4 Teachers talk about environmental print

We asked six elementary teachers in government schools to tell us how they use print material in their classrooms. This is what they said:

• ‘My students mark their attendance on a chart themselves, so they must read their names in English and tick their attendance. They learn to recognise their names in English and sign their names on the chart. In addition to language development, this helps us to prevent absenteeism because students are motivated to record their attendance.’
• ‘For different curriculum topics, I write what the students say on large sheets of paper. I write down their exact words, and they write their names in English to show that it is all their own words. This lets me see what they know and understand. I display the writing on the classroom walls, and we read it together. I see students reading their words to each other and to parents when they come into school.’
• ‘I label items in my classroom (chair, table, pencils) and even outside the classroom (door, gate, road, entrance, office) in Hindi and English. Even in the school toilet, I displayed a sign that reminded students to flush and wash their hands. From this, I was able to talk to students about how to fight germs, infections and disease.’
• ‘We don’t stop at the school – we want to add literacy to students’ homes. The students and I talked about places in the home that could be labelled (kitchen, pot, shrine, window, chair) and what kinds of messages could be inside a home, such as “Take off your shoes” and “Wash your hands before eating”. We made labels in English and in Hindi. Students took the labels home. One mother came into school to tell me that she had bought a garbage bin for her house because one of the labels her daughter brought home was “Dustbin” with the message “Throw your garbage in a bin”. We know from experience that this type of activity done in the home and at school can encourage parents to read with their students.’
• ‘I teach at a government school in a small village. I encourage my students to make greeting cards for their family with simple messages in English, which they read out at home. Parents have been highly appreciative of this and felt proud that their children could write and read in English.’
• ‘I create “functional print” for all classroom communication and routines; for instance, a daily schedule. I make sure to refer to it and encourage students to notice it. This can help them to manage their own learning. On the board I write out the day of the week and the month, names of visitors to the school, rules for behaviour and the morning message. It is important to encourage the students to read these daily and to talk about them.’
• ‘I teach in a rural school and my classroom is small. One wall contains the board and the other walls have windows and the door. Display boards or tables would take up too much space, so I put students’ work on the wall just outside the classroom door. Inside, I attach students’ work to string using clothes pegs, paper clips, tape or sometimes thorns. The string is like a washing line across the classroom. Decorating the room with writing and drawing makes the classroom more attractive and welcoming.’
• ‘I teach in a multigrade, multilevel class. Once a month we have a “translation workshop” for the older students. They bring in simple print materials – mostly wedding invitation cards from their homes. Working in groups, they translate the content of the card into English, with my help. I take these home and, with my neighbour’s help, edit the translations. We then display both the original invitation cards and the edited translated versions on the display board for younger students to read.’

Pause for thought In each example, identify the teaching and learning based on the environmental print. What are the other benefits of the activities, related to students’ health and scholastic development? Do you do anything similar to these teachers?

Video: Involving all