The beginning of a new school year brings so much to the table; seeing old friends and meeting new ones, learning rhythms and routines, setting goals, and in Spark, butter!
Book Cafe has become a part of the routine that learners, and guides, look forward to each day. A chance to plop down after a long day of working and playing and be immersed in the magic of story. Learners sample books across genres, topics and authors. Books that make them giggle, books that make them empathize, books that they beg to read again and again.
Why do we devote daily time for learners to listen to stories rather than only practice reading on their own? With so much to accomplish and get done in a day, is this the best use of our time? Simply put, yes. If you have a data driven mind, then there are statistics galore to support the power of time spent reading aloud to children, even those who are independently reading. The Commission on Reading has stated that, “the single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children”.
While the Book Cafe has a general outline planned, so much of it is driven by learner interests and students’ favorites. Often an extra book or two is read and then excitedly added to the studio library for eager eyes to devour the next day. At The Village School it is the guides’ role to create a learning environment that fosters creativity and creates opportunity for further imagining. That is not a role that we take lightly!
Last week Spark had the chance to explore the simple and magical world of The Three Little Pigs, not once, not twice, but through six different versions. Discussions were sparked about perspective, fairness, the author’s choice of words, hidden clues the illustrators left for the reader and so much more. We dove into new vocabulary and made our learning visible through charts, reenactments and STEM challenges.
The amount of focus, energy and thrill that went into churning their own butter was a sight to behold! And as learners went on their first excursion to Parkhurst Park, you better believe that nothing tasted sweeter than freshly churned butter on a delicious piece of bread!
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