Zhang Liuji, a teacher at the Beautiful China Project, read picture books with the children
Today is 23 April, the 27th World Book Day.
"Reading, I think it's a lifelong hobby." Speaking of reading, in recent years, General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized the importance of reading on many occasions and advocated that the whole society should strengthen reading and learning.
In the Beautiful China Volunteer Education Project, a large number of project teachers are also in the rural frontline, sparing no effort to promote reading education, so that reading has become a companion and a natural habit in the local area.
This reading day, we focused on the picture book education in the reading classroom, and invited four volunteer teachers who have been teaching picture book lessons to students in rural schools to talk to us about their stories with reading and children.
These stories respond not only to the meaning of our reading education, but also to let people see the nourishment and power of "reading" itself.
"There's so much uncertainty in the world, but we still have books, and words, and stories."
In reading class, the child cried.
@ Qu Zhangjing Beautiful China 2021 Project Teacher
Volunteer teaching in Lincang City, Yunnan Province, Yun County, Dazhai Town, Zhenmen Gate
It was a completely unexpected class.
Because there was a temporary problem with the multimedia in the classroom, the original prepared classroom content could not be carried out, so I simply found a picture book from the library and told it to the second-grade children.
The picture book is called "The Cat Who Lived a Million Times", which tells the "cat life story" of a tabby cat who has died 1 million times and lived 1 million times.
Picture source network | picture book "Cat That Lived a Million Times"
There was no preparation in advance, but as it was told, my students and I were deeply immersed in the story, talking about life and death as the plot unfolded.
When we talk about what "old death" means, a child says, "Old death means that he lived a complete life, but still walked through this life";
When we talk about the end of the story, the tabby cat and the white cat have lived their lives, but they have not woken up, the classroom is quiet, and there is a child crying, "Teacher, the fate of the tabby cat should not be like this."
So after class, I received a lot of small notes, and the small notes written and drawn were their expectations for the happy ending of the tabby cat.
The children hope that the story will have a happy ending
It reminded me of another picture book story I told my students before, "Guess How Much I Love You." In this picture book story, the big maroon rabbit and the little maroon rabbit compare each other with each other who loves who is more, resulting in a lot of warm dialogue:
Picture source network | picture book "Guess how much I love you"
After speaking about the picture book, I asked the children to imitate the two rabbits in the picture book and express their love in the form of pictures or words.
A second-grader wrote:
I love Mom, jumping from the classroom to outer space,
How high that is, how much I love you.
I love Dad, walking across the river from home,
If I walk through the mountains again, I will love you as far as I go.
I love my sister, from China to the outer planet,
I walked a few meters and loved you so much.
>> Swipe right to see how your children express their love after reading
In the process of reading picture books with children, I was always touched by their kind and soft hearts, and amazed by their expressions that hit the heart.
I think that good words have the power to attract and inspire people, and the same is true of picture books.
Many years later, children may forget the content of the story, but they will not forget that they wept for the fate of a cat, nor will they forget that they once expressed their love bravely like two rabbits.
These feelings in reading will touch the softness, kindness, justice, thinking, empathy, and constantly nourish their inner world, which is the best gift of reading.
Every story is a microcosm of real life.
@ Chen Hualing Beautiful China 2020 Project Teacher
He Liu finished teaching in Mengmeng Town, Shuangjiang County, Lincang City, Yunnan Province
In the past two years of teaching in Yunnan, I have indeed told many picture book stories to students, and I often think: What is reading? What is picture book education?
Teacher Wei Zhiyuan, an education expert, once said in the book: "The core of picture books lies in the story, and the outstanding feature of the story lies in its symbolism, which becomes a key for children to understand the world, understand others, and understand themselves, or the best nutrition." ”
In the picture book class, I often find that the characters, stories, and plots in the picture books we read together are closely related to our own lives and the lives of our children.
In a sense, picture book stories are the epitome of our real lives.
In a class at the end of last semester, I was chatting with the children in the class, and suddenly a child mentioned that the boy in the class, Xiaoping (both pseudonyms in the text), was a "girly". He also added that Xiaoping talked and behaved like a girl, and other teachers often ridiculed him.
In the midst of the laughter, I looked at Xiaoping, who had a bitter smile on his face, and immediately stopped this behavior, but did not think of a better way to educate.
After class, I turned around and glanced at the picture book story page posted on the wall of the class, and immediately thought of the picture book "You Are Special" that I had told them before.
"You're Special" picture book assignment posted on the chalkboard
"You're Special" tells the story of a group of little wooden people, the Micromax people, who do only one thing all day long — stickers on each other, "venus" for talented people, and "gray spots" for people they despise, which makes everyone live in "labels".
In the next reading class, I took the students to recall the storyline of the picture book "You Are Special" -
The fat brother who is suffering from the "gray dot" sticker on his body, does not care about the sticker, so no matter what the sticker can not stick to his Lucia, he must praise the fat brother's special "father of the Micromax" carpenter Eli.
The source network | fat brother who was plastered with "gray dots" in "You Are Special"
After the story ended again, I didn't say anything, the classroom was silent, everything was in silence.
I think it was the picture book that gave me and the kids a common language code. When encountering some complex educational situations, tell a story that fits this situation, and the children themselves will get understanding and response from the story.
This is also the charm of picture books - in a variety of different themes of picture books, children can be transformed into characters in the story, going through one journey after another.
And the answers to the growth of life obtained on these journeys will answer one doubt after another that children encounter in the future.
They are both readers and creators
@ Yang Chen Wenjuan Beautiful China 2020 Project Teacher
He teaches at Jinbi Primary School in Dayao County, Chuxiong Prefecture, Yunnan Province
Mr. Nao Matsui, the "father of Japanese picture books", once said that picture books are books that can be read by anyone aged 0-99.
