Books Aloud, Inc - [Current Playback

BOOKS ALOUD "PLAYBACK" - SUMMER 2005

Page 1

Children helping children:

First graders learn life-long lessons

by Mary Jo Sullivan-Worley

St. Simon School, Los Altos, CA

The 600 Kindergarten-through-eighth grade students at St. Simon School in Los Altos are taught the "service learning" model of community outreach. Students are to research, discuss, brainstorm ideas of service, accomplish service, and reﬂect upon the outcomes of their service to those being served and themselves.

For their Advent project this year, my thirty-one ﬁrst graders decided they wanted to share books and the joy of reading with children in Santa Clara County by collecting gently used books and purchasing new books with their own funds. These books were given to the Santa Clara County Reading Council's "Books For Babes" program and distributed to needy families in Christmas baskets and through community reading events.

During Lent, the students decided they wanted to extend their outreach to Books Aloud. Since research is a vital component of "service learning," a ﬁeld trip to the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. library was arranged with Books Aloud's outreach coordinator, Marsha N. Stewart. My students toured the Children's Section of the library, and at Books Aloud the staff and volunteers explained the need for books on tape and the process of how a book is recorded. The kids were amazed by the number of books the center has available for children with vision losses!

Upon returning to school, the ﬁrst graders decided that they would continue to contribute some of their allowance, birthday, Tooth Fairy, and extra chore money to have some of their favorite books recorded. The children were able to collect and send $150 to Books Aloud. By class vote, "A Giraffe and A Half" by Shel Silverstein and "Pigs Aplenty, Pigs Galore!" by David McPhail were purchased, recorded and are now available to be enjoyed by children with vision losses in Santa Clara County. The children were extremely enthusiastic about their visit to the library and Books Aloud: the staff and volunteers of this program made their advocacy real and concrete to my students and as a result, the children made a contribution to literacy in Santa Clara County and the life-long lessons associated with "service learning."

Page 2

Teaching a passion for service:

LOOKING BACK TO MOVE AHEAD

Second graders learn that heroes are all around us

By Deena Gardyn

Ormondale Elementary School, Portola Valley, CA

What does it mean to be a hero in our day-to-day lives? This is precisely the question my twenty second grade students and I grappled with during our recent study of people who have made a difference in the lives of others.

After reading and discussing many biographies that depicted the lives and contributions of different individuals, I challenged the children to search for heroic qualities in people they know. Having engaged in discussions about the lives of "famous heroes" such as Harriet Tubman, Cesar Chavez, and Abraham Lincoln and having identiﬁed people we consider to be heroes, I craved an opportunity for the children to begin to develop a sense that they, too, can contribute positively to the community in which they live. The wonderful service provided by the Books Aloud organization provided the perfect channel through which my students could use their skills to help others.

During our study of heroes, the children and I read aloud a biography about the life of Louis Braille. Intrigued by the Braille language, the children's enthusiasm soared when I shared with them the news that they would be able to record some of our favorite books onto tape for boys and girls who cannot read with their eyes the way that we do. Children in second grade "polish" reading skills by reading aloud with expression, ﬂuency, and proper intonation., and my students worked diligently to read in a way that would "paint a picture in the minds of the listener." Six weeks of assiduous practice ﬁnally passed and the children were ready for action!

The day of our special ﬁeld trip ﬁnally arrived. Joyce Meurer and her wonderful staff allowed the children to print their names in Braille, work on fun wooden puzzles, and lounge in the staff room while waiting for a turn to record. The children marveled at the extensive library of tapes that the organization offers and felt so proud to contribute to such a valuable and well-used library.

The positive spirit that permeated throughout the library was contagious: chatter of this ﬁeld trip continued for several days after our experience! Reﬂections of our day at Books Aloud revealed remarkable student growth; a social and emotional growth that cannot be measured by an "end of the unit test" or assessment. The children learned about caring about the needs of others and taking time to be thankful for the gift of sight that we possess.

