Author Jason Chin Visits CVSD Schools

Science teachers across the district have been looking for ways to integrate science into reading and writing classes while also creating a shared experience for our PreK-8 students. This week, CVSD's PreK-8 buildings are welcoming Jason Chin to share his experiences and insights into writing and illustrating children’s books. Jason Chin, a local author and illustrator, is a diverse author and a Caldecott Medal winner who has written and illustrated a series of children’s books including many on non-fiction science topics.

“I love meeting readers and sharing what I love, and I hope that my visits will help young readers see themselves as artists, scientists, readers and writers.” -Jason Chin

These visits were funded through a grant, the school district, and each school's PTO/family organizations supported it as well.

Thank you, Jason, for such enriching and engaging presentations! Here are a few photos from the visit with Williston students yesterday. He was in Charlotte today and will be in Shelburne and Hinesburg this week as well.

Mobile Library Project from Empower Youth Leaders

The Empower Youth Leaders (EYL) have teamed up with CVSD Librarians to deliver “mobile bookshelves” to our K-8 schools. Empower Youth Leaders is a CVSD student organization that meets weekly, with a goal to promote Social Emotional Learning (S.E.L.) for our schools through community service projects.

The middle schoolers from EYL developed a plan to procure a mobile bookshelf for each of the CVSD K-8 schools. A Mobile Bookshelf is a moveable bookshelf on wheels. The bookshelf will house books that students can take home to build their home libraries. We are hoping that these books will promote social emotional learnings skills to kids, as they open doors to different journeys through reading.

Students will be able to keep the books that they choose from the mobile bookshelf. There is no need to return the book the the school library. Have fun reading!

 

Here are some potential questions you may have, answered by the EYL students.

How are the students expecting to manage the donation process? We are only using books that are planned to be thrown out from classrooms, and libraries. These books will already have been evaluated, so librarians, or students will not have to re-evaluate them.

Students may have some confusion about the mobile bookshelf and the school library: about which books are the library's - and must be returned - and which books are free for them to keep? How will we indicate that clearly enough between the library and the mobile bookshelf so that our students know the difference? The Mobile bookshelf will be in the hallways not the library. And it will have signs to explain the difference too.

Where will the bookshelf live? Will there be signage around it that indicates that it's not part of the school library? When will students have access to it? The Mobile bookshelves will be in the hallways so that it is more accessible to students. We will label it as the mobile bookshelf, and we will decorate it to show that it is the mobile bookshelf with decorations and signs, and we hope that we can make some announcements in the morning to inform about the bookshelf and help prevent any confusion.

Will it work like a free little library, in which students are swapping books when they take one? If so, extra management of content is required. These books are to be taken from the mobile bookshelf and taken home. This is a way for kids to get access to books that they may not have at home. They will not need to swap any books. These are just to take home without having to swap any book in return.

There is also the issue of the physical quality of donations. I have had many people enthusiastically donate books that are in terrible shape: ripped, stained, and not appealing. How will people know what the standards are for their donations? At this time, we are not accepting donations. We are planning on only using books that are being discarded from the library or classrooms.

The work with Empower School Leaders is done with the support of an SEL in Action grant from the NoVo Foundation. We'd like to give a special shout out to Katherine Batty, school counselor at Hinesburg Community School, for her work supporting the Empower Youth Leaders in CVSD. Thank you, Kathy!

Literacy Spotlight - Global Read Aloud 2021

This guest post was provided by CVSD's District Literacy Leader, Jensa Bushey


Librarians and literacy coaches across the Champlain Valley School District partnered to plan an experience for children in grades kindergarten through fourth grade in which a common set of books was read and discussed. To do this, we joined other educators across the world in a project called the Global Read Aloud. For elementary students, the Global Read Aloud featured picture books written by Duncan Tonatiuh and the book Dragons in a Bag by Zetta Elliott.

We picked the Global Read Aloud as a focus point this year because it allowed us the opportunity to live out several parts of the CVSD literacy vision. This includes modeling joyful reading and writing and sharing diverse stories. Children explored the themes of celebrating differences, personal and cultural identity, and perseverance.

Here’s a visual diary of some of the reading, learning, and thinking that the Global Read Aloud brought to our schools.

An enthusiastic group of second grade students activate their prior knowledge before Cara Clopton, Allen Brook School Librarian, reads them The Princess and the Warrior by Duncan Tonatiuh.

Heidi Huestis, Charlotte Central School (CCS) Librarian, discusses what students notice about the cover of the book Separate is Never Equal by Duncan Tonatiuh. In the background, a digital storyboard displays Duncan’s books along with virtual links to read alouds.

Which book will be the ultimate favorite? Each week CCS students voted between two of Duncan Tonatiuh’s books to decide which moved ahead in the bracket! At Charlotte Central the favorite book was Feathered Serpent and the Five Suns.

In the Hinesburg Community School (HCS) Library, second graders engaged in an author study during Hispanic Heritage Month using The Princess and the Warrior and Diego Rivera: His World and Ours. Students paid attention to Duncan Tonatiuh’s illustration style, especially the ornate swirls and curves inspired by pre-Columbian Mixtec art. Students also took two virtual field trips: the first to Popocatépetl (one of the volcanoes from The Princess and the Warrior) using the Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program, and the second to MoMA to see one of Rivera’s paintings.

This is a quick snapshot of of the volcano virtual field trip!

At Williston Central School (WCS), every grade 3-4 teacher was given a copy of Dragons in a Bag to read aloud to their class, and every grade 5-6 English Language Arts (ELA) teacher was given a classroom copy of The Jumbies.

During library time, 3rd & 4th grade students heard eight picture books by author Duncan Tonatiuh during the Global Read Aloud author study. They concluded the author study with a student vote for their favorite, and the most ancient story won: Feathered Serpent and the Five Suns: a Mesoamerican Creation Myth.