During National Literacy and Numeracy Week 2011 we suggested some additional activities for schools to get involved in.
Reading Activities
One School One Book
Schools that were unable to participate in Read for Australia were encouraged to still, choose a book and come together as a school to read.
To cater for different ages, school could match suitable books from the one author to the age groups in their school. schools were encouraged to select from the long list of Jackie French titles, as she was the Literacy Ambassador in 2011.
Schools could have also made it a family literacy day by invite parents, caregivers, grandparents, and other family members to the classroom or school!
Book Clubs
Start a book club across the school! Again this can involve the wider community with parents, community members and older students taking charge of some of the groups.
Try a Breakfast Book Club in the half hour before school starts. This is a great way to establish a love for reading across the school.
Refer to the websites on the resources page for book lists to get started. ALEA members will find a short article on Book Clubs in the February Practically Primary journal.
Tips for getting started can also be found on the following websites:
The Middle Years Book Club for students 10-14 years provides a place to post book reviews and participate in discussions.
Buddy Reading
Organise cross grade or cross-school (secondary and primary) and pair up for a buddy reading day. Nominate a theme, use the CBCA shortlist or just share favourite books!
Involve the Whole School
Ask each student to bring in his/her favourite book. Display the books in the classroom. Allocate some time for students to talk about their choice in small groups or in the whole class.
Involve the staff
Ask each teacher to bring in a favourite book to read to each class. Display the books in the school library. Allocate some time for the teachers to discuss their choice with a class or at a school assembly.
Book Swap
Promote reading and organise a paperback book swap in the classroom or with other classes at the same grade level.
Host a Story Telling Event
Bringing books to life through acting, puppets, or other visual means is a great way to engage readers of all ages. Host a reading and storytelling event. It might take the form of a Readers’ or Writers’ Tea party. You might choose an afternoon tea, tales at twilight or a story sharing evening.
Invite family and friends of your school to listen to the book(s) you have been reading or writing. Ask them to come prepared to share their favourite book or story with your class. Why not record their stories (with their permission) and create a story repository that can be listened to long after National Celebration of Literacy is over?
Create a Reading Profile for Your School
Elect students to interview other students across the school.
- What books do you enjoy reading the most? Why do you enjoy them?
- What are you reading at the moment?
- Who is your favourite author?
Publish the results in the school newsletter or put out a special edition for National Celebration of Literacy. Students might like to continue the project and interview their parents and caregivers and collate and display the results.
Writing Activities
Write for Others
Invite older students to write a short story or picture book for students at the local primary school. Arrange a time when they can visit and read their writing to small groups of students. Primary students could visit the local preschool to read their writing.
Invite the Principal to Write
Organise a whole school writing event. Invite the principal to write the orientation and then pass the ‘story’ from class to class so the next part of the story can be added through joint construction. Set a time limit such as 60 minutes for each class to write their part and pass it on.
Reader’s Theatre
Present a reader’s theatre, have students write a theatre script using one of the shortlisted books (link to shortlisted books page) and invite friends, family and community to come along to your performance. In writing the script, they might decide to add a twist to a published story!
Retell a Known Story
Write your own books in small groups using one of the shortlisted books (link to shortlisted books page) as a springboard for the retells and innovations on the text. Share your books with family and friends at school, at a local community centre or perhaps at a school nearby where you can swap stories.
Go Public
Get your class or whole school on the move! Set up at a local venue such as the local shopping centre, library, town hall or the park, and invite students to read their writing.
Invite an Author or Storyteller
- Write and invite a local author to read a book and to share his/her writing secrets.
- Invite a storyteller to come to your school.
- Invite a local Indigenous group to tell or dance a story.
- Invite a local a cultural group to share stories and dance.
- Design and conduct interviews with the visitors and make a podcast for your website. Perhaps they will share some of their writing secrets with you!
We would love for you to share your activities with us via the gallery (Link to gallery) or you might want to share your activities in other ways. The list below provides some suggestions but please note these sites require careful teacher monitoring.
- Start a blog at Weebly for Education.This is a free site for creating a classroom website and blog which is easy to use. It is a protected site for students.
- Edublog is another educational blog platform for students and teachers with helpful hints to get started.
- Try EDMODO. This is a password protected site ideal for small groups. For example, an EDMODO site could be set up for each of your book clubs or writing groups. It is a safe environment for small groups to chat about their reading and writing with teacher supervision.
- Create a digital link up to share stories with children in different communities. If you’re on the coast - why not connect with a rural school? In Darwin - why not talk your friends in Tasmania via Skype and read with them or share your writing? You could share your stories, discuss an agreed upon author and the different books he/she writes, or share favourite books.