School Literature Prescribed Texts Brought Alive: A Pedagogical Program to Motivate Secondary School Students Enjoy Reading

Abstract

The purpose of this project was to develop and implement a holistic procedure for encouraging senior secondary school students to develop interest in reading, through exposure to and involvement with a variety of task-based activities relevant to the text. The project was designed to call on each student to read the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) prescribed literary text. The students were involved in a myriad of activities related to their reading, including silent reading, oral skills (pre-empting pre reading activities), responsive reading, critical reading, dramatization, role playing, demonstrations, hot seating, art (drawings), functional writing, essay writing and creative writing per chapter. The program was put into practice as follows: First, each student was to do an individual silent reading and chapter summary outside the classroom. Second, the teacher tested their understanding through cloze test activities and True or False statements. Third, appropriate questions arising from the chapter was presented for responsive reading and brief discussions followed. Fourth, for further re-reading and comprehension, the teacher assigned a literary corner which was a set of questions based on the aspects of the novel as portrayed and dominant in the chapter. Fifth, the teacher gave homework on artistic tasks and performances for individual/group work awaiting personal consultations. Sixth, the students presented their performances and exhibitions to the class. Formative and summative assessment of students' involvement, enjoyment and progress showed the program to be highly effective as the students manifested mastery of the plot devoid of textual errors.