Book Week 2017

Undoubtedly, reading is one of the fundamental skills children must master in order to succeed in school and in life. The benefits of reading cannot be over-emphasised: it expands children’s vocabulary, improves their fluency and comprehension, builds their self-confidence, broadens their outlook and horizon as well as facilitating a better understanding of the world. “The more you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you’ll go” – Dr. Seuss

At the International School of Ahafo, we understand the importance of this lifelong habit and set aside a week each year to celebrate books. This year’s Book Week was from 16^th to 20^th October 2017 and brought children, parents and books together again. We went off-curriculum and each class chose a book of interest: Sankofa chose The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler, Nkyinkyim chose The BFG by Roald Dahl, Gye Nyame chose The Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling and Nyansapo chose  Northern Lights by Philip Pullman.

 The week began with the decoration of classroom doors based on selected books and it was a delight to see children channel their creative energies into transforming mundane classroom doors into works of art. 

Thereafter, Nkyinkyim and Gye Nyame students visited the Methodist School in Kenyase to read with their less-fortunate peers. It was humbling to realise that not all children are lucky enough to have books let alone the skills to read them. Teachers took it in turns to read to the children in each class after which children read in groups.

One of the most memorable events that week was “Story Time” – regular times at which staff read stories aloud for our listening pleasure. Each morning and afternoon, we nestled in the library and listened to some fascinating stories dotted with eye-catching illustrations. There was nothing cozier than that! 

Some of the books we read are:

• The Cat That Walked By Himself by Rudyard Kipling
• The Twelve Dancing Princesses by Rachel Isadora
• The Smartest Giant In Town by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler
• Room On The Broom by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler
• John Patrick Norman Mchennessey- The Boy Who Was Always Late by John Burningham
• Cloudland by John Burningham
• Fish is Fish by Leo Lionni
• Koku The Cockerel by Franca-Maria Andoh and illustrated by Enoch Yaw Mensah
• The Five Chinese Brothers by Claire Huchet Bishop and Kurt Wiese

In between Story Time, there were a flurry of class activities including book cover competitions on the theme “The Surprise Party” or “The Unhappy Dinosaur” and Guess the Teacher’s Favourite Book competition.  Sankofa had reading homework on The Gruffalo, created props for the Book Week assembly, designed their own scary monster, wrote about it and even baked a delicious “Gruffalo Crumble”. Gye Nyame spent time creating props for the assembly; they made flying ties, a dementor and some wands. Nyansapo drew their daemons and imagined what animals they would be and developed their performance for the assembly.

The week culminated in the Book Week Assembly on Friday, 20^th October 2017 to which all parents were invited. This year, parents were invited to create costumes using materials from home and school and to dress up the children at school. By 9.00am, the library was a mishmash of characters from The Gruffalo, The BFG, The Prisoner of Azkaban and Northern Lights.  

Sankofa re-enacted the Gruffalo, the story of a very clever mouse who tries to outwit his predators in order to survive in the woods. He invents the gruffalo to scare them away until he comes face-to-face with a real gruffalo. Nkyinkyim also acted out scene 13 of the BFG – a trogglehumper for the fleshlumentor. Gye Nyame wrote their own script based on Chapter 5 of The Prisoner of Azkaban, the train scene where Hermione, Ron and Prof Lupin are going back to school and find out that Sirius Black has escaped from prison. Thereafter, they danced to the theme song “the hedwig”. Nyansapo read favourite parts in their selected book and shared their daemons.

Congratulations to our Book Cover competition winners: Benai Forson and Liam Kintzel from Sankofa, Sedinam Ako and Nshira Nomafo from Nkyinkyim, Dela Dzide-Tei and Agustina Valenzuela from Gye Nyame and Selorm Ako, Amanda Mulawarman, Ewan Kintzel and Jose Valenzuela from Nyansapo. All these children received certificates for a finished work. After assembly, each class finished off the week by watching the movies of their selected books.

We would like to thank the Principal and staff for this initiative and especially the parents for their relentless support and resourcefulness. Until we come your way again with another beautiful Book Week, do go on and water your mind. Read a book!