The 2016 Library Summer Challenge is Happening Now in Delaware!

The Delaware Division of Libraries and Delaware public libraries invite children, teens, and adults to join the 2016 Library Summer Challenge! Themes for this year revolve around physical activities, “On Your Mark, Get Set…Read” for kids, “Get in the Game, Read” for teens, and “Exercise Your Mind. Read!” for adults. Registration is free at all public libraries and incentive prizes are awarded based on reading and activity milestones.

“The Library Summer Challenge is a lighthearted way to approach the serious topic of summer learning loss,” said State Librarian, Dr. Annie Norman. “Studies have shown that children who participate in public library summer programs score higher on reading achievement tests at the beginning of the new school year, experience less summer reading loss, and begin the school year with more confidence.”

Throughout the summer, libraries will provide a variety of fun and educational STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math), art, and cultural programs.  The following programs for children will be presented at all public libraries throughout the state; visit http://guides.lib.de.us/onyourmark for the schedule of events and additional information:

Hip Hop Fundamentals is a diverse team of B-Boys (breakdancers) who use their footwork, freezes, and powermoves to inspire, educate, and entertain young and old alike. But, don’t be fooled. These guys can pop lock, head spin, and floor rock with the best B-Boys and B-Girls around. In partnership with the Delaware Division of the Arts

123 Andrés leads the audience on a movement-filled marathon around the Americas with stops to learn about music and dance. 123 Andrés encourages children and their families to share experiences, joy, and laughter through songs and movement. He performs bilingually in English and Spanish and provides his own accompaniment with guitar, clarinet, and saxophone. In partnership with the Delaware Division of the Arts

A Healthy Portion of Science is how the Delaware Aerospace Education Foundation will lead children through science, math, and engineering on the way to good health. You and your child will be introduced to the food groups and what we can learn from food packaging labels. Take a walk through the digestive system, learn how to find your pulse and count its rate, and see how the muscles and bones of the legs enable movement. Use food labels to practice math skills like classifying, counting, comparing numbers on a number line, and mental math. Do the work of an engineer as you model the organs that aid digestion and circulate your blood. On your mark, get science, and go healthy!

The Delaware Nature Society, in conjunction with Abbott’s Mill and Ashland Nature Centers will present a variety of nature-related programs at public libraries throughout the summer and fall.

About:

The Delaware Division of Libraries, a state agency dedicated to unleashing the potential in all Delawareans in partnership with Delaware Libraries, offers free access to the online catalog (delawarelibraries.org); Wi-Fi; computers/internet; eBooks, programs/workshops, community partnerships, and more.

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Press Images:

123 Andres: http://www.123andres.com/press-2/

Hip Hop Fundamentals: http://www.hiphopfundamentals.com/#!clients/cee5

Personalized Learning and Blended Learning

Students in Ms. Howton's class were sharing their year end projects in a blended learning class at Mount Pleasant High School. She is a Gates Foundation Award winning teacher who takes her lesson planning and her work to heart.  When I visited her class there were small groups of 9th graders collaborating and creating.  Many of her lessons are on Schoology and she plans to work on more units this summer.

The term personalized learning, or personalization, refers to a diverse variety of educational programs, learning experiences, instructional approaches, and academic-support strategies that are intended to address the distinct learning needs, interests, aspirations, or cultural backgrounds of individual students. 

Blended learning is a formal education program in which a student learns at least in part through delivery of content and instruction via digital and online media with some element of student control over time, place, path, or pace. (Wikipedia).

Reading Logs Effectiveness

Can Reading Logs Ruin Reading for Kids?
Taken from The Atlantic 
6/3/16

"Children who read regularly for pleasure, who are avid and self-directed readers, are the holy grail for parents and educators. Reading for pleasure has considerable current and future benefits: Recreational readers tend to have higher academic achievement and greater economic success, and even display more civic-mindedness.

But recreational reading is on the decline. According to a National Endowment for the Arts report based on longitudinal data from a series of large, national surveys, the rate at which teens voluntarily read for pleasure has declined by 50 percent over the last 20 years. Reading now competes for children’s time with many other alluring activities, including television, social media, and video games. Most leisure time is now spent in front of a screen."