e-volunteer - story reading (EV)

Reading stories is a key educational activity performed by volunteers in classrooms around the world.  Reading stories together helps children's listening skills and their ability to focus.  Talking about the stories together helps develop children's imaginations and their ability to express themselves.  Stories read in English, a second or third language for children in the countries we support, helps children's understanding of the language, their pronunciation and their reading ability.  Well-chosen stories form the basis of learning in many ways, enlarging the children's understanding of the world. A love of books, learned at an early age, forms the basis for education throughout a person's life.

Story books introduced by volunteers have been built into the curriculum of many of the projects we support.  They form the basis for development of literacy and are a key element in topic-based curriculums.

We hope to build up an online library of stories specifically for use by the educational establishments we support.  Books are being chosen carefully, with input from our local partners, to make sure they are culturally appropriate and support the different learning areas they have identified.

 

 

 

 

Lack of volunteers during the pandemic means that schools and educational establishments are in danger of missing out on the key learning opportunities provided by story reading.  Books are not always available locally and any that are available are often prohibitively expensive.  Many countries do not have a culture of reading together at home, and most families do not own books.  

 

Filming yourself reading a children's story is a great way to fill this gap in their education.  The videos you make can be shared with teachers at various educational projects around the world.  When schools reopen they can be used by teachers in the classroom as a basis for project work or to reinforce areas of learning, and to practise spoken and written English.  While schools remain closed they can be sent out to children via social media as part of an online learning package.  Teachers reviewing their curriulum while schools are closed can take the opportunity to build a greater variety of stories, with their associated learning, into their lesson planning.

 

 

Whether you are a professional teacher or classroom assistant, a grandparent who enjoys reading to their grandchildren, or simply someone who enjoys books yourself, we can certainly use your help in this initiative.

To see an interview with a volunteer who made a story video click here 

£30 per story reading

how your money is spent
£10 project contribution - this will be split between the the projects that use your video

£20 is a management fee to people and places - this includes liaison with the projects to establish which stories are appropriate - liaising and briefing with you and the administrative work of loading and distributing the videos 

This e-volunteering project is costed per video 

If you do not own any suitable  books you will need to cover the cost of purchasing the books yourself