My picture book journey with the kids began in the first semester of volunteer teaching. At that time, my project school was still under construction, and the students did not have a fixed entertainment program after class.
So every evening after dinner, I chose an electronic picture book, sat in the office door with the computer, and read with the children.
From Anthony Brown's "The Gorilla" and "Little Kai's Home Is Different", to the later "Fifi Is Angry" and "Stone Soup"; from "I don't know what a picture book is", to every afternoon the children come to the office early, wait for me, wait for the picture book -
The tranquility and joy that reading brings quietly fills every afternoon of soaring freely with stories and imaginations.
In my circle of friends, I recorded the impact and changes brought about by many picture books
Later, I managed to collect a large number of high-quality books for the school, moved picture book stories into the classroom, and took a fixed time every week to read picture books with my children.
The kids who helped me sort out my books in the library
In the process of telling picture book stories, I gradually discovered that picture books are presented through wonderful language and pictures, but these languages and pictures need to be conveyed by the person who reads it to the person who listens to it.
So I think that in the countryside, if we can tell the story in the picture book in the local local language, the picture book experience we get may stay in the lives of the narrator and the listener for a longer time.
So I tried to invite teachers and children from different regions to record picture books with local dialects and dig out more interesting elements in picture books.
Xiangyin Contributors: Zhang Yuxue, Zuo Mengjuan, Guo Jingshu, Tieguangyuan, Pu Yuzhen
Fourth-grade students of He Liu Finish Primary School in Mengmeng Town, Shuangjiang County, Lincang City
In the process of children participating in the recording of rural music picture books in the most familiar language, they will have a deeper understanding and feeling of the content of the picture books.
And their childish and sincere tones, intentional or unintentional pauses, also add a few different kinds of fun to the picture book.
The scene of the recording of the township music picture book
In this way, we treasure every rural sound of the children and record their happiness and growth in the process of reading.
Two years of volunteer teaching, limited time, doomed to be unable to accompany children to read and grow up all the time.
But I believe that as long as the seeds of love of reading are sown in the hearts of children, they will have a curiosity, impulse and strength within themselves, calling and leading them to become a lifelong reader.
Reading, the "anchor" that makes people feel stable and powerful
@ Zhang Liuji Beautiful China 2020 Project Teacher
He taught in the center of Mengku Town, Shuangjiang County, Lincang City, Yunnan Province
When it comes to reading, we don't have to think about it too complicated. Because reading is essentially a very easy and healing thing.
In reading classes, students don't need to conquer a "kingdom" or become someone who provides accurate answers.
But reading will always present its joy in small things, such as: carefully observing each picture, bravely expressing one's own opinions, properly handling one's emotions, better understanding oneself and others...
Here I would like to share the story of a special student in the class, "Fange".
"Brother Fan" is a somewhat special child, who will make all kinds of strange movements in class, such as curling his head and body under the bench during class, demonstrating what he thinks he thinks is "bone reduction". For the first two weeks of school, I couldn't even communicate with him.
But after reading the picture book "Little Monsters of Emotions" together, I found that he was very interested in the story in the book. I told him that you could also paint your emotions in a bottle in color — for example, when you feel good, you can draw a green bottle.
The source network | emotional monster in a calm state
In this way, I accompanied him to draw a small red dinosaur bottle representing anger, a small green tree bottle representing calm, and a yellow hourglass bottle representing happiness. Only three, not many, but for him, enough.
In the days that followed, whenever he was emotionally unstable, I reminded him to pick up a paintbrush and draw his emotions instead of resorting to all sorts of strange behaviors.
Fan Ge painted the emotional tree, and the green represents calm
The two tea drinkers under the tree were him and Teacher Zhang
Teacher Zhang's hair was long, and he was pouring him the Coke he liked to drink
To borrow a phrase from the documentary "But There Are Books": Picture books are like an anchor thrown into the distance, which can guide children's long and unknown life journey and bring them the power of stability.
And when this stabilizing force precipitates, it will not only affect each reader itself, but also bring warmth and nourishment to the people around ta.
In my second year of teaching picture books to my students, I found that more and more students would share the picture books I read with them to my family, to my parents, to my brothers and sisters.
One of the children's brothers was in kindergarten in the town, so he went to the kindergarten to tell the children there.
Students share the picture books they read together with more people
In the process of reading and sharing, they gradually developed the habit of thinking. Their hearts are moistened by stories like tea, and everyone can find different fun in colorful stories.
I think this unique harvest and fun in the reading experience is also the best blessing that books can pass on to all children.
At the end of the article, regarding the significance of reading education in the countryside, I would like to quote a passage from Qu Zhangjing, the teacher of the project:
"I used to go sheep herding with my kids on weekends. Under the firmament, the sheep are driven away, and the sound of sheep grazing on the vast wilderness, accompanied by the sound of the wind and the song in the distance, is accompanied by loneliness most of the time.
In this way, the shepherd can go a day without speaking, which is an experience for me, but for the child, it is the norm.
I can't help but imagine, in such a situation, what should I find to accompany my child? The first thing that comes to mind is a book, a touching novel, a poem that soothes the soul. But when the sun is really dazzling, reading is not a good choice, it is better to pick up the local reeds, melodious and changeable to deserve the majesty of the mountains.
I would love to tell every child, "If you like to read, I will be happy, but if you don't love reading, I also hope that in the days of reading together, you can find something you love, or sing, or reeds, or collect some strange little stones... These unrelated loves will enrich your heart."
So, reading is just a key, bringing thousands of possibilities for people to be rich in their hearts.
The source network | from the "But There Are Books" documentary