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LEARNING TO READ IN BENGALILEARNING TO READ IN BENGALILEARNING TO READ IN BENGALILEARNING TO READ IN BENGALI

REPORT OF A SURVEY IN FIVEREPORT OF A SURVEY IN FIVEREPORT OF A SURVEY IN FIVEREPORT OF A SURVEY IN FIVE

KOLKATA PRIMARY SCHOOLSKOLKATA PRIMARY SCHOOLSKOLKATA PRIMARY SCHOOLSKOLKATA PRIMARY SCHOOLS

Sonali Nag and Shruti SircarSonali Nag and Shruti SircarSonali Nag and Shruti SircarSonali Nag and Shruti Sircar

The Promise Foundation

Drawing by Rimali Mitra, Class 2


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Title: Learning to read in Bengali: Report of a survey in five Kolkata primary schools.

Published by: The Promise Foundation, Bangalore.

Copyright: The Promise Foundation, 2008.

Suggested citation: Nag, S. and Sircar, S. (2008), Learning to read in Bengali: report of a

survey in five Kolkata primary schools, The Promise Foundation, Bangalore, India.

This research was supported by Microsoft India (R & D) Private Limited and executed with

permission from the Paschim Banga Sarva Shiksha Mission.


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LEARNING TLEARNING TLEARNING TLEARNING TO READ INO READ INO READ INO READ IN BENGALIBENGALIBENGALIBENGALI

REPORT OF A SURVEYREPORT OF A SURVEYREPORT OF A SURVEYREPORT OF A SURVEY

ININININFIVE KOLKATA PRIMARY SCHOOLSFIVE KOLKATA PRIMARY SCHOOLSFIVE KOLKATA PRIMARY SCHOOLSFIVE KOLKATA PRIMARY SCHOOLS


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For further information contact:

Dr. Sonali NagDr. Sonali NagDr. Sonali NagDr. Sonali Nag,,,, The Promise Foundation, 346/2, 1st A Main, Koramangala 8th Block,

Bangalore, 560 095.

email: [email protected]

Dr. Shruti SircarDr. Shruti SircarDr. Shruti SircarDr. Shruti Sircar,,,, Reader, Department of Linguistics and Contemporary English, The English

and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad 500 605.

Email: [email protected]


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ForewordForewordForewordForeword

The Promise Foundation has been working in the field of literacy acquisition in Indian

languages for over a decade now. What began as an attempt to support children failing to

read in extremely poor schools has matured into a systematic effort to understand the

cognitive underpinnings of literacy development in the Indian languages. Against a

backdrop of research in the southern Indian languages of Kannada, Tamil and Telugu, the

Foundations efforts have turned now to more cross-linguistic work. This report presents a

year long research effort to understand literacy development in Bengali, the language of

West Bengal, and spoken by a large community across the world. We are grateful to

Paschim Bamga Sarva Shiksha Mission (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Government of West Bengal)

for permission to survey five Kolkata schools. This research was supported by Microsoft

India (R & D) Private Limited.

In this report we present a brief introduction to issues surrounding the cognitive processes of

literacy acquisition and a description of the Bengali akshara. This is followed by a summary

of the survey methodology, key findings and a set of recommendations. The report ends

with an activity bank collated by Shruti Sircar.

Findings from this survey were first presented in a Symposium on Dyslexia and the Indian

aksharalanguages at the International Conference of the British Dyslexia Association held in

Harrogate (UK), in March, 2008. Participation in this Symposium was made possible

through a travel grant from The English and Foreign Languages University and The PromiseFoundation to the second author and the British Academy to the first author. Sections of

this research are also available as technical papers and can be accessed directly from the

authors or from The Promise Foundations website: www.thepromisefoundation.org

We hope that information collated in this report will be of use to researchers, teachers and

curriculum developers.

Sonali Nag

November , 2008.


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KolkataKolkataKolkataKolkata

A city of historical significance, Kolkata is situated on the banks of river Ganga and was

probably one of the first metropolises in India. Though Bengalis dominate the majority of the

Kolkata population, people come from all over India, from far flung Rajasthan, Gujarat,

Punjab, Kerala and Tamil Nadu to neighbouring Orissa and Bihar, to live and work in Kolkata.

Once the capital of British India, Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), is a potent mix of lifes

contradictions and extremities massive wealth next to heart-breaking poverty, teeming slums

not far from five star hotels. What binds people together is their love for music, theatre and

books. Highly politically aware as a community, spirited discussions are heard everywhere, in

coffee houses and roadside tea stalls.


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AcknowledgmentsAcknowledgmentsAcknowledgmentsAcknowledgments

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (PBSSM), KolkataSarva Shiksha Abhiyan (PBSSM), KolkataSarva Shiksha Abhiyan (PBSSM), KolkataSarva Shiksha Abhiyan (PBSSM), Kolkata

Mr. Dushyant Nariala, State Project Director

Dr. Nairanjana Bhattacharya, Secretary of Open Schools (earlier administrative officer at PBSSM)Mr. Pranav Sarkar, District Officer

Microsoft India (R & D) Private LimitedMicrosoft India (R & D) Private LimitedMicrosoft India (R & D) Private LimitedMicrosoft India (R & D) Private Limited

English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), HyderabadEnglish and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), HyderabadEnglish and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), HyderabadEnglish and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), Hyderabad

Prof. Abhai Maurya, Vice Chancellor

Prof. Maya Pandit-Narkar, Pro Vice Chancellor

Prof. R. AmritavalliProf. K. G. Vijayakrishan

Research AssistantsResearch AssistantsResearch AssistantsResearch Assistants Principals of SchoolsPrincipals of SchoolsPrincipals of SchoolsPrincipals of Schools

Mr. Syed Saurov Mr. Keshav Mukherjee, Arjya Vidya Mandir

Ms. Sulagna Ganguly Mrs. Tamal Gupta, Kamala Girl's High School

Ms. Madhurima Chatterjee Mrs. Jharna Mazumdar, Baghbazaar Multipurpose School

Ms. Jayeeta Mazumdar Prabhajika Somo Prana, RKSMS Nivedita Girls School

Ms. Dipannita Chakraborty Prabhrajika Satyabrata Prana, RKSMS Nivedita Girls School

Ms. Lina Mukhopadhyay Ms. Boishaki, Jodhpur Park Boys High School

Project SuppProject SuppProject SuppProject Support in Hyderabadort in Hyderabadort in Hyderabadort in Hyderabad,,,, The Promise Foundation Support TeamThe Promise Foundation Support TeamThe Promise Foundation Support TeamThe Promise Foundation Support Team

and Kolkataand Kolkataand Kolkataand Kolkata

Prof. Julu Sen Ms. B. Kala

Dr. Amitabh Choudhury Ms. Roopa Kishen

Ms. Boishaki Mukherjee Ms. Mallika Ganapathy

Mr. Shaunak Sarkar Mr. Robert Dsouza

Mr. Mrinal Kanti Sarkar Ms. Mamta Gupta

Mr. Chayan Bandhopadhyay Dr. Gideon Arulmani


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About the Principal InvestigatorsAbout the Principal InvestigatorsAbout the Principal InvestigatorsAbout the Principal Investigators

Sonali NagSonali NagSonali NagSonali Nag is a clinical psychologist interested in child development in different settings. She has

worked on literacy acquisition at The Promise Foundation, Bangalore and the Center for Reading

and Languages, University of York, UK.

Shruti SircarShruti SircarShruti SircarShruti Sircar is a Reader in Linguistics, The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad.

Her research concerns acquisition of language by children, and the different cognitive issues

that underpin language development.


