Primer Holiday is the second “personal" holiday for first-graders. A lot of methodological developments and manuals are devoted to him, which lead to ready-made scenarios and give advice to teachers on the preparation of the event, indicate its goals and objectives. Most authors of such manuals believe that the main purpose of the holiday is to teach first graders. Being united with them in the fact that training in a game form is more successful, I do not agree with the fact that it is appropriate for a holiday. Having worked with children for more than two decades, I am sure that the Primer of the Primer in the 1st grade is not a stage of training, but a peculiar result, a demonstration of the first results achieved by the kids. Therefore, the task of the event is not to train, but to support, to create an atmosphere conducive to further assimilation of knowledge. On this day, it is important to emphasize the success of the kids, their dignity, hard work.
It is for this reason that we always invite parents to the Primer. Together we come up with scripts, rehearse together, and then we perform. Spectators are parents, high school students, and teachers.
Most often, senior students are the leaders. It can be brothers, sisters or even parents dressed in costumes of various characters. They also love the Primer. Therefore, they come up with a script with pleasure, focusing on what they liked or did not like at the time.
From my point of view, the performances of children are more interesting if they are written in a coherent script. Therefore, we either compose it ourselves, or take as a basis one of the cartoons or feature films about schoolchildren: “In the country of unlearned lessons”, “The Tale of Lost Time”, “Vovka in the Far Far Away Kingdom”, etc. Naturally, the script is tailored to specific participants, “diluted” with songs and dances.
I really like the Dance of Letters, which was invented and delivered by the graduates especially for the concert “Primer of the ABC Book”. To rhythmic music, the older and younger participants, dressed in costumes of letters (or simply with letters drawn on colored paper), perform not very complex dance movements, periodically lining up to make words.
I can, of course, talk about how it develops reaction, musical ear, plastic, etc. But for me, the main thing in this dance is the pleasure that the performers receive and the joy of the audience who read what the dancers wished for them. Words can be anything: "Thank you", "First-grader" ... They can form a complete phrase, for example: "Now I can read." Believe me, high school students come up with such texts much better.
When conducting the ABC Book Festival, we always made sure that absolutely all first graders took part in it. Some of them can act in the lead roles, someone to participate in mass scenes. It is important that both children and parents can understand: today all children are successful, without exception.
Another point that we beat every year in the scripts is the transfer of the baton. At a meeting of the ABC or ABC book come (depending on imagination) or textbooks of the Russian language and literature, or fiction books, or literary characters. In recent years, most often it was Harry Potter.
When a performance or concert ends, in the form of which the Primer is held, prizes are awarded to first-graders. Important: everyone must, to one. This can be postcards, books (best of all). What matters is not the price of the gift, but its ability to preserve the memory of the holiday.
But the event does not end there. In the next room we equip the “Country of Chitalia”, on which kids travel. There are several cities in it: Pochitayka, Sochinyayka, Pochchitayka, City of artists. As you already understood, in each city you can either solve a problem, compose a rhyme, or read an unfamiliar text loudly, “with expression”. Usually we give cards for successfully completed tasks. When summing up the results of the game, the winners are announced (by the number of cards) to whom certificates can be awarded. It is inexpensive, but solemn.
The Primer himself escorts children from school.