International literacy day for Schools!

Reading and writing is something that, for those that can do it with ease, is taken for granted.

It’s estimated that 1 in 5 people in the world cant read or write. That’s 776 million adults world wide that can’t write their own name or read something as simple as a road sign. Think about all of the everyday tasks that would be much harder or even impossible if you couldn’t read or write. This means that the impact of illiteracy means limited opportunities for employment or income generation, higher chances of poor health and dependence on social welfare or charity (if available).

Thankfully UNESCO is dedicated to tackling the link between poverty and literacy. Every year September 8th is dedicated to raising awareness of the importance of literacy throughout the world. Lots of schools, businesses and social groups hold charity events to raise money to donate to the World Literacy Foundation.

There are so many ways, as teachers and classes you can raise awareness in the local community. Below is a list of some classroom activity ideas to spread the word about the importance of being able to read and write. Why not send off a press release or let your local paper know your focusing on the day and would love them to spread awareness of the day in the paper?

Classroom activity ideas: 

• Hold a Skype session with an author or invite them into your school for a talk about how great writing is.
• Ask students to do some research into illiteracy rates around the world and get them to come up with a plan for increasing literacy rates.
• Have students come up with a list of 100 reasons (between them) why being able to read and write is so important and share them with the local community by posting on walls around the school.
• Create a display board at the school entrance of all of the books children have read at school. They can draw the covers themselves and colour them in.
• Take this International Literacy Day Quiz with your students

Have you got any literacy day lesson plans you can share with us? Comment below with your ideas and we’ll be sure to share them on Facebook and Twitter. Find us @SchoolStickers and earn points when you give us a like or follow.

View our full literacy range here.