My passion for service learning and character education guides my interactions with students, the manner in which I deliver instruction, and the curricular choices I make as an educator. As I strive to support empathetic and compassionate learners, I hope to nurture a partnership with Books Aloud: together, we can offer opportunities for our children to develop the perfect balance of in-class learning with the community outreach.

MORE INFORMATION Books Aloud welcomes visits from school groups, service clubs and anyone who wishes to learn more about "Reading by Listening." Contact our outreach coordinator Marsha N. Stewart at (408) 808-2690 for details.

Page 3

FROM THE BOARD CHAIR

I am excited and pleased to announce that Christine Tower, Deb Wible, Houston Williams, Alfred Reuter and Mark Rickert have joined us as new members to Books Aloud's Board of Directors. All five have wonderful talents and energy that will help the board to guide the organization to grow and remain true to our mission and vision.

I hope this summer ﬁnds you spending time with friends and family...I would like to invite you to join your Books Aloud family on September 10th at Oak Meadow Park in Los Gatos for our ﬁrst annual Family Fun Day. This will be an exciting event - I hope to meet you all there with your friends and family!

Terri Medved

Chair of the Board of Directors

Books Aloud, Inc.

KIDCAST: Voices of Youth

Teacher Helen Carnes of Walter Hayes Elementary School in Palo Alto, CA, has again partnered with Books Aloud on Kidscast, a unique opportunity for younger students to record for Books Aloud. Each year, Carnes teaches her third grade class (some members pictured above) about Louis Braille, Helen Keller, and guide dogs for the blind, and for the past two school years, a visit to Books Aloud has provided an additional aspect to the lessons. With Kidscast, each child participates: over the course of six to eight weeks, each child is given "a part", and they practice over and over aloud in class until their reading is nearly ﬂawless.

To date Carnes' third graders have recorded 10 books that have been added to Books Aloud's collection. Listening to a child's recording is a refreshing change, even for adult clients.

BOOK NEWS

SIGHTS & SOUNDS OF READING

The Sights & Sounds of Reading program has been launched at Books Aloud with the generosity of the Kiwanis Club of San Jose, who have donated hundreds of books which we previously recorded. The Kiwanis Club of San Jose has also generously donated $5,000 for the expansion of our children's and youth collection. Also, teacher Linda Miller of Rialto, CA donated over a hundred juvenile books with cassettes to add to the program.

The Sights & Sounds of Reading allows us to provide kits speciﬁcally designed for sighted clients with learning disabilities or dyslexia to our collection. The kits consist of a printed book along with a recorded version of the book. Currently, most kits are of children's or juvenile titles, but young adult and adult books are also being added.

Be sure to ask about this new service - teachers love it!

MINI LIBRARIES

"Mini" satellite libraries in Special Education classes in local Elementary Schools have become a reality with a generous grant of $5,000 from the Rotary Club of San Jose Endowment. Each mini library has two track tape recorders, headphones, splitters and a variety of 30 to 40 audio books, some of which are "Sight & Sound." Teachers and administrators are welcome to contact us to set up a "mini library" at their school.

Insert page

FRIENDS OF BOOKS ALOUD

Gifts received January 2005-June 2005

DIRECTOR'S CLUB - CONTINUED

West San Jose Campbell Lions Club

Peninsula Community Foundation

Mrs. & Mrs. James E. Russell

Variety Audio Foundation

Dennis Wolfe

STUDIO CLUB - $500+

Garretta Annable

Mr. & Mrs. Dan Caputo, Jr.

Holy Spirit Church

Cupertino DeAnza Lions Club

Pam Matteoni

Mr. & Mrs. William K. McDowell

Ray & Kathy Medved, Sr.

Doris Meyer

Nikon Precision Inc.

National Cooperative Bank

Marjorie & David Thompson

Emma & Tony Vargo

Washington Mutual Bank

AUTHORS CLUB - $25,000+

Estate of Charles Brown

PUBLISHERS CLUB - $10,000+

City of San Jose

BEST SELLERS CLUB - $5,000+

Ms. Rejeana Cauhape's will

East Bay Community Foundation

Guidant Foundation, Inc.

