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Chatterbooks is a reading group project which was set up in the UK in 2001 by The Reading Agency, an independent charity which inspires 'more people to read more'. Chatterbooks encourages children aged between four and twelve to visit libraries with their families, read adventurously and become confident about talking about books. Currently, over 7,500 children in the UK are part of more than 400 reading groups in 145 different library services.
We are working in partnership with The Reading Agency to bring an international dimension to Chatterbooks. Through Connecting Classrooms, we are bringing young people together in international school partnerships to read books for pleasure and share points of view on common themes and issues. The aim is to develop young people's awareness of different cultural perspectives on global matters as well as to open them up to books from other countries. The project also develops young people's oral and written skills and language awareness, as they communicate with their international peers by email, online and through the exchange of letters and project materials.
Working together, Chatterbooks and Connecting Classrooms also support professional development for teachers, building capacity in using literature to support intercultural understanding, language learning and the development of reading skills.
In 2009-10, we piloted the project through partnerships between 14 schools in the UK, China, Egypt, Ghana and Pakistan, involving around 200 young people aged ten to twelve. We are now working with The Reading Agency to expand the project.
Contact us to find out more.
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