USER'S GUIDE

What is the Aim of the WaterBridge Outreach Sets? 

Our aim, working with teachers, librarians and parents, is to put these book sets into the hands of children in different parts of the world. The books are chosen because their content and focus promote PaperTigers’ goals of promoting greater understanding and empathy among young people from different backgrounds, countries, and ethnicities, together with the goals of reading and literacy.

It is our hope that the books will be something you and the children with whom you share them will enjoy looking at and listening to, reading and talking about, and even drawing and writing about, as: 

“A cultural encounter in or through a book”. That phrase sums up what we hope the book sets will represent for all who use them.

“A fun encounter”. Rather than seeing these books as “textbooks”, we see each book in the set as taking the children on a voyage of discovery they will enjoy. We hope that the journey will be fun for each and every child!

“A path towards empathy”. If the encounter with the people and the stories in the books raises levels of empathy, enabling the children to see and feel things as others see and feel them, then the encounter will have been really and truly worthwhile.

Using the WBOutreach Book Sets with your Students

You, more than anyone else, know what is best for your children, your class, your school, your library, in your country and culture, so you should feel free to use the books in ways you judge best suited to your reality and situation.

As you will see when you look at the books, some titles are more suitable for younger children and others more suitable for older children. Since situations differ so much in the different parts of the world to which these books are being sent, we urge you to look carefully at the books so as to see what is best suited to this or that age group in your own situation.

Your Feedback is Crucial

We want to share your responses, the responses of the teachers and librarians, the children and parents, with others around the world. Above all, in whatever way you choose to do this in your feedback, we hope that you will be able to let us know the children’s responses. We can make your responses known around the world through the Spirit of PaperTigers Outreach section of www.papertigers.org.

What you say in your feedback will be like ripples in a pond, spreading out across the globe, once we have added it fully or in part to our website and our blog. You never know what hearts and minds might be moved, and lives touched, by the feedback you send us about your encounter with the people and stories in these books – whether in the form of photos, drawings and/or written work.  

In your Feedback please send your Responses to the Following Questions:

1. How, specifically, have the WBOutreach books (any of them) helped you teach English and encourage reading among your pupils?
2. How, specifically, have the WBOutreach books (any of them) helped you to open your pupils’ minds and hearts to other places and other cultures?
3. What was the favorite book, or books, among your pupils and why?

Please send us photographs, drawings, and any comments by your students, along with examples of their work in response to the SPT books set.

SUGGESTIONS

In order to gather feedback to send to us (in words, quotes, drawings and/or photos about the children’s encounters with these books) you might find the following suggestions useful when you are sharing the books with the children:

Reading Aloud. Teachers, librarians, and parents tell us that the most useful suggestion we can offer is for the stories to be read aloud to your students. By doing so you would be encouraging them to experience the beauty of the books and their stories through sharing in listening and enjoying the pictures.

Ways of Exploring the Books :

• Explore the book cover, the title and the illustrations and ask children what they think the book is about
• Ask what the images and words make them think and feel
• Take children on a picture-walk through the book, so they can think about the story as it is told through the pictures
• Engage students in conversation about the differences and similarities between their own culture and the culture or setting presented in the stories
• Ask students what their favorite illustration/illustrator is; their favorite book, character, etc; maybe ask why they chose what they did
• Have students draw a picture inspired by one of the stories
• Ask them if they would recommend these books to others and why, or why not
• Have students write “A Day in the Life of …” one of the characters, either in the first or third person
• Have students write and maybe illustrate their own stories inspired by one of the books

Send Us Your Feedback:

By Email: The quickest way to send feedback to us is through email, so if you have access to email, please send your feedback to this address:

theresa_geeATpapertigersDOTorg

By Regular Mail: If you do not have email access, or wish to use regular mail, for your convenience we are enclosing envelopes (addressed to us) with international reply coupons. The address for regular mail, as you will see from the enclosed envelopes, is the following:

WaterBridge Outreach Feedback
300 Third Street, #806
San Francisco, CA 94107
U.S.A.

 

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