Poland students create sea display for library project
March 26, 2020
Poland Central School District students in kindergarten to fifth grade recently created sea creatures connected to reading and research from library class for a large hallway display, shown here.
POLAND – If you’re looking for some positive school news these days, you might need to look under the surface – or more specifically: under the sea.
Poland Central School District students in kindergarten to fifth grade recently, prior to school closures, participated in a library craft project around the Pick a Reading Partner (PARP) theme of “Under the Sea” by creating a large hallway display featuring sea creatures and popular elementary school books.
“We kind of just took that theme and ran with it,” Poland school library media specialist Jessie Clough said.
Clough and teaching assistant Tracy Irwin organized the task for elementary students because they thought it would be a fun way for students to collaborate on a project. The display also shows the words, “PCS is hooked on reading” with a fishing hook hanging down into the water next to the words.
For the project, fifth-graders made jellyfish, fourth-graders made turtles, third-graders made crabs, second-graders made rainbow fish, first-graders made seahorses and kindergarteners made a large octopus. Kindergarteners used their fingerprints on the face of the octopus and each made four pieces of paper chain for its legs.
The sea creatures that students in each grade level made were connected to a character in a book they read or research that students did in the library, Clough said. The project helped students develop reading and research skills in a fun way that added a bright display for the hallway.
Clough credits Irwin with making the project turn out so visually appealing. Clough and Irwin wanted students to work together; the adults collaborated, too. Clough applied her media research background to the learning, and Irwin applied her creativity.