For students at the Mettawee Community School reading inspires awe and wonder. “At the start of each year all our kids chart a course for the books they plan to read,” says Mettawee Literacy Specialist Kimberly Donaldson. “We make reading a priority at student-led parent-teacher conferences, monitor performance on personal goals, and celebrate reading at school-wide events throughout the year.”
With the events scheduled to serve as a one-two punch, Bickford selected the theme Enchanted Forests and Fairytales. “We loved the idea of connecting the Book Fair and All School Read with the design of an enchanted forest,” says Donaldson. “We knew it would energize the creative imaginations of our young readers.”
First up, the Book Fair. Over a few days, the Library turned into an enchanted forest. Trees sprouted up daily around the library doors. Vines dangled from the ceiling and spread throughout the library. Enchanted creatures emerged from hiding places. Mushrooms popped up in library plants and appeared on chandeliers. Book carts, meanwhile, filled up with treasures that could be transported around the school.
Each classroom competed for the best door. The stakes were high with the winners treated to ice cream. Teachers, students, and parents all took part in the vote. They were each given magic beans to deposit into a jar located up at the front desk. The classroom with the most beans won. (Spoiler alert: the 4th graders celebrated, but in the true Mettawee spirit, everyone was treated to ice cream)
A key feature of the Book Fair is that students select a book. It serves as a marker for their personal reading goal pathway, as well as a celebration of their membership in a community of readers. Book options are many, ranging from items on display throughout the school to links to online selections. The young readers will receive their book at the annual Books and Beyond ceremony at the end of the school year.
While the Book Fair created school wide excitement about the written word, the All School Read demonstrated how books can bring a school community together.
Berry Song >by Michaela Goade, to be read by all the students. Goade is a Caldecott Medal winner, NY Times Bestselling illustrator, and proud member of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. Berry Song is her debut Indigenous KidLit work as both author and illustrator
All School Read was divided into two parts. In the morning, all students were absorbed in the designated book with some sixth graders reading to the kindergarteners. They then broke out into a variety of Berry Song-related activities ranging from drawing and coloring by the youngsters to discussions on the environment by the fifth and sixth graders. No surprise, the snack for the morning was fresh berries.
In the afternoon, students and teachers sought out a comfortable space to read a book of their own choosing — in or under a chair or table, under or against a wall, or snug on a rug. The rooms and halls fell silent as the school became a community of reading. An organic snack of Annie’s Bunny Grahams along with sips of local milk donated by Battenkill Valley Creamery served as an added treat between page turns.
“The afternoon of All School Read is my favorite moment of the school year,” says Mettawee Principal Brooke DeBonis. “The value of reading is appreciated and made visible to all.”