“We like to read books with chapters”: a public school that embraces reading

Abstract

Mariana is the name of the school where “we embrace reading”, a project developed by teachers with classes from Early Childhood Education through the fifth grade at this municipal education institution. The project is based on the proposal of prioritizing reading as the first activity every day at school. This choice to value reading seeks to emphasize the acquisition of the written language system as a priority in all educational actions. This priority is affirmed in plural languages, rather than in centrality that erases different ways of speaking, writing, singing, and learning. Mariana has discovered that literacy is about creating an atmosphere of affection, dignity, and citizenship. By tending the earth, observing natural cycles, and contemplating the growth of a plant, Mariana provides sensory literacies that awaken dormant motor skills and biofertilize the roots of thinking. Intellectual development is just one of the countless aspects that make up the universe of every child, and accessing it requires a multiplicity of pathways and languages. Engaging the whole body in the learning process enriches the intellectualization necessary for full literacy. Feet. Intestines. Retinas. At Mariana, everyone can perceive the blossoming of literacy in every environment of the school, which is possibly evident because we embrace the idea that reading comprehension, the love of reading, and the desire for authorship are intertwined with the ways children experience the world. Hands. Earth. Seed. Book, with chapters.