Creative Reading Activities

The three day workshop on Creative Reading Activities sponsored by Educo and Adarna House in Naga City, CamSur ended yesterday. There were two batches of teachers who attended the workshop. Along with these teachers are their school leaders: reading coordinators, division and district supervisors, and regional supervisors. The three day workshop consisted of topics on Creative Play and Movement, Developing Creative Connections (which focus on literacy and thinking skills) and Library Improvement. Apart from myself, Teacher Pam Razon and Teacher Michelle Agas were the two workshop facilitators.

In my workshop, participants recalled their reading history and identified their reading beliefs. I had an input on library concepts and the role of books on national development. In the afternoon, I conducted a workshop that allowed teachers to create books and assemble a classroom resource center. Since the theme of the workshop is creativity and connections, I instructed the teachers to save their output from Teacher Pam's and Teacher Michelle's workshops since these will be place in the classroom resource centers that they will set up.

The participants had a working knowledge of the topics I covered thus, the different groups of teachers produced wonderful outputs. What I enjoyed doing the most with them was the book making activity. Teachers made mini-books. They wrote, illustrated and read aloud their stories. Using story prompts, they were all able to finish one after an hour and a half of work. Teachers who read aloud their stories were very proud of their work. Indeed, reading, writing, speaking and listening are empowering skills to have!

I then reminded the teachers to keep their books since they can build a collection of mini-books in their classrooms. They can do this project with their students. So, the concept of the process of creation is an experience that both teacher and students experience. Keeping these "self published" books in the classroom as a collection is one way to CREATE a LIBRARY. After this activity, the groups of teachers assembled a classroom library where, apart from the books available in their school library, can have the self published books, and visual aids made by the teacher.

In this time of budget cuts and limited resources, creative ways to set up libraries as literacy centers must be thought about. The how-to can come easily, but it is the concepts and principles that would hold the steps and process in creating libraries as literacy centers together.

In a lock-in session I had with the school leaders during the workshop, I learned how they cope and survive with the challenges of limited resources. Activities and programs like, mobile libraries, reading marathons, volunteer storytellers visiting their schools came up as sustainable projects. Sadly, there was no mention of the library hub in the region. Though the presence of the library hub is recognized, it does not seem to make an impact on the identified recipients. I see this as an opportunity to study the operational model and socio-cultural factors that affect its success, to some communities, and its failure in others.

For now, it is good to know that there are committed school leaders who will try their best to supervise and mentor teachers in developing creative literacy activities by bridging books to children through programs, working with the DepEd and making linkages with NGOs.