Champaign high schools now require summer reading
CHAMPAIGN — If you're going to a Champaign high school next year, you already have an assignment: Read a book and write down your thoughts about it.
And, yes, it's required.
http://librarypathwaysandfootprints.blogspot.ca/2012/05/champaign-high-schools-now-require.html
Manor Heights celebrates Casper summer reading
The event stemmed from the Natrona County School District's We Read program, according to first-grade teacher Shireen Stafford, who helped organize the luau. Manor Heights started the luau last year, and it was such a hit it might become a school tradition. "We really want to promote summer reading because kids lose a lot of ground over the summer if they aren't reading," Stafford said. "Literacy is our district goal and our school goal. So we decided to make this really fun."
http://librarypathwaysandfootprints.blogspot.ca/2012/05/manor-heights-celebrates-casper-summer.html
School To Explore What Summer Has To Offer
Mark Twain Elementary School in Niles aims to promote summer reading and fun, informative ways to keep kids busy during the summer. The East Maine Dist. 63 school's Family Literacy Night and Community Fair is scheduled for Wednesday, May 23 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the school gym at 9401 Hamlin Ave. It will feature representatives from local businesses and organizations promoting activities for students during the summer.
"The literacy end of it will feature guest readers, like the mayor of Niles, someone from the Niles Public Library and Mark Twain's Principal, Nickki Gross," said Dettloff. "We also are having a 'make and take' session. The students will be making a journal and a bookmark." Fifty families have made their reservations so far. Every student that attends will receive goodie bag promotions from businesses and get to select a free book.
http://librarypathwaysandfootprints.blogspot.ca/2012/05/school-to-explore-what-summer-has-to.html
Magic Food Bus delivers books and healthy foods for children
The popular program delivering local vegetables and library books in Sedgwick will return in July. Every Friday from July 6-August 24, the Magic Food Bus will make five stops in Sedgwick to deliver library books and locally grown vegetables for children and adults. Sedgwick Elementary School librarian Margaret Bixby will be driving the Magic Food Bus again, but this year it will be a rented, maroon cargo van.
Along with a variety of in-season vegetables, the Magic Food Bus will distribute recipes, general storage and preparation tips, and information on local farms. The vegetables are provided free of charge (donations are accepted, but not required).
http://librarypathwaysandfootprints.blogspot.ca/2012/06/magic-food-bus-delivers-books-and.html
Woodlands Elementary School library is open during the summer to provide access to books
As the end of another school year approached, Woodlands Elementary teacher-librarian Elizabeth Roberts mulled over what might keep kids from losing reading skills over the summer.
Roberts thought that part of the problem might be that some students don't have access to books.
"Which is a huge thing," she said. "The more words they hear, the more stories they read, that impacts their reading ability."
That year, 2010, she helped develop a program that would open the library a day a week through the summer.
Nearly a dozen school libraries in Kitsap open their doors to students during summer break, including about half of South Kitsap's schools and Richard Gordon Elementary in Kingston.
The effort is one attempt to keep kids reading over the summer so that they don't forget vocabulary, reading speed, habits or other skills learned during the school year.
http://librarypathwaysandfootprints.blogspot.ca/2012/06/woodlands-elementary-school-library-is.html
Blairs' elementary scool library is open for students from 12pm - 6pm on Wednesdays to encourage summer reading
Isabella Herzog waits in line to sign out the books she has chosen to take home this week from Blair Elementary School's library on June 20, 2012. Blairs' library is open for students from 12pm - 6pm on Wednesdays to encourage summer reading.
In there, it looks like any given weekday between August and June. Students shake the mice of sleepy computers, run their fingers along hardback spines and ask librarian Nan Powell when they can pounce on a table stocked with crayons and paper. "Research shows that the achievement gap in reading actually widens during the summer vacation," said Carole Sutton, the district's supervisor for Title I programs. "It is our main goal to increase access to books and opportunities to read for leisure."
http://librarypathwaysandfootprints.blogspot.ca/2012/06/blairs-elemntary-scool-library-is-open.html
Elementary School Libraries are offering open library times every Thursday morning during summer holidays
The relaxed, fun-filled days of summer are a well-deserved break for children; however, they can have an unfortunate consequence — learning loss. Luckily, this loss is preventable and there are an increasing number of education groups, schools and libraries banding together to provide ongoing opportunities for reading and educational growth during the summer.
