Trip To School Library Opens A New World To Fourth Graders

Jacob Peters discovered the story of the Titanic more than a year ago.

Now a fourth grader, dark-haired Jacob still lives, draws and breathes the tragedy of the historic steamliner.

At Progress Elementary School’s library on Monday, Jacob offered to draw a picture of the ship for a visitor. It’s meticulously detailed, with 121 portholes, four smokestacks, a crow’s nest, and, of course, the iceberg.

Next, he searched the shelves for a book on the Titanic.

“Want one?” he asked a classmate. “There are two.”

“I think you must have that book memorized by now,” Progress librarian Ann Warner said. She suggested a novel, SOS Titanic. “Try this. If it’s too much, we’ll find something else.”

Jacob’s passion doesn’t surprise her. In 15 years as a school librarian, she’s seen it all: the children who hang onto the dinosaur craze, the ones who soak up the ability to read and research, the sixth-grader who blossomed once he discovered he could e-mail his mother in Oregon. Even the students who, despite all programs to help, fall behind their peers.

On Monday, the fourth-graders reacted with a happy buzz at news they could now take out four books at a time. They pounced on the computers to look up their favorites.

“How do you spell ‘Goosebumps’?” asked a boy with a crew-cut.

What’s changed, during Warner’s career is the technology, of course. No more hammering through the intracacies of card catalogues.

“As soon as they can pound out d-o-g, they’re independent,” she said.

Last year, one of her library’s computers had Internet access. This year, they all will.

Jacob returned to my side and offered to write me a book on the Titanic. Being the mother of a 6-year-old boy, as well as an education reporter, I happily accepted, promising to return later in the week.

By the end of the hour, Warner checked out books in a hurry. Whoosh, the last of the fourth-graders was gone, back to Rozanne Caruso’s class, where a spelling test awaited them.

“Next week, they’ll check out their own books.” They’ll learn about e-mail, about using encyclopedias on CDs, about writing business letters. By the end of the year, these students will be using digital cameras and scanners. They’ll know how to cite print and electronic sources in a bibliography.

But at the heart of it all, the children in Warner’s library will be reading.

“We do a lot of reading in this school,” Warner said.

A student of note?

The Education Notebook is back. This is the spot the Valley Voice devotes to telling our community about students’ accomplishments, about learning in classrooms across the Valley. Teachers or parents whose students have earned honors, feel free to toot your horn. Contact Marny Lombard at the Valley Voice, 13208 E. Sprague, Spokane, WA 99216. Call: 927-2166. Fax: 927-2175. E-mail: MarnyL@spokesman.com

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