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ContentsContentsContentsContents

IntroductionIntroductionIntroductionIntroduction

1111

Reading with fluency and comprehensionReading with fluency and comprehensionReading with fluency and comprehensionReading with fluency and comprehension2222

Learning to read in BLearning to read in BLearning to read in BLearning to read in Bengaliengaliengaliengali

2222

The SurveyThe SurveyThe SurveyThe Survey

3333

SketchSketchSketchSketch of participating schoolsof participating schoolsof participating schoolsof participating schools

4444

KeyKeyKeyKey ffffindingsindingsindingsindings

Books children readBooks children readBooks children readBooks children read

5555

AksharaAksharaAksharaAksharaKnowledge and Word RKnowledge and Word RKnowledge and Word RKnowledge and Word Recognitionecognitionecognitionecognition

6666

Spelling and Phonological SSpelling and Phonological SSpelling and Phonological SSpelling and Phonological Skillskillskillskills

7777

Reading ComprehensionReading ComprehensionReading ComprehensionReading Comprehension

8888

Vocabulary and Oral LanguageVocabulary and Oral LanguageVocabulary and Oral LanguageVocabulary and Oral Language9999

CaseCaseCaseCase sssstudies oftudies oftudies oftudies of cccchildrenhildrenhildrenhildren11112222

ImplicationsImplicationsImplicationsImplications

11113333

ActivitieActivitieActivitieActivitiessss

11117777

Some helpful terms to knowSome helpful terms to knowSome helpful terms to knowSome helpful terms to know


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1

IIIIntroduction

When does a child learn to read? Many people might say, in kindergarten or

first class. But we know now from research that learning to read and writecan start at home, long before children go to school. Very early, children

begin to learn about spoken language when they hear their family members

talking, laughing and singing, and when they respond to the sounds that fill

their world. They begin to understand that there is something called writing,

when they see adults read stories to them. Adults reading newspapers,

magazines and books, at home and in the neighbourhood, become occasions

to arouse curiosity in children about the intangible world of the written word.

These early experiences with spoken and written language shape the way

children become readers and writers.

By the time children are one year old, they already know a lot about spoken

language. They recognize speech sounds, and know what sounds make the

words that are important to them. On hearing language, children intuitively

understand that words rhyme, and words have parts, called syllables. They

start recognizing that words like pot, penand panbegin with the same sound.

In other words, children develop a phonological awarenessphonological awarenessphonological awarenessphonological awareness about spoken

language.

Childrens first brush with books teaches them that books are held in a certain

way, that we turn pages one at a time, we read each line in a particular

direction. Children learn what is called print awaprint awaprint awaprint awarenessrenessrenessreness, seemingly

spontaneously, since no book comes with such instructions.

A few years on, children come to school to formally learn the alphabet. They

read along with their teachers and begin to see the connections betweenspoken and written words ssssymbolymbolymbolymbol----sound relationshipssound relationshipssound relationshipssound relationships. With each new page

to read, new opportunities arise for learning new words and learning about

written language. In parallel, when children begin to spell and write on their

own, their understanding of how print works is deepened.

A large vocabulary comes in handy when a child starts to read. Children use

the words they already know to make sense of words they see written down.

Imagine, the child sees the word, pretty in a book. As the child tries tosound out this word it might dawn on him that it is a word he actually

knows. Vocabulary knowledgeVocabulary knowledgeVocabulary knowledgeVocabulary knowledge is a steady partner that supports reading.


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Reading with fluency and comprehensionReading with fluency and comprehensionReading with fluency and comprehensionReading with fluency and comprehension

Just like learning to swing a bat or tie shoelaces, learning how to read takes practice. The more

children read, the better they get at it. FluentFluentFluentFluent readersreadersreadersreaders recognize words easily and do not need tosound all words out. When fluent readers are given a page of text, they read smoothly and the

reading sounds natural. Readers who are not fluent, read slowly, word by word, and make many

mistakes. Fluent readers do not have to concentrate on decoding the words; they can focus their

attention on what the text means.

Reading uses a readers own experience and knowledge of the world and of words to make sense of

what is read. This is reading withreading withreading withreading with comprehensioncomprehensioncomprehensioncomprehension. To understand what one reads, children have to

also go beyond the text and draw inferences. Inferences are often gap-filling activities through which

readers have to bring in information from their past experiences and earlier readings and add themto the textual information. When a child can recognize the words on a page, but is unable to

understand what the words and sentences mean, she is not really reading. Knowledge of symbol-

sound relationships and comprehension must go hand-in-hand for a complete reading experience.

Learning to read in BengaliLearning to read in BengaliLearning to read in BengaliLearning to read in Bengali

The Bengali writing system represents sounds as akshara. When learning to read, children need to

know how sounds make up words and how these sounds are written using a string ofakshara. Tobecome a reader in Bengali,a child would have to develop several important skills. Some of these

skills include learning to:

recognize and name the akshara, connect the spoken sounds to the written symbols, recognize words easily, learn and use new words, understand what is read.

The Bengali aksharaset comprises more than 400 symbols. There is the sub-set of simple

consonant aksharalike E F G H(ka, kha, ga, gha1) and the vowel aksharalike% % +


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3

The SurveyThe SurveyThe SurveyThe Survey

We were interested to study early stages of reading development in Bengali. To do this, we set out

to document aksharaand word reading, reading for comprehension, spelling profiles and vocabularydevelopment in primary school children.

We focused on Classes 2, 3 and 4 from 5 schools identified by the Paschim Banga Sarva Shiksha

Mission (PBSSM). The schools were located across Kolkata and mainly catered to families whose

socio economic status ranged from middle to low. Many families had migrated to Kolkata from

neighbouring districts, and some were from other States.

The age of the children in our survey was between 7 and 12 years. About half the children told us

their home language was Bengali. Some of the other home languages reported to us were Urdu,

Hindi, Assamese and Oriya. Nearly 30% of the children reported that they knew no language other

than Bengali. Others told us they could speak and understand two, sometimes three other

languages.

We conducted the study in two phases:

(a) screening phase (to identify children with and without reading difficulty),(b) in depth phase (to individually assess various cognitive and language skills ).

We screened all children in Classes 2, 3 and 4 in all five schools, and Class 5 in only two schools.

The screening test, common for all classes, had activities on sound identification, reading

comprehension and spelling, and helped us choose 110 children from Classes 2, 3 and 4 for a more

comprehensive, in depth assessment.

For the in depth assessment, we met each child over three days for approximately half an hour each

day. We gathered information on each childs:

socio-economic status, reading practices at home, word recognition and spelling skills, reading comprehension skills, vocabulary knowledge, phonological processing skills.


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Sketches of participating schoolsSketches of participating schoolsSketches of participating schoolsSketches of participating schools

The five schools in our survey were RKSMS Nivedita Girls School, Kamala Nehru Girls High School,

Baghbazaar Multipurpose Girls School, Arjya Vidya Mandir, and Jodhpur Park Boys School. Some ofthese schools are sponsored or aided schools, and some are managed directly by the education board of

the state government.

We assessed schools on their daily routine, work culture and teaching-learning processes. The schools we

visited varied on these indices of our observation. Some seemed more supportive of learners and learning

than others. Given below are sketches of two schools.

School 1

A government aided school for girls, this

primary school runs from 6.30 am to 10.45 am,

with the high school section working from

11.00 am to 4.00 pm.

School begins with an assembly, and classes

begin with sleepy-eyed children in blue andwhite uniforms (often grey and crumpled) slowly

walking to their classes. Most classes have 50-

60 children leaving little room for the teacher to

move about in the class, and attend to children

individually. For want of a bulletin board,student-made charts are randomly stuck on the

walls, and are pinned to the hem of the

blackboard.

The day begins with the so called importantsubjects: Bengali, Maths or Science, with othersubjects pushed to the second half of the day.

From each class, the teachers voice andintermittent yells are heard, and as the day

unravels, these voices fade to be replaced by thedin made by children. As you walk down

corridors, teachers can be seen sitting at theirdesks, reading out from a textbook or correctingstudent work and most children turning to look at

you or trying hard to listen to the teacher. You

also find children standing, punished outside the

class.

The morning hours are apparently bereft of any

laughter and fun, and school seems more amatter of routine and rules. There is laughter,

yes, when the bell goes off at 10.45 am!

School 2

A long drive through narrow winding roads,

almost two kilometres off the main road, takes

you to another school. A peep through the heavy

metal gate shows a rather dark corridor withclassrooms on either side, and the usual buzz and

hum of a school begin to encompass you. Within

the little spaces in the class a slim aisle is visiblefor the teacher to walk in and out. Bright and

cheerful faces welcome you, and visitors becomea source of immediate curiosity for both children

and teachers.

Most children live in nearby areas and walk toschool, and come from homes which can hardly

be called affluent. The school echoes this, withshabby walls and cramped classrooms. In class,

boys dressed in white shirts and navy bluetrousers fidget at their desks, and huddle around

the teacher to check homework, to seekpermission to leave the room or to complain

about another child. The teacher sometimes witha smile, sometimes a frown or a glare manages to

keep the attention of the learners to the book they

are reading or the task they are doing.

In one class, a test is announced, and there is amad rush to the teachers desk: to touch her feet

and seek her blessings before the test begins. Theteacher gently places her hand on each childs

head and carries on with the instructions for thetest. The bell announces a short lunch break, and

children pull out from their bags, a lunch boxand a water bottle, and the entire school ringswith the laughter and the chatter of the children.

