Grants Provide New Books For Many Warsaw StudentsWarsaw students in grades kindergarten to sixth grade recently received new books for their classroom libraries thanks to the United Way, Paragon Medical and the Dane Miller Foundation.
"Our goal in writing the grants was to help students grow as readers through enriching classroom libraries," said Rachael Hoffert, literacy coach for Warsaw Community Schools. "We want students to have immediate access to books that interest and engage them as readers."The United Way donated $20,000 for students in grades kindergarten to second grade. Paragon Medical is giving $15,000 over four years, and the Dane Miller Foundation donated $15,000.
Classroom teachers were allowed to select several new books for their classroom libraries. Teachers were given a list of titles in fiction and nonfiction, and allowed to select more than 50 books.
Classroom libraries are a resource for students as independent reading is an integral part of Readers' Workshop, the new reading program being used at the elementary school level. Students are allotted a chunk of time each day for silent reading.
"The research is clear that students need time to read and process text in order to improve their reading skills," said Lisa Carpenter, literacy coach. "Like adults, kids want to choose their own books. As long as students are reading at their 'just right' level, we don't mind giving them some choice."
The books purchased with the grant money provide students with more books to choose from than ever before, she said.
Until now, teachers have always had to fund their own classroom libraries. Many teachers buy books for their classroom through Scholastic book orders, garage sales, used book stores and free donations.
"We want to thank the organizations for investing their resources in our students. We expect to see a huge return on their investment in the years to come," said Carpenter.
