By Ann Yanchura

The focus of my lessons for children (and their teachers) in Zambia is the use of academic language. It’s something many of us who are reading and writing this blog take for granted because we know the words to use when you summarize, describe, question, etc. In my lessons at Shine Academy in Kalingalinga, we are comparing and contrasting schools in Zambia and schools in America. After reading a wonderful book called WHERE IN THE WORLD IS HENRY? by Lorna Ballan, we talk about where in the world we live. Blow-up beach ball globes were easy to pack, and the kids love seeing our two countries on them. When we created a t-chart to compare our schools, we found that we have reading, writing, good teachers, and books in common. Some of our differences are that we have school gymnasiums in America, and they have vegetable gardens where chickens wander at schools in Zambia. Lucky for us we all love school, reading and teachers – we actually have a lot more in common than we have differences.