The Detroit Literacy Garden is a grass roots response to the broken educational system in Detroit, MI that has produced a 47% adult illiteracy rate (http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2011/05/04/report-nearly-half-of-detroiters-cant-read/); and, the lowest reading & math scores among 4th and 8th graders in large US cities on a national assessment test for four (4) consecutive years. While Flint Michigan.s children have fallen victim to a led tainted water crises, Detroit's children are being victimized by a broken educational system (http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2015/10/28/national-assessment-educational-progress-detroit-math-reading-results/74718372/) and unsafe as well as unhealthy school environments (http://www.wxyz.com/news/region/detroit/detroit-public-schools-teachers-say-school-is-literally-making-them-sick)
We promote active reading by making it fun! We develop, write, publish and perform stories that are magical, engaging and interactive. Children of all ages enjoy our stories.
We use puppet shows to perform our magical and always silly stories. These performances help children develop their imaginations and creative process. It's the magical affect puppetry has on children that makes our stories effective in building reading skills and providing the motivation children need to want to read, especially those at risk of suffering illiteracy. That's how we prepare the soil to plant our garden!
We use puppet shows to perform our magical and always silly stories. These performances help children develop their imaginations and creative process. It's the magical affect puppetry has on children that makes our stories effective in building reading skills and providing the motivation children need to want to read, especially those at risk of suffering illiteracy. That's how we prepare the soil to plant our garden!
Children really have fun making our Lit Garden puppets. They read our simple instructions and trick out their puppets. The more creative they get, the more fun they have making them and the more they develop their imaginations. This makes it an activity youth as old as 15 have enjoyed. Sometimes parents/guardians give assistance to their children making literacy a family affair. We also give new and gently used books to children who don't get many opportunities to own books.
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