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Concluding our focus on Laguna BelAir School and their involvement in our WaterBridge Outreach program we present the feedback of the school  librarian Ms. Vin Del Rosario.

The books donated by the Paper Tigers: Books+Water presented a very suitable opportunity for me to propose a reading program for the Learning Resource Center (LRC).

I am a School Librarian who oversees the operations of the Library and Learning Resource Center of Laguna BelAir School, a K-12 private educational institution located in the City of Santa Rosa, Laguna,Philippines.

This reading program was spearheaded by the LRC in partnership with the Class Advisers and Reading Teachers of students in Grades 2 to 6. One of the aims of this reading program was for students to encourage one another to read the Spirit of PaperTigers (SPT) books in the library to reach the class reading goal. The reading goal was determined by the number of students in the class, the assigned 3 SPT titles and percentage of expected participating students. To reach the class reading goal faster, more students must participate in the reading program.

This SPT Reading Program gave me more chances to reach out to the clients of the library. While the reading program was up and running, the students would wait for me every morning during their Class Routine time for the distribution of the Mini Book Certificates. These small pieces of paper certified that the student earned points for his/her class by submitting correct answers using the Book Completion Form (BCF).

This SPT reading program provided me an avenue to know in-depth the reading abilities of the students who participated in the program. In the same manner, the Class Advisers themselves professed that this activity opened another opportunity for them to know more the students in their advisory class. Some students found a chance to show off their special abilities, and for that, efforts were made to recognize these little triumphs. The tokens that were distributed to the children (ballpoint pens, bookmarks, and stickers) gave the children some sense of pride in their active participation in the SPT Reading program. Parents were given copies of the pictures taken during the SPT Reading Program awarding ceremony. The school reiterated the partnership that we need to uphold to ensure that the children will develop the habit of reading. Most of the parents appreciated the recognition given to their children.

As a School Librarian, and in conceptualizing this reading program, one of my deepest desires was to use the SPT books to encourage more students to visit the LRC. The program aimed to encourage 50% of the students in grades 2 to 6 to participate. The response of the students was so overwhelming. The SPT reading program was well accepted, it achieved 76.1% participation! They were excited to read the adventures of Kojo, Jilu, Little Leap Forward, Luis, Thomas, etc. It was unfortunate, but I had to deliberately shorten the reading program because the class reading goals have already been reached, almost two months earlier than the target time. There were days when the cues of students wanting to read the SPT books were very long, but the students still waited patiently for their turn. The book completion forms made them read the books in a more comprehensive way to be able to satisfy their want to receive the Mini Book Certificates the following morning.

This SPT reading program also created more meaningful working relationships between the library and some faculty members. The library requested for teacher volunteers who would assist the library staff during the reading sessions in the library. More than 30% of faculty members responded positively to this call. It was indeed an opportunity to practice stewardship, one of the core values that the school advocates for all the members of the school community.

After the reading program, I had opportunities to do read aloud sessions for some of the SPT books to the students in grades 2 and 3. We allowed ourselves to be absorbed by the moving stories and the artistic illustrations of the book. We joined Jilu as he explored his ger in different seasons, an experience that we do not have in the Philippines as we only have two seasons. We shared the struggles of Luis on his way to El Tormento, his passion to read was worth emulating. We all admired the skills of Thomas and his friends, they worked together to build their school. In the Philippines, we call the value of working together as “bayanihan”, which is a culture we share with the children and teachers of Chad.

I had sleepless nights checking an average of 108 Book Completion Forms daily during the SPT reading program. This I had to do as I did not want to disappoint the students who were waiting for their Mini Book Certificates the following morning. And being able to encourage 32% of non-library users to finally visit the library just to participate in this reading program was all worth the back pains and sleepless nights.

This SPT Reading Program was just a commencement activity. We have to continue encouraging the children to read and to understand the traditions, practices, and culture of different peoples all around the world. We all need to see that, while we have differences, still, we can live with respect for one another and exist harmoniously.

I look at the future with hope in my heart knowing that all other PaperTigers: Books+Water books will continue to promote these values. The teachers in the classrooms, with the prodding of the Academic Team Head, will discuss these values more deeply with the children. Laguna BelAir School will continue to explore and use the stories in the SPT book sets because the school also espouses related advocacies, appreciation of our Filipino culture and at the same time understanding other cultures… in the hope for a better world-with children growing up as stewards and adults with deeply-rooted empathy.

