Reading Group - First Session

I and a group of six students held the first session of the new reading group today!

We are reading a book called Jack Pepper by the author Sarah Lean, it’s one of the books donated by my dear friend Nancy.

We covered the first two chapters today. The students took turns reading a page or two, then we’d discuss any new words, then reread the passages again before moving onto the next section.


This group is made up of students whose will be taking exams in the next year or two - they can read quite well, but just need practice reading aloud and some help with pronunciation and the meanings of more obscure words.


I really enjoyed the session and I think the students did too. They paid attention, asked lots of questions and took it seriously, I was very impressed by how interested they were and how they all helped each other when someone struggled over a word or pronunciation. I’m looking forward to the next session in a few days time.

Books!!

It dawned on my recently that very few people that I know in Sierra Leone read for pleasure - off the top of my head I can only think of two: Mr Sullay my old driver and a young lady who helps around my compound sometimes.

It's also very apparent that a lot of our students struggle with reading.

So.....I decided it would be a good idea to start a kind of book club, I thought I could gather a small group together a couple of times a week to work our way through a book together - I'm hoping it will not only help our young people to improve their reading and understanding of English, but also to foster a love of reading in them.

Then I came across a stumbling block - books are quite dear aren't they? I figured I needed five or six copies of each book in order for the book club to be effective, but I just couldn't afford it.
I mentioned it to a couple of people then put it on the back burner while I tried to figure out a way to get some suitable books.

Nancy, one of our sponsors, went to her local Waterstones and just look what arrived today:
42 fabulous books!! I can't wait to get started on reading these with the kids. A massive thank you to Nancy, this is so generous! Also a big thank you to Nancy's local Waterstones who were so helpful and even added to the selection of books!!

I'd also mentioned my idea to Adele, one of the Transform Salone co-founders - and we spent a lovely afternoon trawling charity shops looking for books that would be good for reading one-on-one with the kids. Look at this lovely selection that Adele has provided, thank you Adele!!

So, now we have six sets of six books for the reading groups and nine books for one-on-one reading! I'm so happy!!

I will be starting the reading group next week!! My niece is coming to Sierra Leone next week and I've already roped her in to help with this - it's going to be great!!

This is just the start - I'm hoping to build up a small library of suitable books, if you would like to donate some, please do let me know.

I need books suitable for children and teenagers - have a look at the books in the photos to get an idea of the kind of books we need.

I love books and I love reading - and I'm hoping our students will learn to love it also.

My Ramblings

I'm feeling rather fedup with myself today. I'd decided that today was to be the day that the diet starts......then found myself in McDonalds scoffing a Big Mac Meal, a 'go large' one at that! What a piggy I am - I guess the diet is delayed until tomorrow. On a happy note....as today has now been designated as a no-diet day I'm looking forward to some crispy aromatic duck tonight! I've

.

I've joined the library, the best thing about it is the speed of the free internet connections there - it's much quicker than my vodafone mobile internet as there is STILL no 3G broadband coverage at home, the only downside is access is limited to one hour, but I suppose that's for the best otherwise people would stay on all day and no-one else would get the chance. I've been reading a lot too - the best book I've read recently was an autobiography called Shutterbabe by Deborah Copaken Kogan about her life as an photo-journalist. Another interesting book was 'Once a Pilgrim' by Will Scully about the siege at the Mamma Yoko hotel in Aberdeen, Sierra Leone in 1997.

I've been watching quite a lot of the Olympics, and suprised myself by quite enjoying some of it (I'm not normally one for watching sports on the TV). I must be going soft in my old age, as at times it's made me quite emotional - expecially at the medal ceromonies. The rowing and the cycling have had me shouting at the telly cheering on the Brits.