For want of space, children eat at their desks, and

hastily clean the desk with pages torn from their

notebook when the bell rings again, half an hour

later.


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5

KeyKeyKeyKey ffffindingsindingsindingsindings

Books children readBooks children readBooks children readBooks children read

We asked children What books do you read? 62% of the children said they

read story books, on a regular basis.

When asked to name story books they had read in the last three months, most of

the children could name at least three books in Bengali. We found children werereading books on a wide variety of themes including:

Magical creature stories Ghost stories Humorous stories Adventure stories Fables and animal stories Detective stories Comics Fantasies and fairy tales

What exposure to texts did the children have at home?

We gathered information by asking about reading materials at home and thereading habits of family members. 86% of the children said they had

newspapers and story books at home. Some said that they also had magazinesat homes, which their parents and grandparents read. Most children said their

homes had story books, which their brothers and sisters read. Some talked

about story books that their mothers read and newspapers and office books

that their fathers read. In some homes both Bengali and English books and

papers were available, but this was rare.

When asked who reads storybooks, an answer interestingly given by many was

students!

Popular Titles!

Aabol Taabol

Haanda Bhonda

Bhooter Taandov

Bhayankar Bhooter Golpo

Chutkir Golper Boi

Thakumaar Jhuli

Gobheer Rater Bhaynakar

Laal Shuto aar Neel Shuto

Doiter KetliBantul the Great

Adbhut Baina


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AksharaAksharaAksharaAkshararecognitionrecognitionrecognitionrecognition

Teaching ofaksharastarts with the simple aksharain Class 1. After initiation into the ka-kha-ga-gha

and a--i-(the Bengali symbol charts), children are taught how different vowels forms (with vowel

names like akar, ikar, okar) combine with the consonant akshara, and how a string ofakshara

make words. In Class 2, thejuktakkhoror cluster aksharaare systematically introduced, andchildren are assisted in segmenting, blending and sequencing different akshara. Instruction for

decoding is explicit unlike in some other Indian languages (e.g. Kannada). There is also a stated

focus on teaching reading for meaning.

We found that children learn to read and write the single aksharaby the time they are in Class 2.

Our assessments found that, even in Class 4, children read the single aksharabetter than the cluster

akshara. Thejuktakkhorwere difficult irrespective of whether the symbol was presented in isolation

or in the context of a word. Among thejuktakkhorthe commonly used ones were learnt earlier.

Thus frequently occurringjuktakkhorlike Yand [ (pra andbra) were read more easily than and

(mba and nta).

We found that the mastery of the different aksharafollow the sequence in which the aksharasets are

taught. But importantly, the frequently seen aksharaare recognised more easily. This gives children

with a reading habit an edge over those who depend only on class instruction.

Word ReadingWord ReadingWord ReadingWord Reading

Ability to decode words, from print to sound, is a precursor to smooth reading. In languages, where the

sound and symbol are regular and consistent, like Bengali, decoding skills are expected to be learnt early

and with accuracy. In our assessments, seven year olds could read 96 % of real words and 84% of

nonsensical words correctly. The difficulty with nonsensical words was usually in the reading of themiddle akshara, the one point where the Bengali aksharabecomes inconsistent. Children commonly

referred to similar looking, familiar words (analogies) to decipher the new word. They read dotkalikepotkabut kutkolike kumro.

Children used several different strategies to read unfamiliar words encountered in sentences. The

more common strategies were:

sounding out the smaller units in the words, using analogy because they look like familiar words, using clues particularly from beginning and end sounds to guess, guessing based on the general context drawn by a sentence or a paragraph.

Shubhodeep studies in Class 3 and is a struggling reader. He has a sense of how print works, including

the understanding that words have separate units.

We found him sounding out separate units in words, reading akshara by akshara, word by word, tracking

his reading with his finger. When sounding out slowed down his reading, he tried guessing the word from

the first and the last akshara of the word, which often resulted in nonsensical words. Shubhodeep relied

so heavily on sounding out that he often lost the meaning of what he was reading. His difficulty was

greater with longer words and this was also reflected in tasks and activities which required manipulation

of sound units in polysyllabic words.


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SpellingSpellingSpellingSpelling

Bengali sound-symbol relationship is usually straightforward so when words are spelt (as long as the

child knows her akshara) it should not matter whether she has seen the word in print before.It should not also matter whether the child knows the word or if the word is less frequently used in

the language. But this is not the full picture! Bengali also has instances where the simple sound-

symbol relationship gives way to other rules of spelling. In such instances simple akshararecall issimply not enough to spell a word.

We found childrens spelling development to reflect the more and less regular nature of Bengali.

Children showed a high degree of accuracy in spelling, and errors became less in the higher classes.

But, as with other languages, we found that when words could be written in more than one way,

children were confused. This would perhaps explain our finding that there was a jump in spellingaccuracy between Classes 2 and 3, and a plateauing off of accuracy rate between Classes 3 and 4.

There are more words around Class 4 that have odd spellings.

Examples of some common error patterns seen across the classes are:

1. Simplifying ofjuktakkhor(consonant clusters): a[X (soronyo)for[X (smoronyo) `TXy(otonotro) andaT (sotontro) forT(sbotontro)

2. Confusing the choice ofaksharafor middle sounds : ]XUX(monothon) for]X(monthon)

3. Confusingwith other plausible alternative akshara:

TK_ (tacchilo) andTK{(tachillo) forTK_(tacchillo)Looking at the error patterns we also found that among words with odd spellings, there were somewords that were less vulnerable to being mis-spelt. These were commonly seen words which had a

high likelihood of being in the childs sight vocabulary and could be called upon to support spelling.

A note on Phonological skills

Most good readers hear and recognize entire words and understand them as wholes when they read. That means

when they hear or read the word van, they perhaps think of the vehicle in which they travel to school

everyday, but they can also identify the sounds in van: /v/ /a/ /n/, and they can manipulate the sounds, forinstance, creating a rhyme for van (pan, fan, man, can). For most of us, these are simple abilities associated

with childhood games and sounds, and we are neither sure nor aware of how we do this.

This ability to notice, think about, play and work with the individual sounds in spoken words is calledphonological processing. Before children learn to read print, they need to become aware of how the sounds inwords work. They must understand that words (e.g. thala, gaan) are made up of large sounds (syllables: tha

la, gaan) and tiny sounds (phonemes: th-a-l-a, g-aa-n).

Most children acquire this ability with accuracy and ease, but some do not. Children who have strong

phonological skills are likely to have an easier time learning to read and spell than children whose phonological

skills are less developed.

In Bengali, we found that children found it easier to work with syllables than phonemes, and that their

understanding that words are made of phonemes came later. Children who were struggling with phonological

processing were also struggling with simple word recognition and spelling.


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8


To read is to comprehend and to comprehend what one reads is to fully engage with the world that

has been created in print. The process of reading requires the reader to actively engage with makingmeaning out of what is being read. As proficient readers, it is sometimes easy to forget that this is

what we spontaneously do when we read. To make sense of the written word, readers have to

identify and note who or what is being talked about, what is being said and what is happening. The

language of the text has to be processed and the words understood to recognize the main ideas in

the text.

One of the most difficult skills young readers need to learn is the skill to comprehend what doesnt

appear clearly stated. To fully comprehend what is read, children need to go beyond the text.Writers often leave gaps in the texts, and readers are expected to fill them up on the basis of their

experiences: of the world, of language and of other texts. Picking out information that is readily

available in the text is easier. Much more cognitive effort is needed to make inferences.

We assessed two aspects of reading comprehension:

comprehension of explicitly stated ideas (factual information) and comprehension that emerges from understanding implied meanings embedded in the text

(inference making).

We found children better at identifying factual details in a text than generating inferences.

Childrens inference making skills improved as they grew older: less than one fourth of the children

in Class 2 were able to answer inferential questions; in Classes 3 and 4, more than one third were

able to do so. The more advanced readers could even understand texts that were on unfamiliar

themes and required the application of a knowledge-base not readily available to them. They were

adept at making inferences even when sentence lengths were longer, the words less common, and

the syntax complex.

When children struggled with inference making we found one common strategy in use. The children

seemed to pluck out from the text, sentences which contained words that occurred in the question

as well. In trying to match words in the question with words in the text, children lost the intent of

the question, and were often unable to link ideas in the text.