It is commonly referred to as the "summer slide" or "summer slump." Both Glenshire Elementary and Tahoe Lake Elementary School Libraries are offering open library times every Thursday morning and Tahoe Lake Elementary is also providing one-to-one reading opportunities and story hour during the weekly Tahoe City Farm¬ers Market.
"Our teachers and students work diligently all school year to improve their reading skills and absorb a great variety of information," explains Valerie Simpson, Truckee Elementary Principal. "It seems counterproductive to simply allow all that learning and retention to fade away just because kids are out of school for summer. We need the support of parents to help make sure these summer programs work."
The Excellence in Education Foundation would love to hear your creative ideas for encouraging summer reading so that they can be shared with others. Please email your ideas to exed@ttcf.net. For more information on Tahoe Truckee Reads visit: www.exined.org.
http://librarypathwaysandfootprints.blogspot.ca/2012/06/elementary-school-libraries-are.html
North Boone School District libraries will remain open this summer for students.
POPLAR GROVE
District 200 announced Wednesday that Poplar Grove Elementary, North Boone Upper Elementary and Capron Elementary schools will be open weekly from June 5 through Aug. 1. Students will be able to check out books, use computers and participate in the summer reading program. Capron Elementary School will be open from 9 a.m. to noon Wednesdays; story time will be at 9:30 a.m.
http://librarypathwaysandfootprints.blogspot.ca/2012/06/north-boone-school-district-libraries.html
Alton Darby, Horizon teachers encourage summer reading
"The library offers books, prizes and programs on many topics for kids of all ages and interests," Dorr said. Dorr sent home a packet of promotional materials from the library with each student, a letter from the principal encouraging reading and a list of book titles and websites with more book titles children could enjoy. Reading activities at Horizon Elementary School recently included a Skype session between naturalist author and illustrator Jim Arnosky and first-graders.
Dorr runs enrichment book clubs at both schools, and teachers at Horizon Elementary School expanded that into the "first-ever Family Book Club."
"More than 200 people in the Horizon community participated by reading Gooseberry Park by Cynthia Rylant as a family, discussing it, blogging with others in the club and coming to school one evening a week for four weeks to talk in small groups," she said. "It was wildly successful."
She said a Hilliard Education Foundation grant will cover a visit by children's author and photographer Charles Smith Jr. next March.
"He will present to all students in both schools and offer a family evening where he will talk about his books and the writing and illustrating process and perform his poetry," Dorr said. "We're very much looking forward to his visit and will begin preparing in the fall by reading and discussing his books."
Dorr said parents are the best motivation to keep their children reading over the summer.
http://librarypathwaysandfootprints.blogspot.ca/2012/06/alton-darby-horizon-teachers-encourage.html
School libraries are open during the summer
One of Briana Victorio's duties this summer is to select books from the shelves at the Sunrise Elementary School library that she thinks students participating in the Friends of the Albany Public Library's pilot reading project might want to check out.
The objective is to encourage children to continue their reading while on their summer break, said Nancy Powell, president of the friends. "We approached GAPS to see if the district would be interested in keeping a couple of schools open to keep the children reading."
The district was receptive and agreed to open the library at Sunrise from 10 a.m. to noon on Tuesdays. The library at Clover Ridge Elementary School is open during the same hours on Thursdays. The program ends at Sunrise on July 31 and at Clover Ridge on Aug. 16.
http://librarypathwaysandfootprints.blogspot.ca/2012/07/school-libraries-are-open-during-summer.html
Conway Elementary students enjoy a good summer read
BY KATIE THISDELL
Reeves and Anderson Oakman settled on their elementary school's library floor with plates of hot dogs and chips.
