by Brandon Anstey, The Gander Beacon (Published on March 17, 2016)
Since January, students across the country have been involved with a unique literacy project, and Centreville Academy has enjoyed the privilege of being the only school in Newfoundland taking part in the initiative.
According to a press release from author Stephanie McLellan, The Christmas Wind “Radio Show” story project is a classroom experiment that has students from K-Grade 5 listening to a story in a format akin to an old, serialized radio show.
Each week, for eight weeks, an audio portion of the story is uploaded to their password protected class webpage and they’re asked to illustrate what they imagine.
Thirteen schools, one from each province and territory of Canada, are participating in the project.
Spearheaded by public librarian Veronica Rogers, students in Grades 2-3 at Centreville Academy have been using their imaginations to illustrate the story of “The Christmas Wind,” and it’s been a big hit at the school.
“They absolutely love it and can’t stand for it to end,” said Rogers. “It’s phenomenal. Every time I walk in the classroom they just can’t wait to get started. They don’t want to be absent on Thursday mornings when we listen to the clips.”
According to its author, The Christmas Wind story centers around Jo, a little girl of about 8, who is leaving with her sick mother and infant brother for ‘someplace else’ on a cold, windy and snowless Christmas Eve.
Along the way, the ferocious wind pushes them around, forcing them to stop for the night to hide out in the barn of a notoriously grouchy old man named Franklin Murdock. The ultimate showdown between feisty girl and grumpy old man has ignited the imaginations of over 1,600 students from K to Grade 6 in every province and territory across Canada.
The project has been connecting the students with the rest of the country, and has helped to foster creativity and learning, said Rogers.
“Each week you can see a difference in their drawings, the detail, visualization and how they can’t wait to see what comes next,” she said.
While McLellan won’t be using the students’ illustrations for her book, which is to be published this coming fall, the point of the project was to spark the creativity of students across the country and provide them with a unique and valuable learning experience, said Rogers.
“This is solely for the children’s learning experience,” she said. “It’s for their benefit.”
Rogers said she will miss the weekly meetings now that the project has come to an end, and plans on making a book out of all the drawings completed by students at Centreville Academy.