Where in the Text?Where in the Text?Where in the Text?Where in the Text?

In our assessments, many children asked us whether the answers to the questions were in the text, or they had

to think up the answers. Children seemed to understand Questions and Answers as merely requiring an

understanding of what is being asked, and then physically locating the answer in the text. Is this because

teaching reinforces the notion that all answers to questions are always in the text? The textbooks too seemedto promote superficial engagement. Questions asked in the textbook mainly demanded factual information or

a very simple use of background knowledge.

Further, reading is an active engagement with the text, whereby, the reader also brings something of her own

to the reading. Some of our inferential questions often called into question the idea that there is always one

correct answer. It placed the child (and teachers who later questioned us) in the confusing state of

acknowledging that we need to leave room for understanding texts in different, quite personal ways.


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VocabularyVocabularyVocabularyVocabulary

Assessments of vocabulary development try to find out whether children can explain a word. Such

an activity examines whether children can use language to explain language, drawing upon what hasbeen called metalinguistic awarenessmetalinguistic awarenessmetalinguistic awarenessmetalinguistic awareness. A child can show that she knows the meaning of a word by:

making a sentence with the word describing the word or giving a synonym defining the wordWe found that many children showed their understanding of a word meaning by making sentences

(see Figure). This preference for sentence making could be attributed to curricular practices, where

both teaching and testing requires children to use newly learnt words in sentences.

We also found that childrens sentences communicated their word knowledge better as they grew

older. Younger children usually made sentences which did not reveal whether they actually knew

the meaning of the word or not. Words were used in a sentence in a rather mechanical manner

and the sentence did not adequately reflect their depth of knowledge about the words meaning.

Such dead sentences are perhaps reflectors of a more superficial and passive form of word

knowledge.

Defining a word in a way usually found in the dictionary reflects a higher level of word knowledge.

Creating such dictionary like definitions requires an ability to think about a word in an abstract

manner and to use language to explain the word. We found that the ability to define a word

increased as the number of dead sentences decreased. Children in higher classes were more likely to

give us definitions. While in Class 2 barely two in hundred children defined a word, the numbers

increased slightly in Class 3 to three in hundred children. By Class 4 around ten in hundred children

were spontaneously defining words to display their word knowledge.

An interesting trend in our survey was that schools made a difference to how children performed onthe vocabulary task. The instruction style in particular schools seemed to promote metalinguistic

knowledge about language and support the ability to define and use words. We found that in some

schools a higher number of children described or defined a word. In parallel, in these schools, words

were typically presented in sentences that explicitly brought out the word meaning.


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Shades of awareness about Word Meanings

(Bengali examples with English translations)

Dead sentences Baahan: Kartiker baahan mayur.

Vehicle: The vehicle of God kaartikeya is a peacock. (UC, Class 2, 6.10)

Probhat: Probhat ekta cheler naam

Morning: Morning is the name of a boy. (probhatcan be the name of a boy in India.) (UB, Class 2).

Sentences that bring out the meaning of the word Bipod: Keu bipode porle aamra taanke baanchai

Danger: When someone is in danger, we help them. (AR, Class 3, 8:6)

Dol: Aamra bhaaroter cricket dol ke bhaalo kore chini

Team: We know the Indian cricket team very well. (AG, Class 3, 9:1)

Descriptions:

Taala: taala aamra ghurte gele dorjaaye laagaayi; taala anek boro boro hoye, jele aasaamider

bondho kore taala diye daaye.

Lock: We lock the doors when we go out. Locks can be big. Criminals are shut up and locked inthe prison. (RK, Class 3, 8:7)

Bishvo: aamaader bishyo ti anek boro.

World: Our world is big. (SB, Class 4; 10:1)

DefinitionsBhromon: aamra onno jaayegaye ghurte jaye, setaake bhromon bole

Tour: We go out to see other places, that is a tour. (SS, Class 4, 10:2)

Bishvo: bishvo maane ghota puro elakata

World: World means the entire locality (or area). (AS, Class 3, 8:10)


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OralOralOralOral LLLLanguageanguageanguageanguage

As childrens proficiency in the language increases, vocabulary develops and so does the grammar,

and reciprocally with expanding vocabulary and grammar there is greater proficiency. With growinglanguage more and more information is packed into a sentence, into speech, and into writing. The

length of the sentence increases, and more clauses are used in a sentence.

We analysed the complexity of oral language among children in our survey. A simple way to

measure proficiency for English is to count the number of words in each clause in a sentence.

In Bengali, we measured the number of morphemes in each clause. A morpheme is the smallest

unit of meaning in a language and includes the root word and all the additional meaning units that

may be added to the base word: the inflections (like laamin bhabhlaam), prefixes (durindurgandho) and suffixes (iin chaakri).

For example the following sentence/clause, aamaar baaba chasma poren has 6 morphemes:

am+ ar+ baaba+ chasma+ por+ en

In a case where a sentence has more than one clause, the total number of morphemes in the

sentence would be divided by the number of clauses in the sentence. The total number ofmorphemes divided by total number of clauses gives the Mean Length of Utterance (MLU). We used

this formula to calculate the MLU score for each child.

We found the average length of a spoken sentence in Grade 2 children to be 6.40 morphemes per

clause, 7.28 in Grade 3 and 7.82 in Grade 4. As expected, the sentence length increased amongst

older children, reflecting the growing richness in their language.

Packing more into a Sentence(Bengali examples with morpheme analysis and English translations)

Ei meyetir khoob bipod.

E + i + meye + ti+ r + khoob + bipod

This + emphasis + girl + singular + possessive + very + danger

This girl is in deep danger.(UC, Class 2, 6.10)

bipoder samay aamra khoob chotpot kori.

bipod +e + r + samay aam+ra+ khoob + chotpot + kor +i

danger + in + possessive + time + we + very + restless + do+ simple present

When in danger, we feel restless.(PM, Class 3, 8.1)

rambabur jatra shuru korar samay taar didi take bollen taar jatra jeno shubho hoi.

rambabu + r + jatra + shuru + kor + ar + samay + taar + didi + ta + ke + bol + len + taar + jatra + jeno +

shubho + hoi

rambabu + possessive + journey + start + do + possessive + time + his + sister + to + him + say + past tense +

his + journey + may + good + be

When Rambabu set off on his journey, his sister wished that he has a safe journey.(SP, Class 3, 9.1)


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Case studies of childrenCase studies of childrenCase studies of childrenCase studies of children

We met more than two thousand children for the screening and a hundred and ten for the in depth

assessment. Each child was unique in her home environment, experience of literacy learning andease with our tasks. Here we present a sketch of four of the children we met.

Swagoto studies in Class 2. With no newspapers,

magazines and just two story books at home,

Swagotos environment is close to being

print-starved.

We found that Swagoto could read simple akshara

but still had difficulty in reading cluster akshara

likepra and sba. The middle akshara in a word

was particularly challenging for him. In reading

aloud, he was slow and made errors like bou (for

boi), thakute (thukte), dumprap (dhusprapya) and

prakriya (prakriti). We could see that he was

trying to guess the word from its beginning andending sounds.

Swagoto did not monitor his comprehension and

continued reading even if the text made no sense to

him. This laxity also showed up in the

comprehension task where he was just about able

to answer questions on explicit facts in the text.

Srija is in Class 3. She reads in Bengali and

English, and has many storybooks both at school

and at home. With a television, a radio and a music

system at home, her exposure to discourses of

Bengali and English are varied. We could see that

she had a rich school and home environment

supporting her literacy and language development.

Unlike other children who read mostly fantasies,

ghost stories and humour stories, Srija has moved on

to other genres. She told us she was reading books

like Kakabubur Choker jal andMrityur por. When

asked, how many stories have you read in the pastthree months? her answer was four.

On our tests, Srijas performance was like the older

Class 4 children. She was performing a full yearahead of her own class level. It is no wonder that

Srija is in the top 15% of her class. She is a fluent

reader and is able to effortlessly make inferences

even on syntactically complex texts. The home

support and schooling have given Srija the

foundation for independent learning.

Sunayani starts her interview with us with a

graphic description of the reasons why she may notbe able to do well on the tasks. An extremely vocal

child with very good control over Bengali, she

presents herself as someone who uses a chaste and

formal language, quite unlike her age.

She has a mind that is comfortable with

abstractions. We see this reflected not only on our

various language tasks but her drawing as well.

Her father regularly reads aloud stories and pieces

from the newspaper to her as she has breakfast.

