“THERE is never a point in the day where learners hang more on to every word of mine than when it is time to read a story out loud.”
As a Foundation Phase educator and a board member of the Literacy Association of South Africa, Asja Strydom puts great value in the need for dramatics during her classes to keep her learners engaged.
“Storytelling is part of our amazing heritage. I see it in my learners in class, in my colleagues and in my friends even when they tell a simple story about their weekend.
“We all love to create laughter and keep people in suspense, our fragile egos feed off moments like this,” said Asja.
One might ask why, surely learners are tired of your same old story telling acts and dramatics, especially after they have heard your voice the whole day.
But Asja said is was only recently after watching a video of herself reading, that she realised how much she became her characters and lived out the story.
“How my eyes stretch and narrow, my voice elevates and lowers, my body moves and grooves with the story.
“I want to encourage readers to pick up a book or tell the story to a child or another person today. Share the book idea you always wanted to write, say the poem out loud you wrote years ago, tell your grandchild a story from your childhood. Become part of someone’s literacy journey,” said Asja.
