair with their allocation. For example, we will not allocate all the children who show a keen enthusiasm and have participated in the presentation, in one team. We shall split them up into two teams; even though they may “demand” to be with their friends in the same team, because then we get the creation of subgroups which act as solo groups.
-We explain the aim of the game (following the trail of cards with the messages, the team which will find the Magic Bookmark wins
-We ask from each team to pick a “representative” (we try to avoid the word “leader”), and we explain that any decisions should be discussed within the team, although the representative shall steer the conversation and shall make the final decision concerning the actions which the team shall take in order to find the Magic Bookmark.
-We hand out the first card to each representative with a clue, which will take them to the next card and we shall remind them that the card which they are looking for is hidden in one of the many books in the library.
-We discreetly help each team on their search and only step in to help them with the method of searching for a book within a library (category, classification, etc).
-As soon as a team finds the Magic Bookmark, we ask from the other team to stop their search and congratulate the winning team. Then we ask the winners to help the other team to find their Magic Bookmark (there are two bookmarks which are hiding, one for each team, to find).
-When the other team also finds their bookmark we congratulate both teams and reward them.

4. Decorating the classroom with a big bookmark, with the children
There will be a prize for both teams, which they will make, reminding them about the game of search for the Magic Bookmark, and the presentation of the particular fairytale.
-We ask the children to sit in a circle (on the floor or around a big table), and in the center we place the cardboard (dimensions 70x50 inches), the color pencils, the pencils, the erasers, the scissors, the ruler and the glue (stick).
-Through our questions the children help us create the bookmark (we use all the materials on the table, the children do not use them as it is a safety reason). We want a shape with equal sides (square dimension 50x50 inches), then we want two shapes with three sides (triangular, the ears of the bookmark), then we will make the same triangular shape in a series (the teeth), two big round shapes (circular, the eyes), and two smaller circles (the pupils).
-After we have created the bookmark with the children’s help, we take away all the materials which are not needed anymore (the pencils, the erasers, the scissors, the ruler and the glue), then we ask the children to leave their “fingerprints” on the magic bookmark, using the coloring pencils (they may write or draw whatever they like).
-We congratulate them on their beautiful decorations and we give them the Magic Bookmark as a reward. We thank them for their participation and their enjoyable company.

5. Each child creates his/her own bookmark
The instructions for creating the Bookmark are on pages 30-32 in the book

6. Guess who has the Bookmark”. A game of motion and observation
We choose one child, and he/she will try to find, with a set of questions, which boy/girl from his class has the Bookmark. The child then closes his/her eyes and we pass the Bookmark to the classmate of our choice. Then, the child which has been chosen may begin with the questions (does the girl/boy who has the Bookmark have black hair? Are they wearing trainers, etc)? If we want to make the game more difficult for them, we set a limit to the number of questions the child asks. (If the child cannot find who has the Magic Bookmark in five questions, the position goes to the next child and so does the Bookmark.)

Translation: Metaxia Tzimouli

Editing: Tina Moschovi

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