They have many story books at home, and she

loves reading. An ideal home environment for a

child learning to read!

However, over anxious about her performance at

school, her parents rushed her to the doctor and got

her examined when she showed signs of lethargy.

She was given a shot, and that is why she claims

she would not be able to concentrate on our tasks.

Jasim speaks well, but seems to have

problems with reading. He reads haltingly stopping

after almost every syllable, and also once all the

syllables in the word are read, he shows no attempt

to blend them together to find out what the word

means. As a result, his reading is largely without

comprehension.

We see him struggle with our phonological tasks.

He does not understand when we ask, What sound

does the word begin with? or What sound do you

hear in the middle? He looks at us imploringly and

merely repeats the word. With prodding and help,

he attempts the tasks but it is very hard for him.

Jasim essentially dislikes reading. He comes from a

home where books are a luxury they cannot afford.

Jasim also shows all the signs of a child with

Dyslexia a difficulty with language learning,

especially in the areas of learning to read and spell.


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ImplicationsImplicationsImplicationsImplicationsLearning theLearning theLearning theLearning the aksharaaksharaaksharaaksharavs.vs.vs.vs. learninglearninglearninglearning aksharaaksharaaksharaakshara----inininin----wordswordswordswords

A common target during first two years of school is teaching the aksharamala

(bornomala). Copywriting and reciting are two simple, yet seemingly powerful

strategies offered to children to learn about the aksharaset. By writing the

symbols children experience the visual features through their finger movements.

Meanwhile, singsong recitation of the aksharabrings alive the sounds in the

language and sharpens childrens awareness of phonetic contrasts. Added to

this, the sheer repetition of copywriting and recitation activities seems to helpchildren commit to memory the sound-symbol linkage of the aksharamala.

This method of introducing children to the akshara(bornoparichay) has deeproots in our cultural history. While recitation is a natural offshoot of an

ancient oral tradition of learning the slokaand couplets, copywriting appears to

have been the most common interpretation of what formal schooling should

offer little children. First documented in the patshalaof 18th and 19th century

Bengal, writing and reciting the akshararemains an embedded practice in

contemporary schools.

Bengali instruction is also much focused on helping children pull apart the

aksharato see its components the base consonant and the vowel signs. This isunlike literacy instructions in some other Indian languages (e.g. Kannada). The

gains of such explicit teaching ofaksharasegments are visible in our surveywhere children were near perfect in akshararecognition in Class 2 itself.

Children however need to know more than the sound-symbol relations about

the akshara. This is because some aksharachange in their sounds depending on

the context in which they appear (e.g. the sound ofjain bajnais different from

a stand aloneja). Learning about this aspect of the aksharais not possible from

de-contextualised lists ofakshara, either written or recited. Instead, knowledge

about changing aksharapronunciations can develop only when there issubstantial exposure to the aksharawithin words. Copywriting and recitation

must be balanced by lots of reading of words and sentences.

Children need to fully understand the rules governing the sounds of middle andend akshara. Copywriting and recitation of the aksharamala (bornomala)do

not promote such akshara-in-words knowledge. For this, children need a lotchildren need a lotchildren need a lotchildren need a lot ofofofof

reading of wordsreading of wordsreading of wordsreading of words in texts.in texts.in texts.in texts.

Leaving the stranglehold of copywriting and recitation unaddressed will mean a

slump in reading attainments by Class 3 and 4. As our survey shows, it is at this

end stage in primary school that the earlier steady progress in childrens reading

fluency slows down.


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Learning to spellLearning to spellLearning to spellLearning to spell

We found that children read better than they spelt. This difference highlights an important

distinction in the two processes of reading and writing. Bengali is a language that allows the readerto broadly guess what the word maybe, even if only a small set of key consonants in the word are

recognised. Clues from the context such as the grammar of the sentence, the storyline or the

illustrations can all help to narrow down the search for the appropriate word. This facility of using

contextual cues and guessing at unfamiliar aksharais not available when spelling. The knowledge of

every sound unit must be independently recalled to spell. In other words, ifaksharaknowledge is

shaky, there are more ways available to manage to read, but there are fewer ways to guess at a

spelling.

Bengali spelling is difficult at the level of consonant clusters, particularly when these are positioned

in the middle of a word. We found in our survey that children who read more, spelt better. It

appears that seeing and using words during reading gives children insights into how to deal with the

odd spellings in Bengali.

Spelling instruction in most schools is again influenced by the much trusted teaching dyad ofcopywriting and recitation. A common practice is for children to be instructed to learn spellings by

writing a word many times (Imposition: Write all spellings ten times). Once again words get

de-contextualised, and the task of learning has to first overcome the uninspiring nature of long wordlists.

Writing actual stories and other narratives is another way by which children gain mastery over

spelling rules and learn about odd spellings. Encouraging a lot of creative writing ensures that

children gain from the interlinking processes between the domains of reading and writing. We have

in the course of our projects attempted to create opportunities for children to be authors who write

and publish their writings. We have found that children in such a programme are more likely to

spontaneously check and correct spelling after writing because they knew that correctly spelt wordsare more attractive to an audience.

CCCChildrenhildrenhildrenhildren can be authors and their spontaneous written expression must be valued.can be authors and their spontaneous written expression must be valued.can be authors and their spontaneous written expression must be valued.can be authors and their spontaneous written expression must be valued. It is only

when childrens writings gain a serious audience that the important step towards valuing spellingfor communication can be taken. Childrens work can stop being reduced to a mechanical

engrossment with correct spellings. We have attempted to do this by starting Reading Corners in

schools where child-authored books are published, displayed and circulated.*

* A recent example of our work on child-authored books is a programme in government

schools in Bangalore. The programme created class libraries called Gammaththina Pittari(Fun

Trunk, Mojar Baksho) that spring open every Friday for children to pick up their selection ofchild-authored books. More information about our other reading programmes is available on

the following webpages:

http://www.thepromisefoundation.org/ip_pal.htm http://www.thepromisefoundation.org/PAL%20LP.pdf http://www.thepromisefoundation.org/ip_kkk.htm


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Expanding VocabulariesExpanding VocabulariesExpanding VocabulariesExpanding Vocabularies

The number of word meanings known to a child is one of the strongest predictors of how well that

child will understand a text and be able to communicate through writing. Children need to know inall their multiple shades of meaning of words, to fully understand what they read. Our own

research on reading development points to the ways in which a small vocabulary increasingly limits

reading comprehension, especially as children advance to higher grades. We have also seen that

while more children learn to "read" with increased decoding instruction, there have not been

commensurate gains in comprehension of the text. Vocabulary is the missing component for many

children who master decoding but don't comprehend.

Children will have acquired a great deal of vocabulary even before they come to school. Even so,

we found that there are large individual differences in vocabulary level at the end of Class 2.Research has shown us that reduced vocabularies are particularly evident among children who are

learning a new language or whose dialect at home is different from the standard language used in

class. For many children these early vocabulary limitations make "catching up" difficult, leaving them

struggling to comprehend "grade level" texts in the later years (upper elementary classes).

Another inevitable detail about language learning is that those who learn more words almost

undoubtedly encounter more new words and thus expand in their understandings of wordmeanings. A simple activity to support the development of vocabulary is to plan a systematic

exposure to two to three new words a day. We will need to combine the exposure with adequate

explanation of these words and opportunities to creatively and spontaneously use them. Such amulti-pronged approach to vocabulary learning makes word real for the child.

Our survey has also shown that children tend to talk about their understanding of words mainly

through sentences where the key word has been inserted. This, we gathered, was perhaps because

sentence making was the typical format for vocabulary assessment in most schools. We know from

several research studies that make-a-sentence tests do not show word knowledge. Instead, these

tests are largely about recall of memorized sentences.

There is an urgent need for schools to explore more meaningful ways of testing childrens knowledgeof words. The box below lists three such alternate ideas.

Going beyond mere wordsGoing beyond mere wordsGoing beyond mere wordsGoing beyond mere words

Ideas for testing childrens word knowledge

Test conceptsTest conceptsTest conceptsTest concepts from a cluster of wordsfrom a cluster of wordsfrom a cluster of wordsfrom a cluster of words....Give a set of linked words and ask for a name or concept relation between these words.

Example:Example:Example:Example: Word list: chair, table, desk, bed; Response: furniture, household things, etc.

Test wordTest wordTest wordTest word----context matches.context matches.context matches.context matches.Give a situation and ask multiple choice questions to tease out childs understanding.

