From: JuneCL at aol.com <JuneCL>
Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2005 15:22:28 EDT

In June I retired from my position as a school librarian in a PreK-5 school with a strong reading environment. Here's a list of the school's attributes that I observed contributing to this environment: 1. Teachers who are readers. The teachers read both children's and adult literature outside of the school day. 2. Students read books of their own choice for independent reading in school, and for homework. Student choice is respected and important. 3. Literature groups, cross age "buddy" reading, partner reading--many social opportunities to talk about books. 4. Inclusion of multicultural literature. 5. Read alouds in every classroom every day. 6. Students use nonfiction trade materials for research projects as part of content area instruction. 7. Storytelling, drama, and other performing arts based on literature. 8. Author, illustrator, and genre studies at all grades. 9. Writing instruction and literature intertwined. 10. A summer reading program for grades 2,3, and 4 in which the kids borrow books from the school library.

June Locke Ithaca, NY
Received on Tue 11 Oct 2005 02:22:28 PM CDT