Whose Role Model are You?

 

In choosing what we want to do in life, our first criterion might not be gaining the admiration of those who are younger than we are. Funny, though—it happens. 

Sometimes we just take part in an activity we enjoy. We work hard at it when we see that it benefits us. That's what Damba F. Daramy did. Here she is gaining recognition for working hard at expressing herself in writing in the SELI Young Writers club at Dankawalie Secondary School over a period of two or more years. She is receiving a printed booklet of all the writing she worked so hard to produce.

And by doing so, Damba has become a role model. She has inspired the young newcomer to the school, also captured in this photo, to follow in her footsteps. We look forward to seeing this young girl also before the school assembly in a couple of years, being recognized for her achievement as a writer. And being someone else's role model, too!

Clearly, You Write 2!

 

One of our main goals in the pilot six weeks of Clearly, You Write was to help participants build portfolios. When the chance to submit manuscripts for consideration comes along, we all wish we had more early drafts to polish up. Every one of the participants was full of ideas. We tried writing in genres we were not used to; poets started stories, story-writers tried nonfiction, and so on.

Each of our meetings allowed for active writing time, as you can see in the photo. It was followed by the opportunity to share what we had written with the others for feedback, so authors could walk away from the group prepared to work on their next drafts. 

In our final meeting for this six weeks, we practiced writing conversations arising from a verbal "image" (as the first step in writing a one-act play). In general, I found the variety of all the manuscripts shared in the last half hour of our sessions fascinating, and this session was no different!

We look forward to resuming Clearly, You Write later in the year. Join us! If you or an adult relative likes to write, this is an awesome once-a-week writing-group opportunity!

Clearly, You Write

 

It's a pleasure working with authors again at SELI! 

In our six-seminar workshop (called Clearly, You Write!) we are sharpening written-English skills as well as developing drafts in a number of genres. Today's writing focus was reader's theater. You see here Lilian and Emmanuel bringing a reader's theater script to life before analyzing it and then writing their own to share with the group. I was delighted with their imaginative ideas!

We hope to increase our CYW enrollment this week. I praise all who attended today despite the 48-hour nonstop downpour we've been through.

Damba's First Day

Everyone's first day in a new place stands out in their memories, and is distinctive from everyone else's.

Damba will receive a "My Life" book this term, containing all the experiences she has written about in her SELI Young Writers process-writing club at Dankawalie Secondary School in the past two years. 

One topic she chose to write about was how she came to join the club. I thought you'd like to read what she wrote:

First Day at SELI

 by Damba

 

One day when we were in the assembly, Mr K called the SELI members Abu, Fatmata and Alusine. 

I decided to go with them. When they were writing their experiences, I did not know what to do. I stood by the door and watched them. They were taking paper and pens to write. When Mr K called me, he said, “Why are you standing without writing?”

I said I did not know how to write a story. He said, “Ok, come here. Let me show you how to write a story.” He explained the steps that I must undertake when writing. 

The first story that I wrote about was my aunty’s death in Freetown. 

I liked the story about my aunty. When they came with the typed story, Mr K told me to read it in the assembly. I was afraid. My friends told me not to be afraid when reading it. By the end of my story, I started crying because I lost my aunty whom I loved best.

Since that day, I liked SELI and story writing is my favourite activity. My parents, too, liked the story I wrote of my aunty.

We praise this school for giving students many opportunities to read their own writing aloud to others, such as reading it aloud in assembly and taking it home to share with their parents. 

Bring It On Home

It's not that easy for teachers to bring stories home to children from a written text. Magnificent illustrations help, and How Baboon Got a Shiny Rump certainly has those. Alternate text in a commonly-known language also helps, and the book has that, too. But a really good teacher can mold the text and the songs into just the right form to enter the children's hearts.

Here's storyteller/poet Kewulay Kamara showing us how, using a beautifully illustrated text in English of How Baboon Got a Shiny Rump, with a multi-age group of Kuranko-speaking children.

What's Better than a Book Talk?

Another way I promote all the purposes of SELI is by giving book talks in schools where the students have read my historical novel, The Heritage Keeper. Or, where I aim to interest the students in reading it! The schools must be among the few in town whose literature curriculum is not limited to the books set by the West African Examinations Council. Regrettably, since these are not SELI Young Writers schools, I do not have permission to post photos of the children at these events. 

In mid-February I attended an annual sports competition in the Hill Valley Academy at Mambo where in the past several years I have enjoyed lively discussions about reading, writing, and Sierra Leone history in that school with students who had read the book. It was good for me and lots of fun to see those same students that day in a different context.

I also was privileged to advocate for authorship of historical novels and read part of The Heritage Keeper to the secondary students of the British International School in Freetown during their Literacy Week. I loved the time I spent with them and hope they will enjoy the books and have lots of comments to make the next time I see them!