Reading is Fundamental

On friday, I had an epiphany. I realised a while ago, while playing English word bingo with my students, that the vast majority of them cannot read English. Wow. That is so dismaying. How are they supposed to learn to run when they haven't learned how to crawl? If I dwell too much on how the system here does not allow a student who has fallen behind to get some extra help... I may just lose it. I know that students in the U.S. also don't necessarily get the help that they need, but it is, in theory, available to them.

Anyway, knowing how poorly my students can read English, I devised a game that is not based on comprehension, but exclusively on reading. I printed out basic words, from things we've studied this year so far. These included the days of the week, months, clothes, and school subjects. I put the words on the blackboard with magnets, randomly. Then the class is divided into two teams. The students come up 2 at a time, one from each team. I say a word off of the board and they run up to grab the word, and win a point for their teams. It actually went over very well. The kids enjoyed themselves, and I felt like it was a game that I can use many times and it will help them with their reading abilities. It's hard to stay motivated and creative when you're surrounded by such dispair (on the part of my students that is) but I do my best. I would like to get my students to dream again and hope for something in life, but that might be a bit unrealistic. Anyway, I do my best.