Through a collaborative learning partnership, the students at Blue
Point Elementary School have been learning about character education and the importance of literacy in new and exciting ways. For the past three years, members of the Sayville Rotary Club have been visiting a different grade level each month to conduct a “read aloud” and speak to the students about a specific character trait.
School library media specialist Susan Brinkman and Rotary Club member Chestine Coverdale coordinated the initiative, which is called the Character Education Through Literature Reading Program.
In early December, Rotarian Eleanor Duncker visited with the school’s
second-graders to speak about the importance of being honest and share the Gary Soto story “Too Many Tamales.”
As a follow-up, the students completed reflective writing assignments in which they described a specific time when they were honest and drew an artistic depiction of that event.
As a special component to the program, students involved in Bayport-Blue Point High School’s Interact Club, a division of the Rotary Club, have also taken to visiting the school as part of this character-building experience.
Photo provided by Jennifer Kuefner, Syntax.
