Reading - Kusoma

The Reading Club has officially started - we even had our first "prize-giving" on Friday, where we awarded pens, "fashion" math sets, pencil sharpers & super-cool rulers for all students who had participated.  When it came to assigning "points," things were a bit chaotic as we are still learning together about expectations. But the most important part is that the kids are reading! 

I had the 12 students who joined the club this week meet me on Friday afternoon in what turned out to be our first reading club meeting.  Each student shared about what they had been reading.  I was impressed by their honesty.  One student shared that he had been given a biology assignment and had been neglecting it so that he could get more "points" in the reading club.  Another said that he didn't really enjoy reading stories, he'd rather work on his class subjects.  Due to the pressure on students for academic performance, we are giving points for subject review & I'm finding that many of the students are choosing to do classwork over reading fiction.  It's interesting to see what books the students choose.  One of the favorite series has been about a boy named Akimbo who lives in Africa and has harrowing adventures with wild animals. 

My office has been fully converted into a library/study room with an average of 9 students filling every chair & bench we have.  I've resorted to meeting guardians and students outside on a bench. I know one of the draws for students is the free lunch we're offering for students who stay and study for 3 hours or more.  For about 30 cents each, I can provide the student with two chapatis (similar to tortillas) and a serving of beans.  I had one single mother explaining that she didn't have food at home, so I invited her younger children to come study, too.  For overflow, I've bought clipboards.  The church has plenty of shady spots outside and a number of benches we can borrow if needed. We'll see what happens!

I have a high school in New Jersey that's going to be exchanging stories with our students.  I hope to catch up with the mountains (at least it seems that way on a Sunday night) of work ahead of me and share some of my students' writing with you and with them.  Stay tuned ...

The not-so-serious side of the reading club

Alex has taken on the Harry Potter series

During our photo shoot to promote the reading club, we had "serious" and "joker" shots.

And some of my weekend excitement - making a cake without an oven ... nor a recipe!

Step 1. Prepare charcoal "jiko" & heat up sand in a big pot.
Step 2. Mix well margarine & sugar (when i asked- its about 1/4 container of margarine & 12 spoons of sugar)
Step 3. Add 4-6 eggs, then add flour to desired consistency.
Step 4. Consult others, then decide to mix in a little milk.
Step 5. Add batter to smaller pan, put inside bigger pan of hot sand.
Step 6. Cover and put charcoal on top,too.
Step 7. Check cake, adjust charcoal since top is done more than bottom.
Step 8. Cool cake while enjoying lunch with friends.
Step 9. Eat cake.