By
BM Dzukogi
MONOGRAPH 003
First published in 2012
CONTENTS
- Book is the soul of humanity
- Word is soul!
- What will you read?
- What does a book do?
- Book is life!
- Read books always!
- Still i ask, what is it in a book?
- Reading activities
- What read wants you to achieve
- Application of read activities
- What you get from knowing a word each day.
Book is Soul of Humanity
The Holy Books enjoin man to read, it is a reminder and a warning that good life depends on the height of knowledge or education one has acquired. They emphasise literacy and knowledge as prerequisite for good life on earth and beyond.
Books have also served as principal sources of concrete form of communication in written text between man and God, the other form being inspiration. Inspiration is not concrete in form, this subject to many changes and interpretations before materialisation because man is an embodiment of frailties like forgetting, misrepresentation, mutilation in understanding or even treachery to distort order etc, which could dislocate human mind in his relationship with God and indeed with fellow creatures.
However, Egyptians and the Mesopotamians had their forms of writing 3200 years before Christ until alphabets; containing letters were developed in Lebanon and later enhanced by the Greeks. Therefore, if we must read, word, written or spoken occupies a sacred space in our affairs. How does this sacred look?
Word is Soul!
“What binds the world together is love; without word, love becomes meaningless”. Therefore, communication or word is the essential element of existence that propels human community forward. Not just that; it helps to keep it together through the imaginary web it networks among us. If it does, then its sanctity must not be defiled through misappropriation while we transact our affairs. Word must be kept sacred all the time and safe somewhere. Where could that be? You may ask. Book, of course! Every other medium or device employed today as a form of communication or documentation of human activity is simply a replica of what book represents. Your computer, internet and other electronic devices in communication world helplessly have to display pages or sheets to be meaningful. In other words, they too become alive only with books or written texts in them. So, a book is the timeless material that helps to preserve humanity. This is why we must read, that we may grow physically (environment), spiritually (God) and intellectually (knowledge). Perhaps, this is why we must not lie in the course of our affairs, perhaps, this is why we must tell the truth all the time, perhaps, this is why promise is a debt to humans for peaceful and prosperous life on earth “Read!”.
What will you Read?
Will you read without a written text? No! Then should we say, the noblest thing to do first is to write? Yes! Is it all of us that would write? Yes! Why? Because, we all have ideas, that can develop humanity. “Idea is greater than man”. There is no one that is better than others except one with good ideas that lift mankind to higher goals of creation. And what is this good idea? The good idea is a mental conception turned into a useful product from creative or scientific imagination of the individual. What are the examples of ideas? They are computers, fans, radio, television, chairs, brooms, cars, flasks, chalk, pen, paper, stories, poems, songs, painting, etc. These are the things found in our communities, these are the things found in books. These are the little, little details: little things that bind with human and natural motion to form what we called life or living. Life itself is about motion, everything on earth moves. Everything! Life is not about bogus occurrences, it is about little things around you, so little that they must be recorded in book form or you lose them. Man, who is to live for thousands and thousands of years on earth must preserve himself and his actions. Therefore, he needs to record his own events and happenings that such must be passed-on, from generation to generation. What will you write? Is it non-fiction or fiction? What is it in a book?
What does a Book do?
What is it in a book that it must be read always? Academically speaking, we may say that book is an effective medium of cultural preservation, language growth and retention, knowledge transmission, intellectual propagation and protection, documentation and reference, information dissemination, entertainment and leisure for the continuation of life of man and his environment. Without book, there is no life and therefore no development.
Book is Life!
Life is currently at the state of high development because we have books to read, where we learn new things. We do not just learn things; we recreate them and get inspired to create new ones too. You get these ideas in non-fiction texts or books of formal-content in the sciences and humanities. You can call them educational texts (biology, geography, physics, PHE, mathematics, social studies, etc). You also get ideas from fiction, imaginative contents like novel, poetry, play and a host of other forms of creative writing. If you cannot write any of these, your letters to friends or loved ones bring out the best of your imaginative prowess, keep them. Similarly, essays resulting from simple observation of human behaviours, the environment or political occurrences are good subjects that people should write about, casual pieces of notes to friends or at workplace, quotations are all forms of written texts, write, keep and print them (eventful or uneventful), man learns from them to enhance humanity. They come in form of memoirs, letters or autobiographies. Your acts are as significant as any other man’s acts, so, record events in your life in book form so that we may learn. You do not have to be a governor before a book is written about you. “Nobody is more important than the other because everyone has something important another man does not have”. However, if you cannot write at all, you can read, ro read!
