Math Textbooks are Making Their Way to Zambia

By Pat Kelly

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The load of a half ton of math textbooks I was transporting made my SUV handle a lot differently. I was light in the front end and needed to allow more time for braking. On top of that, it was rush hour on the expressway and a rush job to get the books back to Crystal Lake, address the boxes and get them to the post office pronto.

Flashback to Zambia, June of this year.

When visiting the School of Hope, our friend and headmistress of the school Kathleen told us they needed math textbooks. To make it easier for us, there was a shipping container leaving Delaware in August which would bring a multitude of goods to the village and school. If we could locate and gather math books and send them to Delaware versus Zambia, that would be much kinder to A to Z Literacy’s checkbook.

Well, as luck would have it, we asked and Follett School Solutions delivered. Jean B., a friend of A to Z, knows a guy, who put us onto a gal, who through Follett was able to donate about a half ton of math textbooks.

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Time was of the essence though, and within a couple days, the heavy boxes of books needed to be picked up from Woodridge, IL, labeled and shipped at the Crystal Lake Post Office. The container was leaving in a week and we gambled on shipping the goods media mail- a slower, more economical method. During a nail biting week, we waited for email confirmation the books had arrived on time. After urging our friends on the receiving end to check the post office and around the church premises (the location of the container), the books turned up at the eleventh hour! Whew!

Now they are en route to Zambia, waiting to deliver their knowledge to eager youngsters. Was it ever worth the hustle.

 

Storage Wars – Part 2

By Mal Keenan

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Last year, Pat wrote about her storage facility experience of receiving new books from a donor who previously sold children’s educational materials for a living. The donor had accumulated boxes of science and social studies trade books along with multiple boxes of small guided reading books. The storage space needed to be cleaned out and we were thrilled to receive the assortment of books. Total score for A to Z.

This past weekend, Wendy and I traveled to another storage facility (which is another story for a different day – Americans and their storage units) to collect eighteen boxes of books from another donor who levels books for a living. Levels books for a living? Right, so publishers send copies of books to Monica and then she determines the grade and guided reading level. Once leveled, the books sit patiently in a storage unit. After a few years of waiting and not needing to be referenced again, the books are free to go. As we loaded them up, I was all smiles. A to Z scored again. Our little nonprofit is making a difference and people like Monica who levels books for a living are willing to help us help others.

“Zambia, Zambia, what do you see?” A story comes full circle…

By Betty Trummel

A couple of nights ago I finished writing the book I had started with the children at Shine Zambia Reading Academy.  As I pressed “order” to send the book to Apple for printing, I felt that strong connection with my African friends once again.  Smiling faces, fingers curled into small, pretend binoculars around their eyes, it took me back to June when I stood in their classrooms reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

Using my photographs of African animals (and thanks to a good friend who had amazing lion photos), and the pattern of words in this book, a new book has been written.  I can’t wait to get copies of the book, and send them to Shine.  The teaching will have come full circle…reading and listening, brainstorming ideas, writing, publishing, and sharing.

It is my hope that students at Shine Zambia Reading Academy will be motivated by this book to write their own stories. Being a part of A to Z Literacy Movement  has motivated me to keep writing down my stories and sharing them with students around the world.  Everyone has stories to share.  What’s your story?

Recent Email

By Mal Keenan

I love reading how happy folks are when the boxes of books finally arrive. These messages reinforce the work we are doing and motivate me to continue the mission of A to Z Literacy Movement.
Here’s one that arrived today:

Dear Mal,

I hope you’re having a great year. I just wanted to write and say THANK YOU!!!!!!!! The books arrived in Ghana and they are AMAZING!!!! They actually arrived a few weeks ago and I had grand and glorious ideas of taking pictures and sending them to you, but since that has been delayed, just wanted at least to say thank you and let you know they arrived safely.

Just a quick update on our end, the library bookshelves were just installed, so I’ve got a team ready to come and organize them and get them ready to go. We’re just about ready to re-open this library. Super exciting!!

Thanks so much for your support. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Receiving emails from recipients of A to Z book shipments never gets old.

