“Literacy is exciting” collaboration between students and authors

On the International Literacy Day, it is appropriate to present the summer book of 2024 – LÆK

Reading skills are a prerequisite for active participation in the community. The staff of Hafnarfjarðarbær’s kindergartens and elementary schools have taken creative paths on the important journey of strengthening students’ reading and overall reading comprehension. Hafnarfjörður’s reading project “LÆK” has been joined by two of the country’s leading children’s book authors. This large-scale project calls for collaboration between and interest from the entire school community as well as strong support from the local authorities.

The result is a book of 18 short stories by individual school districts

The children book authors, Gunnar Helgason and Bergrún Íris Sævarsdóttir, will write a total of 18 short stories in the 2023-2024 school year in collaboration with teachers and students at the middle and teen level in nine elementary schools in Hafnarfjarðarbær. Bergrún Íris writes for the middle school level and Gunnar Helgason for teen levels. The LÆK journey has already begun and Gunnar and Bergrún have visited all of Hafnarfjörður´s elementary schools this week and introduced the project to students.

The pitch of ideas will be drawn from on the 18th of September

Students can submit an idea for a story, which can be a single word, a name or a complete idea, as well as submit suggestions for names for characters. The only requirement is that the story takes place near a student’s school or school district. Students will, of course, evaluate the writing, choose their favorite story on each level, as well as work on a project from the story about their school district. They also have a chance to win a prize. On September the 18th, the authors will pull out ideas from the pot of ideas from each school and school level. Each author decides a number of drawn ideas and stops when he thinks it’s enough for an entire story. The authors will finish writing it on February 1st, 2024, and the stories will be published in a beautiful book on the last day of winter in 2024.

A magnificent book cover has already been designed by the illustrator Sigmundur Breiðfjörð Þorgeirsson.

Reading is the playfulness of life

For many years, Hafnarfjörður has been actively working on a clear and effective literacy policy, entitled “Reading is the playfulness of life”. This is a large community project where kindergartens and primary schools, together with parents, healthcare, day parents and various local institutions, join forces to promote language development and literacy among children. The stated goal of the project is for students to be able to read for benefit and enjoyment at the end of elementary school, with a special emphasis on creative and stimulating ways and to provide all students with the appropriate learning and knowledge. This large collaborative project in the towns community has, among other things, resulted in increased continuity between the school levels and laid out the lines on the importance of literacy as the foundation of all education.