Yesterday on the blog we highlighted student feedback from Laguna BelAir School that we received on the 2010 and 2011 book sets. Today it’s time to read some of the wonderful comments we received from the teachers.  As I mentioned yesterday obtaining feedback from our participants is a crucial part of our WaterBridge Outreach project and we are most appreciative of the students and staff at Laguna BelAir School who took the time to share their thoughts and comments on the book sets.

Question: How specifically have the PaperTigers book/s (any of them) helped you to open your pupil’s minds and hearts to other places and other cultures

The PaperTigers books are stories of different countries. Because of this, the stories helped me in opening my pupils’ minds and hearts to other places and other cultures. For instance, the book Rain School relates the culture of children who don’t have a formal school to enter to, yet they still loved schooling despite of their unfortunate situation. The books tackled variety of stories introducing other places specifically remote places and containing adventures of young children. The lessons they hopefully learned might have opened their minds to the fact that more children are still wanting or excited to be educated and that my pupils are more fortunate than them. ~ Ms. Sheila Lumbay, English 1 and 2

Since most of my pupils don’t experience too many hardships in their lives, it is difficult for us teachers to open their minds in the reality of the world. But with the help of the PaperTigers books, they became aware of the different cultures. I have read a pupil’s answer regarding the difference of his life to the lives of the characters in the story. He said that he is fortunate because he doesn’t need to build his own school compared to the children in the book Rain School. With the help of the books, they become thankful with what they get, as well. ~ Ms. Kate Caling, English 3 and 4

Question: What was your favorite PaperTiger book/s among your pupils and why?

The favorite books among my Grade 5 students are One Hen and A Child’s Garden. But most of the students like A Child’s Garden because it is a story of hope despite local conflicts in the country. ~ Mr. James Alvin Mirador, English 5

Biblioburro was the favorite book of my pupils because most of them were able to read and to reflect in the story. The book has inspired them to read and borrow more from the library. In fact, one of their comments says that they also want to be like Luis who was a generous man and really loved reading books and shared those books to the children from far-flung places. ~ Ms. Sheila Lumbay, English 1 and 2

Question: How specifically have the PaperTigers book/s (any of them) helped you teach English and encourage reading among your pupils?

These books helped me little by little to appreciate reading. I learned a lot about other cultures and started to get fascinated in books. They said that if you want to learn more vocabulary words, try reading children’s books. It’s true! It widens not only my vocabulary, but also my students’. I could easily motivate them because I incorporated the stories in my lessons. The students and I were hooked with the books. ~ Ms. Emirose Gonzale, English 6 and English Coordinator

Do click here to read the entire teachers’ feedback document.

Today we continue our focus on Laguna BelAir School, located in Santa Rosa City, Philippines, and their involvement in our WaterBridge Outreach Project. The first post in the series can be read here.

This promises to be a special week here on the blog as we spend the next few days highlighting feedback from one of our WaterBridge Outreach participants:  Laguna BelAir School in Santa Rosa City, Philippines.

Our WaterBridge Outreach: Books + Water Nourishing the Mind and Body program (formerly known as Spirit of PaperTigers Outreach)  seeks to further the overall goals of the PaperTigers Program: bridging cultures and opening minds, promoting greater understanding and empathy among young people from different backgrounds, countries, and ethnicities. More specifically, WBOutreach works to advance education through books and reading, and development through clean and accessible water.

Since 2009,  the “Books” portion of WaterBridge Outreach: Books + Water has seen us put  specially chosen book sets into the hands of young readers through schools and libraries, encouraging literacy, developing understanding and making reading a lifelong habit.  Each year’s  set is comprised of books that we feel provide “multicultural” or “trans-cultural” stories that promote awareness of, knowledge about, and positive acceptance of “the other” in ways children can learn and enjoy. We are convinced of the crucial role of literacy and reading in an education that fosters understanding and empathy. Click here for information on the  2010, 2011 and 2012 Book Sets can be found here and includes reviews of the books, interviews with authors and illustrators, illustrator galleries, and publishing information.

Laguna BelAir School has participated in our Book Set program for the past 3 years under the guidance of  the school’s amazing head librarian, Ms. Vin Del Rosario. Using the books Ms. Del Rosario implemented an inspiring  reading program for her students in grades 2 to 6.  Ms. Del Rosario writes:

You have chosen quality book sets, books that contain values that are important to us. It was easy for us to share the books with our students as the stories and illustrations “capture” our students’ interests.

