Are you a primary school teacher in Scotland looking for an author-led classroom visit that’s a little bit different? Do you want a workshop that will explore Scotland’s folklore and allow your students to discuss what the factual basis might be behind such folk tales as kelpies, silkies, the Big Grey Man of Ben MacDhui and the Loch Ness Monster?
If so, then this might just be the classroom visit you are looking for! For more information, read on, and to enquire about booking a class visit, or if you need any additional information, simply fill in the contact form below.
Based around the recently published factual children’s book titled Draw Your Own Encyclopaedia Scotland’s Folklore by Colin M. Drysdale, these classroom visits are best suited to children in Primary Two to Primary Six (although they can be successfully done for children as young as Primary One and as old as Primary Seven).
Lasting approximately one hour (depending on the time slot available), and costing £50 for each class visited (plus the cost of travelling to the school), these classroom visits start by introducing students to what folklore is. This leads on to an interactive discussion of whether folk stories are true, whether it matters whether they are true, and what the factual basis may be behind a variety of different folk stories. Two of these are explored in detail. These are the Big Grey Man of Ben MacDhui, and the Loch Ness Monster. For the latter, the students will take part in an interactive discussion to consider whether they think the Loch Ness Monster could be a plesiosaur, and at the end they will be asked to vote to see whether they think this is a viable possibility, or not. Through this, the students learn how to assess whether stories they come across, either from each other or on the internet, are likely to be true, or not.
The visits are led by Dr Colin M. Drysdale (the author of Draw Your Own Encyclopaedia Scotland’s Folklore), who grew up hearing many of Scotland’s folklore, and who was inspired by stories he heard about of the Loch Ness Monster to go on to become a marine biologist and study real life sea monsters (in the shape of whales and dolphins).
Note: If you wish, we can also provide copies of Draw Your Own Encyclopaedia Scotland’s Folklore for each student in the class at a 50% reduction on the RRP. This means that each copy would cost £3.74, rather than the usual £6.99. This allows these interactive books to be used in follow-up activities to help develop and embed the knowledge the students have gained during the visit itself.
Contact Form
If you would like to book a class visit, or if you would like any further information, simply fill in the contact form below using the subject Scotland’s Folklore Book Classroom Visit Enquiry and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Alternatively, you can email us directly at info[at]pictishbeastpublications.com.
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