I was listening to a talk on ABC Local Radio about Indigenous Literacy Day and the importance of the initiative in closing the gap of Aboriginal reading ability.
A group of young Tiwi island school girls lead by their teacher Dianne Moore (known as, tick-tack) and Alison Lester who are reading from a book they wrote last year in English, using selected indigenous vocabulary to tell the story of their lives on Melville Island called ‘Bangs 2 Jurrukuk’ authored by John Danalis (Allen & Unwin).
Events that are planned include:
- · Fundraising events at local schools such as sponsored reads.
- · A book swap event at books retailers such as Gleebooks, and the Museum of Contempory Art.
Featuring talks by poet Sam Watson and illustrator Dubb Leffler about the difficulty of teaching in the remote communities of the Tiwi Islands.
Indigenous Literacy Day will be launched tomorrow at the Sydney Opera House and I urge you to participate in any way you can.
I have included links bellow with more detail.
Blog by: TJM (Ling566)
MCA
http://us6.campaign-archive2.com/?u=6da671cc64f7c522fbe223c6b&id=5e9adef508&e=307a397724
https://gleebooks.worldsecuresystems.com/BookingRetrieve.aspx?ID=181476
http://www.indigenousliteracyfoundation.org.au/