ABC Books and Dununman School, Aruba
Called ‘E Lora ta Papia’ (‘The Parrot is talking’), this workshop / expert week with Steffen Maas, for teachers of the MLK schools in Aruba and Curaçao took place at Scol Dununman in Aruba. This unique opportunity was financed by Fonds Kind & Handicap from The Hague.
Stephanie Servanie Damiana, director of Blenchischool Curaçao, says about the workshop: “We had a very fruitful week, intensive collaboration with Steffen Maas to generate ideas that could be beneficial for all students, schools, and where the method can become a great success. We exchanged our ideas about how we want to see reading education in schools, and this can only happen if we really believe in our students and offer them what they need. Teachers with dynamism and passion to help students in their development. As a teacher we have to transmit our heart and give all students the feeling that they can go far in life and can save themselves in the community. We thought together about how we can make this method interactive with different types of concrete and digital games. Students who use the picto-materials method need visual and oral input.
We discussed together which topics could be included in the annual planning on the three islands. It is a strong team, and we learned a lot from each other this week. What a unique experience, in which we brought forward new ideas and hope that in the future our network of special schools will become even stronger. We strongly believe that our students deserve the best and can shine even more when they enjoy learning to read.”
The following themes were covered during the week:
- Vocabulary and sentence construction
- Methodical learning and game formats
- Multilingualism and multilingual use of the material
- Animation and interaction with moving images
- Learning levels and links between language and other subjects
- Assessing and further developing test materials
Picto materials use visual support in the form of images and pictograms to facilitate communication and improve access to information. They serve as a tool to overcome language barriers and promote involvement, communication and understanding in ZMLK pupils, allowing them to learn and participate in activities more effectively.
The aim of the ABC reading system for children with severe learning difficulties (ZMLK) is to present information in an accessible and understandable way, taking into account the specific needs of these pupils who are not ready for it in terms of reading. The materials use a fixed style of drawings and pictograms to facilitate communication and improve access to information. They serve as a tool to overcome language barriers and promote involvement, communication and understanding in ZMLK pupils, enabling them to learn and participate in reading activities more effectively.
As for the MLK pupils, they can use the drawings in groups 1, 2 and 3 as support and integrate them into various lessons such as MNT, M&M, social-emotional lessons, world orientation and familiarisation with English and Dutch. Here they need the English and Dutch word pictures, which are particularly effective for the higher classes. It is also very effective if teachers offer the different word types by means of the picto materials. This method also includes many forms of play to make learning to read more attractive.
At the Blenchi school we have also started with random samples to find out how the children experience the material, what we can all use and also during special reading lessons, especially for pupils who are still in the early stages of emerging literacy and letter recognition.
In the early literacy stage, children are introduced to
- Letters, letter sounds, and the basic principles of written language.
- The link between spoken and written language. Children recognize individual letters and begin to decode simple words.
