Shakespeare once said, “Books are the best nourishment in the world.” Primary school students, who are in an important developmental stage, cannot do without additional support for reading. Therefore, through a “Happy Reading” module, Chinese teachers from the Primary School division guided children to read and explore learning from inside and outside the classroom, not only stimulating students’ interest in reading and cultivating good reading habits, but also helping to enhance their core literacy in the subject.
Grade 1
Reading warms children’s hearts and accompanies the growth of their souls. As first graders have begun their primary school journey, teachers believe that effort should be made to expose children to more books, to encourage more reading and listening, and to stimulating students’ interest in reading. Our teachers conducted reading activities in various forms, including independent reading, teacher-student reading, and also encouraged parent-child reading. Through teacher-student reading, students learn how to use reading strategies effectively. Through independent reading, phonics can be used to develop a more accurate sense for reading language. At the same time, teachers also provided suggestions for parent-child reading: regularly allow children to practice giving feedback after their reading and give timely encouragement. Children who are immersed in books develop good reading habits in a variety of reading styles.
In the reading activity of “The Fragrance of Books Can Make a Difference”, first-grade teachers and students together read through the book, “The Elephant Who Ate the Darkness”, a book that brings warmth and comfort to children who are afraid of the darkness through wonderfully imaginative and child-friendly language. During the activity, the children shared their reading feelings once every two weeks and completed a reading record card once a month to clarify the story. Teachers guided the students to learn how to sort out the beginning, middle and end of the story to prepare for them for Grade 2.
The first-grade teachers also conducted “I am the Story King” and “I am Monopoly” to encourage students to read. The students are swimming in the sea of books and moistening their hearts. We believe that through the persistence and efforts of teachers and students, we can make reading happen at any time and make changes happen all the time.
Grade 2
The fragrance of books infuses the mind and reading nourishes our lives. At least two teachers guided students to use a combination of listening and self-reading methods and encouraged them to read more books after class this semester. Each classroom had set up a book corner, making full use of the school’s resources and the books students subscribe to, to ensure that students have books to read and that they read well. Grade 2 teachers designed a reading booklet to keep accumulating good words and sentences in the form of games to gain knowledge in reading and to also practice their writing skills. Teachers also gathered idioms learned and offered them as weekly reading material in order to improve reading ability and to prepare them for an idiom king competition created to stimulate student interest. Students fell in love with reading through a variety of fun-filled reading activities.
Grade 3
“Books all the way, a lifetime of growth.” Third-grade teachers were committed to guiding students to read extensively and to develop good habits for reading consistently. In order to stimulate and maintain children’s interest in reading, the third-grade team encouraged them to become ‘rich readers’ by giving out ‘reading coins’ which could be redeemed regularly. Secondly, students were encouraged to ‘reading teachers’ through a combination of online and offline activities, such as “good book recommendation activities” and “reading exchange and sharing sessions”. The teaching team made use of the two minutes before class to invite students to tell stories and read aloud exciting excerpts from extracurricular books. Students were also invited to tell stories in the first two minutes of class and to read out the best parts of their books to further stimulate interest in reading. Finally, at the end of the semester, each class will select its own “Reading Star” based on the number of ‘reading coins’ students have earned and the number and quality of sharing.
Grade 4
The fourth-grade teachers focused more on children reading actively and more deeply. Teachers and students worked together to set reading goals and to set a day for sharing. Students were encouraged to make notes throughout their reading over the semester.
In order to maintain students’ enthusiasm for reading, the fourth-grade team adopted a daily reading card system, in which the students’ themselves recorded their daily reading activity which was then verified by a supervisor. A minimum of 30 minutes of reading was required on regular school days, and a total of 3 hours or more was required on reading weekends. Each 30 minutes of reading was redeemable for $2 in reading coins. At the end of the school year, a reading booth will be held for children to purchase their favorite items with the reading coins they have earned. Books fill every corner of the fourth grade and reading is gradually becoming a way of life.
Grade 5
China has a long history and a profound traditional culture. Classical ancient poetry is our Chinese heirloom and the pride of China. This semester, the Grade 5 team will continue to promote traditional Chinese culture through the classical recitation of the Analects of Confucius and help students build a solid foundation of national learning in a subtle way. Before each Chinese lesson, teachers and students will recite the Analects in groups, in turns, and individually to create an atmosphere of recitation. The classics of the Analects will be used to communicate in a variety of forms (video, tabloid, song and dance, drama, etc.) in the fourth- and fifth-grade assemblies and in a final performance. In addition to the two-minute recitation of the Analects, children are also encouraged to use the self-study text in their textbooks to become ‘little teachers’ and to share their understanding of the text with the teacher under the teacher’s guidance. This is done not only to encourage practice for their oral expression skills, but also to further deepen their understanding of the text and to improve their overall language skills.
“Reading is learning, excerpting is organizing, and writing is creating.” Through all the colourful reading activities, Chinese teachers aim to lead students together into the beautiful and colourful world of books and to feel that which can ignite the most beautiful things in our hearts. Through diversified ways and means of reading, children will always be enthusiastic about reading. They are guided to take reading as a way of life. Read more, read well, and read the fullness and essence of life!