Project Overview

For their fall 2020 expedition, the Centaur class (3rd/4th grade) took on the guiding question, “What is the power of reading?” To develop ideas and answer this question, the students researched how people around the world go to great lengths to access the power of reading. Waiting for the Biblioburro, by Monica Brown, introduced the children to the story of a real-life librarian who travels far and wide to bring literacy and culture to rural communities in Columbia. Other mentor texts included Rain School by James Rumford, The Librarian of Basra by Jeanette Winter, and Nasreen’s Secret School by Jeanette Winter. Through reading My Librarian is a Camel by Margriet Ruurs, the students learned more about different organizations around the world that bring the power of reading to children.
The following collection of short stories, written by 3rd and 4th-grade students, is a culmination of the hard work and collaboration of the Centaur class. Much of this work was done from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students found unique ways to collaborate, learn from one another, and also access reading and resources in new ways. These stories are infused with their experiences of having limited access to their own classroom materials and their “normal” way of learning. They wanted to let people know how fortunate we are to have schools and libraries in our communities and about the amazing people bringing reading to children all over the world. In this book, you will see how brave librarians cross deserts, jungles, and mountains to bring the power of reading to everybody!
Planning for this expedition was supported with resources from EL Education’s language arts curriculum. Overcoming Learning Challenges Near and Far module helped supply a jumping off point as well as important resources.

Curriculum:
From EL Education's ELA Curriculum G3:M1