Read Books Always!
Man must read to open himself to a variety of experiences. You must read a book a week. Pick any subject of your choice from bookshelves, from bookshops, attend book fairs and gathering of book concerns and get enhanced. Reading opens your mind to new levels of thoughts and appreciation; it teaches you tolerance and puts at your disposal the best of alternatives and quality decisions. Read newspapers, magazines, journals, fiction, notice boards, billboards, sign posts – just read. The reason why students or children must read is, the more you read the more your brain fibres grow. Thousands and millions of information man encounters in life are stored in these brain fibres.
Therefore, one who reads a lot develops the fibres to accommodate more and more information. The more information you have, the better you can answer questions, the calmer you will relate with people. Reading also sparks off inspiration and keeps you mentally alert. In a reading society, you find many bookshops. Unfortunately, it is not so with our society. This makes book fairs relevant, and even so, at the point of resumption for a new academic session, parents and children can access books easily. Parents who think they are too busy to read books are disasters to the society. They are dangerous to our community if they keep producing children and do not spare time to buy books for them each week to read. Here is a simple strategy for making your kids gifted. Make a small shelf at home, buy books anytime you take your salary and watch what the children become in a short while. Soon will you see your house sprouting with little thinkers, smart talkers and brilliant kids who are ready to “reprimand” any erring member of the family! The child has simply read the correct thing in a book. Giftedness enhances the quality of life of a child. But you must ensure that you select what they read.
Still I Ask, What is it in a Book?
I say, man is in a book! His soul is in there, who he is, what he did, what he does and what he will do and when he will do it, are in it. If you do not know what he did, find it in a book. If you do not know where to go, ask a book. If you do not know how to do it, consult a book. Book is yesterday, today and tomorrow. Book is you! Neglect it and lose your soul. Book is permanent!
Reading Activities:
1. Weekly Editorial by the Class Teacher or Coordinator
2. Own a new Word each Day
3. Know a Book each Week or Month
4. Class Readers’ Shelf
5. Vocgame
6. Writer of the Month Competition
7. Mini Literature Library
8. Readers’ Garden and Theatre
9. Mother – Kitchen – Book Collective Exercise
These activities shall be conducted simultaneously or singly for the session or a year. (Please see the procedure for the implementation of each activity).
What Read Wants You to Achieve
i) To sharpen your language, skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing;
ii) For good understanding of other subjects taught in the school;
iii) For you to discover your talents in literary art;
iv) For you to adopt reading and writing as a hobby;
v) To occupy your mind with concrete thoughts, which will serve as a window for greater knowledge;
vi) For the growth of the community and the world through the knowledge you get from reading.
APPLICATION OF READ ACTIVITIES
Item One:
Editorial
(For class teachers, private lesson teachers, parents or neighbourhood coordinator’s only).
Each week, the class teacher or the coordinator shall write an editorial of profound subject matter for members and be pasted on the class notice board or central notice board or home board. The content shall be deliberately tailored towards working on the minds of the children to implant ideas of hard-work, national ideals, scholarship, disciple, love for one another, moral instructions, education, writing and reading, and creativity or enterprises. Please see sample below:
The Art of Thinking and Writing Everything:
Everything you see around you was once an idea. I mean, it was somebody’s thought (thinking): Chair, Broom, Fan, Radio, Motorcycle, Car, Computer, Aeroplane.
Be a Thinker:
You can be a thinker of good ideas too. The thoughts we do are as a result of the thing we think. Why don’t you start thinking of something that does not exist. I mean something that is new, something that will help people around the world.
Please Write:
Your friends, school, home, village, Nigeria, the world and yourself would benefit when you write down your good thoughts (Poems, Stories, Essay, Compositions or a Piece of note in your personal exercise book). If you don’t, you will lose your good thoughts, the world would miss it. You know that, ideas fly in the air, if you don’t catch them and put them down on paper, the world will not develop. Imagine that the QUR’AN and the BIBLE were never compiled, what would you practice today?
