A Few Words From Vineet Bhatnagar, Founder of Shine Zambia Reading Academy

“Having worked with A to Z Literacy since building our literacy school, Shine Zambia Reading Academy in 2009, I know personally how much their help has contributed to the success of our school.  Not just support through financial sponsorship of teachers’ allowances and pupil lunches, or through books donated and shipped to Zambia to stock our school library, but in the training provided to our teachers.  This training has been given by Mal and various volunteers who have sacrificed their time to work with our teachers for around a week almost every summer for the past 5 years.

I wanted to find out first hand how A to Z and its visits to our school over the years have impacted our teachers, so I asked them.  Upon my request, our teachers had a meeting to discuss it and wrote back to me with feedback.  The teachers unanimously agreed that they had all been greatly impacted by the A to Z training sessions and feel their teaching style has improved.  They specifically mentioned the strategies they were taught for reading with pupils, improving pupil writing skills and conducting group discussions in class.  Here’s a quote from our Head Teacher, David Mulenga, about writing strategies: “We were particularly astounded at how well our own Year 2 pupils were able to write, all by themselves. We learned this particularly from Dave. He would show them a picture card and ask them to say what they can see from it and he wrote those things on the blackboard. He would then ask the pupils to write their own stories about any of those things written on the board. Wow!  It was amazing to see the ideas that came from the children!”

We truly appreciate A to Z Literacy’s guidance over the years in making our literacy program even stronger and we hope to continue working in partnership for many years to come.” – Vineet Bhatnagar

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Without you, we would not be able to meet our goals of promoting literacy to students in Zambia and providing professional development to teachers where the need is substantial. Thank you for understanding the mission of global literacy and the importance of reading.

Yes, I wish to make a special year-end gift to help get books into the hands of children who want read. (click here)

A to Z Literacy Movement, Inc is a non-profit 501c3 organization. Your tax-deductible contribution will help promote literacy and increase the love of reading for children living in poverty-stricken areas.

Grateful

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(photo credit SnoShuu)

“To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven.” – Johannes Gaertner

As we enter into the Thanksgiving weekend, A to Z would like to extend our gratitude to you and thank you for your continued support of our mission. Because of you, we are improving the literacy lives of children around the globe and increasing the love of reading in impoverished places. You are making a difference. You matter to us. And we are truly grateful for you.
Happy Thanksgiving from the A to Z Literacy Movement Team!

 

Shopping Online With Amazon Smile

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Hi A to Z Friends,

As we enter the holiday shopping season in a few weeks, please remember another way to support A to Z Literacy Movement through Amazon Smile. It’s super easy. It doesn’t cost anything extra. And it benefits so many kids. All you need to do is sign up through Amazon, choosing A to Z as your charity of choice, and every time you purchase something through Amazon, A to Z receives 5% of your purchase total.

As with our ongoing Savers fundraiser, every little bit helps our non-profit organization.

Feel free to click the link to sign up with Amazon Smile.

https://smile.amazon.com/ch/27-0968435

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Thank You For Helping Us Send One More Shipment in 2015

Brewery For Books 1         Brewery For Books 2

On Thursday, November 5th, friends of A to Z Literacy Movement came out to Crystal Lake Brewing for a relaxing evening of beer tasting while learning a thing or two about the process of making delicious craft beer. Because of you, we were able to raise over $1,600! We are grateful for your continued support and are excited to ship 500 books to a small school in Zambia. Thank you! Thank you!
Be sure to save the date of Friday, February 19, 2016 for our annual Trivia Night FUNdraiser.

One Week Until Our Fall FUNdraiser

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Hi Friends,

We’ve still got books to ship this year and would appreciate your help to get stories into the hands of Zambian kids. Come on out to Crystal Lake Brewing on Thursday, November 4th anytime from 3:00-9:00. We invite you to enjoy a 30 minute brewery tour, receive two complimentary tastings along with a Crystal Lake Brewing sampling glass. And you’ll be supporting a great cause for just $20. There will be tasty snacks, board games to play, and bags to throw. Come after work for an hour or bring your friends and make it an evening out.

