Livro Aberto

In the past few weeks I've been working on developing the program for the Zobue Community Library, also known as Livro Aberto Zobue.  Livro Aberto means Open Book in Portuguese.  Since the beginning of October we've been able to do community library programming where the children actually get to choose books to read and read them independently.  It is very exciting for these students because many of them have probably never touched a book before, let alone new books with lots of colorful pictures.  Right now we are holding the community library program from 10-12 on Tuesday mornings.  We've settled on a schedule that has worked well for the past few weeks.

First, we start with a Bom Dia (good morning) song.  This activity helps settle the kids and introduce them by name.  Second we go over the alphabet.  Our goal is for all the students to know the names of the letters.  

After practicing the alphabet a few times we transition to our letter of the day.  We learn about the sounds of the letter, how to write the letter, and we draw a few things that start with that letter.  

This week our letter of the day was the letter F.  In this photo I am asking the students who has seen a formiga (ant) in their house lately.  It is ant season here so almost everyone should be raising their hands.

Next, I ask for volunteers to name other words that start with F.  This week we came up with words like faca, final, Francisco, and falta.

After going over the letter on the board, the students write down the words in the notebooks.

In this photo I am helping a students write the letter F.

Children working on writing their letter Fs.

After the writing and drawing activity, we do a little song and dance to get the kids moving a bit.  They love this song because they get to jump around and be silly.

After a quick break it is time for read aloud.  

Here I am reading the book David Vai a Escola

 Finally, the last activity of the day is independent reading.  Since we have students from 5th grade and students from 2nd and 3rd grades, I have each 5th grader find one or two younger students to read with.  After washing hands (very important before touching books) the children can choose books to read.

Reading time!

A 5th grade student helps a younger student read a book about colors.

The Nao David books are a big hit.

So far the reading program has been going really well.  It will be challenging keeping it going during the holidays, but I hope to start up again when school starts again next year.  My goals for next year are to train community members or other teachers to help run the program and perhaps expand the program to more days. I am so thankful for the opportunity to develop this program in Zobue.  Photo credits to Kevin Nguyen.