Remember:
Without good thinking, there cannot be good man and woman, good products and good society, with new things. Everybody likes new things. New things come because somebody is thinking new.
Get Inspired:
(Things that make you think)
A lot of things can make you think well; the subjects you learn in school, the environment around you, beautiful imagining of things, reading books and newspaper, listening to the Radio and watching good Television programmes, and even dreams. Write them down!
(A Good Thought Can Change the World)
1. Short essays on weekends – expose
2. Poetry book
3. Story book
4. Book of Quotations
5. Letter writing
6. Collective sayings by parents, uncles and elders.
Item Two:
Own a New Word each Day
Teachers can only do their best by guiding (teaching) you. But the duty to learn English or any Nigerian language very well remains your duty. We are concentrating on English language because that is what we use in schools and offices.
You fail your examinations not because you do not know what the teachers taught you, but because you don’t have good language to express clearly what you know. You can improve your English language skills by your own personal efforts to learn it. One-way through: own a new word each day. It is an activity you can do alone. However, your teacher or coordinator can supervise the Word-bank (book) each week. (See procedure below).
You must get a pocket dictionary and a beautiful exercise book because the success of VOCGAME depends on this activity. Vocgame is another READ activity in this book.
Step 1: Open
Open to any page of your pocket dictionary. Look through the words on a page or pages you will see that, one word catches your attention more than others. Take it, it is yours. Or you can take any new word from the story book you are reading.
Step 2: Spelling
Learn to spell it through practice. Then try to spell it off-hand, which is without looking at it from worbook, storybook or dictionary. Do it regularly. In a few minutes the word would be in your head.
Step 3: Meaning
Understand the meaning very well. Ask teachers or parents or private lesson teachers about the use of the word. Try to use the word for that day, especially with your friends within and outside the school. Use it with teachers and in assignments. Always try to remember the spelling and the night, the WORD is already yours. It will not go off head again and you are the richer for it. So, in thirty days, you have thirty new words in your head, which can be used freely, anywhere.
Step 4: Safe-Keeping
What is your must be kept well. Keep your words in an exercise book. People call it Vocabulary Book or Wordbank. Register your words there for safe-keeping and reminder.
WHAT YOU GET FROM KNOWING A WORD EACH DAY
i) Learning is made easy because you can study on your own and understand;
ii) Teachers works are made easy because the words they use are in your head;
iii) You will be more confident with more words in your head among your mate;
iv) You will be ahead of others if you are more committed in knowing a new word each day;
v) The art of writing and reading will become your hobby. This will reduce play and watching of films. And you will become one of the great thinkers of the world;
vi) You will understand examination questions very well. This will make you use the correct language to answer the question. Your answers will help the teacher know more. And he will like you the more.
Item Three:
Class Readers Shelf/Room Readers Shelf
In line with the teaching of READ, the class teacher or group coordinator shall draw up a list of titles of books that contain ideas so desired by the school for the development of class library. Texts can be written by teachers deliberately tailored towards such ideas the school wants children to learn.
In the spirit of “active participation”, each member of the class shall donate one or more books to the library each term. At the end of the session, a child would have donated not less than three titles. Thus, in a class of thirty pupils/students, a minimum of ninety titles would be available in a year. At a home READ programme, it is the responsibility of parents to buy a book each week for the child’s ROOM SHELF, which is a replica of Class Readers Shelf.
Once the books are on shelf, each child shall be made to read all the titles in the class or half of it through borrowing. Records shall be kept of each child’s progress, incentives (certificate) shall be given to the highest reader in a month. The class teacher shall introduce the READ COMPETITION weekly or monthly. Rewards and praises shall also be used as motivational factors. In a home programme, each parent should device a way of rewarding performance, which must be material.
At the end of each session, no child shall move to the next class with the titles donated. The essence of contributing to the shelf is to enable others to read variety of titles in a given school. It is also to teach the act of charity and love for others. What is good for a child in one class is also good for another in other classes. Thus, if titles are in short supply in the child’s next class, the process of enriching the shelf shall be repeated by another round of contribution. In any case, enrichment of the shelf is a termly activity till the child graduates from school. (Teachers or Coordinators must make new list of books at the beginning of each term to avoid duplication of titles). A title could be allocated to each child for donation.
