Peace Corps is definitely a time for "firsts". I attended my first double funeral Saturday morning. Two young women in their 20s died last week from the #1 killer (or 2nd next to humans murdering humans) in South Africa: AIDS!
The women died on the same day, and were buried a few feet a away from one another. The crowds at the two services meshed together, sang the same songs, and listened to the same prayers by the preachers. It was a daunting experience. I stood their watching the sun come up over the mountains that highlight my village watching every single person in the crowd. Death is such a common component of life here. How can they stand it? I certainly can't. It breaks my heart. I haven't been to one funeral of a person who died of old age or just "natural causes". ALL have been for young adults in the prime, or pre-prime, of their lives.
One woman left behind three children; a baby under a year old, a young boy in Grade R, and a young girl in Grade 4. I teach the Grade R and Grade 4 children. When I went by their house to drop of plates for the reception after the funeral, the little boy (Thebogo) waved with a smile and said "Tama Tasha"! Ha.
I remember his name from the hundreds of other children because Thebogo was the name of a character in a book I read to the Grade R learners. When I asked the name of the little boy in the book, Thebogo raised his hand, smiled, and said "Thebogo!" His teacher smiled and said that was his name too. Thebogo got a sticker for answering the question right. He was happy to show it off to his friends.
It breaks my heart that these young children are motherless now. What I also think about now is the health of Thebogo and the baby......
I'm flying home Saturday to visit my family in America. Its so weird that I'll be able to step out of this world and my life here for three weeks.
Guess I'll see what happens....
Monday, June 22, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
What's a Dictionary!?!?!?
"What is a dictionary?" .....silence
"What do you do with this book?" (teacher points to dictionary).....silence
"What is IN a dictionary?" ......silence
I spent the first 15 minutes of my Grade 6 class yesterday trying to explain what a dictionary is. I wanted to make sure the kids understood the words "mystery and crime" before we jumped into reading "The Mystery of the Broken Window" story that I did with Grade 7 earlier this week. Grade 7 knew what a dictionary was for, and could even find the two words (mystery and crime) very quickly. Grade 6 on the other hand......
I was so surprised that they had NO CLUE how to use the dictionary (Sotho to English), that I become frustrated. I tried not to show it, but their teacher (who, in her defense, is sick w/ the flu) was uninterested and didn't seem to notice I was struggling.......struggling really really bad!
I wish I could yell, scream, and stomp my feet at the teachers and school administration: "How do your students not know what a dictionary is?!?!"
So now I'm putting together a "This is a Dictionary" lesson plan for my grade 6 learners. I'll probably play it safe and do this lesson with Grade 4-7. Might as well....
"What do you do with this book?" (teacher points to dictionary).....silence
"What is IN a dictionary?" ......silence
I spent the first 15 minutes of my Grade 6 class yesterday trying to explain what a dictionary is. I wanted to make sure the kids understood the words "mystery and crime" before we jumped into reading "The Mystery of the Broken Window" story that I did with Grade 7 earlier this week. Grade 7 knew what a dictionary was for, and could even find the two words (mystery and crime) very quickly. Grade 6 on the other hand......
I was so surprised that they had NO CLUE how to use the dictionary (Sotho to English), that I become frustrated. I tried not to show it, but their teacher (who, in her defense, is sick w/ the flu) was uninterested and didn't seem to notice I was struggling.......struggling really really bad!
I wish I could yell, scream, and stomp my feet at the teachers and school administration: "How do your students not know what a dictionary is?!?!"
So now I'm putting together a "This is a Dictionary" lesson plan for my grade 6 learners. I'll probably play it safe and do this lesson with Grade 4-7. Might as well....
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Kid Detective Sipho Mashile
For a few months now, I've been using Shel Silverstein poems with my grade 5-7 learners. We've worked on reading aloud, comprehension, vocabulary, and rhyming. Things went pretty well, but I could tell the kids still "didn't get" what they were reading. The poems were meant to be fun and imaginative but the kids (and teachers, might I add) were taking them literally. So that sucked all the fun and cuteness out of Silverstein's poems. Ha!
