Digging Into Reading at Fletcher Library

Summer reading programs offer a great break from the heat and provide a wonderful opportunity for kids to learn some really cool stuff and escape the TV monster.  The theme for the summer reading program at CALS this year is "Dig Into Reading", so kids are learning about mining, fossils, caves, buried treasure, food that comes from the ground and lots of other neat stuff.  Well, if it is 'neat' and 'cool' I have to be a part of it!

Today I presented a program at Fletcher Library in Little Rock.  It focused on the STEM areas of archaeology and earth science with a little PIRATE thrown in as an extra perk.  The kids dug up fossils and other buried treasures from a tub of sand and then mapped where they were digging up the items.

I had come expecting 30 children ages 6 - 8.  What I got was 48 children ages 4 - 6!  Can you say 'monitor and adjust'?  But you know what? These kids were some smart cookies.  I explained how to use the brushes to GENTLY remove the sand in order to not disturb the fossils and how to map them on the grids I gave them (can you tell I was expecting older kids?).  They did a great job and several even noticed how their maps were "upside down" from the child across from them.  This led to a great opportunity to discuss how the way you hold a map can determine if you get lost or not and the idea of perspective in drawing.  When we put the maps on top of one another, they matched up and the kids had that "Aha" moment we educators LOVE!

Now I know I usually talk about Bestie Boy in my entries.  Well, here is my Bestie mention.  Who did I want to call first when I finished doing the program not once, but twice because there were so many children there?  BESTIE!  He was happy for me because he knows how important these kinds of programs are to me.  Just another example of activities we can do separately, but rejoice in TOGETHER.  (Because if Bestie had been there when 48 squealing 4 - 6 year olds entered the room he might have had a coronary.)

So what is on the plan for next week at the library?  Foods that grow underground!  The kids will get to plant a seed and taken it home with them and they will learn about potato 'eyes' and then get to use a true balance to determine the mass of several root crops.  If you have a child ages 6 - 8 (or 4 - 6) and want to attend, the program will be Thursday, June 27, at 10 a.m.  Hope to see you there!!