Lourdes Central School holds ‘Reading Challenge 2024–25’

“Reading makes us all immigrants. It takes us away from home, but more importantly, it finds homes for us everywhere.” Jean Rhys

Mangaluru: Reading is a fundamental skill that serves as the cornerstone of education and personal development. Reading not only enhances mental abilities but also promotes empathy, critical thinking, and a broader understanding of the world. The National Education Policy has placed emphasis on ‘how to read’, ‘learn to read’, ‘and’read to learn’ and has brought about the critical role of reading in a student’s life. Hence, Lourdes Central School has taken forward the ‘Reading Challenge 2024–25’ launched by the CBSE, celebrating the ‘LCS Reading Mission 2024’ from June 24–28, 2024.

The LCS Reading Mission commenced on June 24, 2024, with the morning assembly. The Principal, Rev. Fr. Johnson L. Sequeira, inaugurated the LCS Reading Mission, accompanied by the Vice Principals, Ms.Belita Mascarenhas and Ms. Anitha Thomas, and faculty, Fr. Arul Joseph and Ms. Nandini, by unfolding a pop-up book model presented by Ridhi Chowta and Shreya Hegde of Class X. The students of classes VI to XII participated in the morning assembly and administered the pledge, swearing their allegiance to reading responsibly, followed by the importance of reading as enlightened by Aadhya P. Shetty of Class VIII. The poem titled ‘Fascination of Reading’ composed by Evana D’Souza of class IX was recited by the students of class IX, and Angeline Shinoj of class VII performed a monologue from the play Merchant of Venice. The assembly was compered by Anushka Ganiga of Class X. The notice board for the Reading Mission was designed by the students of Class XIIA with effective quotes and messages.

An array of activities were planned and executed during the LCS Reading Mission 2024 for KG to Class 12.

KG-Class II

• Exposure visits to the school library: All students visited the school library and were explained the importance of library books and reading.
• Fruits and Flowers: Students were assigned the task of creating a list of fruits and flowers, picking one from the list, and then reading it to the class the next day.
• Title Tree: Teachers read a story and drew the title tree on the board, then the students were asked to suggest a title for the story.
• Story Time: Students were informed to read their favourite story book along with their parents or guardians in their own language, and they sent pictures to the class teacher.
• Read aloud: Teachers helped the students join words to form letters and pronounce words loudly and correctly.

Class III-V

• Story Time: Students read their favourite story books and enjoyed reading.
• Circle Time: Students were made to sit in a circle, and the teacher initiated the story by giving them the opening sentence and setting the scene. Then students further took the story by adding a sentence.
• Literary Calendar: Students prepared a literary calendar by reading the birth dates of various writers and poets and enlisting their works.

• Bend the End: The teacher read a selected moral story and asked the students to change the ending.
• Speak Up: A quiz on literature (authors and poets)

Class VI–VIII

• Read and Write: Students read their favourite story book and wrote a book review.

• Hunting through the newspaper: The task was assigned to the student to hunt a list of items from the newspaper, guided by the language teacher, and the students wrote a brief summary.
• Reading Poetry: Students were asked to read poems by poets of their own choice or those recommended by their teacher.
• Twist: The teacher picked up an interesting story, and then students were asked to give a twist to the story.
• Judge a Book by its Cover: Students designed a book cover for their favorite book.

Class IX-XII

• Hunting through the newspaper: The task was assigned to the student to hunt a list of items from the newspaper, guided by the language teacher, and the students wrote a brief summary.
• Discussed on favourite books, poets.
• Article Writing: Students wrote an article on their selected topic. Topics were as follows: Reading in the Digital Era/Better your reading habits/Benefits of Reading/How to Improve Reading/E-Reading.

The LCS Reading Mission 2024 concluded with the active participation of the entire Lourdite family, with the Lourdites taking forward the task of reading responsibly and spreading knowledge.