Example:Example:Example:Example: Situation: The teacher was happy that Radha had stopped spending time with

her friends. Multiple choice question: What did the teacher think of her friends? Theywere (a) irresponsible (b) responsible.

Test wordTest wordTest wordTest word----personal experience match.personal experience match.personal experience match.personal experience match.Give a word and ask for a recounting of personal experience that can capture the meaning

of the word. The quality and accuracy of the connections the child makes gives an

indication of the depth of the childs understanding of the word.

Example:Example:Example:Example: Describe a situation when you are worried about something.


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Reading between the linesReading between the linesReading between the linesReading between the lines

Comprehension relies on decoding in complex ways. Children who struggle to decode find it

difficult to understand and remember what has been read. This is because the effort to graspindividual words can be exhausting leaving them with few resources to analyse the ideas written in

the text. Children thus miss links between words and sentences, glossing over details that could have

opened up the full meaning of the text. Their efforts at reading the lines leave them missing the

ideas between the lines.Our survey has shown that it is not merely the children who are struggling to decode who do poorly on

reading comprehension. Many children did not go beyond what is explicitly stated. We however know

that all children have stores of experiences waiting to be tapped for a deeper comprehension of texts. It

is to this background knowledge that they connect everyday life experiences in order to communicate

and carry out the tasks of daily living. Our task therefore is to show children how to make similar kinds

of informed connections for reading comprehension. Children need to realize that they will understand

a text better if they attempt to relate what is new in a text to what they already know or have

experienced.

Show and TellShow and TellShow and TellShow and TellSupporting children for meaning making

Children need to be supported to develop the skill for making meaning as they read. We can support

them by being role-models ourselves and showing them how we think when we read. What would

such a show-and-tell activity entail? We can show children how we connect between similar texts to

understand a situation in a text (text-to-text connections). We can show them how we connect ideas in

a text to our own life experiences (text-to-self /world connection). Such discussions about the meaning

making process can nurture childrens own meta-linguistic knowledge about reading.

Making connections is however a subtle skill, hard to learn and master. Children need lots of

opportunity to practice and the common end-of-passage comprehension questions in school books is a

good place to begin. The routine and superficial questions that fill textbooks currently thus urgently

need to be replaced by questions that demand inference. Without such a change, teachers and

textbooks are unwittingly drawing children away from deeper engagement with texts. Reading between

the lines needs to gain currency in our schools!

End NoteEnd NoteEnd NoteEnd Note

Many questions about reading development in Bengali yet remain. However, it is important to note

that a fair amount of research has already been done to understand the issues that surround

prevention of reading difficulties. While research continues to discover more about how childrenlearn to read and how teachers and others can help them, the knowledge currently available canalready promote higher levels of literacy in all children.

Most reading difficulties can be prevented. It is our hope is that the research and findings of this

report will provide insights for better programmes in schools.


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Activity BankActivity BankActivity BankActivity Bank

GeneralGeneralGeneralGeneral iiiintroductionntroductionntroductionntroduction

This Activity Bank is a resource for teachers. Ideas in this section can also be

used by the teacher trainer and the literacy and intervention researcher.

The activity bank is organized into sections by the following topics:

Decoding Vocabulary Reading Comprehension

Each activity features an easy-to-follow organization and includes the following

sections:

the suggested grade level a defined purpose, to assist in devising lesson plans to meet curricular

objectives

a list of needed materials the step-by-step procedures modifications for struggling learners suggestions for additional related activities

The activities collated in the next few pages can be used with individual students,

small groups and whole classes.

Many activities suggested here will require pictures. One way to get pictures is

for children to themselves draw their ideas on a certain theme. You will find in thefollowing pages examples of how we have used childrens drawing to run an activity.

The pictures used here have been drawn by the children from schools where we

conducted the survey.


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DecodingDecodingDecodingDecoding

The four activities in this set are intended for a group of learners who have been

introduced to the consonant sounds and the long and the short vowel sounds

(swarabarna, banjonbarna). These activities are designed to introduce children to

akshararecognition in the context of a word, aksharablending in a word and wordrecognition. The goal of the activities is to improve decoding skills and to provide

opportunities for learners to say, read and write aksharacombinations and words.Most of the activities can be done in small groups and /or through one to one

interactions.

Activity 1:Activity 1:Activity 1:Activity 1: MissingMissingMissingMissing llllettersettersettersetters (((( ffffor Class KG and 1or Class KG and 1or Class KG and 1or Class KG and 1))))

Purpose: For children to recognize the aksharain their own name.

Materials: Coloured paper, a pair of scissors, bulletin board, paper and pencil.

Cut coloured paper into strips. On some strips write the first names of the students

in the class. On other strips write the names again with some of the aksharaleft

out. Leave some strips completely blank.

R__CH__RA, SU__IP__O

Give each child the strip of coloured paper with his/her name written on it. Ask

children to stand up one at a time, say their names and show their strip of paper.

Next distribute the strips with some letters missing in the name. Ask children tolook at the first strip, identify the missing aksharain the second strip, and write the

missing akshara.

Once all students have finished with the task, ask for volunteers who must spell

their names for the class and identify the missing aksharathat they had filled in.

Using the blank strips of paper, have all students write their first names and putthem on the bulletin board.

You can repeat the activity over and over until children learn to read their own namesand their friends names.

Modifications: For children who cannot yet write their names, print out their names

very lightly on the strips and have them trace on it boldly.


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Extendedactivity: With growing aksharaknowledge, children can be asked to assemble aksharato

form their full name (their first and their last name). Children can also be given this activity with other

kinds of word lists (e.g. names of fruits, colours, seasons, emotions).

ActivityActivityActivityActivity 2: Spelling2: Spelling2: Spelling2: Spelling mmmmazeazeazeaze ((((for Class 1 and 2for Class 1 and 2for Class 1 and 2for Class 1 and 2))))

Purpose: To help children understand the sequence of aksharain a word.

Materials: Word cards, aksharacards, a bag, pieces of chalk.

Make a bag of aksharaand another of words. The aksharaand word cards should be the size of an A4

paper or larger. It is a good idea to laminate the cards so that you can use them again and again.

Place all the word cards in a bag. Select aksharacards that are the aksharain the word card and a few

more. For example, for the word card (khbr) select not only kh, b and ra but also other aksharalikekhi, bh and ro.

Scatter the aksharacards face up randomly on the floor. Make sure that the cards are not joining each

other in any way.

Divide children into teams. One child from each team picks out a word card from the bag/basket. The

word is announced to the group but kept hidden. The other members of the team move to the floor anddraw lines to connect the aksharathat make the word (pa tha sha - la). When the team connects the

word correctly, it gets a point. If the team is unable to connect the word correctly, read the word aloud

slowly, emphasizing the aksharain the word, and let the team identify one akshara, and then the second,and then the third and draw lines between them. Where needed, pick out the aksharathat is turning

out to be difficult for the group and let the rest be done by the children themselves.

Modifications: For children who have difficulty in sequencing askhara, use shorter words (e.g. with two

or three akshara).

Extendedactivity: The game can be extended to longer, polysyllabic words. You can also extend this

activity where words join to become sentences (rename activity as Word Maze).

ActivityActivityActivityActivity 3333:::: In a wordIn a wordIn a wordIn a word (For Class 1 and 2)(For Class 1 and 2)(For Class 1 and 2)(For Class 1 and 2)

Purpose: To help children read words they have just heard.

Materials: A book that has some key words repeated often as part of the dialogues in the story or the

story narration, strips of paper with words written, a bag or a basket, cello tape, black board/flip chart.

Before class, choose a storybook that children like. Choose a story in which key words and phrases are

repeated often. Before using the story, select words from the story that children already know the

meaning of. Write these words on strips of paper. Put the cards into a bag or a basket.


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Read the story aloud, encouraging children to participate in the repeated sections of the story. After the

first couple of repetitions, most children will automatically join in.

Now place the basket of words prepared earlier, in front of the class. Each child can pick up a word from

the basket, point to the letters and try to read the word before taping it to the board/ flip chart. Words

can be repeated on more than one strip; hence more than one child may get the same word. The children

are asked to read aloud all the words on the board together, and then each child reads all the displayed

words individually. When a child is not able to read a particular word, the other children are encouragedto prompt and help.

After children have had a chance to work with all the words, read the story again. Have the child listen

for his/her word. When a child hears his/her word spoken, he/she is to go to the board and take downthe card. At the end of the second reading, there should be no cards left on the board.

