LITERACY, LIBRARY, AND READING Project UPDATES
Our literacy, library, and reading projects in India, Mexico, and Mali have thrust all of us at Abako into an exciting learning journey. We couldn't be happier with all the happenings.
1. Mothers as Model Readers
The education system does not work alone for children’s success. The family is where children learn first and spend most of their day learning. Children learn to enjoy the world around them in the home, with family, and it is in their home that they begin the literacy process.
Abako preschools in Mexico invited family members to weekly reading time in their children’s classrooms, and mothers responded to the call. Mothers and grandmothers have become heroines for children who are happy and excited to see them reading to their class. This simple activity has strengthened the bond between mother and child.
Some preschools held an Open House for parents to learn about the Reading Project, get acquainted with the reading corner, experience firsthand being read to, browse through the books, and learn how to read in front of the children. Other preschools recruited reading parents with a flyer and were successful as well.
A recent Abako survey of 11 preschools found that over 230 mothers have read to the children's class at least once. An unprecedented feat in communities where mothers usually do not cross the school’s doors and have to wonder what their children do for three hours. Now, they sign up for reading time willingly.
--- Moms' Voices ---
2. Teachers' Self-efficacy
Teachers have had little time to recover from the pandemic chaos and pressures. Their relentless efforts to teach while the world was closed deserve our profound gratitude.
Our work with teachers has yielded several surprises, including teachers’ increased self-efficacy. Seeing Indian teachers, for example, believe in their learning and apply it during library time deserves recognition. As part of their Library training, they were introduced to using Teaching Learning Materials (TLM) to make readings more interesting and visually helpful for children.
Indian teachers’ response to using TLMs has been extremely positive. They recognize their value by asserting that library time is now more active and that TLMs offer practical examples for conceptual thinking, clarify the subject matter, and provide direct hands-on experience for students. Some teachers also expressed the awareness needed to create materials based on student needs.
--- Teachers' Voices ---
3. Student's Innovative Storytelling
Middle school students in Mexico have surprised us with many innovative reading and writing activities. The Abako project at this level allows for transversality across subjects to solidify language and reading skills.
The Civic, Art, and Spanish classes worked together in one middle school to produce Kamishibai storytelling. Kamishibai, or paper theatre, is a portable stage that shows a story through drawings.
In small groups, students designed and made their own Kamishibai with recycling materials. Once completed, they selected a social topic to research and write a story about. Once their script was ready, students made drawings for each scene in their account to present to the school community. With the Kamishibai, stories took on a life of their own.
Students took turns reading their stories while rotating the drawings for the audience. The stories included topics like using social media responsibly, community safety, social inequality, conflict resolution, climate change, and mental health.
4. Library ID Cards
One of the goals of our reading project is to surround children with good-quality books, pique their curiosity, and develop a love for them. While teachers engage children in storytelling, book talks, reading aloud, and discussion in the classroom, taking books home to read with their families is another key goal of our project. Accordingly, teachers and mothers decorated small shopping bags (sabucanes) for children to put their traveling books.
Children choose two-three books to take home every Friday to enjoy during the weekend and return them to school on Monday. Because children have shown a great interest in this activity, teachers made library ID cards. Now, each student has a library card that serves three purposes:
a) Keep books circulation records. For example, we track popular titles, who read them, and how often.
b) Makes children responsible for caring for and returning the books they borrow on time.
c) Allows teachers to use fewer read titles in class and expand activities and language with popular books.
5. Abako Donkey to the Rescue
Abako schools in Mali are in rural communities. Some schools lack electricity and drinking water; however, a water well is always nearby. In this school, for example, the water well is a kilometer away. Students used to miss substantial class time bringing water for everyone's daily use because they had to carry the water jugs carefully and walk one kilometer each way. The Abako team and the community devised an ingenious plan: Abako would help finance the purchase of a donkey and a cart to transport the water from the well so that students would not miss valuable classroom time, and the community would care for and feed the animal and maintain the cart.
When the agreement was reached, the Abako team purchased a pregnant donkey and a cart to donate to the school. Happiness filled the community at the prospect of having two donkeys to help bring water to the school and extra money from other activities when school was out. Now, thanks to the donkey’s help, two six-student teams rotate to bring water before school starts at 8 am. The task takes 30 minutes, and the cart can transport 20 liters of water for a whole school day.A happy update: Mama donkey is pregnant again, so soon, there will be three donkeys!