I initiated the PaperTigers reading program to create an avenue to encourage our students to read the books in a fun way. It is also the library’s way of helping the English subject teachers to get feedback on the PaperTigers books.

This reading program is a class effort. It encourages class participation. The more these students read in a class, the faster they can reach their reading goal. Reading points were assigned to different PaperTigers books. Class advisers and Reading teachers encourage students to participate in the reading program.

The students visit the library to read the PaperTigers books during their snacks and lunch break. After reading a book, the student is given a “book completion form”, which is a small piece of paper with two or three questions about the book. Students earn points for each form they complete and are awarded a “mini book certificate”.

Originally, I had intended to run the reading program up to November 2012. However, due to the overwhelming responses of the students, we completed it by the end of September!

We have been posting Laguna BelAir’s written feedback on the book sets on our Outreach page here.  Earlier this month we received this video from Laguna BelAir school that documents their Spirit of PaperTigers reading program! Such a thrill for us to see the students and staff of the school engaging with the books we sent and I think we can all agree that Ms. Del Rosario’s reading program was a HUGE success!

http://youtu.be/v1ns1yb23T0

 
Ana Maria Bacudio, the project leader and story-teller for the Dagdag Dunong Reading Center in Singalong Malate in Manila read the books from the 2011-12 Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set to different groups of children during story-telling sessions.  Here is a brief selection of reactions from the children:

About Rain School by James Rumford:

King Robert M. (age 10) felt sad when the school was washed away by the flood. It was a loss for him because the children did their best in constructing the school but because of the rain it was destroyed. There was a feeling of hope in him because by the next school year, the children will again help in building their school and they will again study and learn. He realized that the children should not waste learning time while there is still no rain and their school is still standing. When the rain comes, they cannot study anymore and will again make a classroom next school year.

About A Child’s Garden: A Story of Hope by Michael Foreman:

Jenielle S. (age 8 ) felt so happy when the fence was removed and the people joined together without separation by a barbed fence. She wanted to imitate the boy by taking care of their plants at home so that they will grow and shelter birds and insects like in the story. She became excited and happy because the girl from the other side of the fence also took care of the small plant which later grew into a big plant and covered the fence. She wanted to imitate the boy and the girl from the story on how they took care of the plants.

About Biblioburro by Jeannette Winter:

Angela R. (age 8 ) was happy and enjoyed the part when the children were asked to wear pig masks and listen to stories about pigs. She told me that we should also make masks when we tell stories about animals so that they will feel and internalize the stories more and feel that they are also characters in the story.

Read the rest of the Dagdag Dunong Reading Center’s feedback here.

Have you ever stopped to think in all the people that live in a poor country? Well, I was born in a poor country so I know in which conditions people in Chad live. I was born in a place called Cabo Verde, there are 10 islands and they live in poor conditions so I know how those children feel.

Today we read a book about children that live in Chad and it talks about how children in Chad go to school. A child called Thomas was going to his first day of school and he was very ANXIOUS, EXCITED and NERVOUS. When he arrived, there was no school. The teacher was standing there and said ‘Our first lesson is to build our school.‘

Find out more about this AWESOME and INTERESTING book and discover the ending.

I give 10 HUGE stars to this book and I would like to say ‘thank you PAPERTIGERS for giving us this FABULOUS BOOK!’

This wonderful review of Rain School by James Rumford, one of the 2011 Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set, was written by 4th Grader Lucia F. from Woodlands School in Montevideo, Uruguay.

You can read the rest of the school’s Feedback on all three books here…

With our current PaperTigers issue focusing on the theme of Water in Multicultural Children’s Books and with water playing a crucial role in our Spirit of PaperTigers Outreach (read yesterday’s post to learn more), I was thrilled to learn that water-themed children’s stories will also by highlighted at next year’s Asian Festival of Children’s Content in Singapore!

Project Splash Asia! AFCC 2013

Next year will be the United Nations International Year of Water.

Community and school programmes in many countries will include reading, performing and creating water-themed stories.

Share your favourite stories that have water as a theme, such as Wave by Suzy Lee (California US: Chronicle Books, 2008), Amansinaya-Goddess of the Sea, by Eugene Evasco and Jomike Tejido (illustrator) (Philippines: LG&M, 2007), The Wakame Gatherers by Holly Thompson and Kazumi Wilds (illustrator) (California US: Shen’s Books, 2007), and Water Tales From Around the World (India: Tulika Publishers, 2010).

Project Splash Asia! aims to publish a bibliography and collection of favourite water-themed children’s stories from or about the region for AFCC 2013.

