London--here we come!

In just a few days, Bethany and I will be on our way to London, England. I am still pinching myself that this is all really happening. Five months ago, we wrote the first grant we had ever written. The grant was for Fund for Teachers, which allows teachers to pursue opportunities around the world that will have the greatest impact on their teaching. We were beyond ecstatic when we received the acceptance letter in the mail at the end of March. Thank you, Fund For Teachers, for this amazing experience to help us develop our read-aloud skills and for allowing us the opportunity to further impact student learning. We will be visiting London, Newcastle, and Shropshire, England as well as Dublin, Ireland July 4th-21st. Throughout our trip, we will be posting pictures and our experiences of what we are learning while we travel. We are excited to share all that we will learn with you. Please comment and/or ask questions because we would love to hear from you while we are on our adventure!

Here is a brief summary of our grant:
In our Pre-K classrooms, we read stories to our students on a daily basis. Recently after we observed a storyteller, we realized something was missing from our story time. We want to change just reading a book into a magical and interactive experience for our students. We would like to become oral storytellers as well as improve our skills in reading children's books and learn ways to integrate books and stories into other areas of the curriculum.

Ireland and England are known for their literature, theatre, and storytellers. We will observe several story times, attend storytelling workshops and a storytelling festival, visit children's museums, and attend puppet shows. While we are there, we will also learn about the culture of these countries by exploring historical sites and attractions.

We do not want to just open a book, read it, then put it away. By incorporating interactive storytelling and story time through props and dramatics, our students will be engaged throughout, thereby increasing the pleasure they associate with books and reading. Our overall goal is to create life-long readers. We feel this experience will provide us with the inspiration to develop new approaches and strategies to reading and storytelling to assure that when we do finish the story, we are met with students exclaiming, "Again, again! Read it again!"