Fathima Husna, a Class I student of GHS Kurumbala, Wayanad, is among the Class I and II students across the State who have received storybooks for reading this summer vacation. They are expected to read at least eight books during the two months. If there were concerns that it was an onerous task for six-and-seven-year-old children, the feedback has been that many have exceeded the allotted target for April already.
The summer reading programme ‘Malayala Madhuram’ has been rolled out by the Samagra Shiksha, Kerala (SSK) under the World Bank-aided STARS (Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States) project to build upon the gains made in language by the Class I and II students through various programmes in previous academic year.
The SSK had implemented Sachithra (illustrated notebook), Samyuktha diary, and Rachanotsavam in schools in the wake of widespread concerns over students’ command of Malayalam language. Once students started reading, they moved on to writing small stories. These were published as books and in periodicals.
To ensure that the young students did not lose touch with what they had learnt and reinforce it further, the SSK provided schools with 71 books each to be distributed to children for reading during the two-month vacation period without interfering with their other recreational activities. Schools were also given the option to select books from their libraries. Students were first given four books. After reading each book, they shared their experiences once a week.
In the first week, students shared videos of the book they read, introduced the book, and summarised the story. In the second week, the children reacted to the videos they saw. One student from each group could also read a story. This was followed by a reading by the teacher. Parents too could read the stories and give their reactions. In the third week, students drew pictures of the story they read, shared these, and wrote their context. In this way, activities have been prepared for each week to firm up the students’ language skills.
Collaborative learning
Reading a book, talking about it, and sharing activities on WhatsApp, not to mention readings by teachers and parents, help students benefit from the collaboration. In tribal areas where books are not available at homes, parents are now reading out stories to children. This has overcome the hurdle posed by non-availability of books in those areas earlier, say officials.
Athira, mother of Sadhika A.D., a Class I student of GLPS Vilappil, says earlier her daughter would try and read stories in children’s magazines without much success, but now she has learnt to read independently and add expressions to boot. The progress during the vacations has been rapid, and Sadhika has already finished four books. Reading stories online also helps her meet her friends and teachers. The teachers’ have been putting in a lot of effort even though it is vacation time, she says.