The National Book Development Council of Singapore (NBDCS) hopes the compilation of a bibliography of children’s stories around a universal theme will be a regular project for AFCC to showcase the diversity of talents and children’s literature in the region.

For suggestions and enquiries, please email [email protected].

Head on over to the Spirit of PaperTigers site to see feedback from the following schools with regards to the  2010 Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set:

Gilead School ~ Tuophema, Nagaland, India

Posadas Mem Elementary School ~ Ajuy, Iloilo, Philippines

Cipriani Elementary School ~ Belmont, California, USA

Head on over to our Flickr site to see photographs from some of the schools around the world participating in the Spirit of PaperTigers project… it won’t be long till we’ll have a slideshow in the sidebar here on the blog too. More feedback on the 2010 Book Set has come in, so we’ll be adding that over the coming weeks. In the meantime, enjoy seeing all those happy children rapt in books – both on the individual Participant Feedback pages and all together in Flickr…

Head on over to the Spirit of PaperTigers site to see feedback from the Laguna Bel Air School, City of Santa Rosa, Laguna, Philippines. Students in Grades 3 though 6 provided their comments on the books in the 2010 Spirit of PaperTigers Book Sets. Here is a sampling of what they wrote:

Planting the Trees of Kenya

KY, Grade 4: I recommend this book because it shows concern for our mother earth and nature. It shows us how to protect and plant trees, so that we can help the environment.

Little Leap Forward: A Boy in Beijing

MZM, Grade 5: My favorite part is when Little Leap Forward’s father told him that ‘With your music and your imagination, you can travel anywhere; you will always be free’ because it’s very inspiring and also because I’m a musician, too.

CM, Grade 5: My favorite illustration is when Little Little and Little Leap Forward are lying down on the riverbank. It shows that both of them are free and are best friends. When I do what both of them are doing, I will focus on the sky and realize that I still have to do many things before I reach heaven.

AJA, Grade 6: I really like Little Leap Forward because he is kind to his family, friends, pet bird (Little Cloud), and most especially to Blue. He did everything just to let Little Cloud sing. He even let go of her just to be happy and to sing. I will always remember these words from Little Leap Forward: “Wouldn’t you rather be free, just for a day, than spend a lifetime in a cage?”.

VAdR, Grade 6: My favorite chapter is ‘Autumn Song’ because it shows that Little Leap Forward finally gets his wish: to play the flute along with Little Cloud. He played the bamboo flute by just letting the music out from his heart, which for me is the most beautiful music of all.

One Hen

KMS, Grade 3: I like Kojo because he wanted to save money for their needs.

EA, Grade 3: I like the illustrations because they’re all very, very creative.

Head on over to the Spirit of PaperTigers site to see feedback from the Harvest Centre in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, including lots of great photographs.

Today we hope you will join with us in celebrating the launch of our new Spirit of PaperTigers Outreach website.

On the front page you will find an interactive world map showing all the SPT participants, who are also listed alphabetically and by country. On the feedback pages, you will be now not only be able to read comments from teachers and students, but where available, you will also be able to watch slideshows and enlarge images to view children’s work. All information about the project, including our Mission Statement and annual Book Set can be found in the About Us section.

Over the next few weeks we will be adding more and more feedback from SPT participants around the world. In the meantime, as well as feedback which was already available from Agape School and Mountain View School, both in Nagaland, India, and Woodlands School in Montevideo, Uruguay, you will now find newly posted feedback from the following schools:

Monroe and Fairmount Elementary Schools in San Francisco, California, USA:

“Two books were a HUGE hit, One Hen and First Come the Zebra.

With One Hen, the kids want MORE… They want to know how much of this story is true, and what has happened since the story was written They loved the idea of the domino effect of helping each other, and related it to their own classrooms and how things work better when they all pitch in. I read this book to 3rd, 4th and 5th graders.

I believe that First Come the Zebra was a huge hit, because the kids can relate to the happenings in the books, especially the conflict between the two boys. They were full of questions and, of course, gave personal anecdotes of times when they were in those situations…”

Pingliang Road No. 3 Elementary School in Shanghai, China:

“Our favorite book was First Come the Zebra [...] They enjoyed the book very much. Their interest partly came from the pictures, the English words and expressions. In the book, there are very different ways to express the ideas from Chinese. Sometimes it has idioms to express the meaning. We don’t know much of English idiomatic expressions in our daily life.”

and Talisay Elementary School in Agusan del Norte, Philippines

“The story about <

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