Special Day!

Beginning in 2022, Impact Network has been implementing a Special Day project each term. Each Special Day has a different theme which guides the activities to be done at all schools where we operate. The project provides teachers and learners with an opportunity to have a learning day full of fun and learner-centered activities drawn from the national syllabus for each particular term.

Last month, we held a special day project with the theme of Zambian music and culture. Students did lots of singing and dancing activities to traditional and contemporary Zambian music, as well as culturally based talks and skits. Activities were developed from term 1 topics in Creative and Technology Studies, Social Studies and Expressive Arts for grades 1 to 7. Below are some of the activities that took place on this particular day as well as comments from teachers about the event!

At Kanyelele Community School, the grade 3 class had the opportunity to practice and showcase their knowledge of the Kalumbu dance, a traditional dance common among the Chewa people of Eastern Province. Ideas and guidance for this activity were from their Social Studies topic - Zambian culture and traditions. Wilson Simunthala, Deputy Head Teacher at the school shared, “learners showed interest in doing activities outlined in lesson plans. The theme of the project together with learner centered approaches for the activities made the project even more interesting as learners were able to take advantage of the day and perform their familiar traditional and local contemporary songs.”

At Nkhunga Community School, Papias Zulu, Grade 1 teacher, facilitated fun activities on the importance of working together. In the first game, two groups were formed, and each group was given three minutes to fill a bucket with water using small cups to fill it with from the water tank 15 metres away. The first group had only one learner while the other group had six learners. The lone learner could only manage less than quarter of the bucket while a group of six learners managed to fill it full in less than three minutes. Afterwards, the learners together with Mr. Zulu discussed the importance of working together rather than in isolation, both in class and in the community. Mr. Zulu shared more about his experience with the special day program: “It promoted socialization amongst learners compared to typical days where they focus on academic and mostly classroom based lessons with limited time for socialization. Some activities also encouraged learners to work together and enhanced their desire to engage in team work when necessary. The activities also helped learners to refresh their mind and learning through the activities that were taking place. For example; the skit about family composition and responsibilities for each family member was very educative and reminded learners of their responsibilities in their homes, school and the classroom as well. The special day was also exciting to us teachers witnessing learners abilities to do activities. In conclusion, this is a welcome project and I only wish that it continues and becomes even more entertaining and innovative.”

The activities characterizing the Zambian music and culture were so entertaining and revealed how our teachers are innovative in using local resources to enhance teaching and learning! They are using learner-centered methods to motivate and engage learners in the process. We look forward to more events like this in Term 2 and Term 3!

This week’s email comes from Noah Kalaba, our Curriculum Manager.