DepEd to mark 'Araw ng Pagbabasa' Nov. 25

Published November 7, 2011 10:00am

The Department of Education (DepEd)'s celebration of "National Reading Month" this November will culminate with the â€œAraw ng Pagbasa (Day of Reading)" on November 25. Throughout the National Reading Month, all public school officials were tasked to lead a nationwide synchronized reading program every Monday of the month from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. In a news release, DepEd Secretary Armin Luistro said, â€œWe are coming up with more creative ways of developing the love for reading among our young because this is an important portal to the world of learning." DepEd will conduct the nationwide Araw ng Pagbasa on November 25 to coincide with the week of the celebration of the birth anniversary of the late Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. on November 27. The event also commemorates the 20th year of the signing of RA 7165 by the late former President Corazon Aquino which created the Literacy Coordinating Council on November 25, 1991. â€œBy giving importance to the Araw ng Pagbasa, we are promoting reading and literacy among our learners even as we motivate them to learn from the lives and works of eminent Filipinos," Luistro said. School officials were encouraged to conduct reading and literacy activities in honor of Ninoy Aquino. Schools are likewise asked to partner with non-government organizations and the private sector to foster cooperation in the community. Among the activities lined up by the DepEd for this month are:

"Read-A-Thons" in schools to foster a reading culture among pupils and launch a search for the best individual and team readers among public school students.

"Drop Everything and Read" (DEAR) project, a 15- to 20-minute daily activity devoted to reading a book or any reading materials available in the school.

"Shared Reading" project (Big Brother or Sister/Kaklase Ko, Sagot Ko), where older students or independent readers teach pupils who are at the "frustration" or non-reading level. The other proposed activities include:

An intensified Remedial Reading where teachers or class advisers give remedial lessons to children in the frustration reading level.

The Five Words A Week (FWAW)/A Paragraph A Day (APAD) that encourages pupils to master one word a day for five days a week, and to read aloud one or two short paragraphs a day before classes start to develop the studentsâ€™ oral communication skills.

A "Reading Camp "where children are provided a venue where their talents in communication arts can be highlighted through competitions. Luistro said these activities are in support of the Aquino administrationâ€™s 10-point education agenda and the Every Child a Reader Program (ECARP). - VVP, GMA News