Soon, the search would begin for the last few sports books that the brothers hadn't yet read.
Both activities were appealing, but what were they really looking forward to?
"To eat the most snacks we can," said Reeves, 9, Anderson, 7, agreed.
Summer break doesn't mean that students at Conway Elementary School, in southern Stafford County, must stop reading or eating with classroom pals.
The fifth year of the school's summer library hours started last week, giving kids the chance to pick out as many books as they want, eat snacks, visit with friends and play educational games on the computers and iPads.
http://librarypathwaysandfootprints.blogspot.ca/2012/07/conway-elementary-students-enjoy-good.html
Oregon District Keeps School Libraries Open to Prevent Summer Slide (Summer Meal program)
Oregon's Salem-Keizer School District is helping its students avoid brain drain—by keeping several school libraries open during the summer months.
Seven Title I media centers throughout the district continue to keep their doors open two hours each week, and local kids are welcome to read, check out books, or attend read-alouds. Although it's not a new concept, it's the first time Salem-Keizer has kept summer hours-and so far, kids seem to be enjoying it, says Stephen Cox, the district's library media program specialist.
School libraries are located in buildings that offer the Summer Meal program, where any qualified child age 18 and under can eat lunch, and sometimes breakfast, for free five days a week. "After and before lunch, students are encouraged to go to the school library to check out a book."
http://librarypathwaysandfootprints.blogspot.ca/2012/07/oregon-district-keeps-school-libraries.html
Meadows Elementary School library to offer several programs, events this year: book fairs, author visits, literacy programs and sponsorships for the school's Readers Club.
Meadows Elementary School library to offer several programs, events this year
byBen Simon| August 23, 2012 12:24 pm
Shelly Puckett, the librarian at Meadows Elementary School, has another full year of library services planned for the students, according to a press release.
The library will offer bi-annual book fairs, author visits, literacy programs and sponsorships for the school's Texas Readers Club and Boys Only Book Club.
"I am passionate about doing all I can to inspire young ones to read," said Puckett in the press release. "My goal is to make the library a literacy driving force at Meadows and not just a supplemental resource."
http://www.ultimatefortbend.com/stories/403895-schools-meadows-elementary-school-library-to-offer-several-programs-events-this-year
Students to be recognized for summer reading
DANVILLE — Organizers of the Danville school district's Summer Reading Program will celebrate the reading efforts of more than 90 elementary school students at a special event on Tuesday.
It is open to Danville schools' K-5 students and their families.
Guest reader and retired Superintendent David Fields will read a book to the audience. Then program coordinator Louis K. Morris will award prizes to the program participants in each grade level who earned the most Accelerated Reader points over the summer. "This program was meant to encourage students to read and keep their minds active over the summer break and not be part of the summer slide," said Morris, the East Park Elementary School librarian.
Research shows that children have the potential to lose 2 to 3 months of reading progress that they made the year before if they don't read over the summer, Morris said.
This summer, 92 students participated in the program, which is 22 more than the previous year.
First-place winners will receive a $50 Walmart gift card, second-place winners will receive a $25 Walmart gift card and third-place winners will receive 10 free Danville Mass Transit bus rides.
Participants in the grade level that read the most book will receive a token for a Dairy Queen treat.
Morris also will present rewards to parents for their participation. Each time they brought their child to the library and read with them, they could enter their name into a jar.
Morris will draw six names at the event, and those people will receive a new book bag filled with school supplies.
"We really wanted to encourage parents to read with their children," he said of the incentive. He said that will show youngsters that reading is important.
Last year, 70 participants read 1,470 books over the summer, Morris said. He plans to offer the program again next year.
http://librarypathwaysandfootprints.blogspot.ca/2012/08/students-to-be-recognized-for-summer.html
http://librarypathwaysandfootprints.blogspot.ca/2012/08/tdsrc-in-hobbema-report.html
