Boyolali, Indonesia — Students from the Community Service Program (KKN-T) Team II of Diponegoro University (Undip) for the 2025/2026 Academic Year have launched a literacy initiative aimed at fostering a stronger reading culture among fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students at SD Negeri 2 Teras. The two-week program introduced the Read Aloud method alongside Story Reports to enhance students’ reading interest, comprehension, and confidence in expressing their understanding of stories.
The program was conducted through two interactive sessions for each grade level. During the first session, the university students read children’s stories aloud, encouraging active discussions about the characters, plot, and moral values of each story. They also introduced the Story Report, a simple reading journal designed to help students reflect on and summarize what they had read. Students were then challenged to read at least one book over the following week and complete a Story Report based on their reading.
The second session focused on collaborative reading activities, the submission of Story Reports, and student-led read-aloud presentations using the books they had completed. Through this approach, students were encouraged not only to improve their reading comprehension but also to strengthen their communication skills, teamwork, and confidence in speaking before their classmates. To recognize their efforts, the KKN-T team presented awards to students who produced the most outstanding Story Reports.
The initiative was developed in response to observations made by the KKN-T students during their preliminary assessment of the school. They found that students’ reading interest remained relatively low, literacy activities were largely passive, reading corners were not being utilized to their full potential, and many students showed a stronger preference for digital media than printed books. By combining the Read Aloud method with interactive discussions and Story Reports, the team sought to create a more engaging and meaningful literacy experience that would inspire students to enjoy reading.
The program involved ten multidisciplinary KKN-T students from Diponegoro University, who contributed as program designers, facilitators, storytellers, discussion mentors, read-aloud trainers, evaluators, and documentation coordinators.
Beyond the classroom activities, the team also produced a range of educational outputs, including literacy campaign materials, a Read Aloud teaching module, Story Report templates, activity documentation, promotional videos, news articles, and publication materials for the school. Through this initiative, the KKN-T students hope that the reading culture established during the program will continue to grow beyond the community service period and become a sustainable habit supported by both teachers and students.
