summer suggestion hit

[rschulte <rschulte@WTN.K12.SD.US>]

Here's the responses to the summer request I made earlier.  Some great
ideas!  We do have a summer library program, but she is overwhelmed.  She
gets way more kids than she can handle (in the hundreds) and can only
hire one person to help.  I work very close with my public librarian, she
is often a guest reader in this library.  I would never do anything that
would take away from her program.

Work with your public library .
There is a large amount of money and effort put into summer reading
programs all the way from the state public library level down to the
local level .
I hate to put it this way , but I will tell you the truth.
have you considered that summer reading programs may just plain justify
having a professional children's librarian at your local public library
?  If they do not, they still have a librarian and in the summer so much
effort is put into summer reeading programs and state money and often
local money is put in to them .  Go talk to the local public librarian
and ask her/him what the plans are because this is the time they get
hatched and training is going on at the state level for local public
librarians (I have been both a school and public librarian in my career
both in MS and VA and the programming and training was similar as far as
the state library efforts to promote summer reading programs .
YOU DO NOT want to steal their thunder and efforts because you do not
want them to lose their local or state support .  People may begin to
think that support may be only neessary for one of you .
Why not cooperate with the local public library?

This summer I will oversee eight such programs.  We do read two books
aloud
to the kids every visit. (Two a week for six weeks.) then we have a craft
and
game for the kids to participate in.

I will be checking STAR Reading scores to see if there is an increase or
not.
 I will also be keeping good data on who is showing up for this so that I
can
receive better funding from our grant people.  So far they slashed the
program about 50% based on last year's attendence.  I am hoping for a
better
shot this year.

Good luck with your program.

I noticed someone asking for suggestions for summer hours.  I, too, will
be opening our library  for a few hours in the summer, probably for at
least 2 hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays, for a total of 4 hours per
week.  Last year I just let books circulate, but I'd like to try
something new this year.  I was hoping to do something with poetry -
keeping it fun - but I don't really have any specific plans.  Any
ideas?  These would be K-5 students.  Usually 12-20 come each week, but
they aren't always the same ones, so I would have to be flexible and not
necessarily require that they come more than once.  Also, this will
probably only be during the month of July.  Is this time too limited to
do anything much?  Any ideas, even if they don't have to do with poetry,
would be appreciated.

You could also do puppet shows.  My principal just ordered some books for
me
that have puppets that go along with the picture book. My husband is
going to
help me build a little theater for the kids to stand behind and perform
this
summer.  We are going to do it out of fabric and pcv pipe. I want to have
my
5th and 4th graders do it for the younger ones.  We are an elem. choice
school of the arts.  Arts are  encouraged and expected in every classroom
setting at my school.  My school also has a big accel. reader program.
Just an idea.


My school has had a volunteer summer library for 17 years.  I just came
here five years ago, so I can take no credit for it.  We are open Tuesdays
and Thursdays from 9 - 12 in the morning and 6 - 8 in the evening.
Teachers
do use this for career ladder.  We have many staff members sign up.  To
sign up, you must do an activity on Tuesday, both sessions. So everyone
shares in the work, yet will help you with implementation or anything
else.
It is a drop in program and parents are supposed to attend.  We don't want
to be babysitters.  Story time does not work.  We have gamess available,
computer and board, also.  My activity has always been to feature an
author.  I have done Jan Brett, Patricia Polacco, and Cynthia Rylant.
This year I am doing Beatrix Potter.  My activities are to plant a little
flower in a Dixie cup, make a felt carrot book mark, and maybe make some
of
that dirt that you eat ( chopped up oreos and gummy worms).  Some of the
other activities we have had are magic, bubble day, water day, I can't
think what else.  There are about 10- activities each summer.  We usually
set them up in the hallway because the library is so packed with the game
people, we don't have room.  We have around 250 participants.  Anyone in
our community may participate.  I have had some PTA money to replace the
wear and tear on books.  Also, the summer library has a book fair to
offset
the cost.  It is really a lot of fun and a social event for the staff.  We
have staff members who have transfered to other schools come back and
participate.  You cant  choose when to sign up, so you summer plans are
not
interrupted.  I train the staff before summer starts, so everyone can
check
out and I don't have to be here.  During the school year, students get two
books for one week.  In the summer they can have five books for two weeks.
We do expect them to pay for lost or damaged books and so do and some
don't
just like the regular school year.

THe best activity we have in my opinion, is the hot dog roast for Kinders
coming in the fall.  We send an invitation to everyone we know who will be
attending Kindergarten in the fall.  I put their names in the computer and
they can come for supper and check out there first books.  This helps them
become aclimated tot the school.


My wife two summers ago did a puppet workshop for the local public
library.  They read stories that could be made into plays, then created
some puppets for one play and used some store bought ones for another.


You might see if the local public library does outreach and work out a
partnership with them to come out and do a weekly half hour to an hour
program.  You could also pick a theme to promote and then booktalk some of
the books in that area.  For example do a magic theme and show some magic
tricks, show some books, then let the kids loose.  Craft books, show some
crafts then let the kids make something.  Folk/Fairy tales; read or tell
an
original, then read/tell a fractured version then have the kids do their
own
version, all in the same time period.  I have fit the last into a 30
minute
program.

What about introducing Literature Circles to a group of well known
friends
and see if they would like to do that.  At the end of the book, the group
'presents' it in some way to the rest of the class - normally this is
done
in the classroom.  They can choose any way they like to present it, the
most
popular way with my fifth graders was to present a play.  It was alot of
fun
for everyone.  They could choose the book and there is usually a small
group
but it would work with just two is only best friends wanted to do it.
Also,
Reading Theatre is another thing they enjoy and it might be new and
different for them.

Raynette Schulte, Librarian
Lincoln Elementary School, Watertown, SD
rschulte@wtn.k12.sd.us

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