I had the most amazing privilege in 2011 ! My proposal to run my "BOOK CLUB WITH KHABONINA" project amongst a few primary schools in Johannesburg was accepted by READ SA. Gods timing is great !!!
We selected two schools for starters "ALBERT STR. SCHOOL" in the Johannesburg CBD and "GIYANI PRIMARY SCHOOL" in Diepkloof Soweto. These are two great schools with amazing , passionate teachers who put their learners first !
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| Khabonina at Albert Str School with her learners |
Different from each other , Albert Str School is mostly a school for the refugee children , the school is in a church where some of the learners also reside. They don't have too many facilities, but what touches me most about the school is teachers and leaders such as Jonathan and Chumba who say that despite our political differences, our pain , our kids must READ , that's the only Key to a better brighter nation. (the school now has a brand new functioning Library! Yesss).
Giyani Primary School in Soweto is a beautiful school, with a lovely playground , green grass, trees ... great facilities for kids to read and play. The school boasts trophies and awards for being prestigious in all they do whether its winning choir competitions, sports and more.
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| Khabonina with her grade 2's |
I did most of my sessions with learners from Grade three, four and grade fives.
The main aim of this project is to get our youngsters reading for FUN .... our nation needs more leaders, youngsters who can spark debates, who are fearless to state their views and can stand a "DEBORA PATTA 3RD DEGREE" with NO 3rd Degree burn !!!
I started off my session with a BANG !! We had to debate the Pros and Cons of READING ... it was FUN !!
Debate:
Team A : I like Reading because ...
Team B : I don't like reading because...
This was an exciting Debate for me as I got a chance to go inside the minds of our learners today!
Most popular reasons for “TEAM B” NOT liking to read were , Not understanding the grammar, book not engaging them, reading in English can be difficult especially when there is no one to help unpack some of the difficult words!
The other half, “TEAM A” said they LIKE reading because it helps improve their English , expand their imagination & that reading keeps them occupied.
Exercise :
I got them into groups, in fact, I grouped them as friends on purpose & asked them to prepare a short engaging story which they must tell together. So one starts it off, then next one continues where 1st one left it & then third one takes over till they all tell this story! NB:
they do NOT enact the story at all ! Just words! (as if just words in the book)
The best , memorable & most engaging story won 1st price & it happened to be some learners from “Team B” the group who 1st said “i don't like reading because ... ”
Conclusion :
The point of the exercise was for the learners to see how exciting words can be! Like words in a book! The more life & energy you put in your words , the more exciting & engaging your story becomes.
So, this is to be applied when you read a book ! Whether you read to a group or just to yourself, add some flavour to your words and see the difference.
Lesson :
I started this lesson by reading a book in two different ways Way A: simple reading with NO animation in my voice Way B: a reading with my Voice animated
We discussed the reasons why Way B was better & more engaging!
Then Learners got a chance to do the same, they read a paragraph in both ways! Way A then Way B ... They felt the difference .
Conclusion
Read how you want to be read to!
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| Khabonina reading with a Learner at Giyani Primary School in Soweto |
Lesson
Listening Comprehension :
Learners read books to each other and asked each other questions about each others books!
Conclusion
Its important for the learners to be able to listen to each other , answer each others questions & basically take each other seriously !
Lesson :
THE BOOK :
*Looking at the Book cover to cover :
Type of book / Genre
Title/ Name of book
Author
NB. Back of book review
The illustrations author
The Number of pages the book has
Learners must tell us WHY THEY CHOSE THAT BOOK. Why should we ? (the Art of Selling / Marketing a book)
Exercise: (Orally then Written)
1.Learners had to give their own book review , different from back cover review 2. Learners gave their own version of the beginning of the story & tied it to the story of the book 3. They came up with their own version of the ending of the story & reasons why they choose to end it that way!
Aim of the exercise:
To have the kids eventually write their own books , review their own books & sell / market their own work! (U can't always afford these P.R peeps !!)
Lesson :
INSIDE THE Book
I realised that while most kids were starting to improve in their reading , some were not understanding what they were reading at all , so I thought it was imperative to tackle :
Reading to understand VS Cramming
The difference between the two
& why “Reading” is the better option to “Cramming”
Conclusion :
This was a fun yet challenging session. I had to get help from the school teachers , to unpack , analyse & dissect the words . This will be an ongoing session as we learn new words everyday & the meaning of those words is as important as that NEW word itself!
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| Khabonina with the Giyani Primary school seniors |
Lesson:
Read & Tell
This was my dream session! Always wanted to see youngsters, especially little grade 3's in an “Oprah-like BookClub” session ... Where a learner chooses a book they have read & enjoyed and they review it!
They sit in the front like a “Panel / Fundi” and they talk to us about the book as if they are “Authors” of the book !
Then we (the paparazzi-like Audience) ask questions about the book, the story, illustrations , etc and the answers we get from these learners wow !... Their creativity is Priceless !!!
Conclusion
Learners are eventually going to be able to write their own books!
Therefore they must have the full package of being great Readers, Writers, Analysts , Creative thinkers, Factual , inquisitive & curious minds ... and this is just the beginning !!
Stay tuned for BOOK CLUB WIH KHABONINA 2012 ... !!!
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