Thinking about language and literacy learning in school...(as usual!)

A fantastic outdoor classroom at Madikwe Secondary School.

A fantastic outdoor classroom at Madikwe Secondary School.

I had interesting discussions with both primary and secondary teachers on Tuesday about some of the challenges that they face related to teaching literacy  in their schools.  Teachers mentioned the difficulty of teaching reading and meeting the needs of all students within one classroom (primary classrooms may have up to 35 students).  The librarian of the secondary school discussed her challenge in helping fostering a love of reading with only a limited number of books, many of which were not of interest to the students in the school.

In Mmathubudukwane, students are first taught to read in Setswana (the national language of Botswana) but during their first year of school they also begin to learn to speak and read English. Becoming biliterate is a focus during in Botswana. Unfortunately we arrived after instruction had ended for the day - but got a chance to meet some of the students and school staff. The Kindergarten teacher told us about her phonics, spelling, and writing instruction and the tremendous progress that students make during their time in her classroom.

A recap of their safari field trip (Our safari starts tomorrow!!!)

Today, Wednesday, we spent time in another Kindergarten classroom at Children's Village in the city of Gabarone. Arriving just after nap time  When we arrived we could hear several children singing the English alphabet as they played.  They loved books in this classroom  "Teacher! Teacher! Look - a snake!," one boy shouted excitedly to me as he and a classmate read through a book about animals. It was clear that reading was a social experience in this classroom, as students were actively engaged in reading and talking excitedly about the books they were reading. I didn't want to leave. [Those of you who know Lynne Watanabe are correct if you guessed that she didn't want to leave!]

A well-used classroom library at Children's Village

I am looking forward to learning more about the strong oral storytelling tradition and literature in Botswana next week!