by Uthaya Nirmala J Everett

INTRODUCTION

"We learn to read by reading" (Smith, 1982). This means that the more one reads, the better one becomes. Reading is a skill that must be developed by means of intensive and extensive practices. Therefore the reading program that I have designed is an extensive reading program that I will call HAPPY HOLS reading program. The name HOLS come from the word holiday and this program will be carried out during the school holiday and done in the students’ own time at their own pace. Students nowadays lead far more complicated lives. They travel with parents and their schools during the school holidays, attend a variety of specialty camps from athletic to drama and music. Many work part time jobs. It was also a time before computers, the Internet, and television. All these activities should be manipulated so that students can incorporate the reading activities into their holiday regime. Thus I have selected the time of the year when students will be at leisure to establish my reading program. I have included the word HAPPY in the title so that it creates an atmosphere where students read joyfully. When one activity is done with pleasure it will automatically improve the quality of its sustainability.

Why Extensive Reading?

McCormik and Tushnet (1996) found that it is the after school program reading that has helped to increase student interest in schools and developed a higher level of confidence in their reading. Hence I feel the time students spend during the holidays should be targeted for them to read extensively to improve their reading ability and to develop a keen interest in reading. Once reading becomes a habit it can be transformed into a way of life. This program is meant for primary school students from the age of seven to ten. This age level is selected as this is the time when almost all students are obedient and complete tasks given diligently. It is also the best time to inculcate a good reading habit that will be treasured for the rest of their lives.

DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM

Venue

The Happy holiday reading program is to be conducted at the student’s own home or at a place  convenient to them. The most important criteria for venue would be Internet accessibility. As students are going to source for material from the child website they must be able to connect to the Internet from their homes. Since many Malaysian homes have Internet access this should not be a problem. Besides, the idea of using the Internet to complete a holiday task would be very exciting to the students. If at all there are students with no Internet access then they would be allowed to come back to school to utilize the Internet ready computer labs. The school authorities are also roped in to play their part to ensure the success of this program. Apart from that, parents also have to give a helping hand to enable the young children to connect to the website. This ensures quality time spent with the child and the parent.

TIME

The time frame of this program would be throughout the school holidays. It is best conducted in the midterm holiday which normally occurs during the month of May. This time is selected as students can complete the task and bring it back after the holiday for classroom presentation. The duration of the holiday is two weeks; hence it is ample time for task completion.

MATERIAL

The materials would be sourced from the Project Child website. Students would be asked to go to this website and go to the section “Reading Stories Online”. A trial session would be conducted in classroom where students are brought to the computer labs and shown how to access this website and how to select the particular section. Handouts must be given to students to provide a step by step approach on how to locate this website. This would serve as guidance to parents on how to assist their children.

Since this section has six levels of age appropriate stories to choose from, teachers have to browse through the section and prepare a reading list which indicates age and level of suitability of stories. Students are free to choose from any story that interests them. They are required to select at least three stories and read them. The next step would be for students to reflect upon the stories and write a few sentences about them to state their experience while reading the story. Bearing in mind that these are very young children, who might not be able to write well, teacher should accept any form of feedback. Once back in school after the holidays the young learners are coaxed to relate to their class about their reading experience.

RATIONALE FOR PROGRAM

Since the aim of this program is to develop students’ ability to become autonomous learners, extensive reading is vital. Extensive reading is normally done out of the classroom where students read on their own with minimal own or no guidance at all. Thus it is relevant to this Happy Hols program where students have the freedom to choose the books that they want to read. After reading, the teacher asks the students their reaction and reflection of the task completed.

INTEREST

One of the many aims of the reading program is to capture the interest of students and motivate them to continue reading. The child website has colorful materials for young children at various levels that would appeal to young learners. I have personally tested it with a group of six-year-olds who found the colorful and well illustrated stories extremely fascinating.

INDEPENDENT LEARNERS

Extensive reading helps to develop independent and autonomous learners. Readers will take responsibility and accountability for their own learning and attainment. Extensive reading offers many benefits; it establishes a positive attitude towards learning the second language, its culture and its people. It increases vocabulary knowledge and improves general knowledge. Hence the HHR program capitalizes on this extensive reading program to enable a more meaningful reading experience.

LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY

Readers are given the liberty to select their own reading materials that suit their language proficiency. Since the Project Child website has materials of various levels it will be ideal for students to be given the freedom to select their own materials. I feel that giving a reading list would also benefit readers as they would be able to select the materials according to their level. The reading list would be divided into different levels and students would be able to choose any story that fascinates them.

CONCLUSION

In sum this HHR program would help to promote the reading habit among young learners which is the right age to instil a good lifelong habit. The school holiday would become a time where students become competent readers. This program would also produce autonomous learners who would be responsible for their own learning.