Family homework: Literacy and Emotions

Objectives

• To realise that texts evoke different emotions and ideas in us.
• To realise that our thoughts and emotions affect our understanding of texts.
• To realise that literacy also includes the skill of recognising, naming and expressing personal thoughts and emotions.

This assignment is linked to the Highlight Strengths exercise done in class. The teacher can give the assignment as homework on the same day or week that the class does the Highlight Strengths exercise at school. Both exercises involve a story called The Invisible Child.

Instructions

1. Read the story The Invisible Child, found in the attachments. You can read the story out loud and let your child listen, or you can take turns to read the story. The attachment can be found at the bottom of the page after the exercise instructions.

2. After reading or listening to the story, discuss the following questions, for example:

• Were you already familiar with the story? When did you hear or read it for the first time?
• What was the most interesting, funny or exciting part of the story?
• What was difficult to understand or what seemed strange?
• What would you like to say to the invisible Ninni?
• Under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, every child has a right to play, rest and have free time, as well as a right to express their opinion, provided that it does not violate the rights of others. How well did these rights take place in the story?
• How can we help if someone feels invisible?

3.For adults: Read the concise information package about the importance of reading in today's world. The article discusses the skills required in the modern world to read and understand different texts and images, and ways in which literacy promotes children's rights.