Listen. Connect. Empower.

Every year our community participates in a town read.  Books are chosen with incredible attention paid to the ENTIRE community.  There is always an adult choice as well as a related YA and young reader choice.  This year the adults are reading How To Be a Good Creature by Sy Montgomery while our youngest readers are reading Inky's Amazing Escape .  Here is our school's journey: Day 1 We began class by watching a video of an octopus escaping from a boat to set the scene (thank you Sarah Bickel )!: Students watched the video and "ooh-ed," and "ew-ed" their way through it.  Now I had their attention!  We segued into our book which shares the true story of Inky the Octopus's escape from the New Zealand Aquarium.  Things that caught my students' attention: Octopus are hatched from an egg the size of a grain of rice. They are independent immediately after birth. Inky liked to play with legos and Mr. Potato Head. Inky could fit i...

We began our year by connecting with our summer reading and our Public Library.  Our second class of the year took the reading categories that our Public Library created and required students to interact with one another and have discussions about them. We began class by playing Human Bingo .  I created a bingo board with the reading categories and supplemented with several fun categories like "I read in my pajamas" and "I read something that wasn't a book."  Students had to find someone in the class that read or had the related experience and write their name on their board.  The goal was to fill as many boxes as possible and to accrue as many "bingos" as possible. When time was up I took inventory on how many "bingos" were achieved and how many boxes were filled.  I also wanted to know which boxes were hard to fill.  The most common responses were: History Science Fiction Science/Math Reading something that wasn't a ...

I decided to start our year picking up where we left off - connecting with the Public Library.  At the end of the school year our Public Library kicked off a Literacy Afternoon .  They shared with our students how they could take part in the summer reading program.  I began our first class of the year with a demonstration of MY summer reading.  It served two purposes: Share my reading life  Excite students about the new books that are on order for our library  I began by taking a poll to see how many students visited a library over the summer.  Roughly 40% of students reported they visited a library.  Ouch.  That's it?  I asked how many students participated in Summer Reading.  If a hand went up in the class (and there were classes where there were NONE), I could count them on one hand.  Gulp.  However.... I had glimmers of hope when students DID raise their hands and excitedly share with me how they earned the pins ...

This year's Summer Reading took on a new, refreshing feel this year.  Reading Specialist Allison Kieffner and I were given the freedom to develop our own Summer Reading program and we abandoned reading levels, book logs, and reading minutes.  Instead, we partnered with the Public Library and gave our students permission to read far and wide. We planned and launched the program at an assembly at the end of the school year which was hosted by the Student Council.  One third grader shared with us some writing that was important to her and the story behind it.  Next, members of the Public Library staff came to explain what Summer Reading looked like.   They shared with us how to "sign up" for Summer Reading. They shared with us the lanyard that students would receive and explained how they could earn pins by reading across genres. Staff also shared the different types of "items" they could check out of the library.  (I personally have my eyes o...

Every spring I have the privilege to arrange and accompany our 1st grade students on a walking field trip to the Public Library. This year's trip was especially exciting because it offered students an opportunity to "try out" some of the new and exciting offerings at the library and get them excited about Summer Reading. Students try out STEM activities: Students try out no-tech STEM activities: Students learn about how to "sign up" for Summer Reading and choose a book to take home.  Students tour the neighboring greenhouse and learn a bit of local history from volunteers that they recognize from our Chess Clubs and crosswalks.  We are treated to popsicles and plants.   My takeaways This year's visit was especially engaging.  Having so many hands-on activities got students excited about visiting the Public Library.  While most of our students live walking distance from the library, many of...