This activity works best with a small group of students.

Modifications: For children who are not fluent readers add picture clues to the cards.

Extendedactivity: Turn this from a reading to a writing activity. The teacher assigns one word each to

every child in the group. When the teacher calls out words, the child waits to hear his / her word andthen comes up to the board/ flipchart to try writing it.

Most of the activities in this section require some amount of planning and preparation. Words selected

for these activities should be words children are familiar with. Children find it easier to practice

decoding skills with known words than unknown words. Also, children find it easier to work with

concrete words (ball, pen) than abstract words (happy, sad). In the beginning avoid words with

consonant clusters (juktakkhor).

Unlike adults, children have to be led gradually through the exercise. The entire task need not be

explained to them in one go: allow children to do the first step first and then instruct for the next step.


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VocabularyVocabularyVocabularyVocabulary

When developing lessons on vocabulary we quickly realise that teaching can effectivelydeal with only a small amount of information at a time. Only a few words can be taught

in one session. Similarly, only a small part of what is required to know a word can be

instructed in one instance. It is important therefore to find multiple ways to quicklydraw attention to words.

This set of activities is to help children learn the meanings of new words. The

activities are based on the theory that very young children acquire language by

watching, listening, doing things and imitating. In other words, vocabulary acquisitiontakes place through active learning. One way that very young children absorb

information is by looking at things. Thus, visual aids play a major role in theseactivities.

This activity set also emphasises a skill based view of vocabulary teaching, where

children need to be explicitly taught how to find out the meaning of new words from

the context. This skill will help in making learners independent and would go a long way

in helping them read better.

ActivityActivityActivityActivity 1111:::: DescribingDescribingDescribingDescribing aaaanimalnimalnimalnimalssss ((((for prefor prefor prefor pre----school & Class 1 aschool & Class 1 aschool & Class 1 aschool & Class 1 and 2)nd 2)nd 2)nd 2)

Purpose: For children to learn words describing attributes of animals.

Materials: Paper, sketches of animals, colour pencils and an animal poem (ideally with

four or more animals described).

Look for poems with vivid descriptions about animals. An example of a poem with lots

of descriptive lines is:

Im a rhino

with tiny toes,

I have a big horn

that sits on my nose.

Make a chart with a set of animal pictures (ape, bear, elephant, giraffe, monkey). The

pictures should be big enough for children to colour them.

Form teams among children, and ask each team to select an animal from the chart, cut

it out and colour it. Make sure that all the animals are selected.

Make cards (on A4 paper) of the adjectives and descriptive phrases in the poem.

Display the cards at the front of the class and have the children select the cards that

describe their animal. Make sure each team selects at least one card.


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Now read out the animal poem. Each time children hear their animal or their chosen describing word

instruct them to stand up and clap.

Modifications: Children struggling to reading would find this task difficult. Have children hold out the

cards, point out to the word and read out. Struggling readers benefit from such exposure to the words

and can attempt to read along.

Extended activity: Select a theme (for e.g. ants, dinosaurs, cyclones, river dolphins, etc). Find acatchy name for the activity. Introduce the activity by asking children to suggest words that describe

the theme. Use what, why, where, when and other such leading questions to elicit words. These words

can be combined to form simple sentences, or even short poems.

ActivityActivityActivityActivity 2222:::: MatchMatchMatchMatch making!making!making!making! ((((ffffor preor preor preor pre----school & Class 1)school & Class 1)school & Class 1)school & Class 1)

Purpose: For children to learn to match words with pictures.

Materials: Magazines with colourful pictures, cards, scissors and gum to make picture and word cards.

To do this activity you need pictures and words. To create your own cards, first cut out interesting

pictures from a magazine (a man yawning, a dog sleeping). The pictures should have an action and a

person or animal. Have the pictures laminated, since good pictures are hard to find!

On separate cards, write two words for each picture: an action word (kicking, sliding, slithering) and

another word for the one who does the action (man, ghost, robot).

Give each child one card (it could be either the picture card or a word card). Have children hold theircards against their bodies so no one sees their word or picture. Ask students to find a corresponding

word or picture. Encourage children to question each other. For example:

Child 1 (with picture): Do you have a picture or a word?

Child 2 (with a word): I have a word.

Child 1: What is the word?Child 2: Big! And you? What do you have?

Child 1: A dinosaur!

If Child 1 and 2 think the word and picture match, they stop searching and stand together. The search

is complete when two words are found for each picture.

Before the activity starts children need to be taught how to question each other for this activity. Ifthis is the first time children are doing such an activity, it is useful to write the following questions on

the blackboard:

Do you have a picture or a word? (Tomar kache ki aache - ekti chhobi na ekti shabdo?) What is the word? (Shabdoti ki?) What is it a picture of? (Chobita kisser?)Modifications: For children struggling to read words, the teacher or a buddy in the group can read theword quietly for his/her hearing only.

Extended activities: Add a timed component if you wish to make the activity more competitive.


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Activity 3: GuessActivity 3: GuessActivity 3: GuessActivity 3: Guess, guess!, guess!, guess!, guess! ((((forforforfor Class 1 and 2)Class 1 and 2)Class 1 and 2)Class 1 and 2)

Purpose: To learn to use context clues to guess words.

Materials: Paper, colour pens, cellotape,

Create a chart with drawings that illustrate facial expressions associated with certain emotions - happy,

sad, angry. Fix the chart (e.g. on a bulletin board) where children can see it clearly.

Make cards where the emotion word is written. Get a group of volunteers to come to the front of the

class. Pin one card on the back of each volunteer. Get the volunteers to turn around so that everyone

has the opportunity to read it.

The volunteers should not know the word pinned on their back. They will now receive clues from the

rest of the group and will have to guess what the word on their back may be.

Let us say the word is sad. Let the class give the child clues to guess the word.

I felt that way when my friend left the school. I lost the pen my uncle had gifted to me. my pet dog ran away.

After three clues ask the child, Can you guess the word pinned on your back?

Extendedactivities: This exercise helps in guessing missing words. Words that you use could be from

any topic area, but remember to ensure the set of words all belong to the same topic or semantic field.

For example, movement words (run, stroll, dance) or occasion words (birthday, wedding, anniversary).

Activity 4:Activity 4:Activity 4:Activity 4: Where isWhere isWhere isWhere is mymymymy other half?other half?other half?other half? (for(for(for(for Class 2 and 3Class 2 and 3Class 2 and 3Class 2 and 3))))

This is a word building exercise. In any language, suffixes and prefixes are added to form new words.Children learn the meaning of the use of these additions very early. What they find difficult to learn is

which word goes with which suffix and prefix.

Purpose: To learn how words are made of smaller parts.

Materials: paper, colour pens.

Choose some suffixes and prefixes and keywords from the text you are teaching

Make two cards for each word - one containing the key word and the other containing the suffix or theprefix. Here are some examples: shilpo+ i = shilpee; byaboshay+i= byaboshayee;bir + to= birroto;

byakti+goto= byaktigoto

Distribute the cards. Children have to find the other half. The pair that finishes first, wins.

Modifications: Ask children to give you big words and write them on the board. Get about a dozen words

and then ask them to tell you which are the prefixes/ suffixes. Show how some big words do not have

suffixes and prefixes. A truly big word with nothing added on!

Extendedactivity: Read aloud a story which has many big words. At each big word stop, and get

groups/pairs to divide the word into word parts, and guess what the meaning of the word could be.


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Activity 5Activity 5Activity 5Activity 5:::: Thinking aboutThinking aboutThinking aboutThinking about ffffeelings!eelings!eelings!eelings! (for Class 1 and 2)(for Class 1 and 2)(for Class 1 and 2)(for Class 1 and 2)

Purpose: Understanding and talking about facial expressions.

Materials: Pictures of faces showing different emotions, emotion word cards. Whenever possible, usepictures drawn by children themselves (see example below).

Ma Durga by Sourish Nandy

Cut out pictures of peoples faces from magazines or childrens drawings. The facial expressions

should be clear so that children can identify the expressions. Put them on a chart on the board.

Make cards with emotions written on them: anger, joy, irritation, worry, fear. Choose words that

children can associate with or have heard before. Display these cards on the board.

Ask children to match the expression word and the picture. Make sure that for each picture children

select at least one expression word.

Form groups of three. Assign one picture and word to each group. Ask children to look at the picture

carefully and say why the person is worried/sad/happy/angry? The group should come up with a reason

for the feeling and what they will say and do if they had the feeling.

