Jo Ann Floyd's Digital Portfolio
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Standard #3:  Collaboration & Leadership

Objective: Connection with the Library Community

Indicator: Candidates employ strategies to ensure connections between the school community and the larger library world of public libraries, special libraries, and information centers.

 

 

When I step into this library, I cannot understand why I ever step out of it.
-Marie de Sevigne (February 5, 1626-April 14, 1696)

As a member of Goshen Elementary School’s literacy committee, I spearheaded our Family Summer Literacy Program last year. Our mission was to work in collaboration with the Gaithersburg Public Library to promote reading and using the library. Research shows that children who do not read over the summer often lose some of the reading skills that they had gained during the previous school year. Working with each grade level, we identified 97 at risk students and invited their families to participate in our program. Interested families were asked to attend three meetings.

Our kick-off meeting, held at the school, featured, Vivian Narine, the children’s librarian at Gaithersburg Public Library. She introduced their summer reading program, “Clue into Reading” and provided library card applications to individuals who needed them. Our reading specialist, Christa Horn, spoke briefly about the benefits associated with reading aloud to children. Families then moved to the classrooms for grade level breakout sessions. Each facilitator modeled an exemplary read aloud and shared some helpful read aloud strategies. I read Verna Aardema's version of the Mexican folktale, The Borreguita and the Coyote to the 3rd grade students and their families. The students then picked out three books to take home with them. To encourage family involvement with the library’s summer reading program, the second meeting was held on-site at the Gaithersburg Library. Several students reported that this was their first visit to the library. Highlights of the evening included another fun read aloud and a tour of the children’s section. The teachers were available to help children who had not yet signed up for the program to complete their paperwork and assist students with book selection. The last meeting, “A Celebration of Reading,” found us back at Goshen enjoying ice cream sundaes and one more great read aloud. Students and their parents were also encouraged to share their reading success stories.

By working with the public library to create this program, we helped keep our students connected to books throughout the summer. Hopefully, our students and their families will make reading and visiting the library lifelong habits.

 

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