Activity: “What is it?” My first words in my first languages (age range: 4-8)

1. Incipit

In June 2018 the ISOTIS team initiated cooperation with the Czech Ostrava public library. The library branch in Ostrava-Vítkovice just ended the 10 years project Romaňi Kereka / Roma Circle. As a follow-up the team decided to produce children´s book in Czech and Romany language. Local elementary school was willing to participate and arts teacher worked with 2^nd class children on painting the first words and supply the pictures with legend in Czech and Romany. This is how the leporelo book originated and we are now giving it to you to use and foster it in order to support children in your families and communities in the multilingual development. Have fun with all the pictures and languages!

2. Aims and links to curriculum

Aims:

The activity here presented is aimed at:

• Strengthening identification with heritage language
  
• Supporting inner family ties by including parents and other caregivers into the process
• Supporting thinking about multilingual development
• Supporting multilingual approach and competences of all, parents, children and community workers
• Introducing systematic work on one topic &strengthening presenting skills – therefore supporting the process of family transition into school years
• Supporting/encouraging disadvantaged families and communities in using their own cultural and linguistic resources in their day-to-day life with children.

Links to curriculum

The local community center may link this activity to their existing cooperation with local school and time the activity accordingly, possibly in closer cooperation with selected class seasonal curriculum.

3. STEP 1 - Procedure

Instructions for practitioners/community center workers

The activity “What is it?” My first words in my first languages is supposed to recognize the domestic multilingualism and multilingual development in the community you work with. In order to make the activity feasible, it is wise to link it to the existing frame of educational activities they provide in the locality you operate in. Plan time frame and human resources in accordance to your practices, it is also wise to think on the existing routines in working with your clients so the activity will be clear to them based non their previous experiences with your clients. You may reflect on the existing proceeding and week points while preparing the activity and get back to your notes as the activity will proceed. You may also consider engaging another partner institutions and volunteers. The estimated time needed for the activity is 1-5 sessions.

Recruitment of possible cooperating children and caregivers

The optimal way is to recruit the already existing group of children (school class, afternoon club) to co-operate with. Children may cooperate with their caregivers individually in their home environments, therefore this activity is not very sensitive to the requirement of regularly active caregivers.

4. STEP 2 - Procedure

Instructions for practitioners/community center workers

5. STEP 3 - Procedure

Instructions for practitioners/community center workers

Children may in cooperation with the community worker, or some invited guest who has language competences, complete the multilingual legend of the pictures. Another languages may be added, if children are interested.

In case the leporelo book will be published, it will include three windows on the low side of the picture. First window will include the language of the country of publishing, the two remaining will be empty, ready to be replenished after the translated terms will be filled by parents/caregivers online in the ISOTIS VLE. Alternatively the leporelo may be printed without domestic language = with three empty windows, the terms in domestic language may be pre-printed on stickers. The VLE should be able to produce stickers of the same format so parents/caregivers may produce their own and replenished the leporelo book. Each window should also include space for language identification (CZ or flag). Further, the three bigger windows for front page to stick “What is it?” in three languages should be prepared to be printed.

Presentation

It is important to acknowledge the work of families and community workers through some form of dignified and celebratory presentation of the results (ideally this should be announced at the beginning of the activity as a motivation to participate). If possible, the local authorities and partners of the maps creation process from the neighborhood should be invited to the ceremony. The size and nature of an event should be in coherence with usual community center operation. In case the results are of extraordinary quality they may be, after consultation with authors, used further (print in local media, presentation on the city quarter web page, etc.).

6. STEP 3 - Variations

• Creating “hot spot pictures” from selected pictures
  

Children may in cooperation with community worker furnish the pictures with AV content (voices of themselves and their relatives), links to another relevant content and another elements that can be clicked upon.

• Editing the pictures for leporelo book, preparing additional pictures  and external outputs

When the initial set of pictures is ready, the group discussion on what would be missing in leporelo book may resume in preparing additional pictures. Alternatively the caregivers may be invited to draw some pictures on their own, the community worker is bringing up the issue of diversity on several levels (ethnicity, age, gender). At this point the issues of identity and belonging may come to discussion, whose leporelo book is it going to be? Whose language development does it represent? How many leporelo books will the group prepare?

7. Further development

In case of existing resources, the leporelo book may be published, put it on the market, charity sell, distribution in local preschool community centers. The issues of authorship have to be addressed accordingly! The pictures and leporelo books may be shared via social media, they may be further used for networking and organizing new workshops with additional topics (local map of memories, local map of sportsmen, local map of ethnic minorities, etc.).

It is also desirable to share the best practices from particular steps of creating the books via VLE platform.

8. Materials and digital tools

• Using online map platforms as help to create the map
  
• Creating map as a hypertext (annotation of the map, several media formats (audio, text, pictures)
  
• Online presentation of the results (sharing the map/uploading it as a picture, sharing the online version in a group space with the other parents)