Children are children and everything and anything is an experience for them. Being a teacher gets the privilege and joy to see children react in different ways.
Bookworm conducts it’s Libraries In Schools programme (LiS) once a week to Mae De Deus school, Aldona. The children are always happy to see, greet and meet the team. We too love to see their charming smiles each time we meet them. Story Read Aloud, borrowing and lending books, activities and discussions, all make the LiS session a compact one. We see to it that the response of each child is accepted and valued.
Last week we did an introductory session of MLMW- My Letters My Words- a phonics workbook for Std.2. We started with the first set of letters (s,a,t). A session plan ensures that we follow the method correctly in introducing children to the sounds of each alphabet.
Each letter has a unique sound. The letter ‘s’ goes ssss. Children said s says ssss. There was a lot of hissing sound in the class. The children made the action of snake with their hands along with the hissing sound. The whole class engaged itself in giving words beginning with the sound ssss. Hands were raised by some while some just stood to give words they knew for this sound. Words such as sun, six, sing, sweet were given by children.
The excitement grew when children saw the MLMW books with their names written on them. Some children asked if the book was really for them and if they could keep it forever. Some children asked if they could take the book home. This book contains lovely illustrations that have been incorporated keeping in mind the children’s familiar environment. Children eagerly opened the book and turned pages, some even stroked the pages with their hands. The activity in this book is to identify the pictures for that particular sound. For example, letter ‘s’ makes sass sound. So pictures of snake, sari, sweets ect. are illustrated on the page of letter ‘s’. The children recognised all the pictures. Then they had to connect the word to it’s picture. Children soon understood the concept and drew lines with pencils from the word to the picture. We were there to help whoever needed help and they smiled again after completing their activity.
Their made us happy and we smiled back.
The MLMW book created a lot of interest in children. This book has helped the children to recognise the letter in a better way. The sound helps children in reading words better. It has made learning interesting and memorable for the developing minds. The first MLMW experience will remain with me for a long time too.
