Introduction of the Cankar Award contest in the first frade of primary school

Katarina Grom (2015) Introduction of the Cankar Award contest in the first frade of primary school. MSc thesis.

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Abstract

A child encounters reading and writing spontaneously and informally already in the pre-school period. In the school period, the reading and writing skills support further learning and are therefore developed systematically throughout the curriculum (prim. Curriculum, 2011). Theoretical knowledge of beginner reading and writing enhanced by the learner’s motivation and stimulating learning environment help develop the child’s abilities which can be demonstrated in the first grade in the ‘Ivan Cankar’ national language competition in Slovene (hereinafter: the Cankar Award). The Cankar Award competition promotes and directs the reader to critically assess the text and express that in writing at the competition. To gain an in-depth understanding of the competition its history, a fundamental shift and developments after 2007 are presented. The question is raised for whom and for what age the competition is designed, about the importance of the reading event, how the competition is designed and how it is evaluated. Highlighted is the difference between the Cankar Award competition and the Reading badge aimed at encouraging reading. The research has focused on the question whether the more capable first grade readers and writers are able to take part at the Cankar Award competition. On a sample of 55 pupils a quantitative research approach and a test-paper were used to conduct the initial and final tests of reading and writing as well as a model of the Cankar Award competition for first graders with the evaluation criteria. The findings of the tested sample showed that the Cankar Award competition is suitable for the first grade students with advanced abilities in reading and writing. The research results could potentially affect the expansion of the competition to the more able first grade students in the rest of Slovenia. The basis for the test model of the Cankar Award competition has been prose i.e. a folk tale. The question remains open whether the competition could also be held on the model of poetry where reading and understanding are even more challenging for the first year students.

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