Books, Books, Books!

The other day an interesting thing happened in class. My kids were quiet, settled and content for like 20 minutes straight!!!  I kept glancing over my shoulder, quietly checking for respirations as they are NEVER this quiet. I bet you are wondering what's the secret. Nope, I didn't drug them with benadryl to make them drowsy, although there are days when the thought runs through my mind.  The secret 'medicine' is BOOKS!

Yes, she is doing a happy dance because she gets to go to the reading corner!

 This would have never happened 5 months ago when I first met this lively bunch. You see, most have no books at home, and have never been read to, and many of the parents are illiterate. So, when we started our daily storytime it was a pretty big deal. Slowly over the months these kids have grown to love 'reading'.  They always beg for another story and often the promise of a 2nd story is enough to make the group settle down quick, fast and in a hurry. Access to diverse learning opportunities, books, quality education, etc is essential to bridging the achievement gap between low income youth in this country and everywhere!

I'm excited about a project started by two friends, Rebecca and Josh, to create a community library in a nearby city of San Francisco de Macoris. I started this post a few days ago and just have not gotten around to posting it. After a rough day in class today, where my kindergartners were restless and not focused, do you know what saved the day? Yep, I had 6 books in my bag, and I passed those out to the ones who had finished their worksheet and were starting to become disruptive. Before I knew it, the other kids were settled down, working hard, finishing and asking for a book to read. I almost laughed out loud. I had threatened taking away the Valentine's day party, loosing recess, calling parents, etc, etc (yes, this imitation teacher was tired), and all it took was pulling out a book. Wow! So, I knew I needed to finish this post. These kids and kids everywhere need to have the access to reading material to develop their vocabulary, expand their horizons, build critical thinking skills and to get them excited about learning to read and education in general!

So, to learn more about this amazing project that is on the way to build a community library click on this link. I hope you may even feel generous to share $5, $15, or $500 to support this special project.

Don't leave the page without clicking this link --->   Adopt a Reader, a Teacher, a Library!