LEAP grant promotes literacy in local library

Juniors in the University of North Georgia College of Education are taking local children on a new literacy adventure through a program called Book Safari at the Lumpkin County Library. Under the leadership of Dr. Danielle Sachdeva, the students in her child development class formed small groups and chose a book to present to the youngsters.

Joanna Ingram, from Calhoun, Georgia, is pursuing a degree in elementary and special education.  She partnered with Katey Ball, Cayla Gibson and Kayla Miller to present a safari-themed storytime. Ingram believes the experience will help in her career as an educator.

"In my student teaching placements, I do not get the chance to interact with parents. This opportunity allowed me to interact with children of a variety of ages and their parents," she said, adding that "in the elementary school we do not get to interact with preschool-age children, so this was a very fun experience."

Ingram is in her student teaching placement at Centennial Arts Academy in Gainesville, Georgia.

Each group is responsible for choosing a story time theme in keeping with the overarching safari theme, planning read-a-louds, games, crafts and leading the story time.

"We met after class to make a lesson plan for the storytime. We chose lions as our focus and went to the Lumpkin County Library to look for the books. Then we researched what 'welcome' and 'goodbye' songs we wanted to sing to the children," Gibson, from Athens, Georgia, said.

"Going on a Lion Hunt" was chosen as a "brain-break song in between the stories, so the children would not become restless listening to two books back-to-back," Gibson added.

The group then chose an arts and craft activity and ultimately a PowerPoint presentation so parents could follow along.

Gibson said she felt the experience was beneficial.

"This will help me in my career because I had to lesson plan an interactive lesson with other educators. Also, it was a good experience to execute a lesson for children of a variety of ages because I was able to plan a lesson that would be appropriate for all the children to participate in and enjoy" Gibson said.

Clermont, Georgia, native Miller agreed that the safari story time was beneficial because it provided preparation of classroom activities.

"I believe this experience will help our career because it prepares us to read aloud to our future classrooms, while also enhancing our vocal abilities for the classroom," she said.

Miller shared that she believes storytime is "a good experience for younger kids because it allows them to start comprehending stories at a younger age and understanding the meaning of stories," she said. "The children were able to explain what they liked about the book and their favorite part of the book, which is literacy comprehension, meaning they understand what they have been read."

Ball, from Calhoun, Georgia, added that Book Safari provides additional experience with children, which will ultimately help in the classrooms and planning similar events.

Dahlonega, Georgia, resident Austin Davidson gave the day's program positive reviews.

"It was fun," he said, adding that he enjoyed "The Lion Inside" because "the lion got back inside,” and the best part was the activity when the children made a lion, who he named Tiger.

The 5-year-old attended with his sisters Olivia and Brooke and his mom, Tori.

Sachdeva received a Liberal Education and America's Promise (LEAP) into Action grant in 2023 to develop student-led storytime programs in cooperation with local libraries. Due to the project's success, the staff of the library invited UNG students to continue running the library's story time program. Book Safari is a new iteration of the program, Sachdeva said.

"Although the students already gain a lot of experience in elementary classrooms through their field placements at UNG, Book Safari gives them an opportunity to interact with preschool children and their families and make connections to what we're studying in our child development class," Sachdeva said. "It also helps students see the library as a resource for developing children's love for literacy outside of the classroom, and they gain valuable skills in planning, collaborating and being flexible and adaptable."