Check out our site for more details – www.atozliteracy.org

Fall Cleaning

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September 23rd marked the Autumnal equinox. Cooler days bring an increase in activity which may mean you’re cleaning out your garage, attic or living space.
A to Z Literacy Movement can benefit if you take your castoff belongings to the Crystal Lake Savers thrift store donation center anytime through the year. What could be simpler than driving through and mentioning us by name to the employee, who will unload your bags and boxes? It’s even a little nostalgic when your tires roll  over the rubber hose and a bell rings to summon the attendant just like gas stations used to have.
Please help us spread the work and tell your friends about this opportunity to turn unwanted items into cash to help our missions locally and globally. Savers will present you with a tax receipt, however they cannot accept donations of tires, paint and other liquids.

Brewery For Books

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Beers and books have a lot in common. They have a good story to tell, can be enjoyed by many, have great character traits, and cannot always be judged by their covers. Come explore the craft of local beer making at Crystal Lake Brewing on Thursday, November 5, 2015 from 3:00 – 9:00. We invite you to enjoy a 30 minute brewery tour, receive two complimentary tastings along with a Crystal Lake Brewing sampling glass. And you’ll be supporting a great cause for just $20. There will be tasty snacks, board games to play, and bags to throw. Come after work for an hour or bring your friends and make it an evening out. Tickets can be purchased on our website or at the door.

Hope kids              photo 1

Summer Clean Out + Garage Sale Season = Savers Drop Off

   

Attention A to Z Literacy supporters- we want your junk! Don’t forget the Savers store in Crystal Lake has designated us as their pilot non-profit for their “Choose Your Cause” promotion. What this means is that anytime you bring a donation to Savers thrift store and mention A to Z Literacy Movement, they weigh the poundage you  donate and pay us per pound! Bring your garage sale leftovers, your outgrown summer gear, your college bound teen’s odds and ends.  This is an ongoing promotion- keep us in mind whenever you have goods to pass along. Sorry, furniture, tires and liquids cannot be counted toward our fundraising promo.

Thanks so much for your help and for spreading the word.

Lunch & Learn

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This week has been a productive one for teachers at Shine Zambia. With about 20 minutes left in the lunch break each day, we finished up our nshima and then shared a bit of learning together. Effective questioning, student talk time, and writing were discussed along with how to best support all the English language learners at Shine. As English language learners themselves, some were slow to discuss or contribute, others remained quiet the entire time, but as the week progressed, more teachers chimed in during our Lunch & Learn. We ended the week with a discussion around goal setting for ourselves and for our students. Very powerful to hear a few teachers speak up and share possible goals. Score!
The days at Shine Zambia start early and end late, but these dedicated teachers want to learn how to help their students to rise above and succeed.

Listening To What’s Around Me

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In the late afternoon, roosters call out from across the yards as if they are wanting to share the day’s events before the sun goes down.

Children playing together, the rise and fall of voices and laughter, all sound exactly the same no matter what language is spoken.

“Iwe” (ee-way) spoken in different contexts and with different inflections, means “you”…like “oooh yooou”. Or “you, get back here”. Or “you are good”. Or “you, knock it off”.

Guinea hens, while unique and helpful in eating bugs, are so loud when getting ready to roost for the night in the tree out back.

A speech from the Head Teacher to teens about what to wear to school, “The uniform is navy blue, not black. Those pants you are wearing, trying a new fashion style, will not work”.

Taxis and mini buses love to beep. It could be a quick hello to a friend, a warning to a bicyclist, or perhaps a solicitation for a ride.

The smooth Zambian radio voice sharing all the news of the day from the dashboard of the taxi.

The phrase “As for me, Madam…” spoken by students before answering a question about their reading.