Grenloch Terrace Early Childhood Center reading specialist and librarian created an online library for children to view their teachers reading their favorite stories.
Kindergarten students throughout the Washington Township Public School District soon will have the opportunity to share story time with their favorite teachers and staff from the comfort of their own homes when a project, brainstormed by Maria Rygalski, Grenloch Terrace Early Childhood Center reading specialist, and librarian Anita DeAngelis, launches in the coming weeks. Recognizing the hectic and demanding lives of families and realizing that bedtime stories increasingly were being reduced or eliminated, Rygalski and DeAngelis decided to seek a viable, creative and convenient solution for parents to ensure that reading remains a part of their children’s daily lives.
“Our hope is that this virtual story time allows our students a closer interaction with their teachers while restoring the reading aloud process that gives them essential skills that are necessary for their educational growth and development,” Rygalski said.
Using the concept behind every television weather broadcast, the two enlisted the assistance and expertise of district cable station coordinator Kevin Lindstedt, who singlehandedly managed the production. Individual teachers and school staff members then were invited to sit in front of a green screen and videotape an animated reading of their favorite book. Lindstedt then filmed the illustrations and words from the books and used these images as the backdrop, similar to a weather map on a screen. The video of the teacher reading the book was placed in the right hand corner of the screen so the student can view everything while enjoying a personalized story time with a cherished teacher.
Once a library of books being handpicked by their teachers are recorded and edited, children will be able to access the recordings through a central website, www.twplittles.weebly.com, and will be able to enjoy books over and over again on the go and at their leisure.
“Reading aloud is one of the most important things parents and teachers can do with children,” Rygalski said. “Reading aloud builds many important foundational skills, introduces vocabulary, provides a model of fluent, expressive reading, and helps children recognize what reading for pleasure is all about. It helps with oral language development, print concept and comprehension. When we realized that story time at bedtime was lacking, we decided to reinvent it. We are hoping that children will be further motivated to visit the site to see and enjoy their teachers reading, and we will begin to foster a lifelong love of language and books.”
“Story time is so important because it allows students to stop, be in the moment, listen and relax,” DeAngelis said. “Students love being read to, and if this is your favorite story, you read it differently. You read it with your heart. That enthusiasm will come through in these videos.”
GTECC principal Wendy Crawford and a number of her teachers already have taken a turn in front of the green screen and recorded their book readings, a variety of titles as varied as those who shared them. Staff members, including secretaries, nurses, guidance counselors and custodians, also will be invited to participate to create an ever-building, interactive library.
“Our hope is that Virtual Story Time will foster language development and a love of literacy in our youngest learners,” Director of Elementary Education Gretchen Gerber said. “Our dedicated staff members, Maria Rygalski and Anita DeAngelis, are commended for their hard work and creative approach to achieving this goal. It is truly exciting to see an idea shared earlier in the year blossom into an incredible opportunity for our kindergarten students.”
Parents will be notified in the coming weeks when the first round of videos have been posted for viewing.
