CLEL Annual Meeting 2010
October 7, 2010
Council Tree Library, Poudre River Public Library District, Ft. Collins, CO
Minutes
We were welcomed to the Council Tree Library by our hostess Vicky Hayes, Children’s Librarian at Poudre River. She introduced Holly Carroll, Poudre River Public Library District’s Executive Director, who also provided a welcome.
Priscilla Queen provided our first tip for “Managing Chaos in Storytime”
Mary Kuehner and Melissa Depper gave a short introduction to CLEL. It is NOT Curious Librarians Evaluating Loofahs, nor did it begin in a galaxy far, far away.
Patricia Froehlich introduced the membership to Storyblocks.org: how did it come about, what’s on the website. We are on the lookout for grant money to expand the project, so let Patricia know if you hear of any possibilities. Be sure and promote the site with groups/people you work with! Contact Patricia if you want the Storyblocks graphic to add to your website.
The various CLEL committees, and their chairs, were introduced. Members were encouraged to join a committee.
Members were made aware of the Ann Logan/Marisco Institute lecture by John Medina happening at DU on Oct. 28
Carol Burdick (Jefferson County Public Library), Carol Unwin (Douglas County Libraries), Nancy, and Ruth Ann Krovontka (Douglas County Libraries) presented a session on Baby Storytimes.
Awards
were presented
Candidates for the Steering Committee were presented:
- Ruth Ann Krovontka, Highlands Ranch Library, DCL
- Lu Benke, Poudre River Public Library District (formerly)
- Lori Vasquez, City of Denver, Youth Services Division; Board President, Friends of Food for Thought
- Becky Campbell, Pikes Peak Library District
Susan B. Neuman provided an update on the ECRTR curriculum, as presented at PLA:
- “Simple view of reading”: Code-related skills + Language skills = reading
- Code related skills = 6 EL skills
- Unconstrained skills : part of us all the time: comprehension & vocabulary skills
- Some skills show up earlier than others
- Phonological awareness & letter names are biggest predictors of reading success
- But: Background knowledge is important for comprehension (non-fiction, etc.)
- Environment: how to create spaces conducive to reading success
- Oral language development is important; for print vocabulary development. Storytelling is VITAL.
- For a child to get a new word into his vocabulary, it takes a minimum of 28 repititions
- 5 essentials:
- talking
- singing
- reading
- writing
- playing
- Saroj Ghoting has a summary on her www.earlylit.net
Nancy Maday (Pikes Peak Library District) and Melissa Depper (Arapahoe Library District) presented a session on advocacy and early literacy: “Be a Champion for Children”.
Attendees shared their best practices for supporting early literacy skills learning in libraries.