Kids discover science of reading
Neighbors | Alisa Manna.Victoria Schuller (left) and Mariah Schuller (middle) from Austintown play Jelly Doodle application on iPad with Children's Librarian Hayley McEwing (right) at the Ooey Gooey Science event for the library's summer reading program.
Neighbors | Alisa Manna.Erica Kovach from Canfield holds up her bag of play dough before rolling it in glitter. This was one of the many activities at the Austintown Library for their Ooey Gooey Science event.
Neighbors | Alisa Manna.Avery Crawford (left) and Ryann McGahagan (right) both from Austintown roll their play dough in glitter at the Ooey Gooey Science event.
Neighbors | Alisa Manna.Chase Yohman from Liberty washes his hands after playing with the slime Children's Librarian Kathe Orr made for the summer reading program's Ooey Gooey Science event, which attempts to encourage interest in reading through science.
Neighbors | Alisa Manna.Isabella Toto from Youngstown plays with the slim Kathe Orr made at the Austintown Library for their summer reading program.
By ALISA MANNA
The Austintown library continued its Summer Reading Program with an afternoon of science and fun. Children’s librarians Kathe Orr and Hayley McEwing conducted a few experiments along with reading books. Both were assisted by Josephine Nolf, the head of Children’s Department.
The librarians tried to incorporate science with the reading. They found “The Famous Feud of Mason Jar Gulch,” a short story by Dotti Enderle, and “The Science Project that Ate the School” by Judy Sierra.
“It was a participation story, because we like to make sure there’s a literacy element in all of our programs,” Orr said.
Not only did the librarians read these books to the children because of the science element, but they also wanted to recreate the experiments presented in the two pieces of literature.
“We made homemade play dough that the kids can take home and roll in glitter,” Orr said, “Then we made slime or goo.”
Both librarians agreed a key theme in reading is involvement so kids can identify with their literature. McEwing mentioned the Every Child Ready to Read program, which is a national project through the American Library Association. She said the program asked the libraries to infuse more math and science. Every summer, the theme changes, so each library tries to come up with new and different programs to promote reading while making it exciting.
“We touched on science as something you can dream and have fun with at the same time,” Orr said.
While Orr was helping children with the slime and play dough, McEwing showed kids an application on her iPad called Jelly Doodle. She said the iPad application pushes the use of technology while remaining educational by working on language skills.
Sherry Schuller from Austintown brought her two daughters, Victoria and Mariah. Her kids signed up for the summer reading program and have been going for a few years. Melissa Crawford from Austintown also went with her daughter, Avery.
“She likes the crafts and experiments,” Crawford said. “It was a nice way to spend a summer morning.”
The library is hosting more movement programs coming up to encourage different ways of learning.
“There will be programs for smaller children, and then in the fall, we’ll have movement programs for the whole family,” McEwing said.