The weeks have been flying since the Libraries in Schools Program began for this academic year. With nearly 3 months already gone, we’re in the week just before Ganesh break.
Its that time of the week again. Tuesday. Time to hit the road and head off to Nuvem to be in Mae dos Pobres Primary School. A spirited and enthusiastic bunch, the stories of Tuesdays don’t come just from the books we take. Each classroom we’re in always sends back a story to remember for the day.
Being the week before break, we decided to stir things up a bit and do something completely unusual. A first for us as well, we set off for school armed with a big book, a laptop, the projector, a screen and the animated version of a tried and tested book, and one of many favourites at Bookworm- Handa’s Surprise.
Yes. The kids were going to watch a movie today! We are excited! All prep is done, we’ve set up, and we’re ready for classes to come in.
As they filed in, excited just to be outside their classes, their chatter was stopped short for a quick moment when they saw the projector and screen up. That was followed by hushed whispers amongst them; speculation on what was going to happen next.
As it was, once we were all settled in and ready to begin, we began to talk to the kids as we do when we read books in their classes. The story is built up, the main themes of the book are brought to the fore and a context is set. This is generally one of my favoured parts of the session; as it is here that the children reflect that which is in their minds and what happens in their worlds. The book being Handa’s Surprise, we decided to set the context for ‘surprise’ first. So I began with an example….it didn’t work. We gave another example; that didn’t work too. Then Sheena and I looked at each other, and decided to act it out. So there we were acting out a scene which culminated in me opening my eyes and showing just how surprised I was….and there was silence, and a look of some amount of confusion. This was not something we were very certain of how to react to. “The story will take care of it”, we thought and ploughed on!
It is, as always, that the story BOOK is the center of attraction of our sessions, and this session would be no different. We produced the big book and spoke about it, familiarized them to it and the author and illustrator. And now was the time for the big surprise…..”It’s time for a movie!!” we chorused.
Expecting excitement that was at fever pitch, we watched the kids; as they watched the movie.
Their reactions were right on cue. They oooh-ed, ahhhhhh-ed and ‘Ai Saiba’-ed when the animals took the fruit from Handa’s basket. They laughed when the goat ran into the tangerine tree. And then they settled back down into little chattering groups amongst themselves.
And that was it. No prolonged feelings of excitement, surprise, happiness; any such thing. We looked at each other a bit confused. There’s still time for more. So we went on to discuss the book and read the story out loud.
And this is when the reactions we are used to set in! “Woooowwwwwwwww!”, we heard! One minute. Where was this reaction when the movie was on?! Action, reaction, participation….it was all there!
Mind boggling!
What is most noted is that this was a reaction that we saw across 6 classes! Everyone of them was more engaged and connected to the story book than to the movie. This in the modern age of everything being digitized, animated and put on a screen.
While we were, admittedly, a little disappointed that our plan did not elicit a full reaction, reflecting on it, I realised this- why ever were we disappointed?! The kids picked the book over the movie! THIS is what we’re working for! This is what we’re working towards.
We know that in small measures, a little group of readers is being evolved…..MAGIC!
