A cosy corner to read in the school

A reading corner belongs to children and is a part of their classroom where books are kept in open racks for easy access. Children have the complete freedom of choosing books from a range of attractively displayed books and reading. It provides opportunities for children for independent reading as well as group activities.

Engaging with children’s literature should be an integral part of classroom processes. As children develop an interest in and engage with literature they will be encouraged to visit the school library.

For teachers, a reading corner gives a platform to support children in their developmental processes of making and constructing meaning. Teachers can transform the physical space of the classroom to create a conducive, lively and inviting space for reading. At least 30 minutes should be allotted for the students to engage in the reading corner every day.

Conventionally, on the basis of their experience, teachers had evolved certain ‘methods’ such as the alphabet methods, ‘look and say’ methods, the word method, and so on. None of these methods was based on the knowledge of the reading process. Yet, these methods continue to be popular to this day.

Now we know reading involves the sampling of graphic information. As our eyes wade through shapes of letters, punctuation marks, combinations of letters in words and spaces between words, our mind does not have to handle all of these graphic details. If this were the case, the mind’s capacity to process separate bits of information would be overloaded, and the speed at which most of us normally operate would become impossible.

Promoting reading and writing

This is precisely what happens to a lot of children who learn reading by conventional methods. Reading involves simultaneous processing of all three types of clues that any use of language consists of, namely (i) Grapho-phonic (letters-sound relationship) clues or the shape of letters and the sounds associated with the; (ii) syntactic clues or word order (such as, noun follows adjective); and (iii) semantic clues or the meanings of words.

As habitual users of language, we develop certain expectations relating to all three types of clues. They help us fill in by prediction or intelligent guessing what our eyes have ignored during reading through graphically presented symbols.

Millions of children learn reading every year but most of them fail to achieve lasting reading skills. Reading for pleasure has remained passive and perfunctory in the school curriculum. The National Curriculum framework-2005 emphasises the need to focus on reading skills during the primary school years and on creating a print-rich environment in order to encourage reading as a lifelong habit.

When a child has learnt to read, the teacher’s job is to make sure that the child uses reading for a variety of purposes. Many of our primary schools do not encourage reading for a variety of purposes other than textbooks and preparation for examinations. Reading to find new information, reading for developing a personal interest, and reading for pleasure get neglected. Reading fails to become a part of overall personality development. This is indeed a grave failure, but teachers can avert it.

Writing is a mode of expressing the feeling, views capture in one’s mind. It is a kind of talk. While writing, we communicate with someone who most often may not be present in front of us. A lot of writing is done simply to preserve something: a piece of information, an idea, or a memory.

But even in this role, writing can be seen as a talk with oneself. Teachers must introduce writing to young children as a form of talk.

Print-rich environment

It is an environment surrounded by a variety of pictures related to real-life situations in order to make a child familiar with the things around us and is also important for the purpose of language development in a child. Print awareness refers to the forms, conventions and functions of print, including alphabets knowledge. It includes skills such as understanding that print carries meaning; being aware of environmental print; being able to handle books properly; understanding the directionality of print; being familiar with major book elements such as the cover, title or author; and knowing the letters of the alphabet.

These basic skills enable children to understand what print looks like, how it works and why it is used. Before they enter kindergarten, low-income children tend to show weaker print awareness skills than their middle-class peers. Studies have shown that print referencing strategies improve print awareness skills. These strategies focus children’s attention towards the forms (e.g. alphabet letters), conventions (e.g. reading directionality) and functions (e.g. print represents speech) of print. A print-rich environment can be created by -

• Displaying various colourful material
• Different types of pictures related to children
• Printed Cards, and boards
• Creating a meaningful environment

Children’s literature comprises certain life stories, biography, poems, novels, and drama related to the children’s world. Children’s literature at their level constitutes font size, simple language, illustrations in detail, simple plot, attractive pictures, and quality print. Literature books foster imagination generates curiosity inculcate the value and help children to engage in it. It promotes opportunities for reading and writing.

A reading corner should have a print-rich environment and a good bunch of books for all ages so that children get attracted to and benefit from reading.