What is Matilda?
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Matilda is a charming character in one of Roald Dahl´s books. She loves to read and is very, very smart. Matilda is also an IT-project in Espoo, Finland. In this project a selected group of primary school children study language arts (literature) in virtual study groups. This project is aimed for children who - like Matilda - are above their age level in reading and who therefore seldom get enough challenge in reading in their regular classrooms. |
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In
Matilda-groups students children are readers among readers. They read two books a month,
engage in conversations and exchange ideas by using Matilda web-site and discussion tool
in the web. In addition to reading a wide variety of books the students learn many IT
skills. They are also active in planning their studies and developing the program. Every school which takes part in Matilda-project has a teacher who works as a tutor. Teachers tutor their own home group with about 8 students from 3 - 4 different schools. They try to create a safe atmosphere in these home groups and encourage the students to reflect how they felt and reacted when they were reading the books. |
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This project was developed because too many IT-programs attract only (mostly) boys. Matilda is open to both girls and boys but since reading books attracts more girls than boys, most Matilda-students are girls. |
