Literacy Campaign in the New Normal

 Literacy Campaign in the New Normal

                     

                    The Academic Year 2020-2021 started with a bit of uncertainty. As teachers were told to work from home, so do our pupils to study at their own homes. We were in a dilemma of how to teach our pupils without actually facing them. As early as March 2020, a series of webinars oriented the teachers on the Continuing Learning Delivery in the new normal. New concepts and new techniques were learned by the mentors. But still the pressing questions: How will I effectively teach my pupils in this set-up? How will I deliver my lessons? Will they be able to learn?

                   Learning to read is essential. Reading is considered as the most basic skill.  Other skills stemmed from reading. If one cannot read, how can one learn? Teaching reading, especially beginning reading, in the new normal is a challenge. It is much easier to teach reading face to face with a pupil, but given the situation today, a teacher has to find ways and that's where the challenge lies.

                   Modules are excellent but not sufficient. There is a need to make supplementary materials to aid the parents in teaching reading to their children because a teacher is not physically present. So preparations have to be made early. Around June 2020 having gone through the scheduled webinars, it was time for preparing the said supplementary materials. Reading materials were written and gathered, then a compilation was made. The booklet entitled First Step in Reading contains the Alphabet (for letter sounds), blending exercises, single words, word phrases, basic sight words, word families, and short stories in Mother Tongue (referring to the local dialect), Filipino, and English. The entire booklet of fifty pages will be used for the whole school year. On the other hand, audio recordings of the alphabet sounds and blending exercises of consonant-vowel, vowel-consonant and cvc were also done. The booklet and audio recording go hand in hand, used together every reading session. Videos of pupils reading from the booklet First Step in Reading sent by eager parents were also sent to other parents as examples and serve as guide in teaching their children how to read while at home. A video on learning to read through phonics by Barbara Milne was also sent to parents.

                      Upon knowing that the chosen modality of majority of parents in class is modular learning, a group chat was then set up for easier communication. It is through the class GC that communication between teacher and parents/pupils happen. During a series of online orientations before classes formally opened, parents were informed about the supplementary reading material that will be provided them. The audio files/recordings were sent to their individual accounts and the reading booklets were distributed in school according to a schedule. Some parents who have PCs and printers at home opted to be sent the softcopy of the reading material via email. These materials are to be used by parents for reading practice at home. A parent can turn on the audio recording on their cp and the child can practice by listening first then producing the sounds, at the same time looking at the booklet. During video calls with the teacher, the child uses this same booklet for reading practice.

                       At present, more than half of the class have had video calls with the teacher where the teacher taught pupils beginning reading online and monitor progress. For parents who have weak internet or do not have smartphones, they borrowed cp and video their children while reading using First Step in Reading booklet then submit the video to the teacher's personal account. The goal is to somehow assess the reading progress of the pupil and make the necessary feedback to the parents personally next time they come to school to get/submit modules. 

                        It is best to prepare beforehand. The goal of distributing the supplementary reading material early is for the parents who are our partners during this time to have enough time to assist their children in learning to read. Though from time to time, teachers too conduct online tutorials in reading through video calls, it is the parents who are with them most of the time. The parents are given guided instructions by the teachers on what to do. Both teachers and parents can work hand in hand for the pupils especially during this time. 

/EAB