summarybraeside

In 2008-2009 the [|Braeside IMC] program continued its emphasis on information literacy, research, storytelling, and the best in children’s literature. Our students love research! Starting in the primary grades using the KWL method, where students find the answers to the questions they have asked, they learn that research answers their own information needs. As they grow older, students complete increasingly complex assignments that use charts and tables to help them organize what they find. A special unit had our third graders research institutions in Highland Park and the information was [|posted on the Braeside website].

This year, we added ten Playaway titles to our collection, entire books on MP3 players, or audiobooks. Our students are enjoying some old classic stories in a modern, new way.

Storytelling has an important place in our IMC. Kindergarteners listened to stories and then acted them out, while first graders discussed story elements. Second graders enjoyed a year-long folklore unit that culminated in the creation of a picture book and the Battle of the Folk Tales. Third graders listened to Jack Tales and rewrote and illustrated a story that was duplicated on DVD. They also retold star stories from the Greek myths and their audio files were [|posted on the Braeside website]. Fourth graders finally got the chance to be storytellers themselves, learning about the craft and then telling stories to the first graders. Our visitors this year included author-illustrator [|Steven Kellogg]; storyteller [|Willy Claflin] (with Maynard Moose and other friends); storyteller Arif Choudhury, who talked about growing up as a Muslim Bangladeshi-American in Chicago’s North Shore; and storyteller [|Jim May], who delighted our Book Fair audience. We were also fortunate to host Sam Harris, the President of the Board of the [|Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center], who spoke to our fifth graders about his experiences in concentration camps in World War II. The visits were preceded by our students studying Bangladesh and the Holocaust. We are grateful to the Braeside PTO and the 112 Education Foundation for making these visits possible.



A special grant from the 112 Education Foundation and added support from the Braeside PTO allowed us to bring in deaf storyteller [|Peter Cook] and his interpreter, Jamie Drake, to give our students a unique experience in sign language and pantomime. Our students first did a study of Helen Keller and each room practiced some sign language.

The 20th Annual Writing Conference brought in author [|Carolyn Crimi] and thirteen other community writers, editors, and reporters to read and critique the creative writing of our fourth and fifth graders.

After twenty-two years of being the IMC director at Braeside, it is time for me to retire and say goodbye. I am sad to leave but grateful for the opportunity to work with our students and have such fulfilling experiences. I have loved working with children and telling stories, selecting books and reading aloud, teaching them to work with information, and bringing in creative artists. It has been a wonderful time.