[CALIBK12] pink slips, bravery titles, and a fun event

[Kathy Goodwin]

Our district (Center Unified in Sacramento Country) kept our 6.5 library technicians and two teacher librarians. We are hoping we won't go through the stress again next year and are thankful that the district is currently supporting our present staffing. We feel for the students, teachers, and staff in the districts that have gone in another direction.

 

RE Jeri Ferris's e-mail about her biographies ... Her books are excellent and ones that are well-researched, written AND stay in print! I'd also like to suggest browsing through biography collections for picture book biographies ... often the subjects of these books are ones that could be used to illustrate bravery and other positive character traits. And check out the CYRM website www.californiayoungreadermedal.org as many of the titles in the Picture Books for Older Readers category would be appropriate for this project.

 

Also ... author Jeri Ferris was a guest speaker last evening (I introduced her) at an annual event held by our local CRA council (Placer Area Reading Council's Young Author's Celebration). We had over 300 in attendance ... 100 students from kindergarten through eighth grade and their parents, siblings, grandparents, and teachers in an elementary auditorium. We fed them, gave the students certificates and medals, listened to Jeri for 25 minutes (she did an amazing job of keeping the interest of this HIGHLY diversified group!) and then broke into grade level groups in classrooms where each student got to show off her/his writing project. I facilitated the grade 5+ group and after each of the nine students had shared their projects, I started a "what have you recently read" discussion (after connecting that the best writers are almost always big readers) and the kids finally relaxed ... we had an extra 20 minutes of lively discussion from skipping "boring" parts of Lord of the Rings to what makes a "real" vampire book to how do we let our parents let us read later at night (parents and siblings in the background quietly chuckling and proud as peacocks!). It was a fun day (and yes Barbara ... I DID get all five of my schools into the CDE database ... better on the last day than not at all ... and it really is a good experience to look at all the topics we are required to consider).

 

Kathy Goodwin

Center USD K-8 Teacher Librarian

916-787-8100 x2447

 

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