The Book Institute, as part of the bookstart project “Small Book – Great Person”, organised for the first time a three-month programme aimed at first-grade pupils in primary schools, as well as their teachers and school librarians. The “Let’s Read Family Stories” programme was thematically linked to the book The Antiquarian’s Granddaughter, which every child in Poland receives for free as part of the bookstart package (every year, we give 450,000 books to pupils in all 13,500 primary schools in the country). The aim was to provide pupils with a worthwhile activity that is both fun and educational – giving them the chance to better understand their family history and who they are, as well as discovering the pleasure of reading and working as a team.
The programme consisted of two stages:
- The teacher or school librarian who applied for the programme received a pack of materials: lesson plans and videos about how to conduct a workshop based on a book, motivational stickers for pupils, diplomas, a badge indicating that the school was participating in the programme. The book workshops combined reading aloud in a group with movement, art and theatre activities.
- If the teacher implemented at least four of the nine lesson plans based on the book and prepared documentation (photos, videos), the group could enter a competition to win a selection of books and reading goodies for the whole class.
As many as 918 groups enrolled for the fun and 223 submitted competition entries.
We plan to improve the programme and also implement it in future years.
