Good Morning~

I hope you all survived the incredible amount of rain we experienced this morning! It looked like someone was pouring buckets outside of the front door when the students were coming in! I suppose it is better now than while all of the baseball, soccer and outdoor events are scheduled!

We had a pretty exciting week here, our two Librarian's, Diane Silva from The Exeter Library and Shannon Darowski from the Louttit Library in West Greenwich. We have been working together behind the scenes to kick-off a very different approach to motivate students to participate in summer reading and visit the library. Recently, we sent home a bookmark with all of the students. It looks like this:

The bookmark has a suggested reading list on the back which was created by Diane Silva this spring. She based the list on books that students enjoy and those that are accessible in the library. There is a question on the bookmark, "How many times will you visit the library this summer?" At the bottom, there are 6 bees. Each time you visit, the librarians will punch your bookmark with a special hole punch. If you visit the library (either one) 3 times, you will receive a certificate and a special pencil that says, "Summer Reading Success". If you visit the library 6 times this summer, we think that is a BIG DEAL!!!  Your child will receive another certificate AND a coupon to celebrate all of this reading with a Free Kids' Meal at Dan's Place! We are very excited about connecting our school, our library and our community this summer! We are very thankful that Dan was excited about being part of our Summer Reading Incentive this year! 

The librarians also wanted to reinforce how easy it is to get a library card, the whole process is super quick and if your child does not have their own library card, now is a great time to get one! Be sure to check out the websites at both libraries to learn about summer events and happenings. They will also be emailing me updates that I will continue to pass along throughout the summer.

Additionally, we sent home an opportunity to earn a FREE book this summer! Barnes and Noble asks students to write the name of 8 books you have read and who you would recommend them to and return the form to them for a Free Book! This is a super simple way to keep your children motivated to read this summer.

According to Johns Hopkins Center for Summer Learning: “A conservative estimate of lost instructional time is approximately two months or roughly 22 percent of the school year.... It's common for teachers to spend at least a month re-teaching material that students have forgotten over the summer. That month of re-teaching eliminates a month that could have been spent on teaching new information and skills.”

It was wonderful to see how many children knew the local librarians already, we are so lucky they could carve out time this week to visit ALL students Kindergarten through Grade 2! 

Also, the reading teachers at Metcalf asked me to include the following information for Grade 2 students: Current grade 2 students should bring evidence of their summer reading to their grade 3 teacher at the start of the school year in August in order to be recognized for their reading.  Evidence could include a copy of the Barnes and Noble form, the child's punch card, or the certificate they earned.  Metcalf also has a "Summer Reading Challenge" that entering third graders may choose to complete.  Please see the Metcalf School website for details.

Hope you all have a great weekend- Happy Father's Day to all of the dads out there! 

Respectfully, 

Melissa Marino