We have been so fortunate in a number of ways at Grundy Center Elementary. We have a fantastic facility, rock star teachers, great students and families, support from the community, and a collective willingness to do whatever it takes to put quality learning at the top of our priorities.
This brings me to Think In 2016...
Think In is a Saturday morning collaborative workshop for teachers, librarians, principals, and any other children's book lovers. It is four hours of fun, laughter, and learning. It began as a collaborative concept between Mrs. Kim Koch, a literacy coach at Aplington-Parkersburg and me. Think In inspires and promotes children's literature activities.
For the past two years, we have been very fortunate to have THE BEST advocate of children's books, Mr. John Schumacher (aka Mr. Schu) be the keynote speaker. Mr. Schu's resume includes being a teacher librarian, a member of the Newbery Award Selection Committee, Rutgers University lecturer, Scholastic Summit speaker, and Ambassador of School Libraries for Scholastic Books. Mr. Schu travels the country routinely for his Scholastic schedule, and is well known for his ability to inspire others and his promotion of book love. It is difficult to put into words how grateful I am for his time and efforts at Grundy Center Elementary.
Please let me explain why this has been a game changer in our efforts to put literacy and book love at the forefront of our priorities.
Last fall, 12% of kindergarten through fourth grade students could name two books and their authors. Throughout the year, the staff emphasized literature and book love through several activities, including ideas inspired by Mr. Schu. A page including some of these activities can be found HERE. By the end of the year, 96% of students could name two books and their authors. The more kids know about books, the more they will read. The more they read, the more they will learn. This is a win-win situation, folks.
So, it seems so easy and clear, right? Well, here is the challenging piece of the puzzle.
Living in small town Iowa certainly has its benefits, no doubt, but bringing in resources from larger cities can be very difficult. I was told by wonderful, well known authors that we are "too far away" from a major airport to make a visit possible, and I understood. I was told by some in the corporate world we were "not large enough" to make a push of resources into our community beneficial in the eyes of the company, and I deflated.
So, are there difficulties in our efforts to put literacy first? Yes.
That being said, we will keep plugging away. We will continue to put our efforts into bringing in the best, because our kids and teachers are worth it.
Last year, we had an incredible visit from Mr. Joseph Kuefler of Minnesota. He took a chance on us and was simply amazing with the students. Kids who had been writing stories got a quality visit with the author of one of their favorite stories, Beyond the Pond. From this reader leader's point of view, Mr. Kuefler's visit was a HOME RUN for Grundy Center Elementary!
This brings me to Think In 2016...
Think In is a Saturday morning collaborative workshop for teachers, librarians, principals, and any other children's book lovers. It is four hours of fun, laughter, and learning. It began as a collaborative concept between Mrs. Kim Koch, a literacy coach at Aplington-Parkersburg and me. Think In inspires and promotes children's literature activities.
For the past two years, we have been very fortunate to have THE BEST advocate of children's books, Mr. John Schumacher (aka Mr. Schu) be the keynote speaker. Mr. Schu's resume includes being a teacher librarian, a member of the Newbery Award Selection Committee, Rutgers University lecturer, Scholastic Summit speaker, and Ambassador of School Libraries for Scholastic Books. Mr. Schu travels the country routinely for his Scholastic schedule, and is well known for his ability to inspire others and his promotion of book love. It is difficult to put into words how grateful I am for his time and efforts at Grundy Center Elementary.
Please let me explain why this has been a game changer in our efforts to put literacy and book love at the forefront of our priorities.
Last fall, 12% of kindergarten through fourth grade students could name two books and their authors. Throughout the year, the staff emphasized literature and book love through several activities, including ideas inspired by Mr. Schu. A page including some of these activities can be found HERE. By the end of the year, 96% of students could name two books and their authors. The more kids know about books, the more they will read. The more they read, the more they will learn. This is a win-win situation, folks.
So, it seems so easy and clear, right? Well, here is the challenging piece of the puzzle.
Living in small town Iowa certainly has its benefits, no doubt, but bringing in resources from larger cities can be very difficult. I was told by wonderful, well known authors that we are "too far away" from a major airport to make a visit possible, and I understood. I was told by some in the corporate world we were "not large enough" to make a push of resources into our community beneficial in the eyes of the company, and I deflated.
So, are there difficulties in our efforts to put literacy first? Yes.
That being said, we will keep plugging away. We will continue to put our efforts into bringing in the best, because our kids and teachers are worth it.
Last year, we had an incredible visit from Mr. Joseph Kuefler of Minnesota. He took a chance on us and was simply amazing with the students. Kids who had been writing stories got a quality visit with the author of one of their favorite stories, Beyond the Pond. From this reader leader's point of view, Mr. Kuefler's visit was a HOME RUN for Grundy Center Elementary!
Experiences like that and Mr. Schu motivate me to keep setting the bar higher for world class experiences.
We are small, we are rural, but regardless of where we call home, WE ARE READERS!
Wishing you all the best,
Mr. Sammons
We are small, we are rural, but regardless of where we call home, WE ARE READERS!
Wishing you all the best,
Mr. Sammons