A class librarian shall be elected on termly basis to man the shelf. The class teacher is to keep the list of borrowed books. Borrowing shall not last for more than two days. Books borrowed on Monday must be returned by Wednesday, Tuesday is to be returned by Thursday, Wednesday is to be returned by Friday. No borrowing on Thursday. It is for competition. Books borrowed on Friday shall be returned on Monday. A child shall not borrow more than two books at a time. All spoilt books shall be replaced by a new one except where the damage is little. This can be valued into cash and paid by the child where such books are not available in Minna.
Parents, PTA or the school authority shall donate a shelf and other reading accessories to a class. The shelf could be a standing one or hung on the wall. But it must be well secured. The beauty and success of this activity is sorely dependent on the class teacher. A class notice board is also desirable for information and shall be placed near the shelf, especially information or highlights or texts on the shelf, and teachings inherent in them. All write-ups must be done by an appointed child in the class or any volunteer among them.
This activity also benefits the teacher, since he would have to read the texts on the shelf too for proper analyses and supervision. For a home read programme, few things are needed. The parent should provide a small shelf in the child’s room. He should buy at least a book each week for the shelf. They should create time for children to read the stories especially in the evenings. Reward is necessary. Supervision is very important.
Item Four:
Know a Book each Week
This activity is to enable the child read a book each week. Thus, you would have read twelve books in a term of twelve weeks. This would be okay.
However, your effort shall be measured by the number of titles contributed each term to the class shelf or room shelf. But you should not fall short of twelve titles in a term.
The essence of this activity is first, to inculcate reading habit in you; to develop and sustain your interest in the art of reading. Secondly, through other activities that would be introduced by the teacher or coordinator, it is also expected that the good teachings of books shall be brought out openly in the class or at home for you to learn and practice.
The other activities are the ‘editorial’ pasted on the notice boards, which could be based on the teachings of a book. Or the “know a book competition” which is about the highest reader of titles in the class per month. And “who answer most questions in a book competition”, at the end of the week, month oe term. In each case, certificates shall be awarded as prizes. Parents, teachers, the school or PTA could sponsor the prizes in a particular class or more.
In the case of “know a book competition”, it shall be based on the titles on the class shelf. While in “who answers most questions”, the title should not be on the class shelf. Here, the title of a storybook shall be given for each month. All members of the class or group shall look for it and read in readiness for the monthly questions (inform of examination). Therefore, questions would have to be set on paper (a page only), and it shall be multiple choice only. The highest score wins the competition.
Item Five:
Vocgame
The success of your efforts in this game would be determined by the level of your commitment to ‘own a new word each day’, because this is a game of spelling or meaning. It comes after own a new word each day item on the READ programme.
In this game, progress of new words you have can easily be known. The game also gives further challenges to children as players or competitors are at liberty to request opponents to spell a word assumed not known or in the opponents’ vocabulary book or Wordbank.
Requirements
i) A set of Dummy Currency in Naira, and of different denominations
ii) A Dictionary
iii) Score Sheet or Board
iv) Used Word Sheet
Officials:
i) Two Referees
ii) A Scorer and a Board Scorer during championship
Nature of Play:
It is played on a table with opponents facing each other. One referee sitting alone while the other referee sits with the scorer at the other ends of the table.
The question (player) pronounces a word, which the opponent will spell correctly or define correctly to win the amount put on the table or two points only. Failure to spell it correctly at two trials gives the questioner the whole of the amount put down or no point. Failure to pronounce the word correctly in the eye of the 1st referee attracts deduction of ten percent of the total amount won earlier or subtraction of one point from one’s total score.
For a game of ‘meaning of word’, the word is written down on paper or pronounced for the opponent to define within ten seconds. Failure to define it to the satisfaction of the dictionary and the 1st referee makes the respondent lose the amount on the table, and vice versa or loss of two points.
In all cases, the referee with the dictionary is the chief and shall have the final say. Each word used shall be recorded. However, parent, private lesson teacher could be the referee. The above officials are required when the contest is among children themselves.
