theta zeta end of Year 2023
|
|
|
|
The title of our project, A Key to Appreciating Differences, captures the essence of the book, Mr. Quigley’s Keys. Theta Zeta Chapter began considering this book for our project after Barbara Greuner, the author, presented a program at one of our meetings. The book is based on a real-life story of a hearing-impaired custodian. Mr. Quigley’s Keys is a wonderful example of how children working together can impact the daily life of another person through empathy, kindness and compassion. Not only is this book a
delight to read, it contains so much information on how the book can be used in the classroom. There are Comprehension Curiosities, Key Character Questions, Writing Prompts, and New Vocabulary which can be turned into reading and writing lessons.
Perhaps, the one which catches the attention of all the children is the visual sign language alphabet. Also, the author chose to hide twelve keys throughout the book which encouraged students to check the books out of the library for a closer look.
Our plan was to package and deliver two hardback books and one paperback book to each elementary school in Clear Creek, La Porte and Pearland school districts. Through the cooperation of our members, we accomplished this goal at each of the forty-five elementary school libraries. Many of the members were asked to read the book to individual classes and entire grade levels. The author also read to many classrooms and to PTA groups. During the readings we were able to witness the joy the children found in the book. The following remarks are representative of the comments: “Awesome book that spreads kindness amongst our staff. It teaches kids to have compassion for others.” “Our students made connections to similar events at our school for our own ‘Mr. Quigley’. Ms. Yolanda. Teachers commented about the lesson of kindness and compassion.” Some principals were so impressed with Mr. Quigley’s Keys, they purchased a copy for each teacher’s classroom library. We received positive feedback from the librarians, teachers and students through a survey given to each school. After hearing about our book project, Barbara Coon, our Area 3 Coordinator, invited Barbara Greuner to present two sessions at our workshop in September, and she was also invited to be a presenter at the state conference in McAllen this summer.
delight to read, it contains so much information on how the book can be used in the classroom. There are Comprehension Curiosities, Key Character Questions, Writing Prompts, and New Vocabulary which can be turned into reading and writing lessons.
Perhaps, the one which catches the attention of all the children is the visual sign language alphabet. Also, the author chose to hide twelve keys throughout the book which encouraged students to check the books out of the library for a closer look.
Our plan was to package and deliver two hardback books and one paperback book to each elementary school in Clear Creek, La Porte and Pearland school districts. Through the cooperation of our members, we accomplished this goal at each of the forty-five elementary school libraries. Many of the members were asked to read the book to individual classes and entire grade levels. The author also read to many classrooms and to PTA groups. During the readings we were able to witness the joy the children found in the book. The following remarks are representative of the comments: “Awesome book that spreads kindness amongst our staff. It teaches kids to have compassion for others.” “Our students made connections to similar events at our school for our own ‘Mr. Quigley’. Ms. Yolanda. Teachers commented about the lesson of kindness and compassion.” Some principals were so impressed with Mr. Quigley’s Keys, they purchased a copy for each teacher’s classroom library. We received positive feedback from the librarians, teachers and students through a survey given to each school. After hearing about our book project, Barbara Coon, our Area 3 Coordinator, invited Barbara Greuner to present two sessions at our workshop in September, and she was also invited to be a presenter at the state conference in McAllen this summer.