My Favourite Place Adult Learning Resource

							                       Adult Literacy Group Tutor Support Materials

                   (4 sessions 1 hour each depending on size of group)



                                        “My Favourite Place”

               “Talk about it, read about it, write about it, shout about it!”

Background

These notes provide a suggested approach for Adult Literacy Tutors to use with any of their
learners who would like to take part in Scottish Book Trust’s “My Favourite Place” initiative.

The idea is that pieces of writing should be submitted that are inspired by a favourite place.
Your groups can be creative about how they write, as creative as they like! The place could
be a house, a favourite park, a favourite tree, a mountain range, a cafe, a beach, a
viewpoint, a street. Big or small, whatever they like, indoors, outdoors.

The writing can take a variety of formats – a story, a poem, a diary entry, a letter, a sketch or
a scene (like a short play) although for those in Adult Literacy Groups we are suggesting
they submit their entry as a postcard. (See detailed guidance below.)

Please also note that there are a variety of formats for the submissions, there is only one
submission per person, and the deadline for all submissions is August 31st 2012.

Story
Poem
Diary
Play/ drama sketch
Letter/ postcard
Submission Details

You can up load the creative writing (word or pdf, document) directly onto
www.scottishbooktrust.com/myfavouriteplace

Or postcards can be sent to the following address:

 ‘My Favourite Place’, Scottish Book Trust, Sandeman House, Trunk’s Close,
55 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1SR.




                                           Page 1 of 5
                       Adult Literacy Group Tutor Support Materials

                    (4 sessions 1 hour each depending on size of group)




                                     “My Favourite Place”

                “Talk about it, read about it, write about it, shout about it!”

Session 1:

Talk About It

You will need:

Sheets of flip chart paper (or a white board) with these headings:

                   Home
                   Holidays in Scotland
                   Safe places
                   Happy places
                   Places in books
                   Places in films
                   Other eg. Sports venue

To get the ball rolling, in a group or a one to one, discuss the following:

      Where you come from?
      Where you have been on holiday in Scotland, weekends away in Scotland, school
       trips in Scotland?
      Where you have felt safe?
      Where you feel happy?
      Where characters in books go?
      Where characters in films go?
      Any other contributions for a favourite place?

Note down the ideas resulting from these discussions under each heading. Then, ask your
group to choose their individually preferred favourite place from the lists created, and explain
why they have chosen this destination? (NB. Reminiscing can bring up emotions and
                                           Page 2 of 5
                      Adult Literacy Group Tutor Support Materials

                  (4 sessions 1 hour each depending on size of group)



memories and should be facilitated with care, ensure a safe and confidential environment
and that your learners do not feel they have been ‘put on the spot.’)

Home work: The group should research and bring in their own additional materials for next
session relevant to their chosen location eg. Scottish holiday destinations, maps, books
linked to the above, film reviews etc.

Session 2

Read About It

You will need:

Access to a computer and/ or relevant library books
Sheets of flip chart paper (or a white board) with these headings:

Information linked to my favourite place including any:

           Historic facts
           Geological information
           Famous events or people located there
           Any other background to this location eg. Personal experiences/ stories

Your group should find a book and/or look up the location chosen as their favourite place, on
a computer and/or read further to discover more about it. They should use the headings
above as a guide.

ICT skills – ensure your group is able to copy and paste any relevant information into a word
document and save it, to use in next week’s session and/or make a note of where or how
they found the information so they can access it again next week.

Homework: Finish off all the information gathering and recording about your favourite place
and think about why it is your favourite place, ready for next week’s session.




                                          Page 3 of 5
                      Adult Literacy Group Tutor Support Materials

                  (4 sessions 1 hour each depending on size of group)



Session 3

Write About It

You will need:

Sheets of paper and pens

Get your learners to write on a piece of paper their favourite place as the heading. Then ask
them to write under this pertinent information they have found out from last week’s research.
They can copy any information captured on the white board/ flip chart paper too. Finally, get
them to write down the reasons why it is their favourite place.

Once this has been recorded introduce Scottish Book Trust’s ‘My Favourite Place’ project.




                                         Page 4 of 5
                       Adult Literacy Group Tutor Support Materials

                   (4 sessions 1 hour each depending on size of group)



Session 4

Shout About it!

You will need:

Map of locations (print off google maps) or draw a map of the location, as appropriate
Scissors, string, drawing pins, display boards
Postcards

Start this session by getting your group to write on a postcard as if they were sending a ‘wish
you were here’ to someone close to them from their favourite place, ask them to incorporate
in their writing ‘why it is their favourite place’ and to ‘include something of interest that they
found out during their research about their location.’

Your group should now cut up into relevant sections the information gathered from last
week. Print off (or draw) the map of their location and using string and drawing pins populate
the map with the information they gathered using the pins and string to link it all together on
the display board/ wall.

Submission Details

You can send the postcards as a pdf or image after scanning them to
myfavouriteplace@scottishbooktrust.com
Or postcards can be sent to the following address:

 ‘My Favourite Place’, Scottish Book Trust, Sandeman House, Trunk’s Close,
55 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1SR.




                                           Page 5 of 5