This week I took a different approach with building comprehension skills. I wanted to have an lesson that actively encouraged the kids to "think outside the box", use their imaginations, and build the skills necessary to decipher the English they read into something they actually understand.
This is where Kid Detective Sipho Mashile comes in.
I searched the Internet for short and easy to solve kid mysteries. After "Africanizing" (yep...just coined new word) the character's names and locations, as well as simplifying the language, I came up w/ a cute mystery (The Mystery of the Broken Window) that would engage the kids but also encourage them to understand the story so they can solve the crime.
I set up 6 tables around the library (I call these stations, and use this method often). Each had a copy of the story and two questions. They had five minutes at each station to answer the questions, which lead them in the right direction to solving the crime (i.e. clues). Once every group made it to all stations, we came back together as a class to actually solve the crime. It took ALOT of acting out on my part, but before I almost gave the answer away, a learner figured it out! It was great!
The kids got into it, and I saw several boys who are a part of my "Too Cool for School" crew engaged in the story and trying to figure out the mystery.
Anyway, Kid Detective Sipho Mashile is going to make a recurring appearance during Library Time from now on.
This week I took a different approach with building comprehension skills. I wanted to have an lesson that actively encouraged the kids to "think outside the box", use their imaginations, and build the skills necessary to decipher the English they read into something they actually understand.
This is where Kid Detective Sipho Mashile comes in.
I searched the Internet for short and easy to solve kid mysteries. After "Africanizing" (yep...just coined new word) the character's names and locations, as well as simplifying the language, I came up w/ a cute mystery (The Mystery of the Broken Window) that would engage the kids but also encourage them to understand the story so they can solve the crime.
I set up 6 tables around the library (I call these stations, and use this method often). Each had a copy of the story and two questions. They had five minutes at each station to answer the questions, which lead them in the right direction to solving the crime (i.e. clues). Once every group made it to all stations, we came back together as a class to actually solve the crime. It took ALOT of acting out on my part, but before I almost gave the answer away, a learner figured it out! It was great!
The kids got into it, and I saw several boys who are a part of my "Too Cool for School" crew engaged in the story and trying to figure out the mystery.
Anyway, Kid Detective Sipho Mashile is going to make a recurring appearance during Library Time from now on.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
African Winters
**Let me start off by clarifying that I will settle for an "African Winter" over an "African Summer" any day!**
The weather in my region has never been normal. Everything here is exaggerated...
We don't have breezy days, we have monsoon type winds that cause ridiculous dust storms. Its like I'm living in the Dust Bowl in 1920s [history reference :)]
We don't have have light drizzles on a cloudy day, we have torrential rainfall that makes a trip to the pit toilet a physical act only a well trained athlete can survive.
We don't have nice warm days in the summer, we have heat that causes a person to suffocate inside or outside at all times of the day!
And now, I'm getting a taste of what Winter will be like. I say "will be", b/c its not even Winter yet. As I type right now, my fingers are numb. My tin roof has a way of keeping all the coldness inside the house, and any warmth from the sun outside. At night I'm wrapped up like a burrito. I've already decided to invest in a small electric heater when I return from the States.
I never ever ever imagine it could get so cold in South Africa. I didn't come prepared.
oh well, now I know....
The weather in my region has never been normal. Everything here is exaggerated...
We don't have breezy days, we have monsoon type winds that cause ridiculous dust storms. Its like I'm living in the Dust Bowl in 1920s [history reference :)]
We don't have have light drizzles on a cloudy day, we have torrential rainfall that makes a trip to the pit toilet a physical act only a well trained athlete can survive.
We don't have nice warm days in the summer, we have heat that causes a person to suffocate inside or outside at all times of the day!
And now, I'm getting a taste of what Winter will be like. I say "will be", b/c its not even Winter yet. As I type right now, my fingers are numb. My tin roof has a way of keeping all the coldness inside the house, and any warmth from the sun outside. At night I'm wrapped up like a burrito. I've already decided to invest in a small electric heater when I return from the States.
I never ever ever imagine it could get so cold in South Africa. I didn't come prepared.
oh well, now I know....
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