THERE is nothing more satisfying than holding a book, and feeling and smelling it as you turn the pages. The anticipation of what happens on the next page cannot be described.
These are the words of Nelson Mandela Bay teacher and published poet, Emelda Nel.
This language teacher, at McCarthy Comprehensive School in Kariega, recently started a project called The Reading Revolution as a means of helping to revive the love of reading in children, and help them improve their reading skills in general.
The aim of the initiative is to have people donate any books that they have lying around the house, so that these can be given to learners as a prize every term.
These learners will then form a reading club, where the group gets an opportunity to read books and give feedback. Learners are also encouraged to elaborate on, and add to these books, with their own poems or short transactional texts.
“This will prepare learners for events where they have to deliver speeches, do readings at school, participate in competitions, and maybe later on even write and publish their own books. The latter has already happened for learners who participated in my programme The Art of Language,” said Nel.
An Afrikaans teacher for many years, Nel said that the idea came about when she realised how afraid learners are to do impromptu orals in class.
“The main reason for this is that they can’t read. Some are shy and without confidence, and of course they get teased by their classmates when they struggle to read. It is quite bad to witness a child’s inability to read. Most of the time these are the learners with behavioural problems, and that is out of frustration and to shift the attention from their actual problem,” she said.
Nel added that after taking to social media with the initiative, people started sending various books.
She explained that x-rated books would be sold to adults and the money generated from these sales would be used to buy jerseys or shoes for children from needy homes.
“The project aims at improving reading skills in a fun and creative manner. This will lead to improved results from learners. They will have confidence and there will be fewer drop-outs. They will also develop a love for reading and books and read fluently,” she said.
“If there are members of the community with books just sitting on a shelf, that have already been read or will never be read, please donate them. I have already received books from many people, including all the way from Cradock, donated by the talented and well-known author, Clinton du Plessis.”
According to Nel, Mooniq Baboo, from Aida Real Estate, has established a drop-off point at her offices in Cape Road.
“There are more authors and people from all regions who have promised to donate books and I would like to thank everyone for this.”
For more info on the initiative, Nel can be contacted via WhatsApp on 081 007 0269. Messages can also be sent to her on Facebook Messenger.
“I will post regularly about the project on Facebook,” she added.