Let each group present their pictures of the rest of the class and talk about it.

Modifications: Choice of words should match childrens proficiency level. Often children know theemotions, but do not have a word to express them. In such cases, the teacher can give examples of

situations from her life, and explain how she felt and thus introduce the emotion word.

Extended activities: This activity could be extended to children speaking about personal experiences

when they have felt a particular emotion (worried, sad, happy or angry). They may even be encouraged

to write short paragraphs about such experiences.

ActivityActivityActivityActivity 6666:::: YackertyYackertyYackertyYackerty yak!yak!yak!yak!

Purpose: To learn to interpret pictures and infer what characters say and feel.

Materials: Pictures of people talking, cut outs of bubbles to write speech in. Again, whenever possible,use pictures drawn by children themselves (see example overleaf).

Select pictures. Form groups and give each group a picture, and at least two speech bubbles.

Let children discuss in groups and decide what the characters in the picture are saying to each other.

They need to write the conversation in the speech bubbles provided.


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The pictures and the speech bubbles will be displayed on the bulletin board. Once all the pictures are

pinned up, the other groups can walk to the board, and read aloud one conversation of their choice.

Bird and the dog by Sumalika Guin

Two boys and a girl by Sridatri Mukherjee

Modifications: If children are very young, they would need larger size speech bubbles. As an alternative,

ask them to write on blank paper, and then cut them out as speech bubbles.

Extended activity: Children can be asked to write a short story, so that the conversation they have

decided on occurs in the story. For more advanced children, the instructions can be modified. Ask forconversations that are humorous (or even absurd). For this, some exposure to cartoon strips is useful.

The trick of a vocabulary activity is to keep it simple and clear, ensuring that it does not require

complicated instructions. Teaching vocabulary becomes effective when the oral and the written word arepresented together, and more attention is given to words that are already partly known.

For teachers who teach young learners, an important decision is usually about whether a particular wordis worth spending time on or not. If the word is a frequently spoken word, or is not particularly useful

for the learners in the particular context, it could be dealt with as quickly as possible. But sometimes a

teacher might want to spend time on a word, even if it is a common word, because the word can help the

learner get more skilled in using language to communicate. Effective vocabulary exercises for very

young learners focuses on useful, high frequency words andgets learners to meet or use or activelywork with the word in ways that establish new mental connections for the word.


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(for Classes 2, 3 and 4)(for Classes 2, 3 and 4)(for Classes 2, 3 and 4)(for Classes 2, 3 and 4)

The activities in this section help in developing four comprehension strategies: use ofrelevant background knowledge, predicting what will come next, developing an image in

the mind and making inferences.

Activity 1:Activity 1:Activity 1:Activity 1: FestivalFestivalFestivalFestival ttttalkalkalkalkMany stories talk about celebrations and festivals, something all Indian children can

identify with. Ask children to draw pictures of these festivals, like the ones given

below. Talk about memories related to the pictures. This could work as a pre-reading

activity for a text, and help in activating relevant words, events and emotions that may

help in the reading of the text.

Purpose: To activate background knowledge before reading a text.

Materials: Pictures of festivals, paper, colour pencils or pens, bulletin board / a

display area, pins, and a story about the festival usually celebrated by the children in

your group. Here too you can use pictures drawn by children themselves (see example

overleaf).

Talk about a festival celebrated in the region. Ask children to draw pictures related to thefestival. You may add some pictures from magazines as well.

Pin the drawings on the bulletin board. Also pin blank sheets of paper to the pictures.

Ask each child in the classroom to walk up to the bulletin board and write one

sentence/ or a phrase that the picture reminds them of. For example, if it is a picture

of Goddess Durga, like the one overleaf, children may write - new clothes, musicalprogrammes, good food, holidays and so on.

When all children have taken turns to write on the blank paper, read all the words,

phrases and sentences aloud. This will serve as a pool for idea units and vocabulary that

children can draw from while reading any text about the festival.


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Ma Durga by Madhurima Bhattacharya Walking Ganesh by Saheli Rakshit

Modifications: Some children may hesitate to display their drawings while others may hesitate to showthe words and phrases they have written. Encourage such children to first look at what all the others

have developed and then perhaps they may feel more ready to share their own work.

Extended activity: This activity can be used to activate prior knowledge while reading a text as well.

The teacher can stop at key points in the text and ask for what children can recall about a word,

a person or an event.

Activity 2:Activity 2:Activity 2:Activity 2: What do they feel?What do they feel?What do they feel?What do they feel?Making mental pictures is something good readers seem to do naturally. Reading a book is like watching

a movie - we can form mental images of what characters say, feel or do. It is these mental images that

bring a book alive. Some readers however do not spontaneously use language to create mental pictures in

their minds about what characters feel or do. This activity can be used to help children feel what the

characters in a story feel.

Purpose: For children to understand that characters in stories have emotions just like real people.

Materials: A short story, or a dialogue which has two or more characters; a set of emoticonsrepresenting different emotions.

Select a short text where two or more characters talk. Print or write the story on a piece of paper withspace after each sentence.

Make a set of emoticons representing different emotions. Spread them on the table and ask children to

say what each emoticon means.


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Now let children take turns to read the text aloud. After each sentence, ask children to find out how

characters feel when they are speaking. Let children select an emoticon from the table, and stick it next to

the dialogue. Now ask children to re-read the text with the emoticon they have selected. The rest of the

group should comment on whether the emotion chosen is the most appropriate one for the situation in the

story, and whether the reader had animated her reading properly to communicate that emotion. There is

usually a lot of debate at this point!

Modifications: For children, who have difficulty with making images about what they have just read, theteacher can emote parts of text to make the story more vivid. This can support making mental images.

Extended activity: Children can also be asked to play-act the text, once they have practised reading

with emotions. Attractive reading aloud requires proper pronunciation and voice modulation. Forexample, an angry man may speak in a loud voice, and a happy man in a lighter voice. Sticking emoticons

next to a dialogue or a character name or a particular situation reminds the child of the emotions that

they need to show while reading, and this helps them read texts aloud in a better way. An additionaloutcome of activities such as this is the ways in which it supports the childs growing sense of audience

and realisation of the social contexts in which reading is done.

The activity can be also extended to include a pictorial representation of what characters do and what

they see in the story. For this, provide children with crayons or colour pencils, read a particularlydescriptive passage to them, and ask them to draw what the text made them see. If the drawing is

sparse, we would know that there may be a need to teach children the skill of making mental pictures.

Activity 3: This reminds me ofActivity 3: This reminds me ofActivity 3: This reminds me ofActivity 3: This reminds me of

Good readers make connections to better understand what they read. They can begin to feel what thecharacters are feeling and why they do what they do. In parallel, they begin to get a sense of the

authors purpose. Perhaps one of the easier connections to teach to children is the text-to-self

connection. These are highly personal connections that a reader makes between a piece of text and

his/her own experiences. In this activity children are encouraged to practice making such connections.

Purpose: For children to learn how to connect their own experience to stories and topics.

Materials: A story book, paper and coloured pens

Tell children that you are going to read a book to them and while you are reading, you are going to think

aloud about what the story or events remind you of: something that happened to you, someone you have

met before, something you heard your parents talk about or seen on TV or heard on the radio, something

you have noticed sometime in the past, etc.

Once you have been a role-model and shown how you make connections with your own experiences, shiftthe activity to the children.

Select a story or a narrative text and ask students to read a small part of the text. Make four columns

on a chart paper or blackboard.

What is happening in thebook I am reading?

What does this remind me of? What is similar between the two? Howare the two dissimilar?

Ask children to walk up to the board and fill in the columns. Each child will have something different to

say. Accept the childrens connections.


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Modifications: The teacher may need to model this activity and teach children explicitly how to think

aloud.

Extended Activity: Children can be asked to work in small groups and pick an incident and make a web

of the varied text-self connections they have found in the group. This will help them see how different

readers make different connections.

This activity works best when coupled with the next activity (What happens next?).

Activity 4: What happens next?Activity 4: What happens next?Activity 4: What happens next?Activity 4: What happens next?

Making predictions is a skill that begins when children are very young. Pre-schoolers, for example make

predictions as they listen to stories. Predicting is based on the thoughtful use of prior knowledge.

Purpose: To learn to make predictions using clues in the text and to change predictions on the basis ofnew information.

Materials: A set of picture books, chart paper.

Ask children to make a chart with three columns in their notebooks.

Picture What will happen?

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