During the project-week in our school students attend various projects, ranging from just watching movies to woodwork there are endless activities. In project 5 by Frau Wittmann and Frau Reißlandt though the students are simply reading!
In the beginning of the week the students present their home-brought books to each other and play socially interactive icebreaker games. Then they were allowed to ‘make themselves at home’ on the school grounds.
On Tuesday the students are to visit the city library in Düsseldorf where they were shown around and given a first look into a bigger and “more different” library, unlike the media centre in Ratingen. To compare, the group also are to visit it on Thursday, there they are to participate in an activity called FakeEscape, where they get iPads provided by the library and try to ‘escape’ the library using AR – methods on the iPads.
In the focus of the project especially is reading as Frau Wittmann says. Additionally, another important aspect is the social exchange between the students. The overall goal of the project is to hold presentations around the topic reading and books at the end of the week, in this way students are given free choice over their products and they are introduced to a whole new world of opportunities.
Similarly project 3 “Wir lesen” led by Frau Napiontek and Frau Hebel also follow the same procedure. They start with icebreakers along with the presentation of their own books. Here they are given time to read as well, to relax they also watch films. They utilise rooms like the ‘Raum der Stille’ (room of silence) and the school library. A visit to the local library is also planned, they will borrow books and read.
Here their goal is to have fun and especially, since mostly lower grade students are in this project, to do something analogously. The teachers want to create a relaxed atmosphere and want to present a summary at the end of the week.
The students we interviewed mostly criticised the lack of comfortable places to read in school, aside from the school library which does offer these, it is very different in the libraries the students of this project visit. Especially the local library in Ratingen Mitte.
The library, or media centre, offers a wide range of comfortable pastimes. For example, you can play on Nintendo Switch or PlayStation consoles (these games can also be borrowed), get to know other people in a little talking corner or just drink a cup of coffee in the little café in the library. Every person from any age group can pass their afternoon in the library.
Other than simple media borrowing one can participate in different projects, workshops and offers. In small groups you can take part in various projects, such as the aforementioned FakeEscape or a blind date with books, catered to the preferences of the individual. Other kinds of workshops with a 3D-printer, a laser cutter and other similar things can be visited individually, they are directed toward the younger audience. Lastly you can visit library tours at any given time of the day as a class, a small event or as a private person.
For the foreigners the library offers a wide range of content as well. Foreign books in different languages, of course the same pastimes mentioned before and more.
Xian Yuan (EF)