The Pratham Model: Basic Literacy Jeffrey Dow Madhav Chavan

Overview of the Model Targets Grade III who are lagging behind classmates Reading development in public learning centers Read India Campaign Pratham Books Utilizes volunteers Focuses on reading and writing to build basic literacy

Why? There is a significant lack of learning happening in the classrooms of the developing world After years of government schooling, the majority of students are functionally illiterate A lack of learning leads to high dropout rates, and an overall negative opportunity cost for students and families

Assessment-The Critical First Step All children are assessed under the following criteria, one-to-one: – Story Readers (fluent, age-appropriate) – Paragraph Readers (fluent with simple words, vowels and consonents) – -Word Readers (simple words but not a connected string to represent a thought) – Letter Readers (knows alphabet) – -No reading at all

Class Organization Small groups, not more than 40 students Learning restricted to 90 minute sessions Children told to do more at home (homework)

Accelerated Literacy: The 4 Step Pratham Method 1. Read a story; get the child to recite the story; and then read along with you 2. Use phonics charts and help the child identify phonics in the text (read and write) 3. Learn with rhyming words (using 12 forms of each letter)-associating phonics with rhyming words 4. “Say anything, write anything” (say stories/write stories of their own; first with “Mind Mapping,” drawing an outline for the story)

Four Steps in Detail: Step One Reading a story aloud while pointing with the finger at each word. – The instructor first reads the story (one copy in each child’s hand) clearly and calmly, but without dramatization. Children watch and listen. Then children may discuss the story. The teacher reads again pointing at each word and this time children use their own index fingers on their own page and go along. – Now, the children attempt to read. Even the ones who do not know letters mimic their teacher while trying to recall the exact words of the story. The teacher asks the different children to read and helps them only occasionally. – One story is used for three days and a new story is picked up rather than waiting for everyone to “master” the story.

Step Two: Using the Chart The children listen to the instructor as she recites the sequence of sounds derived from the consonants and then asks children to try the corresponding sequence with other consonants. Next, the children are asked to say any word, find its components (sounds) in the chart, and copy its shape in their notebook. In the reverse order, children are given a few written words and asked to find the individual sounds written in it in the chart. This is the activity of coding and decoding words.

Step Three: Learning With Rhyming Words A game of rhyming words is used so that children can use vowels signs in combination with consonants This makes it easier for children to look at words and guess full words from a few letters and the context

Step Four: Say Anything, Write Anything Designed to help the children move away from waiting for teacher instruction and give them freedom in learning Crude in the beginning, but helps in reading fluency by supporting the thought process

Materials Needed? Alphabet Cards-one card per alphabet, which children can take home and bring back to class (for children who do not know the alphabet) Phonics cards which show how vowels are added to consonants to change sounds (One chart for each child; has consonants in the first column and each row starting with the consonant shows how vowel signs are added to the consonant to make letters for each sound) Lots of short paragraph cards ( per class of 20; or papers with 4-5 line simple paragraphs using short, simple sentences in big font) Simple Stories (6-8 printed on separate sheets, slightly higher degree of difficulty than the simple paragraphs. Each child gets one set)

Phonics Charts Used to help children identify phonics in texts

The Chart “The coding and decoding machine of sounds.” (Professor Jalaluddin) As children become more and more familiar with the sounds in the chart, they use the stories and paragraphs to practice reading more and more

Key Takeaways from the Pratham Model Working with the government is critical for scale and long-term benefits Availability and affordability of books is essential Child-to-child learning is crucial Significant scale-up is possible with appropriate resources DG Murray Trust, South Africa

Implications for Post-Conflict/Children in Crisis The model has been shown effective in working with children in conflict, as the model uses short time periods and it employs rapid learning Trained teachers are not necessary; training in the technique can be done rather inexpensively and rapidly for community workers and community volunteers The program has been shown to be effective with child laborers in India and with smaller NGO’s working with marginalized populations