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Fifth- and sixth-grade students gathered in the Sterling Grade School Library on Feb. 7 to celebrate World Read Aloud Day with an online author visit from Marsha Skrypuch (pronounced skrip-ick). Skrypuch is a Ukrainian-Canadian writer of historical fiction novels such as Making Bombs for Hitler and Stolen GIrl.
She read aloud from her latest novel Winterkill, a story about the 1930s Russian invasion of Ukraine. Through questions asked by students, they learned that Skrypuch felt that the Ukrainians' story during World War II had not been told. Her mother-in-law, Lida, was living in Ukraine when Nazi soldiers took over her home to use as a headquarters. Lida was not allowed to leave the house and instead had to serve the soldiers. This family history inspired Skrypuch to write historical fiction for middle grade readers. She doesn't like overly simple stories and insteads writes books that respect the intelligence of young readers. Students learned that Skrypuch conducts research through interviews and visiting libraries and archives where she can view historical documents. She is currently working on a new trilogy called Kidnapped from Ukraine, which "follows two sisters as they struggle to survive the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022" (description from Amazon.com). The first book will be published in Nov. 2024. Through World Read Aloud Day activities, students learned more about Skrypuch's books as well as other popular historical fiction novels. By the end of the session, the room was buzzing with excitement and kids were discussing which books they wanted to read first. "An author visit can really excite kids about reading," explained district librarian Amy Brownlee. "Getting to hear the inspiration behind the stories and learn about the research process creates a powerful motivation to read."
We recently ran a successful program at our elementary library where we gave away books and posters to K-6 students in a drawing. Students earned tickets for the drawing by meeting their second quarter classroom reading goal and could earn additional tickets by reading over winter break. The idea started when I attended the AASL national conference and collected a variety of autographed books and posters. I wanted to give them away to kids but wasn't sure how to choose the recipients. I finally decided on doing a drawing and tying it to reading. In addition to the autographed books and posters, I also added more to the prize options. I offered books I got through book fair points or through donations so I had prizes for all ages.
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Amy BrownleeLibrarian, reading teacher, presenter. Archives
April 2024
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