Kiwanis Club of San Jose

Mrs. Jean Leventon

Rotary Club of San Jose

DIRECTOR'S CLUB - $1,000+

Dr. Seuss Foundation

FedEx Employees Levi's Day

Alfred J. Hitchcock Foundation

Mary Muir Marti

Joyce & Chester Meurer

Patti O'Neill

John & Christine Tower

These friends and many others have contributed to the support of the important work of Book Aloud. For the people we serve, we thank them.

GIFTS RECEIVED IN MEMORY OF

Ellie Rigler

Dorothy Shearer

Josephine B. Smith

Jane Vitagliano

Shirley Williams, Tom Kaiser's mother

Lee Lara

Gustauz Opperman

Molly Percy

Ted Reed

Alan Attardo

Wade Bruce

Florence Chambers

Rachael Galvan

Shirley Hammond

GIFTS RECEIVED

IN HONOR OF

Joyce Herzog, and Bill & Bobbie Martinez

IN MEMORY OF "BUD" BOURLAND:

Books Aloud is happy to have known Brian "Bud" Bourland, a former reader who recently passed away. Bud was not only a great voice, but he was a great character. He was always full of cheer, even when his health was failing. In addition, he raised the best tomatoes, which he shared! We truly miss him.

WORDS OF THANKS

Books Aloud would like to thank the Estate of Charles Brown for the generous gift of $38,627.

A Balanced Life, Even in Alaska

Pictured at left: 10-year-old Books Aloud client Sarah McBride. Recently, Sarah wasn't this happy. Her family planned a move to Alaska, and Sarah was upset that she would not be able to continue receiving our books. But once Claudia Nicolai assured her that all she needed to do was give us a forwarding address and she would still be our client...well, Sarah seems to be in good spirits (and balance!) now.

CLASS ACTS

Here's a good indication of what a class trip to Books Aloud looks like! Top left is Deena Gardyn's second grade class from Ormondale School in Portola Valley - you can read about their class project on page 2. Below you'll ﬁnd the ﬁrst grade class of Mary Jo Sullivan-Worley, from St. Simon School in Los Altos. They're our cover story in this edition of Playback, and we're happy to have hosted these and many other classes at Books Aloud!

We're Part of the Human Race!

On Saturday, May 7 an intrepid team of Books Aloud supporters joined thousands in participating in the annual Human Race run/walk...and wheel. Books Aloud staff member Derrick Williamson helped raise funds for our programs that bring the "gift of reading" to the people we serve.

(Insert page 2 is a flyer for Family Fun Day - see below)

Page 4

Sincerely, Joyce: A Message from Joyce Meurer, Executive Director, Books Aloud

Dear Friends,

As this newsletter comes to you, I am ﬁlled with gratitude to all the donors who are making this work possible. The printed books from the Kiwanis Club of San Jose and the Kiwanis Clubs of Northern California are such a great gift. They allow us to fulﬁll yet another need. The books and cassettes donated by Linda Miller allow us to escalate the Sight and Sound Project for our learning disabled and dyslexic clients. With the grant from the Rotary Club of San Jose Endowment we were able to launch our "mini" libraries for the Special Education teachers in Santa Clara County. To all of you who so generously donate to us, we all truly thank you. To all our great volunteers, we say thank you. We couldn't do it without you. May each of you have a fabulous summer with our love and gratitude.

Sincerely,

Joyce Meurer

Executive Director

Books Aloud, Inc.

ANNOUNCING A NEW EVENT!

FAMILY FUN DAY!

Saturday, Sept. 10, 2005

11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Oak Meadow Park, Los Gatos, CA

$5 Donation (2 - 12 yrs. old)

$10 Donation (13 yrs. & older)

Here's a chance for Books Aloud's clients, volunteers, donors, and staff to come together for a day of food, fun and activities,