| This article first appeared in the June 2000 issue
of Literacy Today
(issue no. 23). |
A National Year of Reading partnership has resulted in a growing
online collection of literacy resources compiled by Westminster
teachers that has inspired young people to approach poetry with
everyday language. Liz Smith, education officer, London Transport
Museum, reports.
"Stand clear of the doors please!" is a familiar sound to many
Londoners but it also forms part of the text rich environment
of the London Transport Museum. Many children and teenagers
have personal experiences and opinions about transport and how
it affects their lives. Familiar signs and announcements such
as 'Mind the Gap' provide a tangible stimulus for children of
all abilities for creative writing, poetry and other literacy
skills.
St Augustine's Primary School, example of poetry displayed
on the Words on the Web
The midnight bus to Chemist Terrace
Where I'm trying to go
Where I'm trying to go
Present Crescent
Sweet Street
Code Road
I love you Avenue
Workers Circus
Chemist Terrace
Where I'm trying to go
Where I'm trying to go
The midnight bus to Chemist Terrace.
Words on the Web was the first collaborative project between
the London Transport Museum, Westminster Libraries and Macmillan
publishers, set up during the National Year of Reading. Poets
worked with primary and secondary pupils in workshops in the
museum, making use of horse buses, motor buses, trams, trolleybuses
and tube trains. The Words on the Web exhibition of poetry
is published online and was formally launched at the museum.
This was an extremely important part of the project for the
students and for the museum. Students saw their work published,
and the teachers' notes and case studies that resulted from
the collaboration are now a permanent and growing online teaching
resource, integrated into the Westminster Grid for Learning
and the National Grid for Learning. Further literacy case
studies demonstrating good practice by schools using the museum
are being added to share skills and ideas among teachers,
students and museum educators. One teacher commented that
the project "showed poetry as achievable."
As a result of this work with local schools, the museum produced
a literacy resource pack written in partnership with Westminster
primary literacy co-ordinators. The pack encourages children
to investigate and discover literacy both in the museum and
on London transport. A visit to the museum can be planned
as a museum literacy hour with direct teaching from the education
team available free of charge. The pack supports all aspects
of the National Literacy Strategy and is complemented by a
literacy loan box containing large text transport poems, photographs,
posters and museum objects such as badges, a bus driver's
hat and uniform.
Further collaboration with Westminster libraries has resulted
in museum staff undergoing literacy awareness training. The
coordinator of Westminster's National Year of Reading ran
a morning training session for museum staff exploring the
concept of literacy. The training focused on the importance
of museums and libraries working in partnership to provide
access to reading and literacy activities for parents and
children. Resources for such activities at the London Transport
Museum were discussed. The partnership is enabling Westminster
libraries and the museum to develop further resources for
the web and summer literacy schools. Future plans include
a literacy focus for black history month. Other possible developments
include supporting basic skills provision for adults and young
people in Westminster in partnership with the local education
authority.
The museum now runs literacy Inset courses for teachers.
These explore the potential for literacy activities using
the literacy resource pack and the literacy loan box with
a group in the museum. The teachers are introduced to strategies
to make best use of the museum for literacy activities. Training
for other museum educators to explore the literacy resources
and good practice is also taking place. An important part
of the training is to investigate how to work in partnership
with other agencies and sectors and to provide straightforward
advice on how to begin the process of forming partnerships.
The Summer Reading Challenge, a national campaign to keep
children reading throughout the summer, ran for two weeks
at the museum with support from Westminster libraries. Local
families were encouraged to join their library, which they
could do in the museum. All ages enjoyed a transport book
corner, a literacy trail, storytelling, calligraphy and bookmark
workshops and were entertained by life-size book characters
such as Percy Park Keeper. Poets led workshops and inspired
children to perform their own work.
The National Year of Reading provided the stimulus for creative
and practical collaborative partnerships to form between business,
museums and libraries. The children provided us with important
insights into the potential for literacy in all museums.
The South West Museums Council (the regional development agency
for museums in the south west region) has completed its Museum
Learning Initiative - a project funded by the DCMS Education
Challenge Fund and supported by Resource (the Council for Museums,
Archives and Libraries). Part of this initiative included
a workshop on literacy related activities relating to the national
literacy strategy that involve museum collections. Amanda
Clarke of Learning in Museums led the workshop which included
writing Haiku poetry based on impressions of objects and paintings
in the galleries, plus an introduction to elements such as acrostics,
clerihew, kenning and shape poems. For more information email
Kate Osborne at kateosborne@swmuseums.co.uk
or Amanda Clarke at Amanda@freespiral.co.uk.
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