Procedure:
i) Dummy currency shall be produced in high values and in different denominations. Plastic or cardboard can be cut into such denominations and labelled according to the required amounts for game, depending on the age groups playing because their numerical knowledge of counting would vary. But, the value of denominations could be as high as Trillion Naira. It shall be in two sets. Each player takes a set of equal value at the beginning, except in a “continuation game”, where each player retains the values scored earlier.
ii) The class shall be divided into sub-groups of any number to play a game. A game could also take place between two children, with other children serving as officials.
iii) There shall be two referees with two dictionaries and a scorer. The duties of the 1st referee is to check out the appropriate spelling from the dictionary, to award marks or amount for correct or incorrect response as the case may be. The 2nd referee keeps record of used words and notify the 1st referee where one is used for more than once in a match. He shall also become a scorer if officials are lacking in a championship while the scorer becomes board scorer. A match shall be the totality of the agreed sets by the competitors at the beginning of the match. The 1st referee shall have the final decision on any matter concerning the game. Responses to spelling should be written for clarity.
iv) The scorer shall keep appropriate record of scored amount throughout the game, with an announcement of total score at a certain interval at the call of 1st referee or competitors.
v) The match could be divided into quarters of not less than twenty of three chances to spell a word correctly by each competitor. Or a straight match of one game until one’s money is finished. It is called VOCFEAST.
vi) A match could take up to five sittings of a maximum of two days for individuals and five days for group game in the class or a championship. A win can be called if a player leads with 80% of the total amount used by each player at the beginning of the game.
vii) No vocabulary book or Wordbook shall be used by the competitors.
viii) Any misspelling by the questioner shall attract a reduction of 10% of the amount win. He shall have three chances, after which he forfeit his slot.
ix) Only one aspect of VOCGAME shall be used at a game or match i.e. spelling or meaning.
Item Six:
Writer of the Month Competition
The essence of this activity is to consolidate the excitement generated by the child’s wide reading of titles on the class readers’ shelf etc. It is expected that, the child would begin to nurse his own independent ideas he comes in contact with many in books and would want to tinker with the art of writings. Therefore, “writer of the month competition” should afford him an independent medium of expression.
The competition shall take the format of ASCAFS, both in structure and procedure (i.e. on-the-spot activities) in the following areas: painting, poetry, short story and essay writing. Essay shall be more emphasised than others.
Each child shall have a beautiful exercise book, kept with the class teacher, useable when the time comes for writing. It shall be taken home on Friday and returned on Monday. Each of the child’s write-up shall be done in the exercise book without prior knowledge of the topic or theme, which shall be given on the spot. The highest score wins the competition. The two major areas to be scored are: compactness and relevance of the way the theme is treated, and the correctness of the language. Other criteria could be introduced by the teacher.
At certain length, an individual’s or group’s collection of write-up could be contemplated for publication. The winner of the monthly competition shall emerge by the total sum of scores for the month. He shall be awarded with a certificate with an amount if affordable.
Item Seven:
Mini Literature Library:
This shall be a small room where ‘precious’ books are kept for children. Precious, because the majority of titles kept there would not be found in the CLASS READERS SHELF or ROOM READERS SHELF.
Journals, Magazines, Encyclopaedia, and Electronics like Video Machine, Television, Tape Recorder, Video Camera, Still Camera, Public Address Gadgets, Computer Sets, etc shall be kept there. The electronics may not be necessary but desirable (applicable to school only).
The library shall serve as a complimentary resources centre that would pose greater challenges to the child’s intellect.
Contributions of materials to the library shall be through donations by students/pupils, teachers, parents, PTA, individuals, organisations, the school authority and government.
Students shall be the permanent custodians of the library with a staff supervisor. The custodians shall be made to learn library procedures from the school librarian and apply the skills accordingly, (2 senior secondary students and 2 junior secondary students).
The library shall borrow out books as specified in the Class Readers Shelf. Only literary and current affairs materials shall be kept there.
Item Eight:
Readers Garden and Theatre:
This shall be a moderate garden with a stage for performance. The following activities could take place there: Reading sessions, singing, drama, debate, meeting, relaxations and rehearsals etc.
It shall be made of local materials like flowers, trees, logs as seats, woods as fence etc to secure the place. It should be a beautiful place to provide the natural aura and aesthetics required for inspiration, so needed for artistic energy. It shall be an open place with a student head.
Specific services (snacks) could be offered besides it. The location shall be fairly away from noisy areas of the school.
For home READ programme, this is optional.
