Khusf

Geographical location: South of Birjand
Age-group: Preschool and first grade of Elementary School
Number of Children: 720
Start Date: October 2014
End Date: Summer 2016

The Read with Me project started its activities in Khusf from October 2014. Since then, it has covered 720 children, 270 of which were in Preschool and 450 others in Elementary School. 15 preschool tutors and 24 elementary school teachers have participated in the Read with Me workshops since its debut. This project has been implemented in Khusf by the financial support of Yavari Cultural Community and with the cooperation of the South Khorasan Department of Education.

Overview

Khusf joined the Read with Me project in 2014/15. In the first phase, 7 Preschool tutors and 11 Elementary School teachers participated in four workshops on 13-14 November 2014. The workshops included: “Quality Books, Reading Aloud and Story Elements”, “Dramatic Art” (scenography and mask making) and “Phonological and Phonemic Awareness Skills”.

The second set of Read with Me workshops were held on 26-27 February 2015. Read with Me experts also scheduled two visits in January and June 2015 to evaluate the progress of the project in this town.

In summer 2015, two groups of selected teachers and tutors of South Khorasan traveled to Tehran for a three-day stay. In these three days, they participated in the advanced workshops of Read with Me. The first day included workshops about “Environment”, “Children’s Literature and Quality Books”, “Children’s Book Illustration and Rhetoric Techniques” and “Reading Aloud”. The second day included advanced workshops on “Reading Aloud”.

By the beginning of 2015/16 academic year, Read with Me also started its second year of activities in this city. In 17-18 December 2015, advanced workshops including “Environment and Books”, “Dictionary of Riddles ” and “Marionette” were held for Preschool tutors. Read with Me experts also held some workshops for the newly-joined first grade teachers. Because some of the previously trained teachers had been transferred to other areas. The teachers were also familiarized with the methods of documentation, writing reports and filling Observation Notebooks.

In 16-17 January 2016, the Read with Me experts traveled back to South Khorasan and visited this town to observe the procedure of the teachers regarding “Reading Aloud”, “Activities before and after Reading” and “Activities related to Learning Phonological and Phonemic Awareness Skills”. The experts also helped the teachers regarding their questions and problems. They pointed out their strengths and applauded them for their hard work. In mid-March 2016, supplementary workshops were held in this town in which teachers, tutors and a number of school principals participated. These workshops included a new topic: “The Globe of Peace”.

Acknowledgements

A final conference at the end of the academic year was held in May 2016 at the House of the Teachers of Birjand in which 95 Preschool tutors and teachers from Birjand, Khusf and Darmian who had been involved in the project for 2 years were praised for their performance.