Cultivate World Literacy 2018: HCI Grade 7 Book Drive

As the Literacy with ICT teacher leader, I have the chance to work with students and teachers on many different projects and learning activities.   This spring, we had 6 Park West School Division classes from 3 different schools participate in Cultivate World Literacy.   Cultivate World Literacy involved classrooms from around the world working together to explore the topic of literacy and the issue of illiteracy.   132 classrooms from 35 countries participated in this collaborative project.  Supported by technology, classrooms around the world could connect and share their learning.  Students and teachers were encouraged to examine local and global issues related to literacy over several weeks.   After learning about the global issue of illiteracy, participating classrooms were challenged to take action to promote literacy, raise awareness or make a difference.  One of the participating classes from PWSD chose to organize a book drive as their action to make a difference.  Check out the student-authored article below for details on the HCI Grade 7 Cultivate World Literacy Book Drive. 

Students Make Efforts to Promote Literacy
By Aiden Murray and Kendra Drake

According to Statistics Canada, 3.1 million Canadians from age 16-65 read at lower than middle school levels. Students from Hamiota Collegiate joined students from around the world for a project called Cultivate World Literacy. Two teachers named Julie Hembree and Tammy Dunbar created this project to improve lives by promoting literacy. This non-profit collaborative venture included a 5 week campaign for students around the world. Students in Park West School Division shared their work on a digital bulletin board called Padlet. In addition, students around the world shared their work at www.cultivateworldliteracy.com.

For week one, students celebrated reading. The grade 7 class did this by having a “book tasting” where students went around the classroom with snacks and read different books. Students kept note of titles of book they would like to read. During week two, the grade 7s teamed up with the grade 11 class to research the topic of illiteracy.  In week three, students created videos showcasing their schools and libraries. It was a surreal experience seeing schools from countries on the other side of the Earth. For the next week, students were making connections with other classes. The grade 7s created digital posters to raise awareness about illiteracy and shared them on social media. During week 5, students were challenged to make a difference. The grade 7 class made a goal to collect books for 3-10 year-old kids in Hamiota.

The grade 7s went through a process of steps to create their project. They started with brainstorming about an idea that would help stop illiteracy. After we decided which project to complete, we created the goal of what we wanted to accomplish. We had several steps that were completed by a variety of students. Our most important step was to get the donation boxes and posters to the businesses. Now we are hoping that the community will support our cause by donating books that are new or gently used targeting ages 3-10. These books can be dropped off at the following locations: Co-op, Country Crocus Bakery, Home Hardware Stores, Municipal Office, Hamiota Collegiate. 

Our class would like to thank you for doing your part in ending illiteracy!  

The article appeared in the April 2018 edition of the town newsletter and the book drive received great support, as evidenced by the many boxes of books the Grade  7s collected!