First Grade Service

by Anastasia Gruper

When two boxes of books were anonymously shipped to A to Z, we wondered who could have done such a kind deed.  However, when a note arrived the following week with a money order for $200.03 our questions were answered and hearts warmed.  Miss Martin’s first grade class at Alwood Elementary School choose A to Z Literacy Movement as the charity they wanted to contribute to for their year long service project. All year students collected change and books. Furthermore, they manned a lemonade stand for the two reading nights their school hosted. As we talked about the efforts of the first grade class, we were all reminded of how when everyone works together goals are accomplished.  Thank you to Miss Martin and her first grade class for contributing to our cause and helping to increase literacy in the impoverished areas of Africa.  With the help of first graders and students everywhere, we will continue to make the world better.

Summer Reading

By Wendy Lasswell

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As long as I can remember summer reading has been about reading book series. I think it started with the “Little House” books. I actually brought one of those books with me to a slumber party and read a few chapters when the other girls were asleep. There was the “Flowers in the Attic” series.  I remember begging my mom to take me to B. Dalton to buy the next book in the series…..I really can’t believe she let me read those! More recently there was Harry Potter, The Twilight series and The Hunger Games.

And then there was the summer I strayed from book collections and read the epic: “The Thorn Birds”. Oh, what a book that was! BTW, did you know that Colleen McCullough just published a book this August? “Bittersweet” It’s on my “to read” list.

I read some really great books this summer, although none were part of any series. But what I must confess is that mostly this summer I have been counting down the days until August 26th.  That is the day “The Long Way Home” by Louise Penny will be released. This is the 10th book in the series….I cannot express how much I love these books and read them over and over. These are classic who-done-it mysteries set in the small Quebec village of Three Pines, and oh how I want to live there; even if the murder per capita is outrageous! I want to be best friends with Clara the yet- to- be discovered artist and Myrna the retired psychologist who now owns the new and used book store on the village square. I want to go to The Bistro to hang out with Gabri and his partner Olivier and drink café au lait next to the crackling fireplace.  I think you get the idea….. 

So don’t be worried if I don’t answer your emails or reply to any text messages on the 26th…..I’ll be reading!

2 MORE DAYS!

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3-2-1

By Mal Keenan
One reading activity I love to use in the classroom is 3-2-1. This quick formative assessment for determining importance works well as an exit slip in whole group and small group instruction.
Students are asked to write down three important facts/ideas, two key words, and one memorable sentence directly from the text.
3-2-1 was new to the students at School of Hope in Zambia. The 8th graders did a fantastic job reading a short article about Nelson Mandela and then a few pairs were brave enough to present to the rest of the class.

 

 

If You Know It, Sing Along

If You Know It, Sing Along

Zambia, Zambia, What do you see?

by Betty Trummel

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Using patterns of words, phrases, or themes in a story can be a powerful teaching tool.  I capitalized on the repetitive pattern of a favorite book for young children to make a connection to my Zambian students at Shine Zambia Reading Academy.

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“Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” by Bill Martin, Jr. and Eric Carle introduces a series of animals…bear, bird, horse, cat, dog, sheep, goldfish…and ends with the teacher and children looking at the animals.  Once I read through the book, the children easily picked up the word pattern and were able to read the book with me the second time around.  They were ready to go!

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Next, after reading several books about African animals and using my African animal finger puppets to give information about Zambian native species, we created a list on the board.  For many of these children this information is new, as they have little to no opportunity to see these animals in real life.  Without many opportunities to leave the compounds of Lusaka in which they live, it is unlikely that they will ever witness these animals in a natural habitat.

Using the list we had generated, we used the exact same format to create a new story:  “Zambia, Zambia, What Do You See?”  This time the students added an elephant, zebra, wildebeest, lion, impala, crocodile, rhino, hippo, etc. “looking at me.”

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Once I get back home, I’ll self-publish this new story and send it back to the students at Shine.  Since we are encouraging the teachers and students to do more writing as part of their literacy program, this demonstrates how fun and easy it is to create our own stories, sometimes with a familiar pattern or format.  What fun it was to read and create with these early readers at Shine.