…changing the world, one reader at a time.
This article was published on Nerdy Book Club on June 24, 2019. You can read in its original format here. I stood in the middle of the room and listened to the sound of more than 20,000 pennies clinking and jingling around me. To my left, a fourth grade student helped her first grade buddy to […]
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Happy Pride Month, my friends! It’s June, which means that Pride celebrations are in full swing – there are rainbows, commercial collaborations, and booklists everywhere you turn. In February, I shared a list of picture books popular in our library that celebrate gay families, and I was so moved by your responses. Thank you – […]
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Design Thinking: Empathize ➡️ Define ➡️ Ideate ➡️ Prototype ➡️ Test ➡️ Share And the final step… CELEBRATE!!! 🎉🙌🎉 4th graders installed their 3D printed Braille signs into their permanent homes in the nonfiction section of the library today. Students used the design thinking process to create this accessible signage in hopes to make our […]
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The “Leveling the Playing Field” Quest, led by eighth grade student Jack Dozier ’23, has been a force in the Learning Village this trimester. Designed to answer one main question, How Can We Level the Playing Field for Children in Charlottesville?, Dozier and his Quest-mates decided to spend their class time raising money for Bennett’s […]
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How many dollars are in more than 140 pounds of donated change? 💰💰 Thanks to our amazing St. Anne’s-Belfield School LS math team, we came together as a community as a community to find out! We’ve spent weeks fundraising for Bennett’s Village, and the big moment is finally here! As a grand finale, fourth graders lead first grade […]
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Each year I push 4th grade students to use the design thinking process to create a lasting and meaningful contribution to their library. In past years, we’ve used graphic design to create new signage that’s more accessible to young readers, and interviewed kindergarteners to create systems to help them find the books that they […]
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Last week, almost 200 members of our school community gathered to celebrate one very special thing: family! Families come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and varieties, and this last event in the ’18-’19 Family Fest series was the perfect reason to come together and celebrate them all! I designed this program to highlight the diverse, unique, […]
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From the first pencil sketch design to drilling today’s final screw, this Leveling the Playing Field Quest team has had little Charlottesville readers and Bennett’s Village on their minds and in their hearts. With help from Mr. Browning, our sketches and plans became real pieces and we worked together to assemble them. Our Little […]
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Student-led, inquiry based, project based… these learning terms are big in the education world, and the pressure for students to create meaningful, big, showy products is intense. But student-led and project based learning isn’t all productive work periods and beautiful results. Sometimes, the most meaningful and memorable thing that students can do is fail. When […]
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“I’m sad. Will I always feel like this?” Michael Ian Black and Debbie Ridpath Ohi must be mind readers, because the world needed this book. Everyone feels sad sometimes, but we don’t all have the tools to understand, communicate, and process those feelings in a healthy way. I’m Sad normalizes sad feelings – and reminds […]
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